10 Amazing Photos Taken By Scott Kelly On His Year In Space

Commander Scott Kelly has just returned from his 340-day mission aboard the ISS. The record breaking mission has seen Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko spend almost a year in space, and scientists hope to gain an insight into what long stays in microgravity do to the body, with views on missions to Mars in the future.

Over the last year, Commander Kelly has not only been in charge of the ISS and conducted important scientific experiments, but he has also been an avid scientific communicator, posting incredible photos on his Twitter page. Here’s a selection of his best shots.

This stunning colourful photo was posted by Kelly in February and shows Algeria’s Tassili N’Ajjer National Park. NASA/Scott Kelly

In this tweet, Kelly said: “#Bahamas, the strokes of your watercolors are always a refreshing sight.” The image of the Caribbean archipelagus was taken last July. NASA/Scott Kelly

This Zinnia plant was the first flower grown in space. The commander snapped this picture in January. NASA/Scott Kelly

“#GoodMorning #Egypt! Your colors never cease to amaze! #YearInSpace ” tweeted Kelly after taking this breathtaking picture of the Governorate of Wadi Al-Jadid, Egypt. NASA/Scott Kelly

“Day 207, dusk over the Indian Ocean with a yellow band on the horizon,” this tweet read. The yellow band is the light of the Sun reflecting on the atmosphere. NASA/Scott Kelly

Hurricane Patricia was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record and it was responsible for six casualties. Seeing it over Mexico before making landfall, Scott Kellyremarked on how menacing it looked. NASA/Scott Kelly

This incredible picture shows the aurora from last August. NASA/Scott Kelly

Our homes in the cosmos, Earth and the Milky Way are visibile in this beautiful picture. NASA/Scott Kelly

The Alps and the whole italian boot are visibile here through the clouds. He tweeted this inJanuary. NASA/Scott Kelly

A picture of the saltwater lake La’nga Co in Tibet. It’s Sanskrit name translates to “lake of the demon”, as the lake is devoid of fish and plants. Kelly tweeted this picture in January. NASA/Scott Kelly

Some Birds May Be As Clever As Apes Despite Having Tiny Brains

Bird brains might not be quite as useless as their puny size suggests, and may even contain structures that enable them to perform complex cognitive tasks normally associated with mammalian brains. This being the case, the authors of a new study in the journalTrends in Cognitive Science argue that certain high-level mental capabilities may not depend on brain size or structure, but on types of connectivity.

In mammalian brains, an area known as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) controls executive functions such as working memory, reasoning, and the ability to empathize with others. Covering most of the forebrain, the PFC is arranged in six layers – known as laminae – each of which contains a different type of neuronal cell and a particular pattern of connectivity.

The presence of this particular structure has therefore been identified as an essential precursor to the advanced cognitive abilities possessed only by mammals.

However, numerous studies over the past few decades have indicated that some birds may in fact possess mental aptitudes on par with certain species of primate. In one such study, an African grey parrot namedAlex learned to label items and used communication skills to solve a range of cognitive tasks. Other experiments have revealed that ravens employ cunning tactics to try and deceive others when competing for food, while magpies and jackdraws appear to recognize themselves in a mirror, indicating a level of self-awareness.

In light of such evidence, the authors of the new study suggest that bird brains must contain an equivalent to the PFC, which coordinates executive function yet occupies a much smaller volume than the mammalian cortex. Reviewing the literature on avian neuroanatomy compiled over several decades, they attempt to explain how “birds with small, non-cortical brains of 5 to 20 grams can show identical capabilities to apes with large cortices and brain weights of between 275 and 500 grams.”

African grey parrots are famous for their communication skills. FrameAngel/Shutterstock

They begin with the work of Harvey Karten, who showed in the 1960s that, even though avian and mammalian brains differ in structure, they actually contain many of the same types of neurons and patterns of connectivity. Future studies then showed that the neurons of an avian brain region called thenidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) connect with one another in a remarkably similar way to the neurons of the mammalian PFC.

For instance, the NCL has been shown to be packed with dopamine-releasing fibers, which delay the transmission of signals in order to store information during working memory tasks, in exactly the same way as the neurons in the PFCs of monkeys do.

Further studies have indicated that injuries to the NCL severely disrupt birds’ “decision making, rule tracking, encoding of subjective values, and the association of outcomes to actions.”

As such, the researchers claim that the NCL is the avian equivalent of the PFC. Remarkably, however, these two structures are entirely dissimilar in both their location within the brain and in form. For instance, the NCL does not contain laminae, seemingly discrediting the notion that the layered structure of the PFC is necessary for the development of advanced cognitive capacities. Instead, the type of connectivity between neurons may be a more reliable source of mental aptitude.

Furthermore, because the evolutionary lines of birds and mammals diverged some 300 million years ago, the researchers suggest that they probably did not both inherit this connectivity from a common ancestor, but evolved to possess it independently of one another.

As such, they claim that “the NCL and PFC possibly represent a spectacular case of evolutionary convergence,” which refers to the process by which unrelated species develop the same evolutionary traits.

Incredible New Map Of The Milky Way Released

One of the largest studies of our galaxy has just been completed. The ATLASGAL survey has mapped a huge swathe of cold dust and gas distribution in the Milky Way in order to understand how and where stars form.

The survey has so far produced 70 scientific papers, and in the latest publication, astronomers combined the survey data with observations from the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite. The paper, which appeared in Astronomy & Astrophysics, detailed the location of dense star-forming regions and established a precise star-formation rate for our galaxy: The Milky Way forms 13 stars the mass of the Sun every 10 years.

The project was possible thanks to APEX, the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment telescope, in Chile, a precursor to the advanced Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which is studying the universe at wavelengths between infrared and radio.

Dr. Carlos De Breuck, ESO APEX project scientist, told IFLScience: “We can have detailed observations of our galaxy because we are inside it. So we can zoom in the regions where stars are born.

“When we look at the sky with our own eyes, we see these dark lanes in the Milky Way. These dust lanes are the place where stars are forming.”

This comparison shows the central regions of the Milky Way observed at different wavelengths. ESO/ATLASGAL consortium/NASA/GLIMPSE consortium/VVV Survey/ESA/Planck/D. Minniti/S. Guisard

To understand how our galaxy has changed and is changing is very important in order to get a complete census of these star-forming regions. The final catalog covered a 420-square-degree area of sky, more than four times larger than the first ATLASGAL survey.

“It’s a huge amount of data,” added De Breuck, “and its legacy will go well beyond the end of this survey. The entire ATLASGAL data was made available to other astronomers. Everybody from the public can now download the data. It is both beautiful and scientifically useful.”

Although the ATLASGAL survey is now complete, this is not an end but a beginning. “There are many things we can do now. It is a very versatile survey. We found many small compact regions that we could follow up with ALMA,” said De Breuck.

“ATLASGAS told us where to look, where the interesting regions in our galaxy are. And we can study in detail how these regions collapse and form stars. We can get the kinematic of the gas, how it moves around.”

The follow-up observations will not be just in the submillimeter but also in other wavelengths, which will deliver a better understanding of these important regions.

“[The different types of observations] directly illustrate how powerful it is to look at the complementary data between these different observations. What you see in one wavelength is not directly what you see in another wavelength,” added De Breuck.

Did You Know This About Dinosaurs?

photo credit: An artist’s impression showing the multiple injury points. You should have seen the other guy! Leandra Walters

Two paleontologists have uncovered evidence that a dinosaur fossil, excavated way back in 1942, was hiding a record number of injuries. It had at least eight bone fractures and sites of damage through infection. As the new study in PLOS ONE reveals, this beast lived on despite its dramatic injuries – but it probably would have been in a considerable amount of pain.

The dinosaur in question is a species called Dilophosaurus wetherilli, a feathered creature that roamed the Earth 193 million years ago, during the Early Jurassic. It was made famous by the film “Jurassic Park” as the small, venom-spitting reptile with a retractable frill around its neck, although these two features were fabrications.

In reality, this dinosaur was larger, at about six meters (20 feet) long and up to 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) in weight. Based on its frightening array of sharp teeth and powerful legs, it was a carnivore. This new study, which reexamined the original D. wetherilli fossil, reveals that it appeared to have experienced a range of injuries rather suddenly – perhaps the result of a single, brutal battle.

A fractured left shoulder blade, a serious bone infection in its left thumb, trauma to its upper right arm, and a break in its lower left arm are just some of its afflictions. It also appeared to have examples of bone deformation, leaving it with at least one permanently twisted finger; this is likely to be the result of a condition called osteodysplasia, where unusual skeletal growth causes imperfectly aligned or positioned joints or bones.

According to Phil Senter, a professor of biology at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina and co-author of the study, as this finger was always protruding from the hand, the dinosaur was constantly flipping the bird. “It wasn’t being rude,” Senter said in astatement. “It just couldn’t help it.”

The dinosaur’s right hand had a permanently extended finger. Phil Senter & Sara Juengest/PLOS ONE

A long section of bone in one of its forearms is also completely missing. Unlike mammals, dinosaurs were unable to re-grow lost bone, meaning that this particular Jurassic beast had to live without this chunk of bone for the rest of its life. The fractures, however, show signs of healing and growth, meaning that this dinosaur lived on for many more months or even several years after acquiring the injuries.

Its hands, presumably used in combat, were rendered partly inoperable, meaning that it would have been unable to pounce on large dinosaurs in order to kill and consume them. Consequently, it would likely have had to live off smaller, passive prey to get by, which may have caused it to experience a dramatic loss in weight.

The cause of these eight injuries is impossible to determine for sure, but the authors suggest that a battle with a fellow dinosaur may have been to blame. Being thrown quite aggressively against a rock or tree while fending off a predator, or even some particularly defensive prey, may have done the trick.

All in all, this D. wetherilli has the most upper-body injuries ever seen for a theropod dinosaur, a group of bipedal, mostly carnivorous dinosaurs. The previous record-holder was a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue, which had four bone injuries.

Earth’s Core May Not Just Be Made Of Iron

Studying earthquakes allows us to gauge what the interior of our planet looks likes. As our measurements improve, so does our understanding of what lies underneath our feet. Now, a new study has suggested that the composition of the core might be more complex than previously thought.

The structure of Earth’s core was first described in 1936, and for a long time we thought it was made exclusively of metal-loving heavy elements, mainly iron. But Tatsuya Sakamaki of Tohoku University in Japan and his colleagues have demonstrated Earth’s core cannot be solely made of pure iron (or heavy elements) as it is 4 to 5 percent less dense than expected. They suggest that the core contains a large reservoir of lighter elements like hydrogen, silicon, or sulfur, which were trapped there when Earth was still young. Their findings are published in Science Advances.

Studying the interior of the planet using earthquakes is similar to having an ultrasound. The seismic waves’ velocity changes when it goes from one layer to the next, and those differences can be measured.

The wave velocity at the core is consistent with a large (about 3,400 kilometers or 2,100 miles in radius) sphere, with a liquid outer shell and a solid inner part. The heat and pressure in the inner core are so high that iron is crystallized in a way that cannot be seen on the surface, forming the hexagonal close-pack iron (hpc-Fe).

Testing the properties of this peculiar state is very difficult, so scientists need to put a small sample of pure iron between two microscopic diamond anvils. The anvils generate temperatures up to 3,000 K (2,730°C, 4,940°F) and a pressure of over 1.6 million atmospheres.

They looked at the velocity of waves going through the sample and compared it to the value observed in nature, and they saw that the core has a velocity between 4 and 10 percent smaller than the pure sample. This is an indication that the core has a mixed composition.

“We believe that this is a great improvement. Obviously, our new data can provide better extrapolation, and constrain the core composition by comparison of hcp-Fe with Earth’s inner core,” Dr. Sakamaki told IFLScience.

The presence of a large fraction of lighter elements in the core complicates our understanding of its formation. Earth’s core is supposed to have formed when most of the heavy material migrated towards the center. Lighter materials should have floated upwards, but somehow it seems some of them were trapped in the nucleus.

The next step for the group will be to create a mixed sample to work out the best composition for the core. “We have already started the experiment. So, we’d like to publish new data on hcp-Fe + light elements system as soon as possible,” added Dr. Sakamaki.

Coca-Cola; 25 Uses You Didn’t Know About

Coca-cola is the biggest brand in the history of brands and products and surveys have suggested that it is the most popular world after ‘hello’—now imagine that! If it is the second most popular word in the world then almost everyone in the world must have coca-cola on them almost at all times—this is a scary reality because it is a proven fact now that Coca-cola is absolutely bad for your body. The chemical cocktail that you drink for refreshment is practically killing your metabolism since its acidity level matches the acidity levels of the battery acid.
This stomach lining killing poison is associated with diseases like, cardiac arrest, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc. and is especially bad for young children as it interferes with the balanced diet, rather than complementing it.

It is said that people who consume this fizzy poison inculcate dependence on caffeine and deficiency of important minerals like calcium, magnesium, and vitamin A. Don’t take us wrong, we still believe that Coca-cola is a very useful drink—although not for the body but there are many other fantastic uses for it that after knowing them you might start purchasing it all the more than before!

25 PRACTICAL USES FOR COCA-COLA

Bog Groomer: Cleaning the toilet is the most tedious of the tasks and let’s be honest, no one really wants to do it—no one but your friendly fizzy partner Coca-cola. All you have to do is pour the drink in the commode and wait for an hour before you scrub with a brush and flush—now you have got yourself a sparkling toilet!

Stubborn Stains: Thing of the Past!: If you don’t want to buy really expensive stain removers, take some of that Coca-cola and pour it in the wash along with the detergent. The stains will be removed and your clothes will be deodorized! All thanks to the carbonic and phosphoric acid inside the carbonated drink.

Window Cleaner: By now we know that Coca-cola has magic cleaning powers—one more thing that it can clean efficiently is window. Because of the presence of the citric acid in the drink, it makes a wonderful window cleaner and works the same way as citrus fruit based window cleaners work.

Bug Slayer: All kinds of bugs are big Coca-cola fans like us—they simply love the sweet fizzy wonder but without knowing that it can destroy them and they will be pushing up daises if they try to consume it. You can spray the drink on ant hills and cockroaches in your cupboards and get rid of them!

Color Fader: You can use the drink on your hair if you dyed your hair many shades darker than you wanted. Coca-cola is known for its quality of fading the color on hair; so the next time your hair gets dyed in a disastrous way, do not panic or run off to your expensive stylist but in fact open the refrigerator and grab that Coca-cola can and let it do the work!

Gum Remover: If a gum has been stuck to your hair and you think that the only way to get rid of it is to get an unwanted haircut then you do not have to worry anymore! Just pour some coke on the gum and let it sit for a few minutes, you will see that it becomes easier for you to pick that gum off your hair.

Pain Neutralizer: If you have been bitten by a bug, strung by a bee or a jellyfish then you do not have to panic in pain, just pour some of the dark fizzy drink on the affected area and your pain will be neutralized in seconds, thanks to the chemicals in Coca-cola.

Dish Washer: If your pots are all blackened, pour some of the wonder fizz into them and let it sit for a few minutes. The chemicals in the drink will fight the grime and loosen it, then you can easily scrub it out and your pots will again be clean and shiny!

Rust Fighter: If you want to get rid of the gross rust then dip that object into a mug full of fresh coke or if the object is too big then soak a cloth in coke and try to rub the rust out. The phosphoric acid in the drink will cause the corrosion process and the rust will loosen and can be easily taken off from the affected object.

Pesticide in the Fields: In India, some farmers use coca-cola instead of pesticides for pest termination, because it’s cheaper and the result is totally rewarding. It is said that the high sugar content of the drinks can make them efficient in fighting pests, which is of course denied by the company since they say that there is nothing in the drink that can be used as a pesticide. But the technique is an in-vogue trend in the Indian farming scenario.

Defroster: Coca-cola can defrost the ice that settles on your windshield in the winters. Just pour the drink and let it settle for a few minutes and the ice will eventually come off on its own.

Puts off Bugs: If you get too many bugs in your vicinity or your garden is full of them but it is hard to catch them then put few open cans of coke in your garden or near the window and let the bugs get attracted to the can. Once they sat on it then you can catch them easily.

Odor Killer: You no longer have to endure that skunk smell; if you have been sprayed by the animal then do not fret with deodorants, perfumes and body washes, just get into the shower and pour the drink on the affected area and you will get rid of the problem almost instantly.

Gardening Tool: It comes handy in the lawn as well; if you pour a can every week into your compost bin then it will strengthen the growth of the microorganisms that will later on help in making your lawn healthy and blooming.

Cola Fun: So what if you cannot drink it, you can still have some fun with it—take a liter bottle of Diet Coke and put some Mentos in it and you have got yourself a lovely cola fountain!

Shiny Monies: If you are a coin collector you will love this tip—you can dip your pennies in a mug full of Coca-cola and leave them there for a bit. When you will take out your coins you will see that they are shiny and new again. Cola helps to get rid of the deposited muck!

The Hairstylist: You can make your hair curly by pouring some flat coke on them and then rinsing it off after letting it sit for a few minutes (make sure you do rinse it off, for you do not want your hair to look sticky!).

The Beautician: Mix a tablespoon of flat Coca-cola into your usual moisturizer and massage the cream on to your skin. Your skin will glow and become smoother.

Paint Remover: If your furniture has been stained with paint then grab a towel and soak it in coke and rub it out. Make sure you wash it off with soap water later so that the stickiness of the drink is removed.

Putrefied Battery Cleaner: The drink’s slight acidity as compared to a Basic, when poured on the battery does not dilute battery acid (H2SO4), which is quite acidic—which means that it can be used to clean-up corroded batteries. So if you are stuck in the desert and you have to clean the car battery but you have nothing on you but Coca-cola (although we wonder why you would still carry it after reading the article?) you can use it as a cleaner.

The Loosener: You can use coke to loosen those tight and rusted bolts. Pour some of it on the bolt and let it sit there for a while, after that remove it with water and you will notice that the bolt will be much looser than before.

Enemy of the Oil: It can remove any kind of oil stains from the floor or the kitchen slab. Use the same old method—pour it on the affected area, let it sit for sometime and later wipe if off with scrub and water.

Pool Cleaner: You can make your pool rust free and shiny in a matter of minutes by pouring two liters of coke into the pool and letting it sit for a while. When you will clear it up you will see a huge difference in the appearance of your pool.

Crime Cola: Coca-cola is famous for being used for removal of the blood stains from clothes, furniture, carpet, walls and floor. It is also said that it is used as an important cleaning agent while cleaning a crime scene, although it is not known for sure.

Vintage Cola: You can give your photographs or a sheet of paper old and antique look with Coca-cola. All you have to do is dip a picture or piece of paper in a dish full of coke and let it soak for a second. Take it out and leave it for drying and you will end up with a vintage looking photograph.

After knowing these wonderful things about Coca-cola we bet you must be regretting drinking all that coke and slow poisoning yourself, and also, throwing away all of the rest from the party last night! But now you know better, so the next time you have that big party and you have to serve it because aunt Jenna absolutely insists on it, then save yourself and your family from the atrocities of drinking it but still, collect all of the waste coke and pour it into one big container to clean off the rust or shine the pots or relieve that stomach ache!

Hopefully you got a broader perspective on Coca-cola and are aware of all the wonderful ‘parallel’ uses of it now, because you might shun it as a drink but still can take benefits from its diverse uses!

Some scientific facts that will leave you speechless

It is really sad that only few people are into science nowadays. I think this is mainly due to the way science is portrayed and taught to kids at schools all around the world. Why can’t we learn science and still make if fun and interesting at the same time? Is it a bad idea to ask comedians, for instance, to include some science facts in their jokes? It is an idea worth mentioning and discussing I think.

With that being said, here are some amazing science facts that will literally blow your mind. These kind of facts just continue to amaze me and keeps me hungry for more. It just proves that with all the things we have learned in the world still have an ocean of facts to dive into.

IT CAN TAKE A PHOTON 40,000 YEARS TO TRAVEL FROM THE CORE OF THE SUN TO ITS SURFACE, BUT ONLY 8 MINUTES TO TRAVEL THE REST OF THE WAY TO EARTH

A photon travels, on average, a particular distance, d, before being briefly absorbed and released by an atom, which scatters it in a new random direction.From the core to the sun’s surface (696,000 kilometers) where it can escape into space, a photon needs to make a huge number of drunken jumps. The calculation is a little tricky, but the conclusion is that a photon takes between many thousands and many millions of years to drunkenly wander to the surface of the Sun. In a way, the light that reaches us today is energy produced maybe millions of years ago. Isn’t that just amazing! (image source)

THERE ARE 8 TIMES AS MANY ATOMS IN A TEASPOONFUL OF WATER AS THERE ARE TEASPOONFULS OF WATER IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

A teaspoon of water (about 5 ml) contains 2×1023 water molecules, but each water molecule is comprised of 3 atoms: two hydrogen and one oxygen. Moreover, if you’d laid down end to end each water molecule from a teaspoon full you’d end up with a length of 50 billion km or 10 times the width of our solar system. (image source)

IF BETELGEUSE WOULD EXPLODE TRANSITING FROM THE RED SUPER GIANT STAGE TO SUPERNOVA THEN OUR SKY WOULD LIGHT CONTINUOUSLY FOR TWO MONTHS. IT CAN HAPPEN ANYTIME, WITHIN A COUPLE OF THOUSAND YEARS, TOMORROW OR EVEN NOW!!

Betelgeuse lies some 430 light-years from Earth. Yet it’s already one of the brightest stars in Earth’s sky. The reason is that Betelgeuse is a super-giant star – the largest kind of stars in the Universe. Betelgeuse has a luminosity about 10,000 times that of the Sun and its radius is calculated to be about 370 times that of the sun. If it were positioned at the center of our sun, its radius would extend out past the radius of Mars. Because it’s near the end of its lifetime, Betelgeuse is likely to explode into a supernova. (image source)

THERE IS ENOUGH DNA IN AN AVERAGE PERSON’S BODY TO STRETCH FROM THE SUN TO PLUTO AND BACK. 17 TIMES

The human genome, the genetic code in each human cell, contains 23 DNA molecules each containing from 500 thousand to 2.5 million nucleotide pairs. DNA molecules of this size are 1.7 to 8.5 cm long when uncoiled, or about 5 cm on average. There are about 37 trillion cells in the human body and if you’d uncoil all of the DNA encased in each cell and put them end to end, then these would sum to a total length of 2×1014 meters or enough for 17 Pluto round trips (1.2×1013 meters/Pluto round trip). (image source)

HOW BIG IS THE UNIVERSE?!!

The known universe is made up of 50,000,000,000 galaxies. There are between 100,000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000,000 stars in a normal galaxy. In the Milky Way alone there might be as many 100,000,000 planets. Do you still think you are alone?!! (image source)

THE AVERAGE HUMAN BODY CARRIES TEN TIMES MORE BACTERIAL CELLS THAN HUMAN CELLS

It’s funny how we compulsively wash our hands, spray our countertops and grimace when someone sneezes near us—in fact, we do everything we can to avoid unnecessary encounters with the germ world. The truth of the matter is that each and every one of us is a walking petri dish! All the bacteria living inside you would fill a half-gallon jug or 10 times more bacterial cells in your body than human cells, according to Carolyn Bohach, a microbiologist at the University of Idaho. Don’t worry, though. Most of these bacteria are helpful; in fact, we couldn’t survive without them.

For one thing, bacteria produce chemicals that help us harness energy and nutrients from our food. Germ-free rodents have to consume nearly a third more calories than normal rodents to maintain their body weight, and when the same animals were later given a dose of bacteria, their body fat levels spiked, even if they didn’t eat any more than they had before. The gut bacteria is also very important to maintaining immunity. (image source)

FOR MORE AWESOME SCIENCE FACTS AND TOPICS LIKE THIS ARTICLE AND GIVE US YOUR OPINION. YOU CAN ALSO LIKE OUR PAGE ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.