Scientist have found hyperactive galaxies while looking 11 billion year in past. They have measured the speed of stars in a distant galaxy that is around 11 billion light year far from us and found that stars are rotating at a speed of 1 million mile per hour. This speed is twice the speed of our sun in Milky Way Galaxy.
Comparison of Milky Way and Compact Galaxy
Scientists used combined power of Hubble Space Telescope of NASA and 8-meter Gemini South Telescope in Chile. While Hubble found that size of these distant galaxies are a fraction of the galaxies we see today, Gemini telescope is used to clock their speed using Spectroscopy.
According to Pieter van Dokkum, professor of astronomy and physics at Yale University and head of this project, the galaxy they have seen is very small as compared to all modern galaxies like our own Milky Way. But the motion of stars is as if they were in a giant galaxy. Now it is matter of discussion that how it is possible for these galaxies containing so much mass in such a small volume can form in early universe and then evolve into galaxies like we see in near universe.
The team behind this research combined data from NASA,s Hubble Telescope and Gemini South Telescope in Chile. While data collected by Hubble Space Telescope confirmed that the galaxy under observation is very small than the galaxies we see today, 8-meter Gemini telescope measured the motion of stars.
In words of Mariska Kriek of Princeton University, New Jersy, a team member in this research:
“By looking at this galaxy we are able to look back in time and see what galaxies looked like in the distant past when the universe was very young.”
What conclusion they got from this:
Right now it’s hard to say for any of astronomers that how such compact and massive galaxies form and why they are not seen in current universe. But one possibility says that it may be the dense central region of a very large galaxy that is going to form eventually. So it may be concluded that centers of big galaxies formed first in the beginning of universe.
What next?
Astronomers are planning to study the formation of these galaxies by observing galaxies in farther back in time. They will use Wide Field Camera 3, recently installed on Hubble Space Telescope.
According to van Dokkum:
“The ancestors of these extreme galaxies should have quite spectacular properties as they probably formed a huge amount of stars, in addition to a massive black hole, in a relatively short amount of time.”
Most important questions to be answered:
There are 2 most strange questions about this research:
1) How it is possible for those galaxies to contain so much mass in such a small size?
2) If it was the starting of formation of galaxies then how galaxies grew so much in past 10 billion years that we see in today universe?
To solve these problems scientist have to understand the dynamics of these young compact galaxies. We should hope that this study of past will help us to solve many more puzzles regarding the evolution of universe.
Samsung has created a new wave in mobile industry with the launch of its first watch phone Samsung S9110, giving completion to LG GD910. Samsung S9110 is the thinnest phone measuring 11.98mm while its competitor LG GD910 has a thickness of 13.9mm.
With sporty looks it looks like a dream come true for those gadget freaks who always wanted to feel such James Bond gadgets in real life.
Samsung S9110 Wrist Phone
Features:
The considerable features of Samsung S9110 wrist phone are 1.76 inch glass, scratch proof touchscreen, stainless steel body with many other facilities such as Bluetooth 2.1, Outlook Email sync, MP3 Player, 2.1 speakerphone and voice recognition system. Some other features are 176 x 220 pixel, 262k color TFT TSP display, 40 MB memory, Li-Ion 630 mAh battery and 57.5 x 41.1 x 11.98mm / 91g footprint.
Some Disadvantage:
Although it is not supporting 3G features and thus you may lack features like Video calls and high rate data transfer but still it looks like a hard competitor to LG. Also memory is no expandable so you have to be satisfied with 40 MB. You will also lack data transfer tools such as HSCSD, EDGE, 3G, WLAN Infrared and USB. But this phone is made basically for handy use so must compromise on these.
Cost:
Cost of Samsung S9110 is €450 that is approximately $639, seems little higher but looking at the features and look, it’s reasonable.
Indus valley is one of the most important urban civilizations under research till date for its mysterious scripts. Archaeologists believe that Indus Valley was the beginning of Indian civilization that flourished around 2600 to 1900 B.C. in the area that is border of modern Pakistan and India. It was discovered in 1922 and since then a lot of work has been done on analyzing the language, but still that mysterious language of one of the earliest civilizations is an unbroken code.
The Mysterious Script of Indus Valley
The Mysterious Language:
The records of their language have been found on seals, small pieces of soft stones and on copper tablets. It is also proved that Harappans (that age was called Harappan Age) sailed to far countries for trading purposes as their seals have been recovered in Mesopotamia civilization that is Modern Iraq.
Around 400 different signs have been used in the language with the average length of text to 5 signs, while the longest text is of 14 signs.
According to some experts this language belongs to Dravidian family and it is logo-syllabic, but some think that these signs are just pictogram of political or religious icons instead of a language.
Latest Research on this Mystery:
A team of Indian and American scientist and archeologists are now using mathematics and computer science to break the mysterious code. The project is being funded by Packard Foundation, Sir Jamsedji Tata Trust, University of Washington and the Indus Research Center.
The study shows distinct patterns in the symbols’ placement in sequences and creates a statistical model for the unknown language.
“The statistical model provides insights into the underlying grammatical structure of the Indus script. Such a model can be valuable for decipherment, because any meaning ascribed to a symbol must make sense in the context of other symbols that precede or follow it.”
They are actually working on recognizing the mathematical patterns in the sequence of symbols. Calculations show that the order of symbols is meaningful; taking one symbol from a sequence found on an artifact and changing its position produces a new sequence that has a much lower probability of belonging to the hypothetical language.
Till now they are sure that this script is a language and there is a clear underlying logic in Indus Script.
As it is previously discussed that their seals have been recovered in Mesopotamia civilization in Modern Iraq it is sure that they used to trade with these civilizations and hence it is a firm belief that the language is not just a religious or political symbol, but a mode of representing different information in West Asia by Indus traders.
Rao says:
“The finding that the Indus script may have been versatile enough to represent different subject matter in West Asia is provocative. This finding is hard to reconcile with the claim that the script merely represents religious or political symbols.”
Markov Model of Research:
The researchers have used Markov statistical model that estimates the likelihood of a future event based on patterns seen in the past. It was developed a century ago by Andrey Markov, a Russian mathematician and is used in economics, genetics, speech-recognition and many other fields.
Researcher have used statistical model to fill missing symbols on damaged archeological artifacts. This will increase the pool of data available for encoding the scripts of that ancient civilization.
MIT media lab has achieved a new milestone in the field of robotics with the development of a new robot that is able to show various facial expressions such as “slanting its eyebrow in anger” or “raise them in surprise.” It shows wide variety of facial expressions while communicating with people.
Nexi - The Next Generation Robots
Scientist has named this advanced robot “NEXI”. The name has been derived from the fact that it is the next generation robot which will be used in a range of applications in personal use especially where a human-robot team work is to be carried.
Designing Features of NEXI
Xitome Design, an innovative designing and development company has designed head and face of NEXI. They are specialized in designing cutting edge robotic design and development.
Neck Mechanism:
The expressive robotics started with a neck mechanism sporting 4 degrees of freedom (DoF) at the base, plus pan-tilt-yaw of the head itself. This mechanism has been made to time the movements so they imitate human speed.
Face:
The face of NEXI is also specially designed to use gaze, eyebrows, eyelids and an articulate mandible which helps in expressing a wide range of different emotions.
Chassis:
Chassis of NEXI has been designed and developed by Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics UMASS (University of Massachusetts), Amherst. It is based on uBot5 mobile manipulator. It can balance dynamically on two wheels. Arms of NEXI are able to pick a weight upto 10 pounds.
Head of the Project:
Cynthia Breazeal, a famous robotics expert and associate professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT is heading the project NEXI. She has worked successfully on projects like Kismet in the past. She named her new product as an MDS (mobile, dextrous, social) robot. Features of NEXI:
NEXI has many other features except a wide range of facial expressions. It has self-balancing wheels like the Segway transporter, to ultimately ride on. Currently it uses an additional set of supportive wheels to operate as a statically stable platform in its early stage of development. It has hands which can be used to manipulate objects, eyes (video cameras), ears (an array of microphones), and a 3-D infrared camera and laser rangefinder which support real-time tracking of objects, people and voices as well as indoor navigation.
According to a research going on in Leeds, it is possible to capture the kinetic energy produced by soldiers while marching. This energy then can be used to power their equipments. This technology which can convert foot-power into battery power will also reduce the weight of soldiers by 10 Kg.
How the system will work?
The device used for this will use tech ceramics and crystals as piezoelectric transducers to convert mechanical stress to electric charge. Their charge is modified every time soldiers flex their knees or ankles, and the difference in potential energy will be converted into electrical energy. According to official announcements by project team:
“The project will consider the optimum placement of the ‘energy harvesting’ devices, including the back-pack straps and around the knee to provide active support, capturing energy but also cushioning the impact when legs are bent, joints compressed or their boots strike the ground.”
Cost of Project:
This project will take around 1 Million GBP (1.64 Million USD) to conduct. The project team consists of scientists from Bristol, Liverpool, Sheffield, Southampton and Cranfield universities. The project is funded by Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).
Man Behind Project:
Professor Andrew Bell who is Director of Institute of Material Research at Leeds University is heading the project. In his words:
“As well as the obvious green issue of using so many batteries, it could also reduce a soldier’s pack weight by around 15 per cent. And this technology could potentially have lots of applications in civvy street too”.
We hope so!
Major Benefits from this Invention:
This project is designed to help the soldiers on duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. A regular infantryman on 6-hour petrol carries a backpack that consists of items such as torches, radios, water, communication systems and kits for electric offset measures. This weighs about 75 Kg but if the new equipments are added then it can reduce the weight by 10 Kg. This equipment will also act as a shock-absorber, when placed on soles of boot. It will also reduce the impact on joints on long marches and thus reduces stress on legs.
Major Problems in Project Idea:
Although this type of energy harvesting idea has been used in cars in which braking force is stored and then used to drive vehicle further. But as long as capturing energy from walking of people is concerned it is little bit difficult because highly flexible and strong materials are needed for this and everyone has a different walking pattern.
But according to professor Bell they will surely succeed in this effort due to the holistic approach they are taking over this. He says:
“By using the latest materials and electronics combined with taking into account personal differences in walking style we are confident we can make this work without adding to the burden or fatigue of the soldier wearing the device.”
Actually this project is a part of a bigger research called “Battery Free Soldiers,” which includes research on methods to convert and store energy from other sources such as solar energy and body heat.
