Capital Berg

Keeps People Up-To-Date

Sunday, June 25, 2017
Log in

Want To See What The Solar Eclipse Will Look Like? Check With This New Tool

By Leave a Comment

solar eclipse new tool

Scientists released a new tool, the Eclipse Megamovie Simulator, for the best view of the event.

The Solar Eclipse that will be taking place on August 21, 2017, generated and is likely to continue generating a lot of hype and excitement. As it will be the first such event in almost 100 years, a number of technologies have already sprung up to ensure the best possible view.

Now, a new tool, developed by Google in collaboration with UC Berkeley, will help anyone determine what the total solar eclipse will appear like from their location or any given one in the world. This new software is named the Eclipse Megamovie Simulator and is part of the large-scale Eclipse Megamovie Project.

This New Tool, the Simulator, Will Come Join A Variety of Others

The Project is looking to create a “megamovie” of the solar eclipse event. This will offer a view of the event from all over the world, in as many positions as possible. To do so, the project team is asking for help from volunteers. These will be collecting photos of the natural phenomenon, which will then be used in making the Eclipse movie.

The Eclipse Megamovie Simulator could prove to be a very useful addition for all those interested in giving a helping hand to the project. Or those just looking to make the most of the phenomenon. The Simulator will offer results based on the user’s zip code. Then, the program will produce a simulation of what you can expect to see in the respective location. It will also determine the best time in which the user can take a look.

Besides this new tool, the Solar Megamovie Project is also offering the Solar Eclipse Timer. This app can talk the user through the natural phenomenon so that they will know the exact location of the Sun throughout the event.

When combined, the Timer and Simulator should offer the best chance of making the most out of this event. The August 21 solar phenomenon will be the first total eclipse to be seen in the U.S. since 1918.

Still, specialists warn people not to look directly at the sun while this happens. They should protect their eyes by wearing special glasses or similar other variants.

Image Source: Flickr

The Strawberry Moon, An Unique Event, Can Be Best Seen On Friday

By Leave a Comment

strawberry moon

On Friday, June 09, night watchers will be gazing at the minimoon or Strawberry Moon.

June 09th will be coming with a once-in-a-year cosmic event, namely the “Strawberry Moon”, also known as a “minimoon”. This means that, as opposed to the more commonly seen supermoons, Earth’s natural satellite will seem slightly smaller than normal.

June 09’s full moon is both the smallest and the lowest such event throughout the year. Besides appearing to be smaller and dimmer than a usual such event, it will also rise only about one-third of the way up in the sky.

The micro or minimoon occurs as the natural satellite is at apogee. This means that the moon reached the farthest point to Earth on its moon. Supermoons happen as the satellite is at its perigee. During such moments, the moon is at the closest point in its orbit to our planet.

For comparison, the moon is usually situated some 240,000 miles away from Earth. During its perigee, it gets to within about 220,000 miles of the planet. At the apogee, it distances itself to around 250,000 miles, all according to NASA.

The Strawberry Moon and its Name Source

June’s full moon is the only such event throughout the calendar year in which the Moon will appear smaller than normal. Besides its cosmic value, the phenomenon also received various names. Ancient or native people coined most of them.

For example, the Strawberry Moon title originates from the indigenous people of northeastern U.S. They chose this name as June also marks the period of the year in which wild strawberries ripen in their region. As this event differs according to location, this full moon is also known as the “Rose Moon”, for similar reasons.

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, it could also be called the “Honey Moon”. But this is because it may appear to have an amber tint.

The Strawberry Moon will reach its fullest phase on June 09, at 1309 GMT or 9:09 a.m. EDT. To make the most of this cosmic event, sky gazers should consult a moonrise and moonset calculator.

The moon will already be below the horizon for night watchers in continental U.S. during its peak period. But people in some parts of Alaska and early risers in Hawaii should be able to enjoy the minimoon to the full. Sky gazers in continental U.S. can best see this moon on the evening before and after it reaches its fullest phase. The next minimoon will be observable on June 27, 2018.

Image Source: Pixabay

Jupiter Revealed Stunning Information About Itself Thanks To Juno

By Leave a Comment

juno jupiter

The Juno spacecraft has been capturing and revealing some stunning new data about Jupiter.

Jupiter, the largest and possibly even the oldest planet in our solar system is revealing stunning information about itself in a series of new photos, all with some help from the Juno spacecraft.

Deployed by NASA in 2011, this entered the massive planet’s orbit on July 4, 2016. Ever since then, it has been orbiting and recording data on Jupiter. Every 53 days, the spacecraft carries out a flyby that takes it as close as 2,600 miles of the planet’s top cloud layer. Presently, the probe successfully conducted five such flybys, and the data collected is at the base of two new studies.

Both the two new papers are available in the journal Science. One is about the planet’s interior and deep atmosphere, the other about its exceptional auroras.

Juno Helped Bring New, Unbelievable Data About Jupiter and its System

Images captured by the JunoCam reveal that Jupiter’s poles are quite a chaotic place. They seem to be traversed by massive and densely packed cyclones. This came as a surprise seeing as scientists were expecting a somewhat Saturn-like orderly and neat vortex.

Researchers are yet unsure how these cyclones form, or even how long they last. They may be continuous just as well as they could be periodic. Also, observations showed that the planet’s north pole is different from its south. So specialists are going to continue analyzing this location, and see how, and if it changes.

This new data also shows that Jupiter’s magnetic field is also different than predicted. Namely, it is around twice as strong as scientists were expecting it to be. It also appears to be stronger in some places and weaker in some others.

“There is so much going on here that we didn’t expect that we have had to take a step back and begin to rethink of this as a whole new Jupiter,” states Scott Bolton, the mission’s principal investigator.

If the mission maintains its planned course, Juno should continue orbiting Jupiter for another two years as part of its primary mission.

Image Source: JPL/NASA

Chocolate Is Good For The Heart In More Ways Than Believed

By Leave a Comment

chocolate

Chocolate may be better for the heart than believed as it can seemingly lower atrial fibrillation risks

Scientists brought good news to chocolate lovers earlier this week as a new study found that consuming it may help reduce the risks of atrial fibrillation. These benefits were noted in both women and men, but they also depended on the regularity of the consumption.

Chocolate to Help Reduce the Risks of Heart Problems?

This new study was carried out by researchers part of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Study results became available earlier this week in the journal Heart.

The team based its research on data gathered by the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study. This involved around 55,500 people from Denmark, both women and men, with ages in between 50 to 64.

Participants were asked to offer information regarding their weekly chocolate consumption at the beginning of the study, but they did not specify its type. Also, the team defined a serving as 30 ounces of this good.

The researchers gathered information such as heart disease risks, dietary and smoking habits, and the lifestyle, in general, from all participants, as well. Then, they followed these people for an average of 13.5 years.

Over this period, the team registered 3,346 cases of atrial fibrillation. A follow-up analysis showed that participants that consumed between one to 3 servings per month presented a lower risk of developing the condition. Namely, they had a 10 percent smaller risk when compared to those that ate less than one per month.

Still, the benefits were noted to vary in agreement with the chocolate consumption levels and frequency. For women, the best results were registered in those that ate one weekly serving. This decreased their risk by 21 percent. In men, consuming 2 to 6 servings every week accounted for an about 23 percent lowered risk.

“Despite the fact that most of the chocolate consumed […] probably contained relatively low concentrations of the potentially protective ingredients, we still observed a robust statistically significant association,” said the study team.

Still, some researchers note that the study team did not account for all the potential atrial fibrillation risks factors. They also did not determine a cause and effect relation. Still, their findings raised interest and may lead to further research.

Image Source: Pixabay

This Nodosaur Is One Of The Most Impressive Fossils Ever Found

By Leave a Comment

nodosaur footprint

Scientists are still amazed by this incredibly well-preserved nodosaur fossil structure.

 

One of the most impressive and well-preserved fossil structures ever found has been discovered in a Canadian mine. The nodosaur is an ancient cousin of the better-known ankylosaurus, and it lived about 110 million years ago.

So perfect is this preservation that scales, spikes, and even bits of skin are still attached. The creature’s face is so perfectly rendered, it appears to glare across time at those who’ve disturbed its rest.

New Nodosaur Fossil Like a Statue Glaring

The nodosaur lived in a place which was much warmer and wetter 100 million years ago. It most likely ate primitive conifers and ferns. It has a beak like a turtle, and even some of its gut remains preserved. Scientists can tell it had a system of stomachs that broke down its high-fiber diet, rather than any serious teeth for chewing.

Spikes that usually fall away during decomposition still remain, the first of their kind handled by paleontologists. Soft tissue including skin, scales, and organs have been identified. The fossil is extremely fragile, however, and continuing research will be painstaking, yet almost certainly rewarding.

It appears to have died very suddenly, sinking into the shallow seaway that stretched, at the time, from the Gulf of Mexico and up to the Arctic Ocean. In fact, it hit so hard that it appeared to leave a small impact crater.

“It must have been a very quiet, a very muddy, fine-grained and low-oxygenated environment where it settled, because there is no scavenging on the animal,” said Caleb Brown, a postdoctoral fellow at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta.
He is co-authoring a study describing the new species, likely to be released next year. The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada received the well-preserved fossil from Suncor Energy Corporation, which found it in their mine.

It has since been slowly exposed over the last six years, and it is one of the most impressive of its kind. Now, after many hours of work, its restoration is complete, and the nodosaur is ready to face the public. It is the central piece of a new exhibition opened at the Museum last week.

Image Source: Wikimedia

Two Enormous Waves Of Lava Are Sweeping Over Jupiter’s Io

By Leave a Comment

enormous waves of lava

Researchers believe that Io’s Loki Patera is swept periodically by two enormous waves of lava.

 

A closer examination of Jupiter’s Io brought evidence that surging lava may be flowing over its molten lava lake, the Loki Patera. These waves of lava may be acting just as such a system would usually do on Earth’s watery oceans.

The Large Binocular Telescope Observatory helped detect changes in temperature across the lava lake. These indicated two enormous waves might be coursing across it. This came as quite a surprise, as previous observations had only hinted at the existence of one wave of lava.

Two Very Hot, Enormous Waves of Lava Sweeping Across this Lake

Jupiter’s Io is one of the most volcanically-active moons in our solar system. Scientists are paying special attention to it, as they believe it may be similar to an extremely primitive Earth. This kind of volcanic activity is also rare among the celestial bodies orbiting the Sun.

The study used infrared data from the Observatory taken on March 8, 2015. This was quite a special day as the icy moon, Europa, lined up perfectly and aided scientists in their examination of Io. What they found was a steady increase in temperature from the western edge of the Loki Patera to its southeastern “shore”.

The fluctuation varied over 55 degrees centigrade. According to the scientists, this may indicate that the lake was overturning in two enormous waves moving at about a kilometer per day.

When the hot lava at the bottom of those lakes rises, it cools. In its turn, this causes it to become denser. It then once again sinks to the bottom of the lake. But there it is believed to heats up again and expand. Which causes it to once again rise to the surface. This cyclical motion is not unlike that on the surface of our oceans.

“Interestingly, the overturning started at different times on two sides of a cool island in the center of the lake that has been there ever since Voyager photographed it in 1979,” said Imke de Pater, a study co-author.
The phenomenon could also explain a regular fluctuation in brightness of the lava lake, as the hotter magma is more incandescent. Scientists predict that the next alignment with Europe will take place in 2021, for which they are already ready. Current study results were published in the journal Nature.
Image Source: FreeGreatPicture

Facebook Instant Games Are Now Globally Available

By Leave a Comment

messenger instant games

Facebook announced that its Messenger Instant Games will now be globally available.

Back in November 2016, Facebook released a new feature on its Messenger app. To the delight of some and maybe the annoyance of others, US-based users could start playing games from within a chat.

Now, the social media giant announced that it will make this option, called Instant Games, globally available. Also, it will be releasing some new features, teased during the F8 conference.

Instant Games Will Readily Come With 50 Titles

Instant Games for Messenger will face its global release with 50 titles which should please everyone. Its activities will number quite a variety of games, from 8 Ball Pool to Pac-Man, to Words With Friends from Zynga.

With this new feature, Facebook will be basically sidestepping app stores as its titles don’t have to be downloaded. Instead, they will be HTML5 “instant” activities from directly within Messenger. These games can be used both in a direct and a group chat.

Facebook presented the Instant Games as both a conversation starter and a pastime as you’re waiting for a reply. During its F8 conference, the social media company said that the option was used some 1.5 billion times in just 90 days.

One of the best things about this new option is that the games will not have ads or come with in-game purchases. Over the next few weeks, Instant Games will start being rolled out globally in both an Android and iOS version.

Also, the feature will come with some new powers. In a seemingly frequently requested option, it will soon support turn-by-turn games. Initially, the games only came with a single-mode and score leaderboards.

With the turn-by-turn option, the games will become even more of a social feature than before. Words With Friends by Zynga was one of the first to come with this feature as it also allows a simultaneous chat. More games are expected to turn to such a play mode.

Facebook is also testing a dedicated Games tab. Set in Messenger, this will be curated to offer top games, but more details on its function are still to come.

As announced during the F8, Facebook will now encourage developers to create game bots. These latter will be able to communicate with the playing users. As they do so, they will announce new levels or tease with future rewards.

Image Source: Flickr

The Total Eclipse Forever Stamp Will Be Changing Images

By 1 Comment

total eclipse forever

The United States Postal Services announced the release of the Total Eclipse Forever stamp.

Last week, the United States Postal Services announced the release of a new stamp. Called the Total Eclipse Forever, it will be released in honor of the August total solar eclipse. But the stamp in itself will be quite special as well. Based on its thermodynamic ink, this will be able to change its image. All thanks to some heat from the user’s thumb.

Total Eclipse Forever Will Become Available In June

In its press release, the U.S. Postal Services released details about its plans for the new stamp. At the same time, it also offered some details about its latest product. As the Services pointed out, this is a first-of-its-kind stamp.

All thanks to its image changing nature, enabled by the use of the thermochromic ink technology. This type of inks is vulnerable to prolonged exposure to UV light. As such, it should be kept out of direct sunlight “as much as possible”. This will help prolong its longevity and maintain its unique effect.

The first image in the Total Eclipse Forever Stamp shows a total solar eclipse. Customers can either press their thumb or fingers on it or rub the stamp. In doing so, they will unearth the second picture, showing the Moon.

Both of the used pictures were captured by Fred Espenak aka Mr. Eclipse, an astrophysicist. As the stamp cools down, it will also return to its original image. This was taken during the March 29th, 2006 total solar eclipse, in Jalu, Libya.

The Total Eclipse Forever will be issued as a “Forever” stamp. As such, it will be equal in value to the First—Class Mail 1-ounce current price. The stamp will start being available on June 20th, about two months before the much-anticipated eclipse. According to its press release, the Postal Services are also encouraging the public to spread the news about its latest stamp. Anyone can do so by using #EclipseStamps.

The Postal Service also said that “Tens of millions of people in the United States hope to view this rare event, which has not been seen on the U.S. mainland since 1979.”

Image Source: Flickr

An Immense Mass Of Plastic Is Floating In The Arctic Ocean

By Leave a Comment

immense mass of ice in the ocean

Surveys have shown that the Arctic Ocean has an immense mass of plastic bits floating around.

 

Many have heard of the Pacific Gyre, the central spot in the Pacific Ocean where a garbage patch of floating plastic the size of Texas has gathered. Accumulations have been found in other oceans around the world. Now, it looks like the Arctic has one as well.

An Immense Mass Of Some 300 Billion Bits of Plastic Is Floating In The Arctic Ocean

Right now, this immense mass is floating east of Greenland and north of Scandinavia. However, as the ice caps continue to diminish, it is expected to expand. Some scientists fear there may be even more of it. Some of this immense mass may have sunk to the ocean floor. As it passes through the water column, an enormous amount of this debris is making its way into the food chain. That is where it’s most devastating consequences may occur.This plastic does not dissolve. It can also not be digested by animals. Tiny bits and giant chunks are being found, not just entangled around wildlife, but within their digestive tract. The results are painful and often deadly.

The dual effect of warming due to climate change and this immense mass of trash is wreaking havoc on the Arctic and its fragile ecosystem. Many animal species already on edge due to receding ice and melting permafrost, are now being hit by this human-created mess. The particles are showing up in seals and walruses, who eat the fish that consumed them in the first place.
“The problem with plastic specifically being in the Arctic is that it’s going to get into the food chain of animals that are very much under threat already, that are struggling to survive in a changing climate.”
This is according to Erik van Sebille. He is the author of this new study, which was published in the Science Advances journal.
Reportedly, most of the immense mass of plastic could be prevented with more aggressive recycling and reclamation programs. Right now, allegedly only about 22% of our waste is recycled.

Image Source: Wikimedia

Titan Will Receive One Last FlyBy Visit From Cassini

By Leave a Comment

titan and cassini

Saturday, Cassini will be making one more flyby of the moon Titan before the end of its mission.

 

NASA’s highly successful Saturn-exploring spacecraft, Cassini, will be making one more flyby of the moon Titan before the end of its mission. This Saturday, Cassini will make one last pass over the moon, coming within almost 600 miles of its surface. As it does so, it will be taking photos and readings with its various instruments the entire time.

Scientists also plan on using Titan’s gravity to assist Cassini as it prepares for its Grand Finale. This will be a series of dives between Saturn’s upper atmosphere and rings.

Cassini to Take One More Look At Titan Before It Says Its Final Farewell

With this last flyby, there will be a flurry of tests and experiments for Cassini, even as its directors prepare for a final trajectory change. Scientists hope to take measurements of the depth of Titan’s methane lakes and seas.

The experiments could also shed light on the moon’s so-called “magic islands”. These latter are now believed to be the result of static electricity building up on tiny particles of sand.

Cassini’s INMS or the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer will also be closely examining the upper atmosphere of Titan. It will do so in an attempt to discover how it changes over time. The magnetometer on board the spacecraft will be used to measure Titan’s northern magnetic tail.

This is unique because the moon has no magnetic field of itself. Instead, it has a tail created by the interaction between its ionosphere and Saturn. Once the last measurement is taken, scientists will shift Cassini’s trajectory one final time.
Using Titan’s gravity to give it an extra push, Cassini will end its almost twenty-year mission with a series of dips. These will have it bouncing back and forth between Saturn’s upper atmosphere and its rings.
The spacecraft will make twenty-two of these dives over several weeks, taking measurements and sending back readings the entire time. It will end with a fiery burnout as Cassini finally collides with the planet it was launched to examine in October of 1997.
Image Source: JPL/NASA

Categories