Emission Impossible?: Is Dark Matter Behind the Hazy Radiation at the Milky Way's Center? Nov 4, 2009
In 2003 Douglas Finkbeiner, an astronomer at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, noticed a diffuse haze toward the center of the galaxy in microwave data collected by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). There are only a handful of processes that yield microwaves in the interstellar medium, Finkbeiner explains, and when he subtracted templates for those processes from the WMAP data, something curious remained. (Scientific American)
Is Fermi Seeing Dark Matter? Oct 29, 2009
The new result is the latest twist in a story that began in 2004, when Finkbeiner reported the existence of an around the center of the galaxy as seen by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. He suggested then that the haze could be the mark of electrons produced when dark matter particles, thought to be concentrated near the galactic center, interact and mutually destruct. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
University of Incheon/Berkeley Lab joint research on environmental-friendly energy Sep 23, 2009
George F. Smoot III (born February 20, 1945) is an American astrophysicist and cosmologist, the co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics with John C. Mather of NASA for work on the Cosmic Microwave Background Expolorer satellite (COBE) that led to the measurement "...of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation." This work helped cement the Big Bang theory of the Universe using COBE. According to the Nobel Prize committee, "the COBE-project can also be... (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Friction Force Differences Could Offer A New Means For Sorting And Assembling Nanotubes Sep 18, 2009
Based on the molecular dynamics simulations, Riedo and Tosatti believe that the friction anisotropy will be very different in chiral nanotubes versus non-chiral left-to-right symmetric nanotubes ... "We have shown an anisotropy in the friction coefficient of carbon nanotubes in the transverse and longitudinal directions, which has its origin in the soft lateral distortion of tubes when the tip-tube contact is moving in the transverse direction. Our findings could help in developing better... (Science Daily)
NASA's 'A-Train' Of Satellites On Track With Hurricane Research Aug 27, 2009
The French satellite PARASOL (Polarization and Anisotropy of R;flectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar) works with CALIPSO to improve the characterization of cloud and aerosol microphysical and radiative properties, needed to understand and model the radiative impact of clouds and aerosols. Like CALIPSO, its data are not used directly in hurricane research. (Science Daily)
August 2009 Lithosphere media highlights Aug 1, 2009
Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility in weakly deformed red beds from the Wyoming salient, Sevier thrust belt: Relations to layer-parallel shortening and orogenic curvature Arlo B. Weil, Bryn Mawr College, Dept. of Geology, 101 North Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010, USA; and Adolph Yonkee ... By integrating anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), structural, and paleomagnetic studies in the Wyoming salient of the Sevier mountain belt Weil and Yonkee have been able to constrain... (EurekAlert!)
NRL part of multi-national team that launches Herschel Space Observatory May 15, 2009
Herschel is the second observatory to be located at L2, after NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) cosmology mission. The Herschel telescope is almost entirely made of silicon carbide, a highly polishable, stable, and lightweight ceramic material and coated with a very thin layer of aluminum, for reflectivity. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Europe is about to take an astronomical lead over U.S. May 7, 2009
Planck is 10 times more sensitive and has three times the resolution of the best American microwave telescope, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which was launched in 2001. Planck can detect temperature differences as small as one ten-millionth of a degree. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Iron-arsenic superconductors in class of their own Apr 30, 2009
These findings combined with iron-arsenide's potential good ability to carry current due to their low anisotropy may open a door to exciting possible applications in zero-resistance power transmission. The research, led by Ames Laboratory physicist Ruslan Prozorov, has shown that electron pairing in iron-arsenides is likely to be very different when compared to other types of known superconductors. (EurekAlert!)
Writers Cramp? Blame Your Brain Apr 16, 2009
All underwent DTI to study fractional anisotropy in the brain. Fractional anisotropy is the study of water diffusion along axons, and is a gage of the brains connectivity ... The scientists discovered that those with writers cramps had a significantly higher amount of fractional anisotropy than the controls. (Newsmax)
Cosmologists aim to observe first moments of universe Feb 17, 2009
NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe collected data that produced this chart of sound waves from the universe. Called a power spectrum, the chart plots the cosmic microwave background radiation as. (EurekAlert!)
