Latest Results of AMS

View of the AMS detector on the International Space Station (Image credit: NASA)

 (AMS) collaboration has today presented its latest results. These are based on the analysis of 41 billion particles detected with the space-based AMS detector aboard the International Space Station. The results, presented during a seminar at CERN, provide new insights into the nature of the mysterious excess of positrons (antielectrons) observed in the flux of cosmic rays. The findings are published today in the journal Physical Review Letters. See: New result from AMS experiment in Space|Cern

On Maui

Enjoying the Island of Maui

Ovation Aurora

The Space Weather Prediction Center and the Space Weather Prediction Testbed have introduced a new Auroral Forecast test product in an effort to improve services to current customers and expand our customer base with new products. The Auroral Forecast product is based on the OVATION Prime model which provides a 30-40 minute forecast on the location and probability of auroral displays for both the northern and southern polar regions. The development and implementation of this model has been a joint effort. The model itself was developed by P. Newell at the Johns Hopkins, Applied Physics Lab. Scientists at the NESDIS National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) added further refinements to make the model run in real time. Researchers at the Space Weather Prediction Testbed validated the model and developed graphical displays. This model is driven by real-time solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field information from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite. The model is based on more than 11 years of data from the Defense Meteorlogical Satellite Program (DMSP) from which an empirical relationship between the solar wind conditions and the aurora location and intensity was developed. SEE: Ovation Aurora

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SOHO EIT 304 Latest Image

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GEANT4

Geant4 is a toolkit for the simulation of the passage of particles through matter. Its areas of application include high energy, nuclear and accelerator physics, as well as studies in medical and space science. The two main reference papers for Geant4 are published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 506 (2003) 250-303, and IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 53 No. 1 (2006) 270-278. See: Geant4

See: Applications 

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Geant4 ^[1][2] (for GEometry ANd Tracking) is a platform for "the simulation of the passage of particles through matter," using Monte Carlo methods. It is the successor of the GEANT series of software toolkits developed by CERN, and the first to use object oriented programming (in C++). Its development, maintenance and user support are taken care by the international Geant4 Collaboration. Application areas include high energy physics and nuclear experiments, medical, accelerator and space physics studies. The software is used by a number of research projects around the world.

The Geant4 software and source code is freely available from the project web site; until version 8.1 (released June 30, 2006), no specific software license for its use existed; Geant4 is now provided under the Geant4 Software License.

Muon Tomography (cont)

It is the case of an article on Muon Tomography, titled New Muon Detector Could Find Hidden Nukes. The article appeared a few days ago on Wired. It is centered on Lisa Grossman's interview to Marcus Hohlmann, a colleague from the Florida Institute of Technology. In a nutshell, the article explains how muon particles from cosmic rays can be used to detect heavy elements (as in nuclear fuel) hidden in transport containers. And what makes things sexier is that the used technology is a spin-off from experiments from particle physics. See: Muon Tomography: Who Is Leading The Research ?

See Also:

• Muon Tomography

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Beginning next year, two detectors (shown here in green) on either side of Fukushima Daiichi’s Unit 2 will record the path of muons (represented by the orange line) that have passed through the reactor. By determining how the muons scatter between the detectors, scientists will compile the first picture of the damaged reactor’s interior. See:
Particle physics to aid nuclear cleanup

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The progression of Muon Tomography,  is an interesting subject in relation to what can be used to help us understand issues we face here on earth. Situations that need new ways in which to diagnostically deal with extreme situations. Example given in relation too, rock density, magma flows, or, even nuclear reactors.

One has to learn to understand "links that are dropped" which pursue a thread of evolution. These help one to understand the processional use of the technologies as used to understand the ways things are measured in those extreme situations. Sensor-ability,  then takes on a new meaning while using current scientific research and understandings in particle physics.

The Sun Current

"Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams."

Here is a movie of the event. Can be seen on YouTube as well

See: SDO

Interstellar: Traversing the Wormhole

The story has a premise with which to share an idea and if it is intriguing to the average mind, then how much more so when a scientist entertains it? He or she might even propose a way in which to use measure with regard to the subject of a black hole?:)

But later I found out more about wormholes, and learned about “topological censorship.” It turns out that if energy is nonnegative, Einstein’s gravitational field equations prevent you from traversing a wormhole — the throat always pinches off (or becomes infinitely long) before you get to the other side. It has sometimes been suggested that quantum effects might help to hold the throat open (which sounds like a good idea for a movie), but today we’ll assume that wormholes are never traversable no matter what you do. SEE: Entanglement = Wormholes

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A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage. Interstellar

The Sun as Borexino Sees It in Real Time

• Neutrinos from the primary proton–proton fusion process in the Sun
• The Sun as Borexino Sees It in Real Time
• First measurement of sun’s real-time energy

The Extra Dimensions

The weakness of gravity compared to the other subatomic forces is a real mystery. While nobody knows the answer, one credible solution is that gravity has access to more spatial dimensions than the other three known forces. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln describes this idea, with the help of some very urbane characters. See: Big Mysteries: The Extra Dimensions

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The extra dimensions of string theory which were originally viewed as a source of embarrassment for the theory, have proven to be instrumental in resolving a number of puzzles associated with 3+1 dimensional physics. I discuss examples of this in the context of black holes, gauge theory and particle phenomenology. See: Strings and the Magic of Extra Dimensions - Cumrun Vafa

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Savas Dimopoulos

(link now dead)Here’s an analogy to understand this: imagine that our universe is a two-dimensional pool table, which you look down on from the third spatial dimension. When the billiard balls collide on the table, they scatter into new trajectories across the surface. But we also hear the click of sound as they impact: that’s collision energy being radiated into a third dimension above and beyond the surface. In this picture, the billiard balls are like protons and neutrons, and the sound wave behaves like the graviton.

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•  Are There Extra Dimensions?(Number 3)

Neural Oscillations in Gamma

EEG in Gamma-A gamma wave is a pattern of neural oscillation in humans with a frequency between 25 and 100 Hz,^[1] though 40 Hz is typical.^[2]

Here exists a measure with which consciousness can be associated, then,  by such neural oscillations it would have some effect in demonstrating that matter would/could correlate to such frequencies?

A mouse endowed with an astrocyte signalling switch may prove useful in future experiments—and may enable the researchers to continue to explore how gamma waves enable recognition of what’s new and different, a cognitive task equally essential for humans to make their way in the world. See: The Brainwave That Lets You Recognize What’s New in the World

In "we create reality" listed in blog post below, a simple suggestion it seems makes thinking in this range somewhat appealing? I mean,  is it really that easy that what we choose to do with our thinking can actually produce physiological implications in the thinking brain so as to suggest we can actually create these states?

Frederick Travis, PhD, director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition, explains that the concept "We create our reality" is more than a philosophical statement. It is a physical reality driven by neural plasticity—every experience changes the brain. Therefore, choose transcendental experiences and higher states of consciousness naturally unfold. See: We Create Our Reality (underlined for emphasis by me).

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Isolated Astrocyte shown with confocal microscopy. Image: Nathan S. Ivey and Andrew G. MacLean

 Research since the mid-1990s has shown that astrocytes propagate intercellular Ca²⁺ waves over long distances in response to stimulation, and, similar to neurons, release transmitters (called gliotransmitters) in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. Data suggest that astrocytes also signal to neurons through Ca²⁺-dependent release of glutamate.^[1] Such discoveries have made astrocytes an important area of research within the field of neuroscience.

Calcium Waves-Astrocytes are linked by gap junctions, creating an electrically coupled (functional) syncytium.^[25] Because of this ability of astrocytes to communicate with their neighbors, changes in the activity of one astrocyte can have repercussions on the activities of others that are quite distant from the original astrocyte.

An influx of Ca²⁺ ions into astrocytes is the essential change that ultimately generates calcium waves. Because this influx is directly caused by an increase in blood flow to the brain, calcium waves are said to be a kind of hemodynamic response function. An increase in intracellular calcium concentration can propagate outwards through this functional syncytium. Mechanisms of calcium wave propagation include diffusion of calcium ions and IP3 through gap junctions and extracellular ATP signalling.^[26] Calcium elevations are the primary known axis of activation in astrocytes, and are necessary and sufficient for some types of astrocytic glutamate release.

See Also:

• Delving Deeper into the Subject of Binaural Beats
• Binaural beats by Wiki