Today: SPACE, Astronomy News, May 19, 2011

May 19, 2011

SPACE, Astronomy News, May 19, 2011

Ejected planets aplenty in our galaxy
USA Today
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY Star Trek's bold adventurers were always encountering planets seemingly set loose in the middle of nowhere throughout space. The show may have been onto something, suggests astronomers - a sky survey has turned up 10 jumbo ...
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USA Today

Portman's 'Thor' Highlights Women in Astronomy
U.S. News & World Report
"Opportunities for women in astronomy are continuing to increase," said Wendy Freedman, who led a Hubble Space Telescope project investigating the age of the universe from 1991-2001, and current director for the Carnegie Observatories—where Edwin ...
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Cosmic ray hunter installed on space station
Reuters
Scientists expect AMS will reshape their understanding of the universe, much the same way that theHubble Space Telescope pioneered new frontiers in astronomy, including the startling discovery that the universe's rate of expansion is speeding up. ...
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At the heart of Comet 103P/Hartley, a new breed of comet?
Astronomy Magazine
Astronomers don't know, but the answer would give them a clearer picture of exactly how comets were born eons ago at the birth of the solar system. Did thin tendrils of dust and ice get drawn slowly inward and pack themselves into a single, ...
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Looking Up: The dumbbell nebula can tell us about our past and future
Naples Daily News
When a particular class of star dies it “puffs off” its outer layers into space. The layers form a concentric pattern around the star as they expand outwards. This round shape resulted in earlyastronomers calling the object a “planetary nebula” (ie ...
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STFC chief criticised on space-saving cuts
Times Higher Education
By Paul Jump The Science and Technology Facilities Council and its chief executive, Keith Mason, have been heavily criticised in a parliamentary report on astronomy and particle physics. The Commons Science and Technology Committee report expresses ...
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ETSU Planetarium reopens after renovation
TriCities.com
By Heather Fries Starting in fall 2011, East Tennessee State University astronomy students will have the luxury of “traveling” around the solar system, “visiting” planets, and studying constellations from their seats in the newly renovated planetarium ...
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WiggleZ galaxy project proves Einstein was right!
UQ News
An Australian-based astronomy team, co-led by Professor Michael Drinkwater from the School of Mathematics and Physics (SMP) at The University of Queensland (UQ), has shown that the mysterious 'dark energy' is indeed real and not a mistake in Einstein's ...
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NASA's 'Starry Night of Iceland' photo of the day
Washington Post (blog)
By Melissa Bell In case you think NASA's only good for incredible space shuttle launches, you're missing out on some of the agency's best parts. One of my favorite things NASA does is their simple “Astronomy Picture of the Day” site. It's aptly named. ...
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Frankfort teacher selected 'almost-naut' to join NASA research
Medill Reports: Chicago
Lincoln Way High School teacher Margaret Piper will be flying high as part of NASA'sStratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) on a research flight scheduled for June 1. A physics, astronomy and meteorology teacher, Piper was one of six ...
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Medill Reports: Chicago

ScienceCity ends year with Space Shuttle Display
Eastern Arizona Courier
In one session on astronomy, the Arizona Science Center brought its StarLab, an inflatable planetarium, for participants to learn about constellations. Another allowed the children to role play as medical students trying to diagnose their patients' ...
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Blivit Report No. 2: Garden Eels, Climate Jets, and Cold Lonely Planets
Gather.com
In the blivet realm of astronomy, It seems that astronomers have found super-Jupiters wandering alone about the galaxy. They aren't orbiting stars, accompanied by other planets or otherwise any part of a solar system; they are alone... and there seems ...
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Nanosatellite to hunt down aliens
Hindustan Times
... of bread that will undertake one of the biggest tasks in astronomy: to find ''Exoplanets'' beyond our solar system, which could support life like Earth. It is slated to launch in 2012. Seamus Tuohy, director of space systems at Draper Laboratory, ...
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Kochi to get planetarium
Deccan Chronicle
By Shainu Mohan Students and academicians interested in astronomy in Kochi have got something to cheer up for. The district administration has gone forward with the plan to construct a planetarium in the city soon. At present there are only two ...
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Bechtel Environmental Classroom Designed to Earn World's Toughest Green ...
Smith College Grécourt Gate
The lumber for the building will be obtained on site, by recycling used local lumber or by acquiring newly harvested lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Smith purchased the tract in the 1970s as an observatory site for the astronomy ...
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Smith College Grécourt Gate

Motion Control Technology – the Future is Here
Gamasutra (blog)
Over the last few months, new uses have emerged for motion-controlled applications which stem from the Kinect technology - now used in diverse areas such as teaching astronomy, navigation assistance for the visually impaired, even moving robots and ...
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Plans shape up for a revolutionary new observatory to explore black holes and ...
Interactions.org (press release)
A new era in astronomy will come a step closer when scientists from across Europe present their design study today for an advanced observatory capable of making precision measurements ofgravitational waves - minute ripples in the fabric of spacetime ...
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Future is something interesting to anticipate
Niagarathisweek.com
Dr. Sagan was Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences at Cornell University in New York State, and also a consultant to NASA. You might expect that he would have a lot of the answers that von Daniken and others look for. He believed in life on other ...
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Metaphysical Headphones & Dead Sounds: Lone Pigeon Interviewed
The Quietus
Gordon's description of his beats through the medium of dance is a bit rich when you consider his view of music journalism: describing music in words is futile, he says, "likeastronomy for dogs" (also the title of The Aliens' first album). ...
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