In a Cosmology Breakthrough, Astronomers Measure a Filament of Dark Matter

Dark Matter Filament This image shows the galaxy clusters Abell 222 and Abell 223 connected by a dark matter filament. The blue shading and the yellow contours indicate matter density. This image on the sky is about twice as big as the full moon. Jörg Dietrich, University of Michigan/University Observatory Munich

Invisible, cold dark matter plays a major role in the evolution of galaxies, according to modern cosmological theory. The most advanced simulations of cosmic evolution show stringy tendrils of mass — dark matter — connecting giant clusters of galaxies via a vast cosmic web. Now for the first time, astronomers have been able to detect one of these filaments, sussing out its location by watching it warp light.

Egypt's Sphinx, Pyramids threatened by groundwater, hydrologists warn

One month ago, Giza's antiquities inspectorate installed a new system to pump subterranean water out from under Egypt's historical Sphinx monument and the underlying bedrock.

Subterranean water levels at the Giza Plateau, especially the area under the valley temples and Sphinx, have recently increased due to a new drainage system installed in the neighbouring village of Nazlet Al-Seman and the irrigation techniques used to cultivate the nearby residential area of Hadaeq Al-Ahram.

Galaxii eliptice

Aceste galaxii au un aspect destul de lipsit de caracteristici si variaza de la obiecte care sunt aproape sferice pana la obiecte care sunt aproape plate. Cele care au forma sferica sunt clasificate ca galaxii eliptice E0, iar cele care sunt cele mai plate sunt E7. Tipurile de galaxii eliptice, de la cele sferice pana la cele plate, sunt clasificate de la E1 la E6. Prin urmare, in general, o galaxie eliptica este etichetata En, unde numarul “n” este determinat de forma galaxiei. 

Problema cu aceasta clasificare este ca ea depinde foarte mult de orientarea unei galaxii fata de punctul nostru de vedere – adica, aceasta descrie cum arata galaxia privita de pe Pamant, si nu ne spune prea multe despre adevaratele proprietati fizice ale obiectului. Cu exceptia cazului in care o galaxie este perfect sferica, aceasta va avea un aspect diferit in functie de directia din care este observata. Cu toate acestea, sistemul de clasificare En este util pentru a descrie modul in care arata o galaxie privita prin telescop.

NASA Space Telescope Snaps Its First Black Hole Picture

NASA's newest space telescope has opened its X-ray eyes to take its first pictures of the high-energy universe, including a glimpse at a well-known black hole.

The space observatory, called the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, launched June 13 on a mission to observe high-energy, short-wavelength X-ray light from some of the most dynamic objects in space, such as black holes and supernova remnants. The observatory extended a 33-foot (10 meters) mast on June 21 to separate its light-gathering optics from their focal point.

Restaurare în Angkor

După o perioadă tumultuoasă marcată de războaie, molime şi dezastre naturale ce au dus la căderea civilizaţiei kmere, marele complex intră în declin la sfârșitul secolului al XV-lea şi, pentru o perioadă de aproape 400 de ani, ajunge, treptat, acoperit de vegetaţie şi uitat de istorie. 

Redescoperit pentru cultura occidentală în 1860 de către echipa de arheologi francezi condusă de Henri Mahout, com-plexul intră într-un lung proces de restaurare şi conservare. Între 1907 şi 1970, sub conducerea École française d’Extrême-Orient, au loc operaţiuni de eliberare a vegetaţiei, refacere a fundaţiilor şi a sistemelor de drenaj. Aflat în prezent sub protecţia UNESCO, în complex îşi duc munca de restaurare numeroase echipe internaţionale: Authority for the Protec-tion and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA), German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP), Japan-APSARA Safeguarding Angkor, World Monuments Fund, The Archaeological Survey of India, China, S.U.A.

British Museum vows to help regional collections through tough times

The British Museum has said that is loaning works to UK museums at an unprecedented level to help them weather waters that are likely to be choppy for at least five years.

Launching the museum's annual report, the museum's director, Neil MacGregor, spoke of "new kind of engagement" with museums across the UK to develop the sense of there being "one national collection, one community of scholarship".

Printing dinosaurs: the mad science of new paleontology

In April of this year, I headed out to a marl pit in Clayton, New Jersey to watch a team of Drexel University students and their teacher, Professor Kenneth Lacovara, dig for fossils. Marl, a lime-rich mud, had been mined and used as the 19th century’s leading fertilizer, but since around World War II (with the development of more advanced, synthetic fertilizers), demand for it has steeply lessened, and there aren’t many marl mining businesses left in the US. The marl pits of Southern New Jersey are famous for something else, though: they have been incredibly rich in fossil finds.

In February, Dr. Lacovara had announced that the Paleontology department at Drexel would team up with the Engineering department for what would largely be a novel new project: scanning all of the fossils in the University's collection (including some previously unidentified dinosaurs of Lacovara's own finds in other parts of the world) using a 3D scanner. The Engineering department would then take those scans and use a 3D printer to create 1/10 scale models of the most important bones. But, he reported, that wouldn't be the end of it: they intended, he said, to use those scale polymer "printouts" to model and then engineer fully working limbs, complete with musculature — to create, in effect, a fully accurate robotic dinosaur leg or arm, and eventually, a complete dinosaur.

Tree of Life – Bahrain

The Tree of Life (Shajarat-al-Hayat) in Bahrain is approx. 400 years old, 32 feet (9.75 meter) high.

Tree located two kilometers (1.2 miles) from Jebel Dukhan. This Tree stands on Top of a 25-foot (7.6-meter) high Sandy Hill.

What makes this 400-year-old Tree so amazing is the fact that it stands alone in a Barren Desert at the Highest Point in Bahrain, in an area that is completely Free of Water. Where nothing else will grow, this Tree seems to radiate with Life.

Triumful unei gladiatoare, cea mai veche perlă și albastru maya

Triumful unei gladiatoare. Istoricul roman Suetonius evoca in lucrarea sa "Viata celor doisprezece Cezari", luptele gladiatoarelor din timpul domniei imparatului Domitian (51-96 d.Hr.). Un alt istoric, Dio Cassius, povesteste despre jocurile de circ organizate de Nero in anul 66, unde se infruntau femei inarmate. Participarea sexului frumos la luptele din arena a fost definitiv interzisa de-abia in anul 200 de catre imparatul Septimiu Sever, iar a gladiatorilor, in secolul al IV-lea, din ordinul imparatului crestin Constantin.

Galaxia din Andromeda

Galaxia din Andromeda este cea mai apropiata galaxie mare de a noastra. Aceasta galaxie este o spirala de clasa Sb si face parte din Grupul Local. Galaxia din Andromeda este cunoscuta si drept M31 si NGC 224. Ea se afla in constelatia Andromeda si este cel mai indepartat obiect ce poate fi vazut cu ochiul liber (desi, observatorii pasionati pot vedea uneori si galaxia Triangulum). 

Estimarile recente sugereaza ca Andromeda este mai mare dar mai putin masiva decat Calea Lactee. Aceasta este acompaniata de cel putin 10 galaxii satelit, printre care: M32 si M110 (ambele vizibile cu ajutorul binoclului); NGC 185 (descoperita de William Herschel); NGC 147 (descoperita de Louis d’Arrest); sistemele sferoidale pitice And I, And II, And III si And V; galaxia neregulata pitica And IV (desi aceasta ar putea fi un cluster); And VI (cunoscuta sub numele de Pitica Pegasus) si And VII (cunoscuta sub numele de Pitica Cassiopeia).