First ever black hole image released

First ever black hole image released

 

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NASA Discovers an Exocomet Orbiting an Alien Star

NASA Discovers an Exocomet Orbiting an Alien Star.

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Hubble Captures Formation of a Giant Storm On Neptune

Hubble Captures Formation of a Giant Storm On Neptune:

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NASA is planning to return to the moon.

NASA is planning to return to the moon.

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Tachyon: A faster than light particle

A tachyon or tachyonic particle is a hypothetical particle that always travels faster than light. Most physicists believe that faster-than-light particles cannot exist because they are not consistent with the known laws of physics.

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Multiple realities can exist at the same time

A mind-boggling quantum physics experiment has seemingly confirmed the existence of multiple realities.

The research sought to answer a decades-old physics question first posed by physicist Eugene Wigner in the 1960s. Known as "Wigner's friend", the idea puts forward a situation in which an observer in an isolated laboratory measures the polarization of a photon.

Initially, the photon is in a state of superposition - meaning that its polarization is both horizontal and vertical at the same time. When the laboratory observer measures the polarization, the particle assumes a fixed state, however for someone outside the laboratory who doesn't know the result of the measurements, the photon is still in a state of superposition.

The reality of both these individuals, therefore, differs - even though both are technically correct.

Now, several decades on, scientists have finally been able to conduct an experiment to actually test this concept and demonstrate that, in quantum physics at least, multiple realities can exist.

"Theoretical advances were needed to formulate the problem in a way that is testable," said study co-author Martin Ringbauer from the University of Innsbruck in Austria. "Then, the experimental side needed developments on the control of quantum systems to implement something like that."

The findings seemed to confirm that Wigner's observations held up in practice.

"It seems that, in contrast to classical physics, measurement results cannot be considered absolute truth but must be understood relative to the observer who performed the measurement," said Ringbauer.

Source: Live Science

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Top Ten Amazing Facts About Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is a name synonymous with genius.Here are top ten amazing facts about one of the greatest physicists of 20th century.

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28,000 years old Mammoth cells brought back to life

A team of scientists in Japan has successfully coaxed activity from 28,000-year-old cells from a frozen mammoth implanted into mouse cells, but the woolly mammal is unlikely to be walking among us soon.

The project by an international team took cell nuclei from a well-preserved mammoth discovered in 2011 in Siberian permafrost and placed them into several dozen mouse egg cells.

Of those, five displayed the biological reactions that happen just before cell division begins, said Kei Miyamoto, a member of the team at Kindai University in western Japan.

None, however, produced the actual cell division needed for a mammoth rebirth, the researcher told AFP.

"This suggests that, despite the years that have passed, cell activity can still happen and parts of it can be recreated," he told AFP.

"Until now many studies have focused on analysing fossil DNA and not whether they still function," he added.

The research — published Monday in the journal Scientific Reports — doesn't provide much hope for Jurassic Park-style resurrection of long-extinct species just yet, he cautioned.

"We have also learned that damage to cells was very profound."

"We are yet to see even cell divisions. I have to say we are very far from recreating a mammoth."

The university has worked with other Japanese and Russian institutes to study and to possibly clone the mammoth and plans to study alternative methods to bring the prehistoric giant back to life.

"We need new technology, we want to try various approaches," Miyamoto said.

Source:The Daily Sabah

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Top 5 Ambitious Future Space Missions

Here are the top 5 space missions which show the curiosity of human beings to explore the last frontier.

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Edinburgh's Blair Street Vaults

 
There are few places in the world quite as haunted as the Edinburgh's Blair Street Vaults. Also known as South Bridge vaults or just Edinburgh Vaults, the place consists of a series of nineteen chambers arches. The vaults were home to local taverns and shops but later became a safe haven for thieves, murderers and all sorts of nasty figures, making it one of the most dangerous places in the city.

Eventually, living conditions proved to be unsuitable even for these criminals, who could no longer tolerate the poorly circulated air and lack of sunlight, running water, and sanitation. Things became so bad that by the 1860s, most of the vaults had been emptied and filled with rubble, so as to prevent flooding and discourage ongoing crime.

Legend:

According to many paranormal investigations, the Edinburgh Vaults are reportedly one of the most haunted locations in the world. Mustering up all of our courage, our group went on a ghost tour of the vaults, learning of the spirits that still roamed its corridors from the 17th and 18th centuries. 

One of the famed ghosts is known as “Mr. Boots,” an evil entity who is believed to have murdered a woman and kept the body in his “house” inside. He hates the people who tour the vaults, and allegedly gets angry or even attacks anyone who dares to sit in the spot where the body was hidden. The most common reports of his presence, however, are the sounds of thick, heavy boots, stepping ever so slowly around visitors.

A woman described her encounter with Mr. Boots as:

“She told us of the presence of a malevolent male ghost who was very strong… he told her to get out of the vaults… She had tried to reason with him but he made a lunge at her and she saw him very clearly… He said ‘get out’ repeatedly. He was very territorial.”

There are also some other spirits which are not so terrifying. One is called "The Aristocrat", who is a well-to-do gentleman with a tall black hat and beard and is often seen leaning against the wall between the double height room and the tavern. With folded arms, he watches and grins at people as they pass. The other is called "The Cobbler" who is believed to be a shoemaker from the late 18th century, he is described as a short, stocky man wearing a long leather apron and a white shirt. He is known to smile at people as they pass, and is generally felt as a positive presence.

There is also a young spirit called "The Child". He is a small boy who wanders through the vaults, aged at about six or seven. He is described as having “blonde, curly hair and is dressed in a smart, blue suit with knicker-bocker trousers.”

Other unusual occurrences have also been reported around the vaults, with a member of staff at an adjoining bar once reporting leaving an orange on the counter for a few seconds while he put something in the bin, only to find it perfectly peeled when he looked back.

Investigation:

In 2001, Professor Richard Wiseman conducted a study of people spending time the vaults and concluded that, since those people who believed in ghosts reported more supernatural occurrences that those who did not believe, and since there were more “sightings” and odd events in rooms the participants had been told were haunted, that much of the experience was created in the minds of the people who went in there.

In contrast to this however – and perhaps lacking the academic credentials of Professor Wiseman – was Joe Swash, who spent a night in the vaults by himself in 2009 for a BBC programme, during which his microphone supposedly recorded the voice of a Catholic priest reciting the last rights for 20 minutes, something Swash himself never heard.

Others take down Electronic Voice Recorders, light meters and other ghost-hunting gadgets, and invariably all report strange, unexplainable readings.

For those that work there, however, there’s no need for any specialist equipment - just nerves of steel to go down into the dark vaults after everyone else has left the building.

Historical paranormal locations, like the Edinburgh Vaults, that embrace their haunted legacies are some of the coolest places to visit, because not only are you getting the opportunity to step back in time, you might even get to interact with the spirits who were there when it all happened.

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Thunderbird

 

The Thunderbird is a cryptid of North America.Thunderbirds inhabit the folklore of many regions. The name Thunderbird is derived from the sound that is apparently produced as a result of the thunderous beating of the mighty wings of the creature.Tales of similar creature often appear in Native American mythology; some tales tell of enormous eagles strong enough to carry whales back to their nests. Since pioneers began moving west across the North American plains, sightings of large birds have been reported. Similar stories appear from civilizations around the world.

Legend:

Native tribes all across North America, especially along the Pacific coast and in the Great Lakes area, have stories depicting enormous birds of prey. Some stories told that these birds were so large and powerful that when they flapped their wings, thunder was created. Lightning flashed out of their eyes, and water fell off their backs, creating rain. 

The tribes used thunderbirds to explain some of the things that happened naturally, such as storms and other forms of weather. The legend of Passamaquoddies, for example, describes the quest of two Indians in search of the source of thunder high in the mountains. Other stories said that there was a thunderbird who battled an enormous killer whale. When the two beasts fought, they destroyed much of the land, knocking down trees and causing much destruction. 

Although dangerous and powerful beings, thunderbirds were also seen as benevolent nature spirits, and they sometimes assisted the tribes in their search for food during periods of famine.According to some legends,the igneous rocks known as thunderstones are the eggs of these creatures.

Sightings:

Sightings of large bird-like creatures have been reported for many years, ever since people began settling further west in the United States and Canada. 

One of the most famous reports is from 1890, where two Arizona cowboys claimed to have shot and killed a large bird. It was described as having no feathers, and it had the head similar to that of an alligator. The two men supposedly dragged the dead bird back to town after killing it. The report seems to suggest that this creature looked more like a pterodactyl or a dragon than any modern-day bird.

Jeromy Clark in his book Unexplained!, lists many more sightings,including:

• In the early 1940s, writer Robert R. Lyman spotted a Thunderbird sitting on a road near Coudersport, Pennsylvania. It soon took to the sky, spreading its 20-foot wingspan.
• In 1948, several witnesses along the Illinois-Missouri border sighted a condor-like bird about the size of a Piper Club airplane
• In 1969, the wife of a Clinton County, Pennsylvania, sheriff saw an enormous bird over Little Pine Creek. She said its wingspan appeared to be about as long as the creek was wide—about 75 feet!
• In 1970, several people saw the gigantic bird "soaring toward Jersey Shore [Pennsylvania]. It was dark colored, and its wingspread was almost like [that of] an airplane."

Another sight occurred recently, on the evening of Tuesday, September 25, 2001, a 19-year-old claimed to have seen an enormous winged creature flying over Route 119 in South Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The witness's attention was drawn to the sky by a sound that resembled "flags flapping in a thunderstorm." Looking up, the witness saw what appeared to be a bird that had a wingspan of an estimated 10 to 15 feet and a head about three feet long.

Conclusion:

The possibilities for an explanation are endless.There’s something marvelous about the notion that a giant, man-eating bird of native lore could still be prowling the skies of the Midwest.

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Expedition sets out to locate Shackleton's ship

Researchers with the Weddell Sea Expedition are hoping to find the wreckage of Shackleton's vessel Endurance.

Believed to lie 3,000 meters beneath the freezing waters of the Antarctic, the famed vessel, which carried Shackleton and his crew on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914, has long been sought-after due to its role in one of the most incredible adventure stories of the modern age.

Shackleton had aimed to lead the first ever land crossing of the Antarctic continent, however the plan was abandoned after the loss of his vessel left he and his crew stranded in the middle of nowhere.

After spending months camped on drifting sea ice, the crew ended up on Elephant Island - an isolated location hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement or shipping route. 

In an effort to find help, Shackleton and a few of his men set out across the ocean in a tiny boat to reach the island of South Georgia which was situated approximately 720 nautical miles away.

After several perilous weeks at sea, they finally arrived on the island. Shackleton and two of his men then had to cross the mountainous terrain of the island on foot to reach an occupied whaling station.

Incredibly, in the end, every single member of his crew was rescued.

Now Professor Julian Dowdeswell and colleagues are hoping to make history themselves by tracking down the last known location of the Endurance and using robotic submersibles to find the wreck.

Even getting to the site however will be an endeavour worthy of Shackleton himself.

"We've got a journey of several hundred km from where we are now through really heavy and quite difficult sea-ice," said Prof Dowdeswell.

"We shall do our best to get there with the excellent ice-breaker that we have, but in any given year it will be very difficult to judge whether you will be able to penetrate the sea-ice."

With any luck, the ship itself will still be relatively intact on the sea floor.

"I think that if we locate the Endurance, the greater likelihood will be that her hull is semi-upright and still in a semi-coherent state," said marine archaeologist Mensun Bound.

"However, on the evidence of the only deep-water wooden wreck I have been privileged to study, I must concede that there is every possibility that she could have been wrenched wide open by impact (with the seafloor), thus exposing her contents like a box of chocolates."

Source:BBC News

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