Self Destruction of Massive Stars in Carina Nebula :Seen Fom The Eye of Chandra

This Chandra image shows the Carina Nebula, a star-forming region in the Sagittarius-Carina arm of the Milky Way, 7,500 light years from Earth. Chandra’s sharp X-ray vision has detected over 14,000 stars in this region, revealed a diffuse X-ray glow, and provided strong evidence that massive stars have already self-destructed in this nearby supernova factory.

Links and Sources

:NASA

Posted in Space | Leave a comment

Surprising Findings about Japan’s 9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake

Magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and resulting tsunami struck off the northeast coast of Japan on March 11  caused widespread destruction and death. Using observations from a dense regional geodetic network (allowing measurements of earth movement to be gathered from GPS satellite data), globally distributed broadband seismographic networks, and open-ocean tsunami data, researchers have begun to construct numerous models that describe how the earth moved that day.

A study led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), published online in the May 19 issue of Science Express, explains the first large set of observational data from this rare megathrust event. They found surprising results….

read more

Posted in books, Energy, GPS, oceans, opinions, seismic activities | Leave a comment

Turning Waste In Wealth (Energy)

We constantly turn wealth to waste. Now it is threatening the sustainability of our planet , our race. It  is high time we reverse this process.

TERI’s enhanced acidification and methanation technology is a great leap forward in this direction.

Food is the last thing that comes to mind when one sees rotting and stench-emanating landfills, overflowing with garbage from all over the city. Not surprising then that many will be shocked if they were told that it is an important source in the making of cooking gas.

Of late, there have been experiments to convert the emissions from landfills or garbage dumps to energy so as to power various applications. Though technologies exist, they are crippled with inefficient output and operational problems. The TEAM (T ERI’s enhanced acidification and methanation) technology not only overcomes existing shortcomings but also promises to be an important parallel source of fuel for thermal applications, especially cooking.

Tackling mounting waste (produced as a result of growing urbanization and industrialization) has been one of the biggest civic concerns in modern times (Figure 1). Working towards finding a sustainable solution, researchers at TERI zeroed in on biomethanation as the most desirable alternative for the treatment of solid waste, as it yields biogas that can replace conventional fuels and provides digested sludge that can be used as organic manure.

TERI’s research culminated in the development of a high-rate digester for fibrous and semi-solid organic waste. The technology has been put to use in the waste treatment plant in TERI’s sustainable habitat campus in Gurgaon, Haryana . The plant has been generating good-quality biogas and manure from organic wastes since the year 2000…

Links and Sources:

Teri

Further Readings:

Waste to Energy in India

Wikipedia

Posted in Alternative Energy, BIODIVERSITY, India, pollution, Urban Studies | 2 Comments

10 Sites That Monitor Space

Guest Post  by Melanie Slaugh

You no longer need to travel to observatories to see what is being seen through those huge telescopes. Through the internet, we have access to glimpses of the stars that we could never see with the naked eye. Check out these websites for the latest in information and images regarding the universe we live in.

SOHO – The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is a joint cooperative effort between NASA and ESA to study all aspects of the sun. You’ll see up to date pictures of the sun and also be able to watch video of the sun on this site.
Astrouw.edu.pl/asas – This site monitors the sky for comets and the discovery of new stars. You can find their documentation and photography of each of those discoveries on the site.
Hubble Images – If you’re interested in seeing the best of the best, Hubble telescope images, you’ll find them at archive.seds.org/hst Images are divided into three catagories: Solar System; Galactic and Extra Galactic. There is also a link to the most current images.
Indian Astronomical Observatory: The website for this telescope located high in the Himalayan Mountains provides some remarkable space photos. There are several pictures of Super Novas and many other amazing amazing images from space.
Space Weather Prediction Center – If you’re interested in solar winds, solar radiation storms and radio blackouts created by space weather, you’ll find everything you need to know at http://www.swpc.noaa.gov. The site also gives information that will allow you to tell when to expect the Northern Lights to visible in your area.
Mauna Loa Solar Observatory – This is another observatory that monitors solar activity. In addition to the current solar photos and solar flair movies, it has a large catalog of solar eclipse photos as well.
STEREO – Instead of solar observation from earth, this site provides you images from two satellites in orbit. You will also find 3-D images of the sun and the first ever images of the entire sun.
Stardate.org – If you want some help getting started with your nighttime star gazing, this site will tell you what to be watching for in the sky on any given night in the next week. It also has calendar dates for the next expected meteor showers, solar and lunar eclipses.
NASA.gov – The NASA site has amazing videos and plenty of historical information regarding space exploration. Definitely one of the best sites to visit for up to date information on what is happening in outer space.
Spitzer.Caltech.edu – It doesn’t get much better than this. The photos and information available on the Spitzer Space Telescope sight are phenomenal. Comets, galaxies, nebula, etc., an amazing array of extra-terrestrial beauty.

Source

Posted in Guest Post, Space | Leave a comment