Topic: 16 year study of Milky Way's black hole

[RandalThor]

Claoking Device (at least a good start on the technology, which has been in development for nearing a decade now): 
http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2013/11/thin-active-invisibility-cloak-demonstrated-first-time?et_cid=3599289&et_rid=41410028&type=headline

This is precisely why I say nothing is impossible. (Except maybe time travel to the past, I just cannot imagine that happening and we don't know about it - humans are fallible, any attempts to keep it secret would eventually fail. Unless, of course, in the future humans aren't fallible...  )

[Wolfhound]

And another non-space, but more of a high-tech gadgetry technology that could be used in a sci-fi setting for some interesting details for a game, single-access security memory system using quantum physics principles: http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/01/quantum-physics-could-make-secure-single-use-computer-memories-possible-0?et_cid=3714426&et_rid=54634990&type=headline

[Wolfhound]

Yes a lot of people forget that glass is a super cool liquid.
MDC

Another interesting article (not space-related, but related to the physics of flowing glassy substances in their "solid" state): http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/02/physicists-solve-20-year-old-debate-surrounding-glassy-surfaces?et_cid=3796779&et_rid=54634990&type=headline

It explains that the extremely slow flow (makes the flow of glaciers look lightning fast) occurs via only the surface layer of such substances taking on a flow-able semi-liquid state, while the inner layers maintain a solid (fixed, at least until the layer above flows away causing the next layer down to transition to this same flow-able state) property (despite being in a disordered crystalline state, which technically is part of the definition of a liquid). 

[markc]

 Yes glass is a liquid, or a super cooled liquid. You can tell by all of the older stained glass windows being thicker at the bottom than the top. If they were a solid then gravity would not affect the glass like ti does.
MDC

[arakish]

And, yes, glaciers are lightning fast compared to glass...

rmfr

[Wolfhound]

Yet another space/planet related article of interest that I came across at work today ("8.8 billion earth-size, just-right planets"): http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2013/11/study-88-billion-earth-size-just-right-planets#at_pco=smlwn-1.0&at_tot=1&at_ab=per-13&at_pos=0

[Terry K. Amthor]

Yes glass is a liquid, or a super cooled liquid. You can tell by all of the older stained glass windows being thicker at the bottom than the top. If they were a solid then gravity would not affect the glass like ti does.
MDC

I read somewhere that was a myth, and it was just flaws in the glassmaking of the time. Ahh, here...

http://www.glassnotes.com/WindowPanes.html
http://www.cmog.org/article/does-glass-flow

[markc]

  Thanks for the info, I heard the idea in my upper division Phys Chem class as well as my Gen Chem class. One was in the late 80's and the other in the early 90's.
MDC

[RandalThor]

Only slightly off topic: anyone catch the new Cosmos? I think I am really going to like it.

[Wolfhound]

I read somewhere that was a myth, and it was just flaws in the glassmaking of the time. Ahh, here...
http://www.glassnotes.com/WindowPanes.html
http://www.cmog.org/article/does-glass-flow

No, the above links are somewhat incorrect.  In reality glass (and several other materials) do have a very slow flow capability, as this is something my employer (Dow Chemical, the worlds second largest chemical company) and our largest Joint Venture (Dow Corning, worlds leading silicon chemicals manufacturer), as well as the company that is the other partner in that joint venture (Corning Corporation, one of the giants in the glass industry) all work with and study due to the fact that we all produce products that fall within this realm of properties. 

Glass does actually have the capability to extremely slowly flow (as do many other unorganized crystalline ("glassy state") "solids").  Even some metals and alloys have this property.  So that property being a myth is actually a myth.  While some glass thickness differences are based on production methods, that is not always the case and the "glassy" flow property is a real physical property of many "disordered crystalline solids".  Which is why I posted the article above that I did, because there has been a lot of research into this property of some substances for decades, which is what the article that I posted was talking about was the actual chemistry and physics behind what goes on in such substances based on some of the research that has been performed on the subject (that particular article was based of off research performed at Waterloo University (which if I remember correctly is west of Toronto a couple of hours (between Toronto and Detroit))).

I had also forwarded the article that I posted the link to above to the guy in the office next to me, as well as a couple of my other co-workers, as he is one of two "Crystal" SME's (Subject Matter Expert) within my company (and my supervisor being the other "expert" in the field of crystal processing and refining).  While I'm not normally directly involved in the analysis of crystal structures, I have been involved in dozens of crystallization related projects over the past decade so am at least vaguely familiar with such concepts (I'm more of the equipment guy who sets up the equipment for most of the crystallization experiments we perform and assist in running those experiments, but spend a lot of time working very closely with these experts and am at least in the loop when it comes to the analysis of the crystal structures for those projects). 

[arakish]

And I once had the opportunity to help a friend remodel a house that was built in the 1850s in Wilmington, NC.  I researched and found the windows he was going to replace had never been replace since initial construction.  I told him about the "flow" of glass and he helped me with measurement to see if it was true.  Guess what?

Excepting where the glass set between two pieces of wood in the pane, the thickness of the glass at the bottom was almost twice as thick as the glass near the top.  Thus, in about 145 years, the glass had "flowed" to make the bottom thicker than the top.  We used my father's micrometer to measure the thicknesses.

Thanks for that post Wolfhound.

rmfr

[RandalThor]

SCIENCE!

[markc]

 I was thinking about the flow idea and the fact that if you made stained glass it might be a good idea to create one side that was thicker than another for the purpose of easy removal and replacement. IE it would be easier to break a thin section than a uniform section if you needed to alter the window for some reason.
MDC

[Wolfhound]

Another space-related article that may be of interest:
http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/04/nasa-images-may-reveal-birth-new-saturn-moon?et_cid=3886316&et_rid=54634990&location=top
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA18078

[Wolfhound]

Had to share this one:  http://www.illustris-project.org/

This links to a site that is starting to build a wealth of information gained from the largest virtual simulation of space ever run.  There are quite a few pictures and a few videos.  The first article discussing its findings so far will be in tomorrows issue of the "Nature" journal.

[arakish]

Thanks for that link Wolfhound.

I have been so busy lately I don't have the time to browse as I once enjoyed.

rmfr

[markc]

Godzilla Earth?
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/06/02/godzilla-earths-alien-planet-17-times-heavier-than-our-world-discovered/?intcmp=features


MDC

[Wolfhound]

Very interesting.  More and more planets are being found all the time with the newer instruments and techniques that have been developed in recent years. 

Thanks for the link