STRANGE UNIVERSE

... just when you thought it won't get any STRANGER!

[husnbz-blog]

Origin of Sunspot Cycles Observed --"Flow of Massive Convection Cells 200,000 Kilometers in Diameter"

A NASA astrophysicist has confirmed the existence of giant convection cells –approximately 200,000 kilometers in diameter — flowing slowly on the sun, lending further insight into the transport of heat from its core and the origin of cycles of sunspot activity that affect essential satellite-based communications such as cell phones and TV broadcasting...... Read more at http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/12/new-insights-into-origin-of-sunspot-cycles-flow-of-massive-convection-cells-200000-kilometers-in-dia.html#more

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Voyager-1, and human civilization, finally leave the Solar System

35 years after its launch, NASA’s Voyager-1 spacecraft has finally left the Solar System — the first ever man-made object to do so. It will now continue on a course that, in 40,000 years, will take it within 1.7 light years of a star called AC+793888 — the first man-made object to pass so close to another star, and potentially other planets. Eventually, millions of years from now, Voyager-1 will reach the core of the Milky Way.

[husnbz-blog]

Pop! There Goes The Universe

Do you remember when you were little and you used to blow bubbles with a burnt-out babysitter who had a really cool nose ring? Your eyes would gaze upon the bubble as it floats along until suddenly, within a split second, it pops. The bubble no longer exists.

Guess what? That’s how long it will take for the universe to end. A split second. If your descendants manage to survive our sun supernova-ing, they’re going to witness the end of existence before they can even put together it’s the end of existence.

http://sciencefiction.com/2013/02/20/pop-there-goes-the-universe/

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Today Is Nicolaus Copernicus's 540th Birthday.

Nicolaus Copernicus 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissancemathematician and astronomer who formulated a comprehensive heliocentric model which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center of the universe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus

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A meteor ripped across the sky in central Russia on Friday, injuring hundreds. In the city of Chelyabinsk, the impact caused explosions and sent broken glass out from windows like confetti.

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Scientists Begin to Unravel Gigantic Space Ribbon

In 2009 astronomers using NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft accidentally came across a giant ribbon-like formation snaking its way across the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space. Ever since, its true nature has remained a riddle astronomers have been unable to solve. But now, they believe they are a step closer to explaining this bizarre structure.

Read On http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/06/scientists-begin-to-unravel-gigantic-space-ribbon/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw201302016ngnw-gigspacerib2&utm_campaign=Content

[husnbz-blog]

Right now you are simultaneously hurtling around the sun at 66,600 mph while sitting on a rock that is spinning at 1,070 mph. On top of that, our whole solar system is rocketing through space around the center of the Milky Way at around 559,234 mph. On top of that, our galaxy is hurtling through space at around 671,080 mph, with respect to our local group of galaxies. And on top of that, for all we know, our entire Universe is hurtling through some unknown medium at some other ridiculous speed. Mind boggling!

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A Rare Rectangular-Shaped Galaxy

  In March of 2012, an international team of astronomers discovered a rectangular‑shaped galaxy within a group of 250 galaxies some 70 million light years away.

The rare rectangular-shaped galaxy was a very unusual object. “It's one of those things that just makes you smile because it shouldn't exist, or rather you don't expect it to exist. It’s a little like the precarious Leaning Tower of Pisa or the discovery of some exotic new species which at first glance appears to defy the laws of nature.”

Read On http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/01/image-of-the-day-a-rare-rectangular-shaped-galaxy.html

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Oddly Shaped DNA Structures Found In Human Cells

The above is a digital model of DNA, but it’s probably not the DNA you’re familiar with. The double-helix structure of DNA and RNA--two strings of nucleic acids spiraling around each other and held together by complementary base pairs--is both nearly universally recognized and central to its role as the fundamental vehicles for cell function. But it turns out that a square shaped, four-strand DNA structure (like the one above) is likely more common in our genomes than we previously thought, and that could have important implications for biology.

Read more at http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/four-strand-square-shaped-dna-structure-found-human-cells?cmpid=tw

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One physical phenomenon that orders our entire universe

Stars shine with the power of fusion in their cores. Gravity crushes a ball of hydrogen together until the hydrogen atoms in the center overcome the forces pushing the protons apart and fuse into helium. This process will continue until the star is pretty much made up of helium atoms. If the star is massive enough, they will then fuse together to form larger elements and larger ones, until the star goes nova and disperses chunks of those elements across the universe. Every atom, besides hydrogen, is made by those stars. We're made of stardust.

If you've ever enjoyed lithium, gold, or our entire physical universe, you have a phenomenon called neutron capture to thank. Here's why. http://io9.com/5978221/the-single-physical-phenomenon-that-orders-our-entire-universe

[husnbz-blog]

The folks in the northern Midwest and on the east coast are currently suffering under a massive cold snap. Temperatures dropping way below freezing are everywhere, and near the Great Lakes temperatures near -20° Celsius (0°F) have been recorded for days on end. The wind has been blowing as well, bringing the wind chill temperatures to truly cruel levels.

But in misery there can also be beauty. When you look down from orbit on such cold and windy days, just look what you can see.

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This is why niobium is the cutest element

Remember when everyone was watching that hovering magnet shoot around on a superconductor track? This is what was helping it move. This cute little guy is niobium, an element that was in the process of being discovered for fifty years and today is put in superconducting magnets. Find out about its history, http://io9.com/5977724/this-is-why-niobium-is-the-cutest-element

[husnbz-blog]

The sun kicked off the new year by throwing a tantrum of sorts, blasting six eruptive prominences—huge loops of plasma that can escape and give rise tocoronal mass ejections—from its surface.

This image, taken by a pair of satellites collectively called STEREO and released January 14, captured the roiling solar activity in extreme UV light.

The sun experiences cycles of activity that last for around 11 years. The most recent quiet period, with a drop in the number of sun spots and diminished solar flare activity, lasted three years beginning in 2008. But things started to pick up again in 2011, and astronomers believe the sun is heading into a period of maximum activity in 2013.

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It's official: barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 is king of the (galactic) hill. An international team of astronomers has confirmed that NGC 6872 (pictured), long thought to be one of the largest stellar systems in the universe, is indeed the biggest known spiral galaxy.

Located in the southern constellation Pavo, 212 million light-years from Earth, this newly crowned behemoth stretches 522,000 light-years from one end to the other.

The galaxy's portrait, released January 10, is a composite of visible light, ultraviolet, and infrared radiation detected by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope andGALEX. 

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really gives you a general sense of how everything is interconnected.

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Everything is Nothing!

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“I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here.” ― Arthur C. Clarke