Small Business Innovation Research on the Road

By Paul Shapiro

EPA’s Paul Shapiro with SBIR representatives from other federal agencies at the University of South Dakota’s SBIR Center.

Working on EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, I feel like I am part of something that is quintessentially American. Americans are known for using their ingenuity to solve important problems and for developing innovative technologies to do so. Whether in agriculture, industry, defense, space, or the environment, Americans have created small businesses to put such technologies into practice.

But starting a successful technology company is challenging. The SBIR program is a great resource for innovators. It gives them funds—with no strings attached—to move their technologies through the early stages of development and into commercialization.

I recently participated in an SBIR bus tour with representatives from the ten other federal agencies that have SBIR programs. We went across the Mid-West to get the word out about SBIR.  I felt like I was doing something else that is part of American lore—prospecting.  Yes, mining for golden nuggets of inventiveness and diamond gems of business acumen. Last year’s Road Tour was a success—I connected with people who ended up proposing projects to our program. So this year I again went to spread the word about SBIR to states from which we have not had many SBIR proposals.

In Grand Forks, ND, Sioux Falls, SD, Ames, IA, St. Louis, MO, and Indianapolis, IN, I got a chance to present EPA’s SBIR program and talk one-on-one with people about their technologies.  I told them we want high-risk, high-reward projects that can “disrupt” the marketplace by providing better performing, safer, and less costly technologies than those that are currently being used. To make the risk manageable, however, we evaluate proposed projects equally on commercial and technical soundness. I told them that their success will be our success, since they will help us achieve our mission of protecting human health and the environment.

Since start-ups need all the support they can get, another thing I find inspiring on these trips is meeting the dedicated people in the state agencies, universities, entrepreneurial centers, and consulting firms who host these events and provide supportive services all year long to the innovators in their area.

It was great hearing entrepreneurs describe their ideas and so rewarding to help them see new opportunities—like the person I approached on one of the tour stops. He got up in the larger group to describe a material with remarkable properties he developed for defense purposes. I showed him that we have an environmental topic in our 2016 solicitation that would be a great fit for his technology.  One more nugget for our program!

The timing of this tour was brilliant, because our annual Phase I solicitation just opened and will remain open until Oct. 20, 2016. To propose a project, go to the EPA SBIR page.

About the Author: Paul Shapiro is a Senior Environmental Engineer with the EPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. He has worked for many years on the development and commercialization of innovative environmental technologies. He has helped solve a wide range of environmental problems, usually in collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders.

from The EPA Blog http://ift.tt/2cd0f66

By Paul Shapiro

EPA’s Paul Shapiro with SBIR representatives from other federal agencies at the University of South Dakota’s SBIR Center.

Working on EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, I feel like I am part of something that is quintessentially American. Americans are known for using their ingenuity to solve important problems and for developing innovative technologies to do so. Whether in agriculture, industry, defense, space, or the environment, Americans have created small businesses to put such technologies into practice.

But starting a successful technology company is challenging. The SBIR program is a great resource for innovators. It gives them funds—with no strings attached—to move their technologies through the early stages of development and into commercialization.

I recently participated in an SBIR bus tour with representatives from the ten other federal agencies that have SBIR programs. We went across the Mid-West to get the word out about SBIR.  I felt like I was doing something else that is part of American lore—prospecting.  Yes, mining for golden nuggets of inventiveness and diamond gems of business acumen. Last year’s Road Tour was a success—I connected with people who ended up proposing projects to our program. So this year I again went to spread the word about SBIR to states from which we have not had many SBIR proposals.

In Grand Forks, ND, Sioux Falls, SD, Ames, IA, St. Louis, MO, and Indianapolis, IN, I got a chance to present EPA’s SBIR program and talk one-on-one with people about their technologies.  I told them we want high-risk, high-reward projects that can “disrupt” the marketplace by providing better performing, safer, and less costly technologies than those that are currently being used. To make the risk manageable, however, we evaluate proposed projects equally on commercial and technical soundness. I told them that their success will be our success, since they will help us achieve our mission of protecting human health and the environment.

Since start-ups need all the support they can get, another thing I find inspiring on these trips is meeting the dedicated people in the state agencies, universities, entrepreneurial centers, and consulting firms who host these events and provide supportive services all year long to the innovators in their area.

It was great hearing entrepreneurs describe their ideas and so rewarding to help them see new opportunities—like the person I approached on one of the tour stops. He got up in the larger group to describe a material with remarkable properties he developed for defense purposes. I showed him that we have an environmental topic in our 2016 solicitation that would be a great fit for his technology.  One more nugget for our program!

The timing of this tour was brilliant, because our annual Phase I solicitation just opened and will remain open until Oct. 20, 2016. To propose a project, go to the EPA SBIR page.

About the Author: Paul Shapiro is a Senior Environmental Engineer with the EPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. He has worked for many years on the development and commercialization of innovative environmental technologies. He has helped solve a wide range of environmental problems, usually in collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders.

from The EPA Blog http://ift.tt/2cd0f66

Putting the McGurk Effect to the Test

Students interested in Virtual Reality can investigate how easy it is to trick the human brain. With a bit of video making, students can test the McGurk effect with friends and family. Are there limits to the effect? How will these limits influence the creation and success of Virtual Reality environments?

Above: Watch this PBS video to see the McGurk effect in action.

Do you ever doubt your ears? Without you stopping to think about it, your brain uses other available cues (or sensory input) in addition to sound to process what you "hear." When it comes to listening to someone speak, if you are also watching the person talk, your brain can be tricked and tripped up with mis-information! In other words, if you close your eyes and listen to something, you may find that you hear something completely different than you think you hear if you are simultaneously listening and watching someone speak the same words.

If you have ever been watching a television program or music video, and the audio and video tracks were slightly out of sync, you probably noticed the problem. It can be disconcerting to hear sound that doesn't seem to match up to what you are seeing. This is especially true when you are watching characters speak (or a singer sing), and the words you hear don't match what you see happening with the mouth. You may not be able to read lips, but your brain notices that things are out of sync. It can be really disturbing! (This is also the reason why people may quickly notice if an artist lip syncs a performance rather than singing live. Your brain takes in a whole lot of information from what it sees as you listen.)

Generally, our brain does a very good job processing sensory information and making sense of what is happening. It looks like a piece of pie. It smells like a piece of pie. It tastes like a piece of pie. It must be a piece of pie. For the most part, we trust the interpretation our brain offers. But sometimes the brain gets it wrong, and developers of Virtual Reality (VR) experiences are counting on that.

Virtual Reality and Illusion

Virtual Reality developers are creating immersive environments that are designed to make you think you are in a certain place or scenario, an online game world, for example, even though you know you are "really" not there. For VR to work, your brain has to receive sensory information that is convincing enough that you believe what you know isn't true. Successful VR will create an illusion that your brain accepts as real.

Students can explore questions related to human perception and VR with a simple real-world experiment that puts hearing and seeing to the test and demonstrates that our brains are not always perfect at sorting out received information. With a bit of video creation, you can trick your brain into thinking it is hearing something because of what it sees.

Testing the McGurk Effect

The McGurk effect describes what happens when the brain receives conflicting visual and auditory information. With the same audio being played of a sound or word being repeated over and over, the brain can be tricked into hearing the sound or word differently if there is visual information being provided that seems to indicate a different sound or word. Continuing our pie example, if you watch a video of a person saying "pie" over and over and also see the mouth forming the word "pie" over and over, you probably will say you "heard" the word "pie." But if you watch a video that has been altered so that you hear the word "pie" over and over but the mouth forms a slightly different word over and over, what will your brain "hear"? Close your eyes and watch the same video, and you will likely hear the sound or word that is being spoken. But with conflicting video information competing with the audio information, the brain will not always interpret the sound properly even if you know the McGurk effect is being tested!

In the Do You Hear What You See? science project, students experiment with the McGurk effect to see how the effect works and how strong the effect is. Students create their own McGurk effect audio and video and test volunteers to see the effect in action.

This is a fun hands-on science project for students interested in Virtual Reality, illusion, human perception and psychology, or the way the brain interprets and synthesizes information.

Making Connections

Students interested in the McGurk effect may also enjoy the following science projects and resources:

• Apparent Motion & Animation
• Are Your Eyes Playing Tricks on You? Discover the Science Behind Afterimages!
• Battle of the Senses: Taste Versus Smell
• Get the Scoop on Stroop
• Seeing Science: Weekly Science Activity
• Now You See It, Now You Don't: A Chromatic Adaptation Project
• Seeing Is (Not Always) Believing!
• Visual Illusions: When What You See Is... Not What's There?

Related Reading

If you are a Google Classroom teacher, give our Google Classroom Integration a try by assigning a related science news story! We have a complete walk-through to help you get started. The following science news articles are ones you might consider for a fun related reading assignment:

• 
  
• Hearing: It's Not Just For Your Ears Anymore
• Scientists work their magic on 'shrunken finger illusion'
• An Optical Illusion As Seen By a Fish

Thanks to support from the Best Buy Foundation, Science Buddies is developing resources to support student exploration of science and technology related to Virtual Reality.

from Science Buddies Blog http://ift.tt/2bW9oCs

Students interested in Virtual Reality can investigate how easy it is to trick the human brain. With a bit of video making, students can test the McGurk effect with friends and family. Are there limits to the effect? How will these limits influence the creation and success of Virtual Reality environments?

Above: Watch this PBS video to see the McGurk effect in action.

Do you ever doubt your ears? Without you stopping to think about it, your brain uses other available cues (or sensory input) in addition to sound to process what you "hear." When it comes to listening to someone speak, if you are also watching the person talk, your brain can be tricked and tripped up with mis-information! In other words, if you close your eyes and listen to something, you may find that you hear something completely different than you think you hear if you are simultaneously listening and watching someone speak the same words.

If you have ever been watching a television program or music video, and the audio and video tracks were slightly out of sync, you probably noticed the problem. It can be disconcerting to hear sound that doesn't seem to match up to what you are seeing. This is especially true when you are watching characters speak (or a singer sing), and the words you hear don't match what you see happening with the mouth. You may not be able to read lips, but your brain notices that things are out of sync. It can be really disturbing! (This is also the reason why people may quickly notice if an artist lip syncs a performance rather than singing live. Your brain takes in a whole lot of information from what it sees as you listen.)

Generally, our brain does a very good job processing sensory information and making sense of what is happening. It looks like a piece of pie. It smells like a piece of pie. It tastes like a piece of pie. It must be a piece of pie. For the most part, we trust the interpretation our brain offers. But sometimes the brain gets it wrong, and developers of Virtual Reality (VR) experiences are counting on that.

Virtual Reality and Illusion

Virtual Reality developers are creating immersive environments that are designed to make you think you are in a certain place or scenario, an online game world, for example, even though you know you are "really" not there. For VR to work, your brain has to receive sensory information that is convincing enough that you believe what you know isn't true. Successful VR will create an illusion that your brain accepts as real.

Students can explore questions related to human perception and VR with a simple real-world experiment that puts hearing and seeing to the test and demonstrates that our brains are not always perfect at sorting out received information. With a bit of video creation, you can trick your brain into thinking it is hearing something because of what it sees.

Testing the McGurk Effect

The McGurk effect describes what happens when the brain receives conflicting visual and auditory information. With the same audio being played of a sound or word being repeated over and over, the brain can be tricked into hearing the sound or word differently if there is visual information being provided that seems to indicate a different sound or word. Continuing our pie example, if you watch a video of a person saying "pie" over and over and also see the mouth forming the word "pie" over and over, you probably will say you "heard" the word "pie." But if you watch a video that has been altered so that you hear the word "pie" over and over but the mouth forms a slightly different word over and over, what will your brain "hear"? Close your eyes and watch the same video, and you will likely hear the sound or word that is being spoken. But with conflicting video information competing with the audio information, the brain will not always interpret the sound properly even if you know the McGurk effect is being tested!

In the Do You Hear What You See? science project, students experiment with the McGurk effect to see how the effect works and how strong the effect is. Students create their own McGurk effect audio and video and test volunteers to see the effect in action.

This is a fun hands-on science project for students interested in Virtual Reality, illusion, human perception and psychology, or the way the brain interprets and synthesizes information.

Making Connections

Students interested in the McGurk effect may also enjoy the following science projects and resources:

• Apparent Motion & Animation
• Are Your Eyes Playing Tricks on You? Discover the Science Behind Afterimages!
• Battle of the Senses: Taste Versus Smell
• Get the Scoop on Stroop
• Seeing Science: Weekly Science Activity
• Now You See It, Now You Don't: A Chromatic Adaptation Project
• Seeing Is (Not Always) Believing!
• Visual Illusions: When What You See Is... Not What's There?

Related Reading

If you are a Google Classroom teacher, give our Google Classroom Integration a try by assigning a related science news story! We have a complete walk-through to help you get started. The following science news articles are ones you might consider for a fun related reading assignment:

• 
  
• Hearing: It's Not Just For Your Ears Anymore
• Scientists work their magic on 'shrunken finger illusion'
• An Optical Illusion As Seen By a Fish

Thanks to support from the Best Buy Foundation, Science Buddies is developing resources to support student exploration of science and technology related to Virtual Reality.

from Science Buddies Blog http://ift.tt/2bW9oCs

Last contact with SMART-1

A great little anniversary happens on 2 September 2016: the 10th anniversary of SMART-1's final contact moments before its spectacular impact on the Moon on 3 September in 2006 (see comment below about leap years).

SMART-1 travelled to the Moon using solar-electric propulsion and carrying a battery of miniaturised instruments. As well as testing new technology, SMART-1 conducted the first comprehensive inventory of key chemical elements in the lunar surface. It also investigated the theory that the Moon was formed following the violent collision of a smaller planet with Earth, four and a half thousand million years ago (more info via the mission website).

Once SMART-1 has been captured by the Moon's gravity, it begins to work its way closer to the lunar surface. Credit: ESA

ESA's web news that day stated:

Early this morning, a small flash illuminated the surface of the Moon as the European Space Agency’s SMART-1 spacecraft impacted onto the lunar soil, in the ‘Lake of Excellence’ region. The planned impact concluded a successful mission that, in addition to testing innovative space technology, had been conducting a thorough scientific exploration of the Moon for about a year and a half.

The SMART-1 impact took place on the near side of the Moon, in a dark area just near the terminator (the line separating the day side from the night side), at a "grazing" angle between 5 and 10 degrees and a speed of about 2 kilometres per second. The impact time and location was planned to favour observations of the impact event from telescopes on Earth, and it was achieved by a series of orbit manoeuvres and corrections performed during the course of summer 2006, the last of which was done on 1 September.

For the last 16 months and until its final orbits, SMART-1 has been studying the Moon, gathering data about the morphology and mineralogical composition of the surface in visible, infrared and X-ray light.

The SMART-1 impact flash seen by the CFHT telescope
Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation

Herewith, courtesy of SMART-1 spacecraft operations engineer Rick Blake, now working on Mars Express, are a couple of historic screenshots from the mission control system.

First: A screenshot showing the last command successfully executed on board at 05.42.16.370z (07:42:16 CEST) – just 9 seconds before the last signal from the spacecraft was received via ESA's New Norcia, Western Australia, tracking station.

SMART-1 final telecommands Credit: ESA

Second: A screenshot showing the aforementioned last telemetry – on-board status info – received at 05.42.25.062z (07:42:25 CEST).

SMART-1 final telemetry Credit: ESA

Rick points out that the final signals were received on 3 Sep 2006, which was Day 246 of that year. So, strictly speaking, the anniversary is Saturday, 3 September 2016. But since 2016 is a leap year, the day-of-the-year number is out of step with 2006 and Friday, 2 Sep 2016 is Day 246.

To cater for this, we will celebrate on both days!

Best wishes to Rick, Spacecraft Operations Manager Octavio Camino and to everyone else on the former mission operations team! Job well done!

 

 

from Rocket Science http://ift.tt/2bFmghw
v

A great little anniversary happens on 2 September 2016: the 10th anniversary of SMART-1's final contact moments before its spectacular impact on the Moon on 3 September in 2006 (see comment below about leap years).

SMART-1 travelled to the Moon using solar-electric propulsion and carrying a battery of miniaturised instruments. As well as testing new technology, SMART-1 conducted the first comprehensive inventory of key chemical elements in the lunar surface. It also investigated the theory that the Moon was formed following the violent collision of a smaller planet with Earth, four and a half thousand million years ago (more info via the mission website).

Once SMART-1 has been captured by the Moon's gravity, it begins to work its way closer to the lunar surface. Credit: ESA

ESA's web news that day stated:

Early this morning, a small flash illuminated the surface of the Moon as the European Space Agency’s SMART-1 spacecraft impacted onto the lunar soil, in the ‘Lake of Excellence’ region. The planned impact concluded a successful mission that, in addition to testing innovative space technology, had been conducting a thorough scientific exploration of the Moon for about a year and a half.

The SMART-1 impact took place on the near side of the Moon, in a dark area just near the terminator (the line separating the day side from the night side), at a "grazing" angle between 5 and 10 degrees and a speed of about 2 kilometres per second. The impact time and location was planned to favour observations of the impact event from telescopes on Earth, and it was achieved by a series of orbit manoeuvres and corrections performed during the course of summer 2006, the last of which was done on 1 September.

For the last 16 months and until its final orbits, SMART-1 has been studying the Moon, gathering data about the morphology and mineralogical composition of the surface in visible, infrared and X-ray light.

The SMART-1 impact flash seen by the CFHT telescope
Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation

Herewith, courtesy of SMART-1 spacecraft operations engineer Rick Blake, now working on Mars Express, are a couple of historic screenshots from the mission control system.

First: A screenshot showing the last command successfully executed on board at 05.42.16.370z (07:42:16 CEST) – just 9 seconds before the last signal from the spacecraft was received via ESA's New Norcia, Western Australia, tracking station.

SMART-1 final telecommands Credit: ESA

Second: A screenshot showing the aforementioned last telemetry – on-board status info – received at 05.42.25.062z (07:42:25 CEST).

SMART-1 final telemetry Credit: ESA

Rick points out that the final signals were received on 3 Sep 2006, which was Day 246 of that year. So, strictly speaking, the anniversary is Saturday, 3 September 2016. But since 2016 is a leap year, the day-of-the-year number is out of step with 2006 and Friday, 2 Sep 2016 is Day 246.

To cater for this, we will celebrate on both days!

Best wishes to Rick, Spacecraft Operations Manager Octavio Camino and to everyone else on the former mission operations team! Job well done!

 

 

from Rocket Science http://ift.tt/2bFmghw
v

The Korea-United States Air Quality Mission: An International Cooperative Air Quality Field Study

Now you see it, now you don’t! The photos below were taken in Seoul, South Korea during spring 2016. In the photo on the left, you can see the beautiful Lotte Tower – the tallest building in Seoul.  The photo on the right was taken on a day when fine particulate matter (particle sizes less than 2.5 microns) was exceptionally high—the Lotte Tower is invisible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the past few decades, the East Asia region has experienced significant increases in air pollutant emissions due to rapid economic growth and increased energy use.  From May to June 2016, EPA scientists participated in the Korea-United States Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) Mission in South Korea.  This study, led by NASA and the Korean National Institute of Environmental Research, was carried out to observe air quality across the Korean peninsula and surrounding waters using a combination of satellites, aircraft, ships, and ground-based monitoring sites.  The ultimate goal is to gain a better understanding of the factors that control air quality across urban, rural, and coastal boundaries in East Asia.  The KORUS-AQ Mission is also one of many studies that is contributing to our understanding of the use of satellites to improve air quality monitoring.  Better air quality monitoring can allow for improved protection of public health and the environment.

During KORUS-AQ, EPA had an opportunity to evaluate traditional and emerging methods (including sensors and remote sensing) for measuring air quality in a region with vastly different air pollution levels and mixtures. EPA collected measurements at two ground-based sites and provided monitoring equipment for use on a ship during the concurrent KORUS-OC (Korea-United States Ocean Color) Expedition.

 

 

 

 

Images, left to right: (left) Olympic Park monitoring site; (center) entrance to Olympic Park – always encouraging to see a thumbs up before beginning the work day! (right) Mt. Taehwa monitoring site.

The knowledge gained during KORUS-AQ will be used to inform ground-based measurements for the upcoming TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) satellite launch and other satellite studies designed to improve air quality characterization. During KORUS-AQ, EPA scientists gave hands-on science activities and presentations at schools and universities. Local scientists also helped collect air quality measurements using small, handheld air sensor technologies at several locations outside of the monitoring sites.

To learn more about EPA’s role in the KORUS-AQ Mission, check out our fact sheet. The data collected during this study will be made available to the public in 2017.

About the Author: Rachelle Duvall served as the EPA Co-Principal Investigator on the KORUS-AQ Mission. She conducts research on measurement methods for criteria air pollutants.

from The EPA Blog http://ift.tt/2bMyOki

Now you see it, now you don’t! The photos below were taken in Seoul, South Korea during spring 2016. In the photo on the left, you can see the beautiful Lotte Tower – the tallest building in Seoul.  The photo on the right was taken on a day when fine particulate matter (particle sizes less than 2.5 microns) was exceptionally high—the Lotte Tower is invisible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the past few decades, the East Asia region has experienced significant increases in air pollutant emissions due to rapid economic growth and increased energy use.  From May to June 2016, EPA scientists participated in the Korea-United States Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) Mission in South Korea.  This study, led by NASA and the Korean National Institute of Environmental Research, was carried out to observe air quality across the Korean peninsula and surrounding waters using a combination of satellites, aircraft, ships, and ground-based monitoring sites.  The ultimate goal is to gain a better understanding of the factors that control air quality across urban, rural, and coastal boundaries in East Asia.  The KORUS-AQ Mission is also one of many studies that is contributing to our understanding of the use of satellites to improve air quality monitoring.  Better air quality monitoring can allow for improved protection of public health and the environment.

During KORUS-AQ, EPA had an opportunity to evaluate traditional and emerging methods (including sensors and remote sensing) for measuring air quality in a region with vastly different air pollution levels and mixtures. EPA collected measurements at two ground-based sites and provided monitoring equipment for use on a ship during the concurrent KORUS-OC (Korea-United States Ocean Color) Expedition.

 

 

 

 

Images, left to right: (left) Olympic Park monitoring site; (center) entrance to Olympic Park – always encouraging to see a thumbs up before beginning the work day! (right) Mt. Taehwa monitoring site.

The knowledge gained during KORUS-AQ will be used to inform ground-based measurements for the upcoming TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) satellite launch and other satellite studies designed to improve air quality characterization. During KORUS-AQ, EPA scientists gave hands-on science activities and presentations at schools and universities. Local scientists also helped collect air quality measurements using small, handheld air sensor technologies at several locations outside of the monitoring sites.

To learn more about EPA’s role in the KORUS-AQ Mission, check out our fact sheet. The data collected during this study will be made available to the public in 2017.

About the Author: Rachelle Duvall served as the EPA Co-Principal Investigator on the KORUS-AQ Mission. She conducts research on measurement methods for criteria air pollutants.

from The EPA Blog http://ift.tt/2bMyOki

Space X explosion at Cape Canaveral

NASA says SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its unmanned rocket when the blast occurred Thursday morning. http://pic.twitter.com/Bc7kNiq6E0

— WESH 2 News (@WESH) September 1, 2016

At least one explosion, possibly two, took place about an hour ago at a SpaceX launch site – Launch Complex 40 – at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first explosion occurred shortly after 9 a.m. ET Thursday (1300 UTC), apparently as SpaceX was performing a test firing of its rocket. It shook buildings several miles away, according to various sources.

Bryan Purtell, a spokesman for the Air Force 45th Space Wing, apparently confirmed to AP that an explosion had occurred and said that emergency crews were responding. He said:

Right now we’re trying to determine the extent of the damage, the exact location, possible cause and checking to make sure no one is injured.

Witnesses describe seeing 2 explosions. First one around 9am.. Second around 9:20am @WESH http://pic.twitter.com/u6jqewZ2GZ

— Chris Hush (@ChrisHushWESH) September 1, 2016

"You felt a shockwave from the blast." – @DanBillowWESH on feeling explosion at home.

— Alyssa Elias (@ProducerElias) September 1, 2016

A NASA spokesman said there was an “incident” at Launch Complex 40. That is the site where SpaceX was preparing to launch an unmanned rocket over Labor Day weekend.

SpaceX was founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is famous on Twitter for his quick response to various situation. But, at this writing, he had not posted a tweet.

That is a large smoke plume spreading out from #falcon9 explosion on MLB dual pol radar (correlation coefficient) http://pic.twitter.com/uyXM5v7woS

— Kyle Gravlin (@kylegravlin) September 1, 2016

Pictures of explosion at @SpaceX launch pad from viewers: @WESH http://pic.twitter.com/DuLbnyb7mG

— Chris Hush (@ChrisHushWESH) September 1, 2016

Bottom line: Explosion at Space X launch site, September 1, 2016.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2cfHeQV

NASA says SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its unmanned rocket when the blast occurred Thursday morning. http://pic.twitter.com/Bc7kNiq6E0

— WESH 2 News (@WESH) September 1, 2016

At least one explosion, possibly two, took place about an hour ago at a SpaceX launch site – Launch Complex 40 – at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first explosion occurred shortly after 9 a.m. ET Thursday (1300 UTC), apparently as SpaceX was performing a test firing of its rocket. It shook buildings several miles away, according to various sources.

Bryan Purtell, a spokesman for the Air Force 45th Space Wing, apparently confirmed to AP that an explosion had occurred and said that emergency crews were responding. He said:

Right now we’re trying to determine the extent of the damage, the exact location, possible cause and checking to make sure no one is injured.

Witnesses describe seeing 2 explosions. First one around 9am.. Second around 9:20am @WESH http://pic.twitter.com/u6jqewZ2GZ

— Chris Hush (@ChrisHushWESH) September 1, 2016

"You felt a shockwave from the blast." – @DanBillowWESH on feeling explosion at home.

— Alyssa Elias (@ProducerElias) September 1, 2016

A NASA spokesman said there was an “incident” at Launch Complex 40. That is the site where SpaceX was preparing to launch an unmanned rocket over Labor Day weekend.

SpaceX was founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is famous on Twitter for his quick response to various situation. But, at this writing, he had not posted a tweet.

That is a large smoke plume spreading out from #falcon9 explosion on MLB dual pol radar (correlation coefficient) http://pic.twitter.com/uyXM5v7woS

— Kyle Gravlin (@kylegravlin) September 1, 2016

Pictures of explosion at @SpaceX launch pad from viewers: @WESH http://pic.twitter.com/DuLbnyb7mG

— Chris Hush (@ChrisHushWESH) September 1, 2016

Bottom line: Explosion at Space X launch site, September 1, 2016.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2cfHeQV

New record for farthest galaxy cluster

Image via NASA/CXC/Université Paris/T.Wang et al; ESO/UltraVISTA; ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/ALMA

Astronomers using a large group of space and ground observatories have discovered the most distant galaxy cluster yet. The galaxy cluster – called CL J1001+0220 (CL J1001 for short) – is located about 11.1 billion light-years from Earth.

Galaxy clusters are structures formed by groups of galaxies held together by their mutual gravity. Galaxy clusters can consist of hundreds to thousands of galaxies. They are the largest structures in the universe bound by gravity.

Tao Wang of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) led the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal on August 30, 2016. Wang said in a statement:

This galaxy cluster isn’t just remarkable for its distance, it’s also going through an amazing growth spurt unlike any we’ve ever seen.

The core of CL J1001 contains 11 massive galaxies. Nine of the galaxies are experiencing an impressive “baby boom” of stars, according to a NASA statement.

Specifically, stars are forming in the cluster’s core at a rate that is equivalent to over 3,000 suns forming per year, a remarkably high value for a galaxy cluster, including those that are almost as distant, and therefore as young, as CL J1001.

Astronomers say this galaxy cluster might have been caught right after birth, a brief, but important stage of evolution never seen before. David Elbaz from CEA is a study co-author. He said:

It appears that we have captured this galaxy cluster at a critical stage just as it has shifted from a loose collection of galaxies into a young, but fully formed galaxy cluster.

Before the discovery of CL J1001, only loose collections of galaxies, known as protoclusters, had been seen at greater distances. The researchers say the CL J1001’s discovery pushes back the formation time of galaxy clusters by about 700 million years.

Alexis Finoguenov of the University of Helsinki in Finland is a study co-author. Finoguenov said:

We think we’re going to learn a lot about the formation of clusters and the galaxies they contain by studying this object, and we’re going to be searching hard for other examples.

The result is based on data from a large group of observatories in space and on the ground including Chandra, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, ESA’s XMM-Newton and Herschel Space Observatory, the NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) , the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique Northern Extended Millimeter Array (IRAM NOEMA), and ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

Enjoying EarthSky? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

Bottom line: A new record for the most distant galaxy cluster has been set. Astronomers say the cluster – called CL J1001 – is 11.1 billion light years from Earth and might have been caught right after birth.

Read more from NASA

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2cfH3VI

Image via NASA/CXC/Université Paris/T.Wang et al; ESO/UltraVISTA; ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/ALMA

Astronomers using a large group of space and ground observatories have discovered the most distant galaxy cluster yet. The galaxy cluster – called CL J1001+0220 (CL J1001 for short) – is located about 11.1 billion light-years from Earth.

Galaxy clusters are structures formed by groups of galaxies held together by their mutual gravity. Galaxy clusters can consist of hundreds to thousands of galaxies. They are the largest structures in the universe bound by gravity.

Tao Wang of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) led the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal on August 30, 2016. Wang said in a statement:

This galaxy cluster isn’t just remarkable for its distance, it’s also going through an amazing growth spurt unlike any we’ve ever seen.

The core of CL J1001 contains 11 massive galaxies. Nine of the galaxies are experiencing an impressive “baby boom” of stars, according to a NASA statement.

Specifically, stars are forming in the cluster’s core at a rate that is equivalent to over 3,000 suns forming per year, a remarkably high value for a galaxy cluster, including those that are almost as distant, and therefore as young, as CL J1001.

Astronomers say this galaxy cluster might have been caught right after birth, a brief, but important stage of evolution never seen before. David Elbaz from CEA is a study co-author. He said:

It appears that we have captured this galaxy cluster at a critical stage just as it has shifted from a loose collection of galaxies into a young, but fully formed galaxy cluster.

Before the discovery of CL J1001, only loose collections of galaxies, known as protoclusters, had been seen at greater distances. The researchers say the CL J1001’s discovery pushes back the formation time of galaxy clusters by about 700 million years.

Alexis Finoguenov of the University of Helsinki in Finland is a study co-author. Finoguenov said:

We think we’re going to learn a lot about the formation of clusters and the galaxies they contain by studying this object, and we’re going to be searching hard for other examples.

The result is based on data from a large group of observatories in space and on the ground including Chandra, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, ESA’s XMM-Newton and Herschel Space Observatory, the NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) , the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique Northern Extended Millimeter Array (IRAM NOEMA), and ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

Enjoying EarthSky? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

Bottom line: A new record for the most distant galaxy cluster has been set. Astronomers say the cluster – called CL J1001 – is 11.1 billion light years from Earth and might have been caught right after birth.

Read more from NASA

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2cfH3VI

Fifth fundamental force: fact or fiction? (Synopsis) [Starts With A Bang]

“A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement.” -Fritjof Capra

For most living humans on the planet, the Standard Model and General Relativity, the theories that govern the four fundamental forces, have encompassed all of the known particles and their interactions for our entire lives. We know they can’t encompass all there is, but the search for the first particle beyond the Standard Model or the first force/interaction beyond the four known, understood ones has been elusive.

The best-fit for a new particle given the experimental results of the Hungarian team is a new particle of mass 17 MeV/c^2. Image credit: A.J. Krasznahorkay et al., 2016, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 042501.

Ironically, it might not be a high-energy experiment that reveals the next step in understanding the fundamental nature of reality, but a low-energy, high-precision one. Last year, an experiment looking at the decay of an excited state of beryllium-8 noticed an excess of events at a particular electron/positron opening angle, perhaps indicative of a new particle and a new force. If the results hold up, this could change everything.

A schematic of Feng et al.’s hypothetical scenario for the creation of a protophotic X-boson. Image from 1608.03591., created by Flip Tanedo at http://ift.tt/2bRteN5. I recommend reading Flip’s entire post for an in-depth look at the possible scenarios, as he’s a coauthor on the Feng et al. paper!

But will they? And should we expect them to? That’s, perhaps, the real question, and here’s the answer!

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/2bL6HQW

“A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement.” -Fritjof Capra

For most living humans on the planet, the Standard Model and General Relativity, the theories that govern the four fundamental forces, have encompassed all of the known particles and their interactions for our entire lives. We know they can’t encompass all there is, but the search for the first particle beyond the Standard Model or the first force/interaction beyond the four known, understood ones has been elusive.

The best-fit for a new particle given the experimental results of the Hungarian team is a new particle of mass 17 MeV/c^2. Image credit: A.J. Krasznahorkay et al., 2016, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 042501.

Ironically, it might not be a high-energy experiment that reveals the next step in understanding the fundamental nature of reality, but a low-energy, high-precision one. Last year, an experiment looking at the decay of an excited state of beryllium-8 noticed an excess of events at a particular electron/positron opening angle, perhaps indicative of a new particle and a new force. If the results hold up, this could change everything.

A schematic of Feng et al.’s hypothetical scenario for the creation of a protophotic X-boson. Image from 1608.03591., created by Flip Tanedo at http://ift.tt/2bRteN5. I recommend reading Flip’s entire post for an in-depth look at the possible scenarios, as he’s a coauthor on the Feng et al. paper!

But will they? And should we expect them to? That’s, perhaps, the real question, and here’s the answer!

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/2bL6HQW