Masters Of Disguise – Can You See Them All?
Daily Archives: April 28, 2013
This is Atheris Squamigera, the most beautiful snake on earth
Picture of the Day: Cygnus Mass Simulator separates from Orbital’s Antares rocket
This image almost looks like an artist’s concept, but is an actual photo taken by a camera on board Orbital Science’s Antares rocket showing the Cygnus mass simulator shortly after separation from the rocket’s upper stage.
Antares launched on April 21 for its first test flight – dubbed the A-One mission. The goal of the flight was to test the fully integrated Antares rocket and boost a simulated version of the Cygnus cargo carrier into a target orbit of 250 x 300 kilometers and inclined 51.6 degrees.
Antares also sent a trio of off-the-shelf-smartphone “PhoneSats” to orbit. The three picture-taking satellites are named Alexander, Graham and Bell and are some of the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space.
Orbital says that both the mass simulator and the upper stage are expected to stay in orbit for several months before their orbits degrade, causing them to re-enter and burn up in…
View original post 26 more words
New Battery Design could help solar and wind power the grid
This post first appeared on the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory website by Mike Ross
Researchers from the US Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.
“For solar and wind power to be used in a significant way, we need a battery made of economical materials that are easy to scale and still efficient,” said Yi Cui, a Stanford associate professor of materials science and engineering and a member of the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, a SLAC/Stanford joint institute. “We believe our new battery may be the best yet designed to regulate the natural fluctuations of these alternative energies.”
The Ideal Batteries for Grid-Scale Solar & Wind
Currently the electrical grid cannot tolerate large and sudden power fluctuations caused by wide swings in sunlight…
View original post 428 more words
Earth’s core 1,000 degrees hotter than thought
Earth’s internal engine is running about 1,000 degrees Celsius (about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than previously measured, providing a better explanation for how the planet generates a magnetic field, a new study has found.
View original post 355 more words
The Science Blog 