Black Hole Pictures

Black hole pictures – about a theoretical region of space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, not even electromagnetic radiation.

A black hole is created when a giant star is died and it creates a region in space with extremely high gravitational field. The gravitational field so strong that nothing can escape from it. There are many popular myths concerning black holes, many of them perpetuated by Television and Hollywood movies. I strongly suggest you read this Nasa page which explains “Black Holes.”

Black holes

Black Holes videos

Picture credit wikpedia black hole article

RIP: Ulysses Spacecraft

Over 17 years ago, the Ulysses spacecraft was launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery for a unique NASA/ESA mission. NASA has decided to formally conclude the mission on July 1, 2008.

nasa ulysses photo

Ulysses is a robotic space probe designed to study the Sun at all latitudes. It was launched October 6, 1990 from the Space Shuttle Discovery (mission STS-41) as a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency. The spacecraft is equipped with instruments to characterize fields, particles, and dust, and is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). The Ulysses mission is ongoing, still collecting valuable scientific readings to this day. However in February of 2008, what scientists had always known began to materialize. The power output from the RTG, which is generated by heat from the radioactive decay of plutonium-238, has dwindled to the point where it is insufficient to power some critical internal heaters to keep the spacecraft’s attitude control fuel from freezing.

The Ulysses spacecraft has endured for almost four times its expected lifespan. However, the spacecraft will cease operations because of a decline in power produced by its onboard generators. Ulysses has forever changed the way scientists view the sun and its effect on the surrounding space.

Biggest Dark Matter Detected

According to wikipedia, Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter of unknown composition that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation to be observed directly, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter. Structures larger than galaxies, as well as Big Bang cosmology, dark matter accounts for the vast majority of mass in the observable universe. Now a new giant sheets of dark matter detected:

The most colossal structures in the universe have been detected by astronomers who tuned into how the structures subtly bend galactic light. The newfound filaments and sheets of dark matter form a gigantic features stretching across more than 270 million light-years of space–three times larger than any other known structure and 2,000 times the size of our own galaxy. Because the dark matter, by definition, is invisible to telescopes, the only way to detect it on such grand scales is by surveying huge numbers of distant galaxies and working out how their images, as seen from telescopes, are being weakly tweaked and distorted by any dark matter structures in intervening space.

=> Giant Sheets of Dark Matter Detected

US Spy Satellite Coming Down To Earth Due to Power Loss

A reconnaissance satellite aka spy satellite used for military or intelligence applications. One of such large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or March. The worst part is US government not sure where it will hit on earth. From the yahoo news source:

The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, hey said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. “Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause

According to wikipedia:

The KH-11, also referenced by the codenames 1010, Crystal and Kennan, also commonly known as “Key Hole”, was a type of reconnaissance satellite launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office between December 1976 and 1990 and used until present. It is believed to resemble the Hubble Space Telescope in size and shape, as the satellites were shipped in similar containers. Using a powerful 2.3-meter mirror, the theoretical ground resolution with no atmospheric degradation and 50% MTF would be roughly 0.15 meter (6 inches). Operational resolution would be worse due to effects of the atmosphere. Different versions of the KH-11 vary in mass from 13,000 to 13,500 kilograms. Its length is believed to be 19.5 meters, and diameter is 3 meters or less.

=> Disabled spy satellite threatens Earth

Antarctica Volcanos Found

This is an interesting discovery which may lead to provide us more information about life and other factors.

The first evidence of a volcanic eruption from beneath Antarctica’s most rapidly changing ice sheet has been reported. The geography of Antarctica is dominated by its south polar location and, thus, by ice. The Antarctic continent, located in the Earth’s southern hemisphere, is centered asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle.
Continue reading “Antarctica Volcanos Found”

Google Knol – Another Wikipedia Like Service

Knol has been described as a rival to Wikipedia. It is an online wiki like publishing platform from Google. It will be used to create user-generated articles on various topics. It was announced on December 13, 2007:

Earlier this week, we started inviting a selected group of people to try a new, free tool that we are calling “knol”, which stands for a unit of knowledge. Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it. The tool is still in development and this is just the first phase of testing. For now, using it is by invitation only. But we wanted to share with everyone the basic premises and goals behind this project.

The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors. Books have authors’ names right on the cover, news articles have bylines, scientific articles always have authors — but somehow the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors names highlighted. We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content. At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word “knol” as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably. It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting of the content. Writers only need to write; we’ll do the rest.

Google  Knol  - Another Wikipedia Like Service
(Fig 01: Google Knol Sample Mock-up page)

I guess Google will put ads on the content and they will be getting a share of the profits. Also users will be allowed to rate, edit or comment on the articles. The site is in private beta.

=> Read more: Encouraging people to contribute knowledge

What is the definition of the word wiki?

A wiki is website just like any other website which allows guest and registered users to add, modify, edit content.

A wiki is website just like any other website which allows guest and registered users to add, modify, edit content. Anyone can modify content. It follows online collaboration model and good for building wiki. Sometime wiki also refers to the collaborative software such as wikimedia.

According to wikipedia:
The first wiki (WikiWikiWeb) was developed by Ward Cunningham in the mid-1990. The word wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning “quick”. Wiki systems are therefore designed so that their content can be made available in a quick and uncomplicated manner.

The Largest Ocean of The World

Find out about the largest named ocean in the world which covers half the surface of the entire world.

Approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by nothing but water i.e. ocean. It is divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. There are five major oceanic divisions as follows:

  1. Pacific Ocean
  2. Atlantic Ocean
  3. Indian Ocean
  4. Southern Ocean
  5. Arctic Ocean

The Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth’s oceanic divisions. According to wikipedia:

It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At 169.2 million square kilometres (65.3 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth’s water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth’s land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft)

The Pacific Ocean Largest Ocean Of The World
Fig.01: The Pacific Ocean Largest Ocean Of The World (credit: International Space Station / NASA)

The Pacific Ocean is the body of water between Asia and Australia in the west, the Americas in the east, Southern Ocean to the south, and the Arctic Ocean to the north. It joins the Atlantic Ocean at a line drawn due south from Cape Horn, Chile/Argentina to Antarctica, and joins the Indian Ocean at a line drawn due south from Tasmania, Australia to Antarctica.

What Does Chupacabra Mean?

Find out information about Creature Creature – What Does Chupacabra Mean? Did chupacabra real? Does the chupacabra exists? What does El Chupacabra means?

The Chupacabra (El Chupacabras in Spanish) is nothing but an urban legend. It was first reported in Puerto Rico. The Chupacabra literally means goat sucker. It is derived from the Spanish words chupar, meaning “to suck”, and cabra, meaning “goat”.

  1. Data First reported – March 1995.
  2. Last sighted – 2009.
  3. Country – Mexico, Puerto Rico, and United States.
  4. Region – Central and North America
  5. Status – Unconfirmed.

See wikipedia Chupacabra article for further details.