christinsanity:

TIL god triggers tsunamis…

(via dat-asterisk)

unfriendlyatheist:

Sorry, kids

(via dat-asterisk)

thequantumlife:

Large Hadron Collider cranks up energy to record amounts

Currently, the 17-mile (27-kilometer) ring of superconducting magnets under the Swiss-French border is firing protons together at approximately half the energy the LHC was designed to achieve.

Now, CERN has announced their decision to give the speeding protons an extra boost this year by increasing the energy output by 1 Teraelectron volt (TeV) to a record-breaking 8 TeV. This small amplification may seem conservative considering the LHC is designed to be pushed to 14 TeV, but when living on the leading edge of physics discovery, it pays to be cautious.

The 2008 quench cost CERN dearly. Due to a faulty electrical connection between two of the magnets used to “steer” protons traveling close to the speed of light, vacuum conditions inside the magnets were lost, culminating in six tons of liquid helium being dumped into the tunnel and severe damage to dozens of supercooled magnets. If this were to happen again due to some unforeseen weakness in the superconducting ring of magnets, it would be a devastating blow for an otherwise flawless three years of LHC operations.

And if the LHC were to break in 2012, it would hurt the continuing hunt for the Higgs boson just at a time when tantalizing hints of a Higgs signal are beginning to show.

Best of luck, LHC. Keep cranking it up.

(via dat-asterisk)

abaldwin360:

Evolution is almost universally accepted among those who understand it, almost universally rejected by those who don’t.

(via dat-asterisk)

adityavs:

Howard…LOL

(Source: cavalcadeofinterests)

neuropsy:

Floating Maze Optical Illusion

The image is static, your vision processing is not.

If anyone attempts to actually do this, grab a barf bag.

(via best-likes)

psydoctor8:

New neuroimaging technique: Mapping Myelination

Neuroscientists have known for more than a century that myelination levels differ throughout the cerebral cortex, the gray outer layer of the brain where most higher mental functions take place.  via

Researcher, Van Essen’s journal article here  also explains how in MRI data already collected, or in less than 10 minutes, myelination images can be collected and used in conjunction with other imaging techniques to provide a more well rounded picture and understanding that we could once only see posthumously…after removing the brain, slicing it and staining it for myelin. This is important because:

Better brain maps will result, speeding efforts to understand how the healthy brain works and potentially aiding in future diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders…

The technique makes it possible for scientists to map myelination, or the degree to which branches of brain cells are covered by a white sheath known as myelin in order to speed up long-distance signaling. via

Image: “Red and yellow indicate regions with high myelin levels; blue, purple and black areas have low myelin levels.” via

inothernews:

DISCOVERY: Hi, Endeavour.
ENDEAVOUR: What’s up, Discovery.
DISCOVERY: Whatcha doin’?
ENDEAVOUR: Getting mothballed. You?
DISCOVERY: Me too. Sigh.
ENDEAVOUR: I know.
DISCOVERY: No more low-orbit adventures, friend.
ENDEAVOUR: Yeah. (Beat.) I miss space already.
DISCOVERY: Me too.
ENDEAVOUR: Hey, at least the International Space Station is still in, well, space.
DISCOVERY: I guess. (Wistful.) I’m gonna miss that solar-powered assemblage of trusses and modules.
ENDEAVOUR: She really did glisten in the Sun, didn’t she?
DISCOVERY: Yeah.
ENDEAVOUR: Sigh. (Looks up, into sky.) Hang in there, buddy.
DISCOVERY: You mean hang up there, don’t you?
ENDEAVOUR: There’s no “up” in space, duh.
DISCOVERY: Oh yeah.

(Photo of the retired space shuttles Discovery [r.] and Endeavour being readied for display while at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida by Frankie Martin / NASA via the Telegraph)

(via 6277)