Psychedelic Sunspot Video Useful for Science, Too

Behold the first complete simulation of a sunspot, the product of a new 76-teraflop supercomputer that’s allowed scientists to model the sun’s magnetic processes in unprecedented detail.

The beautiful virtual sunspot (see video below) was built using new observations about the structure of the sun. It represents an area 31,000 miles by 62,000 miles to a depth of 3,700 miles. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research used a wealth of equations that describe the interactions of particles in the environment to calculate the dynamics of the sunspot at 1.8 billion individual points.

“Advances in supercomputing power are enabling us to close in on some of the most fundamental processes of the sun,” said Michael Knoelker, director of NCAR’s High Altitude Observatory and co-author of a paper on the work appearing in Science Thursday. “With this breakthrough simulation, an overall comprehensive physical picture is emerging for everything that observers have associated with the appearance, formation, dynamics and the decay of sunspots on the sun’s surface.”

Sunspots, which wax and wane in roughly 11-year cycles, eject massive amounts of plasma into the solar system, sometimes causing disruptions of terrestrial communications and power grid infrastructure. We’ve been studying them for a 100 years, but it’s only recently that keener observations and expanded computing power have enabled us to begin to really understand them.

Still, there is a lot left to learn. Over the last year, scientists have been trying to explain the abnormally low number of sunspots. The normal cycle appeared to have been disrupted, which would have required a major rethink of the sun’s internal dynamics.

… With the new supercomputer sunspot model, solar researchers could gain a deeper understanding of these powerful, mysterious and important phenomena. That’s good news because as sunspot activity kicks back up towards its maximum, experts warn the Earth’s electrical and communications networks could be in very serious trouble.

via Psychedelic Sunspot Video Useful for Science, Too | Wired Science | Wired.com.

See the 4 second  video here.

Nuclear nations rush to lock in uranium deals

A global shift toward nuclear power is prompting countries to rush to lock in long-term access to tight supplies of uranium, and China and India look to be the next players to get in on the action.

A tie-up between Rosatom, the Russian state-owned producer, Rosatom and Canada-based miner Uranium One announced this week is just the latest in a series of moves on the part of Asian and European countries to lock in uranium supply to fuel construction of dozens of new reactors over the next decade.

“I think increasingly the supply of reactors is being tied to security of supply of nuclear fuel,” said Divya Reddy, an energy analyst with the Eurasia Group in Washington.

Rosatom secured a 17 percent stake in Uranium One and a long-term supply deal in exchange for a half stake in the Karatau mine in Kazakhstan.

Uranium One is also trying to close a C$270 million ($240 million) 20 percent share sale and supply agreement with Japan’s Toshiba Corp, Toyko Electric Power Co, and Japan Bank for international Cooperation, while uranium miner Denison Mines recently agreed to sell 20 percent of itself to Korea Electric Power Corp.

Reddy sees more activity from Russia as it strives to expand its influence in the nuclear industry, but said the most likely sources of demand in the longer run will come from Asia, including India, which last year signed a deal ending a three-decade ban on nuclear trade with the United States.

“There is definitely growth in demand from developing countries. China would be the biggest market, India probably next,” she said.

China, with the most ambitious nuclear power expansion plans, has been in talks with top uranium miner Cameco about a potential supply deal, a company spokesman confirmed.

Australia is also mulling selling uranium from BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam mine to China, provided it is not used in Beijing’s weapons program.

100 NEW REACTORS

Led by China, India and Russia, more than 100 new reactors will be built over the next decade, Cameco estimates, all part of a global push to reduce dependence on greenhouse gas-producing power sources such as coal.

With new reactors expected to be larger on average than the 426 currently in operation, generating capacity would grow by 28 percent, the company says.

“Over 10 years, the demand for uranium will definitely continue to rise, and there will be a need for new mines and new solutions,” said Mike Goldenberg, director of nuclear fuel markets at New York-based Evolution Markets.

Meanwhile, state-run Russian and Kazakh nuclear concerns have been busy signing deals with countries such as China and Japan to export nuclear industry and technology.

via Nuclear nations rush to lock in uranium deals | Green Business | Reuters.

Solar system’s most volcanic body to go dormant

The most volcanically active body in the solar system has just received a death sentence. Jupiter’s moon Io, whose surface erupts with active volcanoes, will one day become dormant, a new study analysing more than 100 years of observations suggests.

Io, which is about the size of Earth’s moon and is Jupiter’s closest large satellite, is covered with lava flows and dozens of active volcanoesMovie Camera (see image).

The heat for this activity comes from the fact that the moon travels on an elongated path around Jupiter, and therefore feels the giant planet’s gravity at different strengths along its orbit. This varying pull causes its body to deform, producing bulges that move its surface up and down by an estimated 10 metres per orbit. This generates heat that powers the moon’s volcanism.

But it will not always be so, according to a new study led by Valéry Lainey of the Paris Observatory in France.

Out of resonance

If Io were Jupiter’s only satellite, the planet’s intense gravity would eventually pull the nearby moon into a circular orbit.

The reason it travels on an elliptical path instead is because of special gravitational interactions with its nearest large sister moons, Europa and Ganymede. For every orbit that Ganymede makes, Europa makes two and Io four – a type of gravitational relationship called a Laplace resonance.

But Lainey and colleagues have found that the moons are, in fact, moving out of their resonance – Europa and Ganymede are gradually drifting away from Jupiter, while Io is moving towards the planet.

The team came to these conclusions after carrying out numerical calculations of Io’s orbital motion and plugging in observations of Io, Europa and Ganymede taken between 1891 and 2007.

via Solar system’s most volcanic body to go dormant – space – 18 June 2009 – New Scientist.

Follow Ocean Trends From Your Desktop With NASA’s ‘Sea Level Viewer’

Heat from the oceans is a driving force of climate, and the best place to watch ocean heat circulate is from space. Now Internet users can access these data by using the Sea Level Viewer, an interactive visualization tool developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.

“Sea level is an important type of climate data, already used by many scientists,” said Randal Jackson, who produces NASA’s Global Climate Change website out of NASA JPL. “Our goal was to present it in a form that’s visual, interactive and accessible to the general public.”

Since 1992 NASA and the French space agency CNES have operated satellites that measure the precise height of Earth’s oceans. In 1992, TOPEX/Poseidon launched and it was followed by the Jason-1 satellite, launched in 2001. The Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite launched in June 2008, as a follow-on mission to Jason-1. The sea level height reflects the amount of heat stored in the water which is extremely important in hurricane forecasting.

The NASA Sea Level Viewer provides users with an up-to-date look at recent ocean topography data, allowing them to explore a global view or watch videos explaining the impact of sea surface height on Earth’s climate. The Sea Level Viewer is accessible through NASA’s Global Climate Change website, http://climate.jpl.nasa.gov.

On the Sea Level Viewer webpage, click on the “current” button to see a recent map of sea level data as collected by the Jason-1 and Jason-2 satellites. The data are presented on a revolving globe, with clickable hot spots that explain recent trends. In the global view, white areas represent sea surface heights between 8 and 24 centimeters (3.1 to 9.4 inches) above normal, indicating warmer, expanded water. Dark areas represent sea surface heights between 8 and 24 centimeters below normal, indicating cooler water.

Users can also click to learn about noteworthy sea level phenomena in recent years, such as the extraordinary El Niño of 1997-1998, which played havoc with normal climate patterns. Other features include 2005′s Hurricane Katrina, 2004′s Indian Ocean tsunami, and 1999′s La Niña event. There’s also information on how space-based observations are helping forecasters predict the strength and intensity of hurricanes.

via NASA – Follow Ocean Trends From Your Desktop With NASA’s ‘Sea Level Viewer’.

Try it here. Some bonus music too.

NASA – Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Spacecraft are on their way to the moon atop the same Atlas V rocket, although they will use vastly different methods to study the lunar environment. LRO will go into orbit around the moon, turning its suite of instruments towards the moon for thorough studies. The spacecraft also will be looking for potential landing sites for astronauts.

LCROSS, on the other hand, will guide an empty upper stage on a collision course with a permanently shaded crater in an effort to kick up evidence of water at the moon’s poles. LCROSS itself will also impact the lunar surface during its course of study.

Liftoff occurred at 5:32 p.m. EDT. Mission managers used the last launch opportunity due to storms surrounding the launch site.

via NASA – Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

U of T supercomputer probes origins of the universe

Go on. Ask this IBM System x iDataPlex to do as many calculations as there are stars in our Milky Way Galaxy.

Hold on. It won’t take a second. Not even close to one.

Although its name may be ungainly, the University of Toronto’s new supercomputer performs so elegantly it can churn through 300 trillion pieces of information in the time it took Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt to run 10 metres at a Toronto track meet last week.

And with a measly 200 to 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, galactic-sized calculations will be child’s play.

But the new computer – which vaults to the position of Canada’s most powerful upon having its last piece fired up today – will be charged with solving both astronomical and earthbound problems.

“This is to computing what the CN Tower was to architecture in Canada,” says Chris Pratt, an executive with IBM Canada.

“It has the ability to simulate and predict about 1,000 years of the Earth’s climate in about four days.”

Built for U of T’s SciNet Consortium, which includes the school’s research hospitals, the computer will be working on everything from medical imaging and the likely progress of climate change to the forces at play as the universe dawned some 13 billion years ago.

The system, which began operating in stages last year, puts some 30,240 of the world’s most powerful Intel processors together in 45 file-like stacks. It can run as many of those processors as required.

And, according to the latest TOP500 ranking of supercomputers, it enters full service as the world’s 12th most powerful.

via TheStar.com | GTA | U of T supercomputer probes origins of the universe.

Weird salamander may yield hope for amputees

Scientists are genetically modifying a bizarre looking Mexican salamander, which according to ancient mythology is a transformed Aztec god, in the hope its ability to regenerate body parts will one day help human amputees.

Also known as “water monsters,” the half-foot-long axolotl is nearly extinct in its only remaining habitat: the polluted vestiges of Aztec canals that snake though southern Mexico City, packed with colorful boats carrying tourists and mariachi musicians.

But the slimy animal crowned with frilly gills like a headdress, beady eyes and a goofy smile, is thriving in labs where it reproduces easily. It is a darling of researchers since it can regrow injured limbs, jaws, skin, organs and parts of its brain and spinal chord.

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Some other animals have the capacity to regenerate, but only salamanders can regrow so many different parts over and over again throughout their lives.

The U.S. Department of Defense has given a $6.25 million research grant to scientists studying the little creature with the aim of eventually helping the more than 1,000 soldiers who have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan with missing extremities.

In a lab in Mexico City, where biology students map the shrinking habitat of the animal, an axolotl whose leg was recently bitten off by a tank mate was already budding a tiny replica, complete with little toes.

“Humans do repair tissue but they don’t repair it perfectly whereas the axolotl under certain injury conditions can go into kind of a mode where they repeat the process of the embryo,” said Elly Tanaka from the Center for Regenerative Therapies in Dresden, Germany.

Tanaka has succeeded in genetically engineering axolotls using a mutant type found in the wild with no skin pigment and inserting a green-glowing gene from a jellyfish into the salamander cells to help see the process of regeneration in action.

via Weird salamander may yield hope for amputees – Innovation- msnbc.com.

First hard evidence found of a lake on Mars

A long, deep canyon and the remains of beaches are perhaps the clearest evidence yet of a standing lake on the surface of Mars — one that apparently contained water when the planet was supposed to have already dried up, scientists said on Wednesday.

Images from a camera called the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate water carved a 30-mile-(50-km-)long canyon, a team at the University of Colorado at Boulder reported.

It would have covered 80 square miles (200 sq km) and been up to 1,500 feet deep, the researchers wrote in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

There is now no dispute that water exists on the surface or Mars — robot explorers have found ice. There is also evidence that water may still seep to the surface from underground, although it quickly disappears in the cold, thin atmosphere of the red planet.

Planetary scientists have also seen what could be the shores of giant rivers and seas — but some of the formations could also arguably have been made by dry landslides.

“This is the first unambiguous evidence of shorelines on the surface of Mars,” said Gaetano Di Achille, who led the study.

“The identification of the shorelines and accompanying geological evidence allows us to calculate the size and volume of the lake, which appears to have formed about 3.4 billion years ago,” Di Achille said in a statement.

Water is key to life and scientists are looking desperately for evidence of life, past or present, on Mars. Having water on the planet could also be useful to future human explorers.

“On Earth, deltas and lakes are excellent collectors and preservers of signs of past life,” said Di Achille. “If life ever arose on Mars, deltas may be the key to unlocking Mars’ biological past,” Di Achille said.

“Not only does this research prove there was a long-lived lake system on Mars, but we can see that the lake formed after the warm, wet period is thought to have dissipated,” assistant professor Brian Hynek said.

The lake probably either evaporated or froze over after abrupt climate change, the researchers said. Its waters would have turned into vapor. No one knows what turned Mars from a warm, wet planet into the frozen, airless desert it is now.

via First hard evidence found of a lake on Mars | Science | Reuters.

Symposium will teach AIs how to wage nuclear war

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers holds a symposium every year on Computational Intelligence and Games. Part of the symposium is a sort of “Turing Test” challenge, in which contestants program an AI to play a videogame. The objective is to try to trick a panel of human judges into thinking the AI is a human player.

This year’s videogame is DEFCON, the brilliant nuclear war strategy game from indie developer Introversion.

A group of talented programmers will pitch their DEFCON bot against enemy bots in a series of one-on-one thermonuclear chess games. The winner is the programmer whose bot successfully annihilates its opponents and racks up the highest death count. IEEE is offering a $500 prize to the deadliest DEFCON AI bot competition winner.

This can’t be a good idea. Having seen lots of science fiction movies, I know exactly how this is going to turn out: whoever wins, we lose. I urge the IEEE to rethink their choice of game. Perhaps Cooking Mama or Uno?

via Symposium will teach AIs how to wage nuclear war | Fidgit.

Plan to teach military robots the rules of war

Technology has always distanced the soldiers who use weapons from the people who get hit. But robotics engineer Ron Arkin at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, is working to imagine wars in which weapons make their own decisions about wielding lethal force.

He is particularly interested in how such machines might be programmed to act ethically, obeying the rules of engagement.

Arkin has developed an “ethical governor”, which aims to ensure that robot attack aircraft behave ethically in combat, and is demonstrating the system in simulations based on recent campaigns by US troops, using real maps from the Middle East.

Virtual battlefield

In one scenario, modelled on a situation encountered by US forces in Afganistan in 2006, the drone identifies a group of Taliban soldiers inside a defined “kill zone”. But the drone doesn’t fire. Its maps indicate that the group is inside a cemetery, so opening fire would breach international law.

In another scenario, the drone identifies an enemy vehicle convoy close to a hospital. Here the ethical governor only allows fire that will damage the vehicles without harming the hospital. Arkin has also built in a “guilt” system which, if a serious error is made, forces a drone to start behaving more cautiously. You can see videos of these simulations on Arkin’s website.

In developing the software, he drew on studies of military ethics, as well as discussions with military personnel, and says his aim is to reduce non-combatant casualties. One Vietnam veteran told him of soldiers shooting at anything that moved in some situations. “I can easily make a robot do that today, but instead we should be thinking about how to make them perform better than that,” Arkin says.

Complex scenarios

Simulations are a powerful way to imagine one possible version of the future of combat, says Illah Nourbakhsh, a roboticist at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, US. But they gloss over the complexities of getting robots to understand the world well enough to make such judgements, he says; something unlikely to be possible for decades.

Arkin stresses that his research, funded by the US army, is not designed to develop prototypes for future battlefield use. “The most important outcome of my research is not the architecture, but the discussion that it stimulates.”

However, he maintains that the development of machines that decide how to use lethal force is inevitable, making it important that when such robots do arrive they can be trusted.

via Plan to teach military robots the rules of war – tech – 18 June 2009 – New Scientist.

Some future kid on a playground does a little dance that seems terrorist-like and one of these things swoops out of the sky and blows him to bits. Great.