Galactic Views (54)

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SPACE WATCH

Black Hole Caught in a Stellar Homicide
NASA – This computer-simulated image shows gas from a star that is ripped apart by tidal forces as it falls into a black hole. Some of the gas also is being ejected at high speeds into space.

Using observations from telescopes in space and on the ground, astronomers gathered the most direct evidence yet for this violent process: a supermassive black hole shredding a star that wandered too close. NASA’s orbiting Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on the summit of Haleakala in Hawaii were used to help to identify the stellar remains.

A flare in ultraviolet and optical light revealed gas falling into the black hole as well as helium-rich gas that was expelled from the system. When the star is torn apart, some of the material falls into the black hole, while the rest is ejected at high speeds. The flare and its properties provide a signature of this scenario and give unprecedented details about the stellar victim.

To completely rule out the possibility of an active nucleus flaring up in the galaxy instead of a star being torn apart, the team used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the hot gas. Chandra showed that the characteristics of the gas didn’t match those from an active galactic nucleus.

The galaxy where the supermassive black hole ripped apart the passing star in known as PS1-10jh and is located about 2.7 billion light years from Earth. Astronomers estimate the black hole in PS1-10jh has a mass of several million suns, which is comparable to the supermassive black hole in our own Milky Way galaxy. Image Credit: NASA, S. Gezari (The Johns Hopkins University), and J. Guillochon (University of California, Santa Cruz)

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Is Broadband Must-Have Resource for Economic Recovery?

By Stephen Alexander – While slow speed connections suffice for basic email or other limited activities some key uses of the Internet—education, health and commerce—are largely dependent on high speed access. Let’s consider the disparity between broadband haves and have-nots.

In education, a student with broadband access can use the Internet to learn about the world from school recommended sources, to participate in online tutoring, and to obtain advanced skills (like coding). Those without broadband access must rely on schools’ limited resources (i.e. the book, or a spot in the class) and have a reduced ability to teach necessary modern skills. more> http://tinyurl.com/7h9mtjq

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Supreme Court Rules on Health Care Law: What Now?

By Sheehan Phinney Bass – Justice Roberts held that Congress has the authority under its constitutional taxing power to impose a fine on those who do not buy health insurance. Thus, Congress cannot regulate the inactivity of not buying health insurance, but Congress may tax that inactivity.

Business owners should have at least a basic understanding of the key provisions of the law, particularly those provisions that are already in effect and those that will go into effect in 2013 and 2014. Following is a summary of key provisions of PPACA that should be of interest to every business owner. more> http://tinyurl.com/brchx7n

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Human eye inspires clog-free ink jet printer

Normal anatomy of the human eye and orbit, anterior view (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

R&D Mag – Clogged printer nozzles waste time and money while reducing print quality. University of Missouri engineers recently invented a clog-preventing nozzle cover by mimicking the human eye.

Kwon’s (Jae Wan Kwon, associate professor in the College of Engineering, University of Missouri) invention uses a droplet of silicone oil to cover the opening of the nozzle when not in use, similar to the film of oil that keeps a thin layer of tears from evaporating off the eye. On the surface of the human eye, eyelids spread the film of oil over the layer of tears. However, at the tiny scale of the ink jet nozzle, mechanical shutters like eyelids would not work, as they would be stuck in place by surface tension. Instead, the droplet of oil for the nozzle is easily moved in and out of place by an electric field. more> http://tinyurl.com/7exjj5y

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What the Internet Actually Looks Like

By Megan Garber – Here is what the Internet looks like: not a series of GIFs or a video of surfing goats, but a spindly collection of fiberoptic cables. The Internet, as a physical thing, actually looks a lot like a series of tubes.

The image left, as seen from the North Pole, offers the global view of the Internet’s major cables. more> http://tinyurl.com/873rsny

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