Qu4ntum Th3ory

spacephilosopher:

First proton-lead collision test at the LHC successful
For the first time, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have collided protons with lead ions. LHC scientists collide lead ions to create quark-gluon plasma, a hot, dense soup of quarks that are free-floating instead of being bound into particles. They study the plasma’s properties by examining the high-energy particles that emerge from collisions that produce it.
Early next year scientists will smash protons with lead ions to better understand results obtained from the lead-lead collisions. Proton-lead collisions are similar to lead-lead collisions, but they have lower energy and therefore do not produce quark-gluon plasma. Colliding protons with lead ions will help scientists determine which effects of the collisions come from the presence of lead ions and which ones come from the presence of the plasma.

First proton-lead collision test at the LHC successful

For the first time, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have collided protons with lead ions. LHC scientists collide lead ions to create quark-gluon plasma, a hot, dense soup of quarks that are free-floating instead of being bound into particles. They study the plasma’s properties by examining the high-energy particles that emerge from collisions that produce it.

Early next year scientists will smash protons with lead ions to better understand results obtained from the lead-lead collisions. Proton-lead collisions are similar to lead-lead collisions, but they have lower energy and therefore do not produce quark-gluon plasma. Colliding protons with lead ions will help scientists determine which effects of the collisions come from the presence of lead ions and which ones come from the presence of the plasma.

twicetoldtales:

η Carinae

Hubble Space Telescope image showing Eta Carinae and the bipolar Homunculus Nebula which surrounds the star. The Homunculus was partly created in an eruption of Eta Carinae, the light from which reached Earth in 1843. Eta Carinae itself appears as the white patch near the center of the image, where the two lobes of the Homunculus touch.

Eta Carinae is a stellar system in the constellation Carina, and because of its mass and the stage of life, it is expected to explode in a supernova or hypernova in the astronomically near future.

science-junkie:

Did universe’s most powerful explosion impact Earth in 8th century?

A new study has suggested that a gamma ray burst, the most powerful explosion known in the universe, may have hit the Earth in the 8th Century.

Last year, a team of researchers found evidence that our planet had been struck by a blast of radiation during the Middle Ages, but there was debate over what kind of cosmic event could have caused this.

Now the latest study, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, suggested that it was the result of two black holes or neutron stars merging in our galaxy.

In 2012, a research team found that some ancient cedar trees in Japan had an unusual level of a radioactive type of carbon known as carbon-14. In Antarctica, too, there was a spike in levels of a form of beryllium - beryllium-10 - in the ice. These isotopes are created when intense radiation hits the atoms in the upper atmosphere, suggesting that a blast of energy had once hit our planet from space.

Although the event sounds dramatic, our medieval ancestors might not have noticed much, the researchers noted. Observations of deep space suggest that gamma ray-bursts are rare. They are thought to happen at the most every 10,000 years per galaxy, and at the least every million years per galaxy.

Prof Neuhauser said it was unlikely Planet Earth would see another one soon, but if we did, this time it could make more of an impact.

Images: 1 - 2.

Source: dnaindia.com

jtotheizzoe:

sciencecenter:

Beau, the echidna puggle

What’s an echidna puggle? Really freakin’ adorable, obviously. But what is an echidna, you may ask? Echidnas are monotremes, which are one of the three types of mammals, alongside marsupials (like koalas ~~and platypuses~~) and placentals (us!). Monotremes lay eggs, and their urinary, defecatory, and reproductive systems all converge on the same whole in their cloaca (hence the name monotreme, meaning ‘single opening’). This echidna puggle is named Beau, and he was rescued by members of the Taronga Zoo in Australia. Be sure to check out the adorable video here and click through the image for more pictures.

Quick Links

Echidnas - Wikipedia

Beau the orphan echidna - ZooBorns

After you finish squeeing and then read that and learn all about echidnas, may I just add this?

Anyone else see the resemblance?