New type of chemical bond may form in extreme magnetic fields of stars
Hydrogen and helium may bond magnetically near white dwarfs and neutron stars.
[as told by NPR’s Linda Holmes]
(viatheatlantic)
HOW THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WAS DEVELOPED (by FactSpy)
Just struck Gold….. How did I not know about it before. You can now download collection of Wikipedia articles on a topic as e-book to read at your leisure in your e-readers. It’s a very useful feature for an avid wiki-article reader like me.
Time Will End in Five Billion Years, Physicists Predict
The Cat’s Eye nebula, seen in a Hubble picture, is an example of what our sun may look like when it dies.
Our universe has existed for nearly 14 billion years, and as far as most people are concerned, the universe should continue to exist for billions of years more.
But according to a new paper, there’s one theory for the origins of the universe that predicts time itself will end in just five billion years—coincidentally, right around the time our sun is slated to die.
Aaron Koblin: Artfully visualizing our humanity
Artist Aaron Koblin takes vast amounts of data — and at times vast numbers of people — and weaves them into stunning visualizations. From elegant lines tracing airline flights to landscapes of cell phone data, from a Johnny Cash video assembled from crowd-sourced drawings to the “Wilderness Downtown” video that customizes for the user, his works brilliantly explore how modern technology can make us more human.
(Source: ted.com)
M31_Andromeda Galaxy (by John Castillo)
16 ‘super-Earths’ found outside solar system
The HARPS instrument has identified an Earth-like planet, shown in this artist’s impression, orbiting star HD 85512 in the southern constellation of Vela.
The European Southern Observatory has just announced the discovery of more than 50 new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), including 16 super-Earths (planets whose mass is between one and 10 times that of our own planet).
