What are the most precious stones?…

What are the most precious stones? http://www.geologypage.com/2018/09/what-are-the-most-precious-stones.html

Azurite | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral Locality: Milpillas…

Azurite | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral

Locality: Milpillas Mine, Cuitaca, Mun. de Santa Cruz, Sonora, Mexico

Size: 5.6 x 4.6 x 2.5

Photo Copyright © Saphira Minerals

Geology Page

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Liddicoatite | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral Locality:…

Liddicoatite | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral

Locality: Estatoby, Sahatana Valley, Antananarivo Prov., Madagascar

Size: 26 x 9.4 x 9.5

Photo Copyright © Saphira Minerals

Geology Page

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BoW1W-dF6Fd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=l2xwl39wot1i

Silver | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral Locality: Himmelsfürst…

Silver | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral

Locality: Himmelsfürst Mine, Freiberg, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany

Size: 7.1 x 2.4 x 2.9

Photo Copyright © Saphira Minerals

Geology Page

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2018 September 30 The Lonely Neutron Star in Supernova Remnant…

2018 September 30

The Lonely Neutron Star in Supernova Remnant E0102-72.3
Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/ESO/F. Vogt et al.); Optical (ESO/VLT/MUSE & NASA/STScI)

Explanation: Why is this neutron star off-center? Recently a lone neutron star has been found within the debris left over from an old supernova explosion. The “lonely neutron star” in question is the blue dot at the center of the red nebula near the bottom left of E0102-72.3. In the featured image composite, blue represents X-ray light captured by NASA’s Chandra Observatory, while red and green represent optical light captured by ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in orbit. The displaced position of this neutron star is unexpected since the dense star is thought to be the core of the star that exploded in the supernova and created the outer nebula. It could be that the neutron star in E0102 was pushed away from the nebula’s center by the supernova itself, but then it seems odd that the smaller red ring remains centered on the neutron star. Alternatively, the outer nebula could have been expelled during a different scenario – perhaps even involving another star. Future observations of the nebulas and neutron star appear likely to resolve the situation.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180930.html

Stress-free Discovery Lurking inside each of your organs is a…

Stress-free Discovery

Lurking inside each of your organs is a whole world of life. Millions of bacteria mill around, helping, harming, or simply observing our body’s many processes. It’s easy to misattribute any influence these hidden passengers might have on other things. For example, for decades we thought peptic ulcers and stomach inflammation were largely caused by stress and lifestyle. But when a researcher in the early 1980s noticed groups of an unfamiliar bacteria in samples from patients’ stomachs, it opened the door to other possibilities. Barry Marshall, pictured and born on this day in 1951, delved deeper and discovered Helicobacter pylori (right), a bacterium that turned out to be very prevalent and the actual cause of peptic ulcers. With that revelation, which won Marshall a share of a 2015 Nobel Prize, these chronic and debilitating illnesses at once became treatable, and the crucial link between infection, inflammation, and ultimately cancer became clear.

Written by Anthony Lewis

• Portrait by Pennsylvania State University (Penn State); H.pylori image by Yutaka Tsutsumi, M.D., Fujita Health University School of Medicine


• Portrait originally published on Flickr under a Creative Commons Licence (BY-NC 2.0); H.pylori image free to use from Wikimedia

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NASA’s 60th Anniversary: Home, Sweet HomeEarth is a complex,…

NASA’s 60th Anniversary: Home, Sweet Home

Earth is a complex, dynamic system. For 60 years, we have studied our changing planet, and our understanding continues to expand with the use of new technologies. With data from satellites, instruments on the International Space Station, airborne missions, balloons, and observations from ships and on land, we track changes to land, water, ice, and the atmosphere. Application of our Earth observations help improve life now and for future generations. Since we opened for business on Oct. 1, 1958, our history tells a story of exploration, innovation and discoveries. The next 60 years, that story continues. Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/60

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

Delaying Alzheimer’s Disease Damage to neurons begins…

Delaying Alzheimer’s Disease

Damage to neurons begins years, perhaps even a decade, before people display the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Optimal treatment would halt this damage and prevent the onset of symptoms, keeping people healthy. New research shows that drug treatment can reduce neuron damage in mice before amyloid plaques develop. Neurons in the brain are unusual because they don’t typically divide to create new, daughter cells. However, in Alzheimer’s disease, neurons attempt to do just that. Mouse neurons beginning to divide are shown here, in red-blue. It’s known that dividing neurons often die. This study identified that calcium drives neurons to divide when it enters through channels on their surface. These calcium channels were blocked by the drug memantine, which has already been approved for use to treat Alzheimer’s symptoms in the United States. This research suggests that memantine might one day help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

September is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

Written by Deborah Oakley

• Image by Erin Kodis and George Bloom


• Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA


• Image copyright held by the original authors


• Research published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, July 2018

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Aquamarine Schorl | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral Locality:…

Aquamarine Schorl | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral

Locality: Erongo Mountains, Erongo Region, Namibia

Size: 4.2 × 3.9 × 3.5 cm

Photo Copyright © Viamineralia /e-rocks.com

Geology Page

www.geologypage.com

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoT_A1Ol1Z9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n0i6ns57ajq5

Fluorite | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral Locality:…

Fluorite | #Geology #GeologyPage #Mineral

Locality: Bergmännisch Glück Mine, Frohnau, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany

Size: 3.6 × 5.5 × 4.1 cm

Largest Crystal: 2.90cm

Photo Copyright © Wittig Minerals /e-rocks.com

Geology Page

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Ancient mice discovered by climate cavers…

Ancient mice discovered by climate cavers http://www.geologypage.com/2018/09/ancient-mice-discovered-by-climate-cavers.html

2018 September 29 55 Nights with Saturn Image Credit &…

2018 September 29

55 Nights with Saturn
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

Explanation: For 55 consecutive nights Mediterranean skies were at least partly clear this summer, from the 1st of July to the 24th of August 2018. An exposure from each night was incorporated in this composited telephoto and telescopic image to follow bright planet Saturn as it wandered through the generous evening skies. Through August, the outer planet’s seasonal apparent retrograde motion slowed and drifted to the right, framed by a starry background. That brought it near the line-of-sight to the central Milky Way, and the beautiful Lagoon (M8) and Trifid (20) nebulae. Of course Saturn’s largest moon Titan was also along for the ride. Swinging around the gas giant in a 16 day long orbit, Titan’s resulting wave-like motion is easier to spot when the almost-too-bright Saturn is digitally edited from the scene.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180929.html

NASA’s 60th Anniversary: Humans in SpaceIt is part of the human…

NASA’s 60th Anniversary: Humans in Space

It is part of the human spirit to explore. During 60 years, we have selected 350 people as astronauts to lead the way. For nearly two decades, humans have been living and working aboard the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit to enable future missions forward to the Moon and on to Mars while also leading discoveries that improve life on Earth. Since we opened for business on Oct. 1, 1958, our history tells a story of exploration, innovation and discoveries. The next 60 years, that story continues. Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/60

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

NASA 60 Years of Human Spaceflights

NASA 60th Anniversary logo.

September 28, 2018

The Cold War between the United States and former Soviet Union gave birth to the space race and an unprecedented program of scientific exploration. The Soviets sent the first person into space on April 12, 1961. In response, President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation “to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to earth.” It took eight years and three NASA programs — Mercury, Gemini and Apollo – but the United States got to the moon.

NASA 60th: Human in Space

Image above: Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon. Look for Neil Armstrong reflected in Aldrin’s visor. During the following three-and-a-half years, 10 astronauts followed in their footsteps. Image Credit: NASA.

Project Mercury

Project Mercury, the first U.S. program to put humans in space, made 25 flights, six of which carried astronauts between 1961 and 1963. The objectives of the program were: to orbit a human spacecraft around Earth, to investigate a person’s ability to function in space, and to recover both the astronaut and spacecraft safely. More than 2 million people from government agencies and the aerospace industry combined their skills, initiative and experience to make the project possible. Mercury showed that humans could function for periods up to 34 hours of weightless flight.

Mercury Astronauts

Image Credit: NASA

Mercury astronauts, the “Original Seven.” On April 9, 1959, NASA introduced its first astronaut class. Front row, left to right: Wally Schirra, Deke Slayton, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and Gordon Cooper.

Freedom 7 mission

Image Credit: NASA

Liftoff of astronaut Alan Shepard Jr.’s Freedom 7 mission, powered by a Redstone rocket, May 5, 1961. Shepard became the first American in space, a flight that lasted 15 minutes, 28 seconds. He later made it to the Moon on Apollo 14.

Katherine Johnson

Image Credit: NASA/Langley Research Center

NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson did the trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard’s historic mission. Johnson worked at NASA’s Langley Research Center from 1953 to 1986. She and many other women made critical technical contributions to the space program.

View of Earth

Image Credit: NASA

View of Earth from Shepard’s Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, a view of our planet that no American had ever seen before.

Mercury Mission Control

Image Credit: NASA

Mercury Mission Control, Flight Control Area. During Project Mercury, the front wall of the Flight Control Area featured a large world map display with the path to be followed by the capsule. A circle marked each station in the worldwide tracking network.

John Glenn

Image Credit: NASA

Astronaut John Glenn onboard the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft, Feb. 20, 1962. Glenn made history by becoming the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth.

The Gemini Program

The Gemini program primarily tested equipment and mission procedures and trained astronauts and ground crews for future Apollo missions to the Moon. The program’s main goals were: to test an astronaut’s ability to fly long duration flights (14 days); to understand how a spacecraft could rendezvous and dock with another vehicle in Earth orbit; to perfect re-entry landing methods; and to further understand the effects of longer spaceflights on astronauts. NASA selected “Gemini” because the word is Latin for “twins,” and the Gemini was a capsule built for two.

Spacewalk

Image Credit: NASA

Gemini IV spacewalk, June 3, 1965. NASA astronaut Ed White became the first American to walk in space.

Gemini III

Image Credit: NASA/MSFC archives

Gemini III astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young (photographed in a spacecraft simulator), crewed the first human Gemini flight, March 23, 1965. This mission tested the new maneuverable spacecraft that let the astronauts control more of the flight.

Gemini X

Image Credit: NASA

Time exposure image of Gemini X spacecraft, launched July 18, 1966. Astronauts John Young and Mike Collins carried out a three-day mission to rendezvous and dock in space with an Agena spacecraft that had lifted off 101 minutes earlier.

Gemini XII

Image Credit: NASA/Buzz Aldrin

The Agenda target vehicle as seen from Gemini XII spacecraft, which docked with Agena on Nov. 11, 1966.

The Apollo Program

Exactly eight years, one month and 26 days after President Kennedy challenged Americans to reach for the Moon, Project Apollo landed the first humans on the lunar surface and returned them safely to Earth. The Apollo program also developed technology to meet other national interests in space, conducted scientific exploration of the Moon, and developed humanity’s capability to work in the lunar environment.

Image above: The ascent stage of the Apollo 11 lunar module approaching the command module for docking before the crew returned to Earth. Image Credit: NASA.

The Apollo program was hit by tragedy as the first crew prepared to fly. On Jan. 27, 1967, fire swept through the Apollo 1 command module during a preflight test on the Cape Kennedy launch pad. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives. NASA was not deterred, but rather changed how things were done to ensure the safety and success of future missions.

Apollo 7

Image Credit: NASA

Commander Wally Schirra looking out the rendezvous window in front of the commander’s station of the Apollo 7 Earth orbital mission, Oct. 19, 1968. Fifty years ago, Apollo 7 transmitted the first live TV broadcast from a human U.S. spacecraft.

Apollo 8

Image Credit: NASA

The famous ‘Earthrise’ photo from Apollo 8, the first human mission to the Moon. On Christmas Eve, 1968, as one of the most turbulent, tragic years in American history drew to a close, millions around the world watched and listened as Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders — first humans to orbit another world – read from the Bible’s Book of Genesis.

Apollo 11

Image Credit: NASA

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong placed the first human footstep on the Moon. Here he’s shown working at an equipment storage area on the lunar module. This is one of the few photos that shows Armstrong during the moonwalk.

Apollo 13

Image Credit: NASA

A makeshift arrangement of equipment, parts and duct tape on the Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM) saved the crew’s lives after an oxygen tank explosion in the Service Module left them with the LM to use as a “lifeboat.” Using materials only found on the spacecraft, NASA engineers on the ground designed and tested a system that removed carbon dioxide from the LM; the Apollo 13 crew then made the system onboard, April 17, 1970, and returned safely to Earth.

Skylab

Image Credit: NASA

In 1973, Skylab expeditions paved the way for the International Space Station. The four, windmill-like solar arrays were attached to the Apollo Telescope Mount. Observations of the Sun were one of this space lab program’s primary achievements.

Apollo Soyuz Test Project

In the 1970s, U.S.-Soviet political tensions that had accelerated the space race began to thaw. Competition gave way to cooperation between the two nations with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. International collaboration among many nations would become the norm during the space shuttle era and current cooperation in human spaceflight with the International Space Station. These partnerships have taught us more about the universe, improved our lives at home, and expanded the possibilities for future exploration into deep space.

Handshake

Image Credit: NASA

Astronaut Tom Stafford (foreground) and cosmonaut Alexei Leonov make their historic handshake in space on July 17, 1975. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docked together U.S. and Soviet spacecraft and paved the way toward international partnerships in space.

Space Shuttle Era

Image above: Space Shuttle Columbia, the world’s first reusable space vehicle, landing at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, April 14, 1981. Image Credit: NASA.

Over 30 years, NASA’s space shuttle fleet—Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour—flew 135 missions and carried 355 different people to space. Humanity’s first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle carried people into orbit repeatedly; launched, recovered and repaired satellites; conducted cutting-edge research; and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station. The space shuttle pushed the bounds of discovery ever farther, requiring not only advanced technologies but also the tremendous efforts of thousands of civil servants and contractors throughout NASA’s field centers and across the nation. Tragically, NASA lost two crews of seven in the 1986 Challenger accident and the 2003 Columbia accident.

Hubble Space Telescope

Image Credit: NASA

Deploying the Hubble Space Telescope from Space Shuttle Discovery’s cargo bay, April 25, 1990. A shuttle could carry several satellites into low-Earth orbit on one flight. Go see Discovery at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport.

First Six Women 

Image Credit: NASA

The first six women selected to be NASA astronauts, 1978: (back row, left to right) Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, Anna Fischer, Judy Resnik, (seated left to right) Sally Ride and Rhea Seddon. NASA’s 1978 class of astronauts also included the first African-Americans and the first Asian American. The shuttle brought diversity to space.

S0 Truss Structure

Image Credit: NASA

One of many steps in assembling the International Space Station, Space Shuttle Atlantis delivered the S0 Truss Structure (the big set of solar panels across the top of the picture), which the crew installed on top of the Destiny module.

Space Station Era

Image above: This picture of the International Space Station was photographed from the space shuttle Atlantis as the orbiting complex and the shuttle performed their relative separation in the early hours of July 19, 2011 Image Credit: NASA.

The International Space Station is a model for global cooperation and scientific advancements that is enabling growth of private industry in low-Earth orbit and development of new technologies to advance human space exploration. Built between 1998 and 2011, the space station has housed humans continuously since Nov. 2, 2000. Because molecules and cells behave differently in space, research in microgravity helps advance scientific knowledge. The space station is a U.S. National Laboratory, which the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) manages for research investigations that improve life on Earth. NASA has contracted with commercial companies SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and Sierra Nevada Corporation to deliver science investigations, cargo, and supplies to the crews living in space, and soon Boeing and SpaceX will transport astronauts to and from the station.

International Cooperation

Image Credit: NASA

Nine crew members gathered in the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory represent four of the five participating space agencies. The station is a partnership of 15 nations through NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency. “Kibo” means “hope” in Japanese. All crew members speak English and Russian.

Resupply

Image Credit: NASA

A SpaceX Dragon resupply ship nearing its capture point about 10 meters away from the space station. American, Japanese, and Russian cargo spacecraft bring science investigations and supplies to the station about 10 times a year. They don’t go away empty handed— the Orbital ATK Cygnus, JAXA’s HTV, and Russian Progress ships take out the trash and burn up during reentry while the SpaceX Dragon lands in the Pacific Ocean to return science and hardware to researchers on Earth.

300th Day

Image Credit: NASA

American astronaut Scott Kelly (left) and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko (right) celebrating their 300th day of working together in space, Jan. 21, 2016. The One–Year Mission helped identify and reduce the biomedical risks astronauts face during longer space exploration, a stepping stone to future missions to deep space.

Peggy Whitson

Image Credit: NASA

Peggy Whitson holds the U.S. record for the most cumulative time spent in space: 665 days.

Luca Parmitano

Image Credit: NASA

European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, works with samples stored in the Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer in the Destiny laboratory of the ISS. The crew members of each International Space Station expedition work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, humanity’s only permanently occupied microgravity laboratory.

Fresh Fruit

Image Credit: NASA

Fresh fruit and vegetables are a special treat for astronauts, so nearly every cargo resupply mission includes fresh fruit and veggies—and sometimes ice cream!

Spot the Station

Image Credit: NASA

Nighttime view of the eastern U.S. and Canada from the International Space Station. You can see the station too. Go to Spot the Station and sign up for text and email updates of sighting opportunities. Spot the Station: http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Related links:

NASA History: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/index.html

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): https://www.nasa.gov/

Images (mentioned), Video, Text, Credit: NASA.

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Space Station Science Highlights: Week of September 24, 2018

ISS – Expedition 56 Mission patch.

Sept. 28, 2018

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle-7 (HTV-7) resupply ship arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, packed with more than five tons of science and supplies for the Expedition 56 crew.

Included among the newly-arrived science is the station’s Life Sciences Glovebox, a state-of-the-art microgravity research facility that enables high-value biological research in low-Earth orbit.

Image above: Using the space station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA grappled the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kounotori H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV 7). Image Credit: NASA.

Learn more about the science happening on station below:

Students from around the globe take photos from space station

Not everyone can go to space, but everyone can see Earth from an astronaut’s perspective with the Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (Sally Ride EarthKAM) program. Students can remotely control a digital camera mounted on the space station and use it to take photographs of coastlines, mountain ranges and other features and phenomena. The images are posted online where the public and participating classrooms can view Earth from the station’s unique vantage point.

Image above: The Tiwi Islands in Northern Australia, captured during an EarthKAM imaging session. Image Credit: NASA.

This week, the crew replaced a 50mm lens with an 85mm lens and initiated an imaging session for the more than 27,000 students stemming from 33 countries involved in the program’s 63rd mission. See recent EarthKAM images here: https://www.earthkam.org/ek-images

Investigation studies complex assemblies in space

The assembly of colloidal and nanostructures is important for technological applications and for a fundamental understanding of self-assembly processes that are abundant in nature and in living matter. A better understanding of complex assembly will lead to the ability to design and grow man-made nanostructured materials with life-like functionality. The Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-2 (ACE-T-2) looks at the assembly of complex structures from micron-scale colloidal particles interacting via tunable attractive interactions.

Animation above: Atomization observes the disintegration processes of low-speed water jets under various conditions to improve spray combustion processes inside rocket and jet engines. NASA astronaut Drew Feustel replaced sample syringes this week as a part of the investigation. Animation Credit: NASA.

The samples contain suspensions of colloidal particles that, upon nearing the critical solvent temperature, give rise to critical interactions between the particles. Regulating the temperature enables control of the particle interactions, leading to the growth of complex structures.

This week, the crew performed a sample module exchange within the Light Microscopy Module (LMM), contained within the Fluid Integration Rack (FIR).

Fast Neutron Spectrometer moves to Destiny Lab

Neutron spectrometers are used to make a wide range of measurements, including studies of a planetary body’s composition and measuring the flux of high-energy neutrons that could be harmful to humans. The Fast Neutron Spectrometer (FNS) investigation studies a new neutron measurement technique that is better suited for the mixed radiation fields found in deep space. Future operated and exploration missions benefit from clearer, more error-free measurement of the neutron flux present in an environment with multiple types of radiation.

Animation above: The STP-H5-Innovative Coatings Experiment (STP-H5 ICE) investigation studies new coatings for use on spacecraft in low-Earth orbit, determining their stability after two years in space. The investigation employs a set of simple exposure coupons that allow visual comparison of the effects of the space environment to a well-characterized white reference coating for this environment. Comparing photographs of these newly developed coatings to a white reference sample provides researchers information on the stability of the coatings. Animation Credit: NASA.

This week, the crew relocated the FNS from Node 1 to its new location in the Destiny Laboratory.

Space to Ground: Kounotori 7: 09/28/2018

Other work was done on these investigations:

– BEST seeks to advance use of sequencing DNA and RNA in space: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7687

– Atomization observes the disintegration processes of low-speed water jets under various conditions to improve spray combustion processes inside rocket and jet engines: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=282

– ACME E-FIELD Flames establishes an electric field between the burner and a mesh electrode. Measurements are made of electric-field strength, the ion current passing through the flame, and flame characteristics, leading to a new understanding and the potential development of less polluting and more efficient combustion technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2058

– Plant Habitat-1 comprehensively compares differences in genetics, metabolism, photosynthesis, and gravity sensing between plants grown in space and on Earth: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2032

– BCAT-CS studies dynamic forces between sediment particles that cluster together: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7668

– FLUIDICS examines fluid behavior under microgravity during satellite maneuvers and the impact of capillary effect on wave turbulence without being masked by the effect of gravity: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2043

– Tropical Cyclone demonstrates the feasibility of studying these powerful storms from space, which would be a major step toward alerting populations and governments around the world when a dangerous storm is approaching: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1712

– Food Acceptability examines changes in how food appeals to crew members during their time aboard the station. Acceptability of food – whether crew members like and actually eat something – may directly affect crew caloric intake and associated nutritional benefits: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

Related links:

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Sally Ride EarthKAM: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=87

Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-2 (ACE-T-2): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7433

Light Microscopy Module (LMM): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=531

Fluid Integration Rack (FIR): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=351

The Fast Neutron Spectrometer (FNS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1841

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Yuri Guinart-Ramirez, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 55 & 56.

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The Hearing Gate Coiled into this green and red shell-shape…

The Hearing Gate

Coiled into this green and red shell-shape hidden deep within your inner ear are many tiny hair cells. For years, scientists have known that these cells detect and convert sounds and movements into signals that the brain can understand. However, they hadn’t been able to explain how this happens, until now. A team have recently demonstrated that it’s most likely the responsibility of a sensory protein called TMC1. TMC1 creates a sound and motion-activated ‘gate’ in the inner ear hair cells, which converts mechanical movements into electrical signals. These signals travel along nerves to the appropriate brain region, enabling our hearing and balance. The discovery of a sensory protein like TMC1 is nothing new, since similar molecules have been found for most of our other sensors. However, with the hearing sensory protein now finally identified, in future we may see hearing loss treatments that specifically target this important system.

Written by Gaëlle Coullon

• Image from the Holt Lab, Harvard Medical School


• Department of Neurobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School and Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA


• Image copyright held by the original authors


• Research published in Neuron, August 2018

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Jovian Swirls

NASA – JUNO Mission logo.

Sept. 28, 2018

Clouds in a Jovian jet stream, called Jet N5, swirl in the center of this color-enhanced image from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. A brown oval known as a “brown barge” can be seen in the North North Temperate Belt region in the top-left portion of the image.

This image was taken at 5:58 p.m. PDT on Sept. 6, 2018 (8:58 p.m. EDT) as the spacecraft performed its 15th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno was 7,600 miles (12,300 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, above a northern latitude of approximately 52 degrees.

Citizen scientists Brian Swift and Seán Doran created this image using data from the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager. The view has been rotated 90 degrees to the right from the original image.

Juno orbiting Jupiter

JunoCam’s raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at: https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam.

More information about Juno is at: https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.swri.edu.

Image,Animation, Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Brian Swift/Seán Doran.

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