Mennan

gnarticles:

This is a Teleportation Device

(via freshphotons)

thatsgoodsoup:

International Space Station Over Earth (NASA, 03/10/11) (by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center)

Editor’s Note: I’m not sure exactly where over Earth this was taken, but wow, what beautiful azure waters!

In the grasp of the International Space Station’s Canadarm2, the Kounotori2 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-2) is moved from the space-facing side of the Harmony node back to the Earth-facing port of Harmony. HTV-2 had been moved to the top of Harmony prior to space shuttle Discovery’s arrival for the STS-133 mission. The HTV-2, loaded with trash and materials no longer needed by the station crew, will be unberthed for the final time on March 28 and deorbited the following day. Earth’s horizon and the blackness of space provide the backdrop for the scene. 
Image credit: NASA

View original image:
spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-26/html/…

More about space station research:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

There’s a Flickr group about Space Station Research. Please feel welcome to join!www.flickr.com/groups/stationscience/

thatsgoodsoup:

Starry La Silla

The stars rotate around the southern celestial pole during a night at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in northern Chile. The fuzzy parts in the trails on the right are due to the Magellanic Clouds, two small galaxies neighbouring the Milky Way. The dome seen in the image hosts ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope and is home to HARPS (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher), the world’s foremost exoplanet hunter. The rectangular building seen in the lower right of the image contains the 0.25-metre TAROT telescope, designed to react very quickly when a gamma-ray burst is detected. Other telescopes at La Silla include the 2.2-metre MPG/ESO telescope, and the 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope, the first telescope to use active optics and, as such, the precursor to all modern large telescopes. La Silla was ESO’s first observing site and is still one of the premier observatories in the southern hemisphere.

Credit: I Bončina/ESO

selcukyavuz:

We’re looking for computer engineers who like to solve difficult problems.

nprfreshair:

Astronomers observing the center of the Milky Way from the European Southern Observatory in Chile fire a laser into the heavens. The Laser Guide Star (LGS) is used as a reference to correct the blurring effect of the atmosphere on images. (More information here)

(via physicsphysics)

freshphotons:

Tokamak Asdex Upgrade Periphery, Max Planck IPP, Garching, Germany
2009
C-type print
113x90cm

unknownskywalker:

Discovery is Prepared for Launch

The space shuttle Discovery today shortly after the Rotating Service Structure was rolled back at launch pad 39A. Launch preparations continue on track for liftoff at 4:50 p.m. EST. The massive external fuel tank has been filled with cryogenic propellants and technicians are readying the white room for the astronauts. More info »

sixohthree:

. (by Graeme Nicol)

theatlantic:

Space Shuttle Discovery’s Final Launch

In less than two hours, NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to make its last trip into low Earth orbit. Discovery will be traveling to the International Space Station, carrying a large module packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as a robotic assistant named Robonaut 2. With the entire Space Shuttle program scheduled for mandatory retirement this year, Discovery is the most-flown spacecraft in history, traveling 143 million miles (230 million kilometers) over the course of its 39 missions since 1984, and spending nearly a full year in orbit. Gathered here are images of Discovery, its crew, and support staff from the past several months, while the spacecraft was being prepared for today’s launch. This mission, STS-133, is scheduled for liftoff at 4:50 p.m Eastern Time. This entry will be updated with launch photos after they come in later tonight.

See more photos from In Focus

[Image: NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis]

(via skibinskipedia)

scipsy:

Spaghetti Junction (by FEI Company)

Sperm tails tangled up in a seminiferous tubule

(via freshphotons)

jtotheizzoe:

This is what an abandoned particle accelerator looks like

(via freshphotons)

houseofmind:

Listen up guys, because this just came in. Hot off the press and everything. Today I received quite an impressive e-mail submission from one of the authors of the paper from the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in London. He was also kind enough to share one of their figures with us. I personally think he did an excellent job at summing up the importance and novelty of this new tracing technique so I encourage you to read below and check out the original research article. Thanks Bruno!

Breakthrough in Neuroscience – new method allows characterization of  
neuronal networks on single-cell level

An international team led by neuroscientist Troy Margrie has developed  
a new method, which will shape the future of cellular neuroscience.  
The researchers from MRC National Institute for Medical Research in  
London, Columbia University in New York and Max-Planck-Institute for  
Medical Research in Heidelberg succeeded in determining the function  
of individual nerve cells in the brain and identify those neurons from  
which a given cell receives its signals. “The new method enables us  
for the first time to identify a neuronal networks on the level of  
individual cells and characterize it functionally”, explains Ede  
Rancz. This study is now published in Nature Neuroscience.

A genetically modified rabies virus leads the way

The scientists combined two existing methods, “whole-cell patch clamp  
recording” and “monosynaptic retrograde virus tracing”. They use the  
patch-clamp technique to determine the exact stimuli to which a given  
brain cell responds. Through the glass micropipette, which is used to  
record electrical signals, they simultaneously inject plasmid DNA into  
this cell. In the vicinity of the cell they later inject a rabies  
virus, which is lacking proteins necessary for entering a cell and  
spreading through neuronal pathways. These missing proteins are  
provided by the plasmid DNA injected previously into the cell.  
Therefore, the virus can only infect this single cell and then spread  
across synapses to only those neurons which are exactly one step  
upstream in the signaling chain. There it stops because these  
presynaptic cells do not contain the necessary plasmid DNA, which the  
modified virus needs for spreading.

Cellular networks in the living organism

The plasmid DNA and the virus both produce fluorescent proteins, which  
are then visualized through specialized microscopes. In this way, the  
functionally characterized cell as well as its connected ‘neighbours’,  
from which the cell receives information - let them be in close  
proximity or in a different brain area -can be identified. As this  
technique can be used in a living organism, cellular networks can be  
identified and then subjected to further experiments. The researchers  
are convinced that this method opens up the door for answering a  
plethora of very important but previously unapproachable questions.


The original paper is available online:
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nn.2765.html
Short video clips of original microscopy images are available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6spZuxsJOcU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tujh2YH6rK8


Contact:

Prof. Troy Margrie
http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/research/troy-margrie/