XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Tuesday 4 June 2013

There's a hole in the sun, NASA says - last week, a huge void rotated across the face of the sun -


There's a hole in the sun, NASA says - last week, a huge void rotated across the face of the sun - 


During the latter part of last week, a huge void rotated across the face of the sun.
But never fear, it isn’t a sign of the “end times” or some weird sci-fi stellar malnourishment: This particular hole is a coronal hole. Though it may be a well-known phenomenon, it is noteworthy — it’s the largest coronal hole to be observed in the sun’s atmosphere for over a year.
Snapped through three of NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory's (SDO) extreme ultraviolet filters, this coronal hole is caused by a low density region of hot plasma.

The sun’s lower corona is threaded with powerful magnetic fields. Some are looped — or “closed” — very low in the corona, creating the beautiful, bright coronal loops that trap superheated gases that generate vast amounts of extreme ultraviolet light, radiation that is produced by multimillion degree plasma (the bright regions in the image, top).
However, there are also “open” field lines that have one end of their magnetic flux anchored in the solar photosphere. These lines fire solar plasma into interplanetary space at an accelerated rate, often intensifying space weather conditions. These regions of open field lines, or coronal holes, act like fire hoses, blasting plasma into space. These regions are the source of the the fast solar wind that accelerates solar material toward Earth, which often only takes 2-3 days to travel from the sun to Earth.
Through the SDO’s eyes, coronal holes appear dark as there is a very low density of the multimillion degree plasma generating the EUV radiation. And as this dramatic observation demonstrates, to the eyes of the SDO, the sun really does appear to have a hole.

We are currently going through an uptick in solar activity as our nearest star experiences “solar maximum” — the peak of its natural 11-year cycle. At this time, we can expect an increased frequency of solar flares and coronal mass ejections as the sun’s magnetic field becomes increasingly stressed. Although this solar maximum is less active than predicted, it is producing some powerful flares and CME’s. 
Now we’re seeing huge coronal holes, all a consequence of the twisted turmoil our sun is currently enduring.


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Breast Milk Lollipops, meant to mimic the flavor of a mother's milk - moooo -


Breast Milk Lollipops, meant to mimic the flavor of a mother's milk - moooo - 



Mothers looking to give their children a unique, yet familiar, candy treat are in luck.  A lollipop company based in Austin, Texas called Lollyphile is offering new Breast Milk Lollipops, meant to mimic the flavor of a mother's milk.

According to Lollyphile's website, numerous mothers shared their breast milk with the company's "flavor specialists," until they were able to turn the flavor into a candy.

"I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but it seems like all of my friends are having babies these days," Jason Darling, the owner of Lollyphile, said in a statement. "Sure, the kids are all crazy cute, but what slowly dawned on me was that my friends were actually producing milk so delicious it could turn a screaming, furious child into a docile, contented one. I knew I had to capture that flavor."

Lollyphile maintains that the lollipops do not contain any actual breast milk, joking that it would require "armies of pumping women."

The  limited edition lollipops aren't cheap.  Four will cost you $10.  A case of 36 Breast Milk Lollipops costs $58.



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Spanish town posts dog mess back to offending hound owners - in an official box marked 'Lost Property' - 



A Spanish town has come up with an ingenious way to keep its streets clean of dog mess – by sending the offending deposits back to the owners in an official box marked 'Lost Property'.

The council of Brunete, a small town some 20 miles west of Madrid, launched the campaign to crack down on irresponsible dog owners.
During the course of a week a team of twenty volunteers patrolled the town's streets on the lookout for dog owners who failed to scoop. They then approached the guilty owner and struck up a casual conversation to discover the name of the dog.
"With the name of the dog and the breed it was possible to identify the owner from the registered pet database held in the town hall," explained a spokesman from the council.
The volunteers then scooped up the excrement and packaged it in a box branded with town hall insignia and marked 'Lost Property' and delivered by courier to the pet owners home.
The campaign, developed for free by advertising agency McCann, won the "Sol de Plata" award at last weekend's Ibero-American Advertising Festival.

In all, 147 "express poop" deliveries were made during the course of the week in February and the town with 10,000 residents has since reported a 70 per cent drop in the amount of dog mess found in its streets.
The year before a similar attempt to tackle the issue saw offending dog owners chased by a remote controlled dog mess on wheels with the label "Don't leave me – pick me up".
In Hernani, a town in the Basque Country in northern Spain, the council introduced a by-law two years ago forcing pet owners to register their dog's DNA so that they could be traced if their excrement was found in the streets or parks.

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Japan tests 310mph bullet train - magnetic levitation technology instead of conventional wheels -


Japan tests 310mph bullet train - magnetic levitation technology instead of conventional wheels - 

Japan tests latest 310mph bullet train

The new generation L0 Series trains, which employ the latest magnetic levitation technology instead of conventional wheels, will begin commercial services in 2027.
The first five cars of the new train, which has a distinct aerodynamic "nose" at the front, were displayed on a test track in Yamanashi Prefecture.
The carriages, which are propelled by magnetic forces, were pulled along the track by a special maintenance vehicle as part of preliminary trials, with wide-scale tests due to commence in September.
The new train, designed by Central Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai), will initially link central Tokyo with Nagoya station, cutting current bullet train journey times by more than half, from 90 to 40 minutes.
The final train will consist of 16 carriages carrying up to 1,000 passengers at a time, with plans under way to extend the line to Osaka by 2045. The plan is ultimately to create a high-speed mass transit maglev network across the country.

It was in 1964 that Japan was propelled to the forefront of transport technology after it unveiled its first bullet train – known as "shinkansen" – to coincide with its hosting of the Olympic Games.
Since then, Japan has become famous as home to the world's most sophisticated rail network system, with bullet trains travelling at speeds of up to 199mph across more than 1,400 miles of tracks.
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, is currently pushing for a surge in sales of Japanese road, railway and power station technology to emerging nations such as India, which is expected to use Japan's bullet train technology for a new Mumbai to Ahmedabad line.
Today, with close to 60 years passing since the first bullet train was launched, Japan is investing heavily in maglev technology in order to remain at the forefront of rail engineering.
Competition with China is already strong, with the Shanghai maglev train capable of travelling at a top speed of 268mph – although its average speed is 152.5mph due to the limited length of the track.

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Domino’s Pizza testing pizza-delivering drones - branded as the DomiCopter -


Domino’s Pizza testing pizza-delivering drones - branded as the DomiCopter - 

domicopter-in-action.jpg

Domino’s Pizza hired a creative agency called T + Biscuits to test the feasibility of octocopter drones that deliver a hot, delicious pizza to your doorstep. 
Heavily branded as the DomiCopter, the current prototype can deliver two, large pizzas in about ten minutes within a four mile radius of the store. While future versions could hypothetically use GPS coordinates to deliver the pie, the existing model is piloted from the ground by someone experienced in drone flight.
Other names previously batted around for the DomiCopter included the Pepperdroney and the Flyin’ Hawaiian.
The DomiCopter has eight spinning blades and includes the standard thermal insulation bag that’s carried around by Domino’s Pizza delivery drivers. Developed by a company called Aerosight, this type of drone is primarily used for capturing broadcast quality video with cameras like the Red Epic , Canon C300 or Sony PMW F3.
No flying permits are needed to operate the drone up to 126 meters off the ground, as detailed by NBC News recently; only permission of the landowner is required. Other tools that can be used with the drone include on-board GPS, air pressure sensors and an electronic compass.
“If anything, it went quicker than a pizza boy," T + Biscuits founder Tom Hatton said when asked about the feasibility of using the DomiCopter drone. "We were amazed at how easy it was going to be.” Hatton was referencing the time required to navigate roads as well as stop at red lights. 
According to Hatton, other names previously batted around for the DomiCopter included the ”Pepperdroney” and the “Flyin’ Hawaiian.”
After proving the concept with the first drone flight, the DomiCopter has been delivered to Domino’s UK headquarters for further testing. Ideally, the company wants to test increasing the payload capacity of the drone in order to carry other items like a two-liter bottle of Coke or perhaps more pizzas. Domino’s UK management haven’t announced any plans to roll out a test of drone deliveries at Domino’s pizza locations in the United Kingdom or the United States.


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