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The Big Space Exploration Topic [21-08-2017: Total Solar Eclipse in the USA!]

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  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    Keep up the good news here! Humanity needs it!
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    CommanderRoss wrote: »
    Keep up the good news here! Humanity needs it!

    Indeed ;-). @BondJames? Don't you like this topic?
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Gustav_Graves wrote: »
    Isn't this wonderful?


    I have to repost this video :-)
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Why are these topics not more popular these days than topics about Trump or Putin? :-(
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Did you guys know this?:
    SOME FACTS
    • Boron is one of the keys to the evolution of life on Earth. The element stabilizes ribose, part of RNA, the self-assembling molecule that may have preceded DNA. (Viruses are essentially roving RNA strands.) A June 2014 study found that boron is present in the oldest rocks on Earth, which date back 3.8 billion years. This research proves that the early Earth had the ingredients needed to build RNA.
    • There's a possibility that the first RNA got its boron from space. A 2013 study found that a Martian meteorite that landed in Antarctica contained 10 times the boron of any extraterrestrial object previously measured.
    • Boron, in its crystalline form, is the second-hardest element behind carbon (in its diamond form), according to Chemicool.
    • Unlike many elements, which form in fusion reactions within stars, boron formed after the Big Bang by a process called cosmic ray spallation. During this process, colliding cosmic rays split the nuclei of atoms, causing fission.

    CURRENT RESEARCH
    Boron doesn't have a lot of pop-culture cachet, but science has a lot to say about this surprisingly intriguing element. For example, plant biologists have long known that without boron, plants don't grow. The element is an essential nutrient.

    But why? No one knew until August 2014, when researchers at the University of Missouri ferreted out the answer. Boron, they found, is crucial to the stem cells of plants. Portions of the plant called meristems are made of stem cells, which themselves are capable of giving rise to all the different cells that make up a plant. Without boron, these meristems wither, the researchers reported in the journal Plant Cell. In the eastern United States, farmers have to supplement their soil with boron in order to boost crop yields.

    Well, here comes some great news then. NASA's Curiosity Rover, which is currently exploring some bedrocks near Mount Sharp, has actually discovered this wonderful element called 'Boron'.

    It's a pivotal discovery, because this proves there's a fairly big chance that microbial life (and even fossils of larger Martian organisms) actually do exist at this very moment.

    Here are the most recent scientific pictures related to this breakthrough discovery:
    PIA21256.jpg
    PIA21252.jpg
    PIA21251.jpg
    PIA21254.jpg
    PIA21145.jpg
    PIA21150.jpg
    PIA21253.jpg



  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    It s a fake. The Russians hacked it.
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    It s a fake. The Russians hacked it.

    *sigh*
    X_X
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    Epic @Gustav! thanks for that post! I wan't aware of the role boron plays in organic life. It's very nice to know that it's out there on Mars too. Good chance the planet harnessed life when it still had an atmosphere then. I wonder about Venus.


    And don't worry, @Thunders has been hacked by the Russians himself, he's now a Putin Warrior. Nothing he says is true.. ;-)
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    CommanderRoss wrote: »
    Epic @Gustav! thanks for that post! I wan't aware of the role boron plays in organic life. It's very nice to know that it's out there on Mars too. Good chance the planet harnessed life when it still had an atmosphere then. I wonder about Venus.

    I don't know if you're following the new National Geographic Channel TV-Series "Mars". In there the crew is looking for a cave, so they are more protected against radiation:
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4939064/?ref_=nv_sr_2

    But just imagine if there are actually caves on Mars that are completely isolated from the deadly Mars atmosphere/air. Just imagine the amounts of Boron you can find there.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20161219
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited December 2016 Posts: 24,256
    Gustav_Graves wrote: »
    Did you guys know this?:
    SOME FACTS
    • Boron is one of the keys to the evolution of life on Earth. The element stabilizes ribose, part of RNA, the self-assembling molecule that may have preceded DNA. (Viruses are essentially roving RNA strands.) A June 2014 study found that boron is present in the oldest rocks on Earth, which date back 3.8 billion years. This research proves that the early Earth had the ingredients needed to build RNA.
    • There's a possibility that the first RNA got its boron from space. A 2013 study found that a Martian meteorite that landed in Antarctica contained 10 times the boron of any extraterrestrial object previously measured.
    • Boron, in its crystalline form, is the second-hardest element behind carbon (in its diamond form), according to Chemicool.
    • Unlike many elements, which form in fusion reactions within stars, boron formed after the Big Bang by a process called cosmic ray spallation. During this process, colliding cosmic rays split the nuclei of atoms, causing fission.

    CURRENT RESEARCH
    Boron doesn't have a lot of pop-culture cachet, but science has a lot to say about this surprisingly intriguing element. For example, plant biologists have long known that without boron, plants don't grow. The element is an essential nutrient.

    But why? No one knew until August 2014, when researchers at the University of Missouri ferreted out the answer. Boron, they found, is crucial to the stem cells of plants. Portions of the plant called meristems are made of stem cells, which themselves are capable of giving rise to all the different cells that make up a plant. Without boron, these meristems wither, the researchers reported in the journal Plant Cell. In the eastern United States, farmers have to supplement their soil with boron in order to boost crop yields.

    Well, here comes some great news then. NASA's Curiosity Rover, which is currently exploring some bedrocks near Mount Sharp, has actually discovered this wonderful element called 'Boron'.

    It's a pivotal discovery, because this proves there's a fairly big chance that microbial life (and even fossils of larger Martian organisms) actually do exist at this very moment.

    Here are the most recent scientific pictures related to this breakthrough discovery:
    PIA21256.jpg
    PIA21252.jpg
    PIA21251.jpg
    PIA21254.jpg
    PIA21145.jpg
    PIA21150.jpg
    PIA21253.jpg

    Oh wow!
    I didn't know any of that. Thanks, Gustav! I'm going to use that in class. :)



  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Sadly, 2017 has been a bit silent with High-Res pictures from http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    NASA's Juno Probe has released some great new pictures of Jupiter ;-):

    PIA21376.jpg
    PIA21377.jpg
    PIA21378.jpg
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    edited February 2017 Posts: 8,331
    Holy smoke! Mesmerizing!!!

    edit:

    Be amazed!!!!
    http://www.sciencealert.com/cassini-just-captured-some-of-the-most-mind-blowing-images-of-saturn-s-icy-rings-ever
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Very cool pictures.
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Thanks @CommanderRoss ;-). Here are these truly amazing pictures from the Cassini Probe:

    Ever knew what the tiny moon Daphnis does to the rings of Saturn and vice versa ;-)?
    Here you see the interaction:
    PIA20511.jpg
    And Cassini comes closer and closer to Daphnis:
    PIA21056.jpg

    Many tiny straws in the B Ring's edge:
    PIA21057.jpg

    The tiny dots are actually as large as fridges; they are ice clumps:
    PIA21058.jpg

    Closer and closer...a ripple effect in the B Ring:
    PIA21059.jpg

    Moon waves and moon wakes:
    PIA21060.jpg

    Just a quick peek behind your back Cassini; the moon Dione:
    PIA20514.jpg

    The Saturnian Hexagon (great movie title!):
    PIA21053.jpg
  • Master_DaharkMaster_Dahark
    Posts: 4,813
    Now that's interesting-- why the heck does it make a hexagon?
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Could be a sign? Stanley Kubrick-esque sign? :-P
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359
    Thanks for sharing the pictures. I need to get a printer for these. They would look great in some photography projects I'm working on like so.
    hCFI5fMh.jpg

    This image in particular reminds me of the posters for Star Trek Beyond with the side tilted speed lines. Wonderful stuff.
    PIA21057.jpg
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    AFAK the hexagon is supposedly the result of different 'air flows' on the surface going round, and thus flattening at the top. Stunning foto's @Gustav, makes one's mind come to rest!
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    I thinkkkk, the trailer for the upcoming Sci-Fi film "Life", belongs in here no ;-)?

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 41,011
    'Alien' meets 'The Thing.' Doesn't look terribly inventive or even that good, but given that it's a horror thriller in space, I'll check it out eventually.
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    'Alien' meets 'The Thing.' Doesn't look terribly inventive or even that good, but given that it's a horror thriller in space, I'll check it out eventually.

    I agree. Not terribly original. But who knows....perhaps the execution is top notch :-).
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 41,011
    Gustav_Graves wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    'Alien' meets 'The Thing.' Doesn't look terribly inventive or even that good, but given that it's a horror thriller in space, I'll check it out eventually.

    I agree. Not terribly original. But who knows....perhaps the execution is top notch :-).

    Given what we've seen in the trailers, I doubt it. Looks like it brings nothing to the table that hasn't already been done much better in countless films that came before.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    hahaha is it just me, or...
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Another great picture from Jupiter's south pole:

    PIA21381.jpg
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Another one from moon Daphnis. Here you can see how gravity works with the moon:
    PIA17212.jpg
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    Now that's very interesting! Thanks@Gustav!
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Very cool CGI!
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    edited February 2017 Posts: 11,119
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    Very cool CGI!

    Yet it isn't CGI :-P. Here you see the waves that Daphnis induces nearby in the A ring. They have vertical relief (due to its orbital inclination) and cast shadows when Saturn is close to its equinox:

    5648_13068_1.jpg
    saturn-moon-daphnis-2.jpg
    cassini_daphnis_ianregan.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg
    3858_8981_1.jpg

    Daphnis itself is a very tiny moon, only 8 km's in diameter. It's also called one of only two 'shepherd moons', since it orbits the planet Saturn in the Keeler Gap within the A ring. On the surface of Daphnis these gravitational waves must cause a wonderful sight. As you can see on these space art drawings (which happen to be pretty realistic):

    daphnis_by_justv23-d9v9h4u.jpg
    daphnis.jpg
    daphnis.jpg
    Manofsky_daphnis.jpg
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