Eideard

The densest regions of the dark matter cosmic web host massive clusters of galaxies

Astronomers have made the largest map yet of dark matter in the universe. This invisible stuff gives off no light, but it does exert gravity on its surroundings. It probably consists of unknown elementary particles, and it’s much more prevalent than the normal matter from which stars, planets, and people are made. The new map shows that dark matter is concentrated in huge clumps and filaments, with giant, empty regions in between—just as computer simulations had predicted…

Mapping the invisible may sound impossible, but in fact it’s rather simple. Just as an invisible man sleeping in your bed will leave wrinkles in the sheets, the gravity of invisible dark matter produces minute distortions in the observed shapes of background galaxies. Using this “weak lensing” effect to map dark matter is “a first important step to understand the dark Universe,” says…Catherine Heymans of the University of Edinburgh…

Working with the 340-megapixel MegaCam camera on the 3.6-meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the team spent 5 years imaging 10 million galaxies at distances of about 6 billion light-years. “Our map is about a hundred times larger than the largest dark matter map to date,” Van Waerbeke says. A statistical analysis of the shapes of the galaxies revealed the spatial distribution of the intervening dark matter.

The results…look very much like supercomputer simulations of the evolution of the universe, with dark matter clumped into a “cosmic web” of filaments and knots. The clumpy knots, where most of the dark matter is concentrated, neatly coincide with huge clusters of galaxies, just as cosmological theories suggest.

In fact, says astrophysicist Rachel Mandelbaum of Princeton University, “projects like the CFHT Lensing Survey can be used to test theories of dark matter and general relativity.” So far, Ludovic Van Waerbeke says, “everything looks okay. The maps show exactly what we expected.” In other words, the results confirm current popular ideas about the physics, makeup, and evolution of the universe.

Still no sightings of angels, demons, gods and other critters from popular superstitions.

Four robots have set out on an epic 66,000km journey across the Pacific Ocean. Created by US firm Liquid Robotics, the four are aiming to set the record for the longest distance at sea travelled by an unmanned craft.

Throughout their journey the robots will gather lots of data about the composition and quality of sea water. The journey is expected to take about 300 days, and is designed to inspire researchers to study ocean health.

The robots were launched from the St Francis Yacht Club on the edge of San Francisco harbour on 17 November.

Initially the four will travel as a flotilla to Hawaii and then will split into two pairs. One will go on to Australia and the other will head to Japan to support a dive on the Mariana Trench – the deepest part of the ocean.

The robots manage to move thanks to interaction between the two halves of the autonomous vehicle. The upper half of the wave-riding robot is shaped like a stunted surfboard and it is attached by a cable to a lower part that sports a series of fins and a keel.

Interaction between the two parts brought about by the motion of the waves enables the robot to propel itself.

Electrical power for sensors is provided by solar panels on the upper surface of the robot…

The wave-riding robots are veterans of ocean-going science and helped monitor the spread of oil during the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Before now the longest single journey they have undertaken was over a distance of 2,500 miles.

Bravo. Does anyone know if we will be able to trace them along their travels?

Here’s a link from Ursarodina to sign up for periodic updates: http://tinyurl.com/86op5n5

The teaching profession catches a lot of political flak these days [mostly from dunderheads], so it’s nice to see a story like this, where a deserving educator gets what we would consider a pretty cool prize.

Chad Miller, a high school teacher in Kailua, Hawaii, will be rolling around in a Mitsubishi i MIEV for a year, provided by his local Mitsu dealer. Miller will also get two charging stations – one for home and another for his school – courtesy of AeroVironment. The EV was awarded to Miller for being named State Teacher of the Year.

We’ve written before about how Hawaii represents a perfect environment for electric cars, and this prize seems like a good grassroots marketing effort for both Mitsubishi and EVs in general. No doubt Miller will be the focus of some amount of attention from Kailua High’s thousand-plus students, especially since a charging station will be installed at the school.

Although he is a language arts teacher, we hope Miller will be generous in letting some of the science teachers at the school develop some curriculum around the car, as well.

I certainly hope so, as well. None of the teachers in my family ever got such a snazzy prize – even when they won comparable awards.

Zophia and Nicole

A pregnant woman and her husband were arrested for allegedly stealing two sandwiches at a supermarket in Honolulu, resulting in their 3-year-old daughter being put into state care for 18 hours, officials said on Saturday.

The supermarket that called the police was a Safeway in Makiki, a neighborhood in Honolulu. “From our preliminary investigation, it appears we may not have handled this matter in the best possible way. We are taking this situation seriously, and giving it our full attention,” Safeway said in a statement.

Do you think?

Famished mother Nicole Leczcyzynski, 30-weeks pregnant, was feeling faint and noshed on a chicken salad sandwich while shopping at the store on Wednesday, Leczcyzynski said in an interview with local television station KHON.

She paid for roughly $50 dollars worth of groceries but forgot about the two sandwiches, valued at $5 each, according to Safeway.

The family was stopped by security staff while leaving the store. Leczcyzynski offered to pay for the sandwiches, she said, but the security guard called the police, the couple were arrested, and their daughter was taken into custody by Child Protective Services…

Both Leczcyzynski, and her husband, Marcin, were charged with theft, Honolulu police said. Bail was set at $50 apiece.

When did Hawaii become one of the Confederate states?

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Hawaii’s Senate has given final passage to a measure legalizing same-sex unions in the state, and Gov. Neil Abercrombie has said he will sign it.

The state House had already passed the bill, which “extends the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union,” according to the Legislature’s website. It will take effect January 1, 2012…

“I have always believed that civil unions respect our diversity, protect people’s privacy and reinforce our core values of equality and aloha,” Abercrombie said in a statement. “For me, this bill represents equal rights for all the people of Hawaii…”

Five states and the District of Columbia issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hawaii will join New Jersey in allowing civil unions.

Voters in Hawaii appear to have elected someone capable of bringing their personal politics into the 21st Century. Here in New Mexico we’ve been relegated to a “same old solution” resolution to our last election. Being Hispanic, Catholic, much beloved by police departments was an edge unable overcome by an exceptionally lackluster Democrat.

History tends to resolve the stupidity and inequity of human behavior grounded in superstition and hatred. But, it seems to take an inordinate length of time. Extending equal civil rights to all citizens seems to be a no-brainer; but, we often have an excess of fools without brains. They also get one vote apiece.

No – I’m not suggesting you print this out and sell it on your own

Five Hawaii Democratic state legislators have introduced a bill that would allow anyone seeking an original, certified copy of Barack Obama’s birth record to obtain one — for $110.

The measure, introduced in the state legislature last week, would change a state law that currently limits the release of vital documents to persons with a “direct and tangible interest,” such as family members.

“I’m hoping that it will also reduce the number of calls that we get and calm the birthers down,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rida Cabanilla, in an interview. “It may to a certain extent reduce the conspiracy theories, but at least the fee might reduce the number of frivolous calls asking for explanations about why a copy cannot be released.”

The Obama campaign released an electronic copy of his “certification of live birth” in 2008. But it didn’t quiet skeptics who insist, without evidence, that Obama was born in Kenya. They have flooded phone lines at Hawaii’s health department with hundreds of requests for access to original documents.

The certified copy lists the date, hour and location of Obama’s birth, as well as the names and races of his parents. It includes an embossed seal of authenticity from the Department of Health, according to images posted online.

Cabanilla’s bill would allow anyone to receive a physical copy of that certification for a fee…

“Those records are very fragile and are kept in a state vault. They shouldn’t be released or exposed to the elements,” said Cabanilla. “We’re hoping providing people access to the certified copy will quiet them down.”

Which is as absurd as explaining the world is round to some of the same crowd in the KoolAid Party.

Nutballs convinced of one or another conspiracy theory are perfectly religious, no different from any other apocalyptic sect, in that they see no science, reason or material fact able to dissuade their True Belief. All the rest of reality must be wrong.

…staffers get to play in the water, as well!

An Ewa Beach man is claiming he is unable to bathe, dress himself or wake up in the day due to alleged “phenomena of psychological dependence and addiction” to a video game created by a South Korean developer.

Craig Smallwood, 51, filed a lawsuit against developer NCSoft Corp. last October with several charges including emotional distress and misrepresentation.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Alan Kay granted NCSoft’s motion to dismiss half of the eight charges, allowing the lawsuit to proceed…

Smallwood, who says he is a disabled veteran, also alleges that he has been “unable to function independently in usually daily activities such as getting up, getting dressed, bathing or communicating with family and friends.”

He claims to have been hospitalized for three weeks and that he now needs treatment and therapy three times a week because of the game…

Smallwood asserts that he continues to this day to have a “compulsive urge and need” to play the game, that he never received any warning from the company about the danger of addiction and that he would not have bought and played the game if he would become addicted to it.

Someone, somehow, give me a break from neurotic lamebrains filing lawsuits over their own screwup decisions.

At the time of this posting, we are about 1 hour away from a tsunami hitting Hawaii.

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake has rocked Chile, killing at least 147 people, bringing down homes and other buildings and causing tsumani warnings, watches and alerts in many parts of the Pacific Ocean.

Rescue workers rushed to the scene after the earthquake struck early Saturday several hundred kilometers southwest of the capital Santiago, about 100 kilometers from Concepcion, Chile’s second largest metropolitan area.

A rescue official said the number of dead was rising. Bodies were recovered in several regions. Power was cut off in many parts of the capital, and elsewhere as well.

Predictions on TV say an 8-foot wave is expected to hit Hawaii. The U.S. Navy has started pulling ships out of harbors and heading out to sea. Tsunami alarms have already been activated throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

10-15 minutes to go. Understand the first wave ain’t always the worst; but, prospects are looking better. The Marquesas expected 12 feet – and got 6 feet.

UPDATE: Tsunami warning called off in the last hour.

Paradise for Hawaiians

Imee Gallardo, 24, has been scooping ice cream at a Häagen-Dazs shop at Waikiki Beach for five years, and during that time the shop has done something its counterparts on the mainland rarely do: it has paid for her health care.

“I wouldn’t get coverage on the mainland?” Ms. Gallardo asked. “Even if I worked? Why?”

Since 1974, Hawaii has required all employers to provide relatively generous health care benefits to any employee who works 20 hours a week or more. If health care legislation passes in Congress, the rest of the country may barely catch up.

Lawmakers working on a national health care fix have much to learn from the past 35 years in Hawaii, President Obama’s native state.

Among the most important lessons is that even small steps to change the system can have lasting effects on health. Another is that, once benefits are entrenched, taking them away becomes almost impossible. There have not been any serious efforts in Hawaii to repeal the law…

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