clhs sciblog

Researchers are allowing the development of energy-efficient LED devices that use ultraviolet (UV) lights in order to kill bacteria and viruses.  There are multiple applications for this discovery, such as drinking-water treatments and sterilization of surgical tools.  UV treatment would be beneficial because it would be cheaper and last a lot longer.  This could help out to treat water in other countries as well.  The team of scientists working on this outbreak were able to significantly improve the amount of UV light that can pass through the substrate.  This topic will have a lot more attention on improvement and advances because of how cost-efficient and effective  this technology can be.

I think this is a really neat discovery and surprising to know it hasn’t been addressed before.  Although if UV rays are a main contribute to skin cancer the sterilization of UV on a human probably wouldn’t be applicable.  I personally would not feel like my water would be as clean by only going through a filter of light.  But since its science, I would trust this procedure.  It’d be great if this technique could spread around the world so everyone would be able to have clean water.

To see full article click here.

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Recently scientists detected an enormous sunspot located on our Sun that is 60,000 miles long. The sunspot, named AR 1476, has been firing off many very powerful solar flares towards the Earth along with a strong solar storm. There are three classes of solar flares: C-class, M-class and X-class. C-class are the weakest of the three and pose little threat and have minute effects on the Earth. X-class are the strongest and can disrupt the Earth’s satellites and infrastructure. M-class flares, which this particular sunspot have been emitting, are in the middle and may create geomagnetic storms and cause miraculous northern light events.  Thus, the flares currently being unleashed are not presently posing any threats to the Earth, even though they have the ability to large bursts of radiation.

Although the M-class solar flares being emitting are not causing harm to the Earth, there are still always possibilities of solar activity hurting our planet. It important that scientists monitor solar activity since much damage could come from extremely powerful solar flares or storms. Sometimes the effects of such flares can be dazzling and breathtaking such as with the northern lights displays that may occur. The effects can also be disastrous for Earth orbiting satellites and other spacecrafts. So, it is beneficial that scientists monitor solar activity in an attempt to prevent harm to those devices.

To read the article, click here.

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The European Space Agency sent up the Envisat Satellite more than ten years ago and has been in a low-Earth orbit ever since. It is an enormous device with its body being about thirty feet long and sixteen feet wide, along having a solar panel of forty-six feet. Altogether the satellite weighs about 17,600 pounds and cost about 2.9 billion dollars to construct and operate. During this time it have been very successful in observing our planet. However, about a month ago the satellite mysterious ceased functioning and was recently officially declared dead in space on May 9th. It was planned to be placed out of commission in 2013 until it suddenly failed. The satellite is estimated to take about 150 years to steadily spiral down back to the Earth. Since the Envisat is in such a low-orbit it could pose as an obstacle for other spacecrafts that travel past it. There will be various space debris trackers that will moniter the dead satellites movement and work to prevent any collisions with other stellar crafts.

Having numerous dead satellites pollute the space around our planet is not a good thing. There is already so much space junk up there already. There needs to be more measures taken in the removal of dead satellites and other space debris. These silent devices pose threats to other fully operating satellites as well as aircrafts that may pass the dead satellites. Especially considering the fact that many of these dead satellites are located in a low-Earth orbit and could crash down to the Earth at any given time. Scientists have proposed various ideas for removing space junk including a space vacuum, a net-wielding spacecraft to drag out debris, and a large laser to steer debris back to Earth. However, none of these machines are currently in the works.

Click here to read the article.

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Astronomers will soon be trying to observe the transit of Venus as it crosses the Sun. NASA will aim the Hubble Telescope at an impact crater, Tycho, on the moon. The moon will then act as a mirror can obtain the light that is reflected off the moon coming from the Sun. By doing this astronomers will be able to capture some light as it passes through Venus’ atmosphere. While observing this event they will take photographs to document the transit. Researchers will study the transit in a variety of wavelengths across the spectrum from ultraviolet to infrared. They will also do the process of spectroscopy, in which they separate the sunlight into its different colors. This light they get will help them learn more about the properties of the planet’s atmosphere and give them more information about it.

Astronomers already know a great deal about Venus’ atmosphere, and that it has a thick, deadly atmosphere and does not have a livable environment. However, they can analyze the light that will come through Venus’ atmosphere and compare that to the information they already know. If the process proves to be a success, then astronomers will be able to apply it to other planets. This contributes to astronomers more recent task of locating and determining other planets that are similar to our own Earth. Since Venus is quite similar to the Earth in size and mass, it makes it an excellent subject to use in determining of this process will be helpful and beneficial later in the future.

To read more, click here.

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Up until recently, atomic clocks – which are based on the oscillations of a cesium atom – have been the number one clock when it comes to preciseness and accuracy. The cesium clock “defines the exact length of a second,” making it the most advanced form of telling time. However, scientists from Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have discovered a new and improved time teller: a high technology optical clock. For safekeeping, it is stored in the U.S. National Institute of Standards of Technology.

Two different institutions, located in the northern and southern parts of Germany, sent a highly accurate clock signal across the distance of their institutions. By doing this, more information and observations can be recorded to contribute to the upgrades needed to be done on the clock. Stefan Droste, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, tells us that the NIST optical clock is well over one-hundred times more accurate than the cesium clock, which our country has currently been using. “Extremely precise time keeping — and the ability to communicate the world time standard across long distances — is vital to myriad applications. Myriad applications includes navigation, international commerce, seismology, and quantum physics. As of right now, the satellite links that are used for communication aren’t up for the job. They’re currently not capable of sending a stable enough signal, so those measurements are somewhat less precise. Optical fiber links would work better, however, they have only been tested over short distances, such as between two different buildings at the research center.

The optical clock’s atoms oscillate at the frequencies of light, rather than in the microwave band. This means that the optical clock can cut time into much smaller intervals, making it twice as accurate and precise.

So why does this matter if our computers tell time just fine? Well, a computer’s time is based off of these clocks. The optical clock continues telling time even when the computer is off, and once the computer is turned back on, it is automatically set to the current time according to the optical clock, which has been running the whole time. This new clock is being used by computers all over the world.

To read the full article, click here.

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Jupiter is a planet of weather. A storm known as the Great Red Spot, greater than the size of two Earths, is being studied by planetary astronomers to try to learn more about the weather of this great planet.

Research is difficult because the Spot is always on the move. Along with the rotation of Jupiter, the Great Red Spot revolves once counter-clockwise about every six Earth-days. The cameras capturing images of the Spot must shoot at thousands of miles per hour. Hovering clouds that are not a part of the Spot also get in the way by grabbing tiny pieces of the Spot or even getting caught in it.

The only accurate way to determine motion of the Great Red Spot is through its wind speeds. Maps that have been created have recorded wind gusts up to 250 mph, greater speeds than found in Earth’s strongest hurricanes.

Spacecrafts that have observed the Spot have concluded that is has shrunk over the past few years and has survived almost 300.

If you would like to learn more, you can most definitely click here.

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Could it be?  Another planet Earth?  It’s not very likely, but astronomers are still looking into the possibility.  It is helpful to look for clues and patterns that could suggest a similar system in which possible habitable planets could be located.  A research team decided that the best place to search would be near Jupiter-like planets.  The team was led by Jason Steffen, and it used data from NASA’s Kepler Mission to look at the Jupiter-planets.  These planets are hot, about the size of Jupiter, and have three-day orbital periods.  A Jupiter-like planet is recognizable when there is a slight dimming of a star it is orbiting as it passes between the star and Earth.  When this happens, it is possible to determine whether or not the planet as any neighbors.  There have been sixty-three hot Jupiter-like planets identified, but no evidence of any companions to them.  Either there really are no companion planets, they are too small to detect, or the formation of their orbits makes them unable to recognize.  However, when the team expanded its research, including systems with hot Neptunes and warm Jupiters (Jupiter-sized planets with larger orbits than hot Jupiters), potential companions were found.  Of the 222 hot Neptunes, two were found, and of the 31 warm Jupiters, three possible companions were found.

Although I highly doubt that another Earth is in existence, I respect these astronomers for putting their incredible knowledge to some good use.  If there is another Earth-like planet out there in God’s universe, what will we do next?  Would we try to make contact and introduce ourselves to its inhabitants?  But what if they are hostile?  Primitive?  Who knows.  Let’s hope that whatever is beyond us, we will handle it like the intelligent human beings we are.

You can read the full article here.

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A couple months ago when scientist had first discovered what they thought would be a rare find, it was really big news. Scientist had found a planet with a solar system very similar too ours, and that planet had some chilling qualities just like our earth.  Though inhabitable at this time it was a HUGE discovery in scientific history. It was thought that the most planets they would find like this would at most be around 20, but only in the last couple of months we have already found 200.  The most intriguing planet is GJ667Cc. It is only 4.5 times bigger than our own precious earth.  Plus it shares all the same qualities. In some sense it is “a Super Earth”. This super earth orbits a star every 28 days so it gets awfully close to the star, so if there was any water on the planet it would just boil off. another planet that is very interesting, but incapable of having human life on it.

Scientist are trying to discover new life, but the bible tells us that isn’t ever gonna be found.  I still think this is interesting because you never know what could happen earth on day, and there is no problem with having a plan B or a planet B.  I honestly don’t think we will ever find a planet as perfect for human life as earth, that is why God put us on earth rather than the other trillion planets in the universe.  We should be worried about taking care of the planet that we actually live on now, instead of wasting time, money and energy on planets that we most likely wont be able to do anything with. It is very interesting though that some planets can be this similar to earth.  For more information please click here.

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