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A very powerful solar storm is rotating towards Earth

Posted May 16, 2013 By David
Twitt

It is reported that a “super-active” sun spot is rotating on a trajectory towards Earth that could erupt at anytime, causing a massive solar storm.

English: First light image from Solar Dynamics...

Our planet will be in the storm’s sights by the weekend, say reports.

In one 24-hour period over the past weekend, the sun unleashed the three most powerful solar flares recorded so far this year. In the period between May 12 and 14, eight blasts were observed.

On the flare scale, the strongest registered X3.2.

X-class flares are the most powerful solar storms, with M-class in the middle and C-class the weakest. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Breakthrough revolutionises computer speeds using atoms

Posted May 6, 2013 By David
Twitt

An early breakthrough in quantum communications and computing has been discovered through the combination of optical control of an atom and transistor technology.

QuantumAustralian scientists have developed a breakthrough technique to read information stored on single atoms that will significantly improve the accuracy of future quantum computers.

The University of NSW-led team is the first in the world to use light combined with electrical signals to detect and read information stored on single atoms – the atomic structures that will form the basic storage and processing units of super-powerful quantum computers.

”This is a revolutionary new technique, and people had doubts it was possible,” said research leader Sven Rogge. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Private firm Orbital Sciences launches its Antares rocket

Posted April 26, 2013 By David
Twitt
Orbital Sciences, one of the two private US companies chosen by NASA to shuttle cargo to the International Space Station.
bg_Rocket_1-20130422103850852577-300x01The Antares rocket which is 131 feet (40 metres) tall and 12.8 feet (3.9 metres) in diameter, was launched on Sunday.

Liftoff of the two-stage launch vehicle took place at 2100 GMT at the Wallops Flight Facility on an island off the coast of the US state of Virginia, some 170 miles (270 kilometers) from Washington.

As this is a test mission, Antares was not transporting the company’s Cygnus capsule but rather a simulation of an equivalent payload of 3.8 tonnes that was placed into orbit at an altitude of roughly 160 miles (256 kilometres) 10 minutes after takeoff.

The control room erupted in applause after the separation of the simulator payload from the rocket.

“Congratulations to Orbital Sciences and the NASA team that worked alongside them for the picture-perfect launch of the Antares rocket,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Astronomers discover two more Earth-like planets

Posted April 19, 2013 By David
Twitt

Astronomers discovered the two Earth-like planets while scanning the skies with a potent NASA space telescope.

An artist's impression of an earth-like planet

Two of the five planets orbiting a sun-like star called Kepler-62 exist in what astronomers describe as the habitable zone – not too hot, not too cold and possibly having water, researchers say in the journal Science.

“These two are our best candidates that might be habitable,” said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

The two planets are slightly larger than ours and at least a couple of billion years older. Read the remainder of this entry »

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