Entries categorized as ‘Information’
Our reception to Worldly affairs inside this city-forest is more through diffusion by land, even in this Internet Information Transfer age. So, we got to discuss only the other day about Stephen Hawking’s recent warning about aliens, the likelihood of a meeting with them could result in the certainty of us getting wiped out. Instead of SETI, SETI@home we better STFU.
I am not going to discuss here whether Hawking is right or wrong or how much of it is right. Many around the web and in the blogosphere have done it. Read here, here, here, here and here for a start. But read Brin if you need to pick one.
A lively discussion about aliens eventually gets us to Drake Equation, SETI, METI, Fermi Paradox, radio silence, and even Eerie Silence, a new book by Paul Davies. There now is even a SETI@home where our idle PCs computing power can be used in sifting radio signals for locating one that matters, if it exists.
But I refrain to elaborate these lofty ideals and actions. What I am going to mention is something trivial. A mere technicality.
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Categories: Astronomy · Information · Micro Muse · Space · Technology
Tagged: aliens, seti, radio astronomy, radio telescope, radio transmission, radio silence, stephen hawking, paul davies, david brin
Here is another installment of science eye candy.
We are aware of the original Mandelbrot set and its famous two dimensional image. It is generated using a complex number polynomial ploy 
where the way we choose c, defines the plausibility and complexity of the Mandelbrot set. Two dimension and complex numbers are fine, what is it for three dimension. Quaternions perhaps. And so on. For the past twenty odd years, Rudy Rucker, first imagined the concept behind the potential three dimensional Mandelbrot set, called the Mandelbulb and has ever since attempted to create various improved versions. Here is a low resolution 8th power 3D Mandelbrot, rendered by Paul Nylander
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Categories: Information · Science
Tagged: ferro-fluid, fractal, mandelbrot set, mandelbulb, periodic table, snowflakes, superhydrophobic, superhydrophobic surfaces
December 13, 2009 · 1 Comment
This series carries five to six science images appeared on the web with news snippets that lead you to read more. Take a lazy Sunday plunge into eye candy science, if you will.
1) SEM of a synthetic drug coated with co-polymers.
It looks computer-generated but not.
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Categories: Information · Science
Tagged: Science, Astronomy, Biology, medicine, nano, Physics, schlieren, science images, science and technology, biofluids, ak47
A fascinating picture of all the roots of all polynomials of degree ≤ 5 with integer coefficients ranging from -4 to 4.
Click on the picture for bigger view. Roots of quadratic polynomials are in grey; roots of cubics are in cyan; roots of quartics are in red and roots of quintics are in black. The horizontal axis of symmetry is the real axis; the vertical axis of symmetry is the imaginary axis. The big hole in the middle is centered at 0; the next biggest holes are at ±1, and there are also holes at ±i and all the sixth roots of 1
For more, head to The Beauty of Roots by John Baez
Categories: Information · Maths
Tagged: mathematics, polynomial roots, polynomials, visualizing math
September 24, 2009 · Comments Off
Data analyzed from the recently aborted mission of Chandrayaan confirms the presence of water on the Moon. This discovery is due to the Moon Minerology Mapper (M3) device from NASA, carried on board Chandrayaan. NASA will hold a press conference later today to brief about the new scientific findings. NASA confirms this and thanks ISRO.
As it stands today, three different spacecraft have confirmed the presence of water on the Moon. Water doesn’t seem to be present in the craters and crevices but as hydroxyl or water molecules strewn diffusely across the moon’s surface in low concentrations. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on board Chandrayaan was able to detect wavelengths of light reflected off the surface that indicated bonds between hydrogen and oxygen molecules. This means the presence of is either water or hydroxyl.
Hydrogen deposits measured by Lunar Prospector
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Categories: Information
Tagged: Science, Astronomy, chandrayaan, moon, moon mission, Space, videos, moon water, indian moon mission, lunar mission
