Scientists
have found that the magnetic north pole of the Earth has crossed the prime meridian.
It has been in motion at a higher speed than expected and within the past two
decades, it has moved on from the Canadian Arctic to Siberia with a rate of
more than 50 kilometers.
The data was released on 10 December by the National Centers for Environmental Information and British Geological Survey which along with telling about the current speed, have predicted that the movement of the magnetic north pole will continue, although, at a much slower rate.
There is a need to understand and deeply study the model as it used in the calibration of different equipment for navigation including the GPS (Global Positioning System).
The magnetic north pole has moved on from the Canadian Arctic to Siberia. (NOAA NCEI/CIRES; ScienceAlert).
The magnetic field of our planet is produced when the outer core, which is made of iron, movies, and results in a complex north-south field. It is currently facing a reduction in strength due to unknown reasons. This is also one of the reasons for the movement of the magnetic north. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, its location in the earlier part of 2019 was found to be at 86.54 N 170.88 E, within the Arctic Ocean.
After every five years, a new version of the World Magnetic Model is released when scientists recalibrate and carefully study the behavior and movement of the Earth’s magnetic field. The expected 2020 model features a “Blackout Zone” as well which is the area around the magnetic north and compasses are unable to give the correct information about the right direction as true north isn’t easily identified. This map also shows magnetic northeast of the prime meridian, which was set as the official point and marker of zero degrees, zero minutes and zero seconds in the geographic coordinate system.
This year, some great achievements were made in the field of science and one such thing was the first-ever image of a black hole and its event horizon. This enigmatic phenomenon has mesmerized and confounded scientists and researchers for decades and more work is being done to understand it better.
To capture the image, a huge telescope was made by connecting seven observatories located in different parts of the world, which helped in stitching together the image of a black hole. It proved the existence of event horizons and Einstein’s theory.
The image focused on a galaxy, M87 whose heavyweight and size made it easy to study. The gases moving around it were slower than those of others and its brightness remained consistent. For another black hole Sagittarius A, which is located in the center of the Milky Way, there is a need to develop a movie as it changes its appearance very quickly as compared to M87’s black hole.
EHT (Event Horizon Telescope) team member Katie Bouman, a data scientist at Caltech, says that it can be done by breaking up the observations made in a night into different parts and then joining them together. But due to the lack of enough information and data, it is extremely hard to do that.
To capture the image, a huge telescope was made by connecting seven observatories located in different parts of the world. Credit: Scott Manley.
So, the team is developing other methods that can eliminate the gaps and breaks and provide information on how the black hole moves forward in time. This can help to understand in-depth, the structure and workings of a black hole. The black hole of M87 may also get a movie. Astrophysicist Kazu Akiyama says, “Our observations provided good evidence that M87 is actually changing [within] the timescale of a week.” The changes may also disclose about its rotation and spinning of magnetized plasma.
A great discovery
In the earlier part of 2019, scientists revealed the first-ever direct image of one of the most mysterious things in the universe, the black hole, which was previously unseen and considered to be non-observable. The supermassive black hole seen in the image released is a halo of dust and gas tracing the outline of the accretion discs of the monster body in the core of Messier 87 galaxy, some 55 million light-years away from the earth. The phenomenon itself–a trapdoor from which nothing and absolutely nothing can escape– it is considered that black hole cannot be seen and only the shadowy edges of hot swirling clouds of gas, destined to be sucked in by the monster, are visible.
The breakthrough image was unveiled by a team of more than 200 scientists working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a network of eight radio telescopes spread from locations in Spain, Chile, Antarctica and other parts of the world. These images will bring revolution in our understanding of one of the most mysterious things in the universe.
Three cubs in a hospital after a few weeks of birth
There are various theories presented why Giant panda babies are born weirdly tiny and underdeveloped? But most of them turned out to be wrong. Some researchers suspect that the newly born pandas are tiny as compared to their moms due to hibernation: At some point, bears started cutting short their pregnancies to avoid gestating during their hibernation, and now that trait is baked into every bear species — even pandas, which don’t hibernate.
Though this theory turned out false and new research shows that Pandas are born exceptionally tiny and underdeveloped which sometimes referred to as “undercooked”. And other bears, including species that do hibernate, are born with robust, mature skeletons.
Peishu Li, the lead author of this research, an undergraduate at Duke University at the time of the research and is now a doctoral student at the University of Chicago, said in a statement that newly born Panda babies weigh just about 3.5 ounces (100 grams), which indicates they are 9 times smaller as compared to their mothers. Only a couple of other species, including kangaroos and echidnas, have similar weight differences at birth. Still, it is nearly possible as a truthful universal bear story.
Li and her co-author, Duke, biology professor Kathleen Smith, researched two of preserved cubs or newly born pandas. They used a CT scanner to build 3D models of the unfortunate critters’ skeletons and scanned newborn grizzlies, sloth bears, polar bears, dogs, a fox, and other animals. Comparing all the skeletons, Li and Smith found that pandas appeared to have uniquely under-developed bones at birth.
Last month, there was the prediction of a beautiful Alpha Monocerotids meteor shower. But, the weak shower left many disappointed.
The prediction was shared by scientists from the SETI Institute and NASA’s Ames Research Center who along with other fellows calculated the estimated time and distance of the outburst. The provided time was 11:50 pm ET (or 04:50 UT) and the shower was predicted to be the brightest at 15 minutes. The total expected time was 40 minutes. The best views were thought to be in South America, Western Europe, etc.
The first time the Alpha Monocerotids was observed in 1925 in Virginia. Witnesses saw “three bright meteors” within a minute and noticed and marked its location around the Orion constellation. It was later observed in 1935 in India and almost 100 meteors were counted in a span of around half an hour. And they have observed quite sometimes in the skies around the world.
Here are some images of the shower.
Michael Boyle Sr. caught an Alpha Monocerotid speeding through Orion.
The shower reflecting on a lake. Credit: Bob King.
Alpha Monocerotids shining through the sky. Credit: Greg Hogan in Kathleen.
The last full moon of the decade occurred yesterday. It’s called the full “cold moon”. The Moon appeared full all night, first sighted in the east with a saffron-colored tinge as it climbs just above the horizon. The full moons usually brighten since the side catching the sunlight is facing earth. That means the Sun, Moon, and Earth are all in a nearly perfect lineup.
This December full moon was dubbed a “cold moon,” for reasons everybody (well, everyone except folks in Pakistan) can probably guess. Let’s take a tour of some of the fascinating sights of this cold moon, captured worldwide.
The Cold Moon sits atop the Chrysler Building as it rises next to the Empire State Building in New York City tonight. Photo Credit; Gary Hershorn
Full moon captured in GAZA
Captured in Virginia, Photo credit Rami_astro
Captured in Virginia, Photo credit Rami_astro
A stunning view of moon with grey shades. Photo credit; Jaxson Pohlman
While the auspiciously timed the full moon was a beacon of curiosity for some, it’s slated to put a damper on tonight’s Geminid meteor shower, which will outshine many of the fainter meteors.
Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn got overwhelming attention and attraction of scientists in a few years. The data obtained from Cassini spacecraft has been analyzing and with each coming day, some more mysteries are getting resolved. The ‘Tiger stripes’ of Enceladus are one of them, and a piece of good news is that the Weird Physics behind ‘Tiger Stripes’ Finally Explained.
Enceladus has been of particular interest to scientists ever since it was observed by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. After analyzing Cassini’s data, they detected an icy, subsurface ocean on the moon and strange, tiger stripe markings on Enceladus south pole that are like nothing else known in our solar system. Icy material from Enceladus’ ocean spews into space through these stripes, or fissures, in the moon’s surface. These stripes are parallel and evenly spaced, about 130 kilometers long and 35 kilometers apart, and are continually erupting with water ice.
New research performed at Hemingway and colleagues Max Rudolph of the University of California, two scientists Davis, and Michael Manga of UC Berkeley unveiled the physical forces on the moon that cause these fissures to form and keep them in place. The team was also figured out why these cracks are even spaced and only found on the south pole of the moon.
The study shows that Enceladus is not a frozen solid, because the gravitational changes caused by its eccentric orbit around Saturn stretch it out slightly. It shapes deformed and causes the ice sheets at the poles to be thinner and more susceptible to splitting open. The team concluded that the fissures that make up these tiger stripes could have formed on the moon’s north pole just like the south pole, but the south pole cracked first.
Dr. Khan is a Pakistani nuclear scientist, known as the pride of the nation and the father of the Pakistan atomic bomb program. Dr. Khan headed Pakistan’s nuclear program for 25 years. He played a crucial role in strengthening Pakistan’s national security against India and other enemies of the nation. He is the only Pakistani scientist who has been awarded high civil rights twice.
Early Life and Career
This genius and patriot man was born on the land of Bhopal in 1963. After five years of independence, he migrated to Pakistan. He continued his further education at St. Anthony’sAnthony’s High School, and later he joined College of Karachi, where he studied physics and mathematics as major subjects. Later on, He moved to West Germany for higher education. He obtained a Master of Science (Technology) in 1967 from Delft University of Technology and then a doctorate in metallurgy from the Catholic University Leuven (Belgium) in 1972. He excelled in the field of metallurgy- the art of building centrifuges; by attending several courses in metallurgical engineering.
He also served in the URENCO consortium.
From May 1972 to December 1975, Dr. A Q Khan worked as a scientist on a nuclear plant in a Physics Dynamic Research Laboratory (also known as FDO), based in Amsterdam. Meanwhile, he also served in the URENCO consortium, specializing in the manufacture of nuclear equipment.
Contribution to Pakistan’s Nuclear program
Right after India declared their nuclear design, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto called an urgent meeting of Pakistani scientists on January 20, 1972, and put forward a dire need to carry out the task of nuclear explosions. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission was appointed to supervise this task. On September 17, 1974, while Dr.Khan was working for URENCO in the Netherlands, he wrote a letter to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto offering his services as a nuclear scientist, and he also suggested him to adapt the uranium route in building a nuclear weapon. He headed to Pakistan in December 1974, met Bhutto in person, and convinced him to go with his uranium route rather than the plutonium.
Initially, he worked in coordination with Munir Ahmed, head of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, which didn’t work for an extended period. Later Bhutto provided A Q Khan full charge of the Kahuta Enrichment Project in July 1976. A Q khan built Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) and developed the uranium enrichment plant. Later, on May 01, 1981, on the orders of Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, ERL was renamed as Dr. A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). Ultimately this uranium enrichment led to the successful testing of Pakistan’sPakistan’s first nuclear device.
Significant Achievements
Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan has served in science and technology in several remarkable ways, he published more than 188 scientific research papers in international journals. The significant process was made in uranium enrichment with the successful test-firing of Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles, Ghauri 1, in April 1998 and Ghauri II in April 1999, respectively.
For his marvelous contributions, Dr. Khan received the honorary award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz.
Dr. A Q Khan was also the founder of the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Tech in Topi, Swat. He was awarded the prestigious degree of doctor of science from the University of Karachi in 1993, from Baqai Medical University in 1998, Doctor of Science from Hamdard University, Karachi in1999, and from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore in December 2000. For his marvelous contributions, he received the honorary award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz.
In November 2003, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency warned the government of Pakistan of possible nuclear leaks. Khan was suspected of playing a significant role in this transfer of information regarding nuclear technology to other counties.
On January 31, 2004, he was arrested for his involvement in nuclear proliferation. Initially, he denied the accusation. Still, on February 4, he made an appearance on the Pakistani television and took the complete responsibility of his actions and exonerated Pakistan military and government from this scandal that rose a lot of questions later. He was held house arrest until 2009. Despite being a controversial figure, he is still hailed by the masses as the national hero and pride of Pakistan.
Scientists have been warning over the years about the drastic climate change and global warming. This year, such climate-warming CO2 emissions are expected to set a new high record, proving the predictions of the scientists and painting a frightening picture of the danger we are putting our planet into.
At the end of 2019, fossil fuel will release in an all-time high amount i.e. 36.8 billion metric tons of CO2, which is higher than the last year’s emissions. There is still more use of oil and gas across different regions and thus the levels are expected to climb even more.
A great effect of high emissions is the declining air quality in major cities of the world, like Beijing and New Delhi.
Some countries are moving towards or prepping to use renewable energies that don’t pose serious threats as fossils and other non-renewable sources to the environment. But this is very limited and most popular in North America and Europe. The rest of the world has still a far way to go. According to environmental scientist Rob Jackson of Stanford University, “Most of the renewables being built today aren’t displacing coal and other fossil fuels — they’re [just] adding new energy.” He published a paper recently with his colleagues and discussed the policies for the climate that can cut and affect the use of fossil fuels. Coal usage has somewhat declined over the years but the rise in usage of other reserves cancel out its minimal decline.
In countries like China and India as
well as most of the developing nations, the emissions have been rising over the
years and the aftereffects are visible in the declining air quality in the
major cities which have led to local health concerns. In the U.S. and Europe,
emissions may be on the decline, but more per capita carbon dioxide is produced
than other nations.
NASA says that it has located the debris site of the Vikram lander which had crashed on the lunar surface in an attempt, by Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO), to carry out a soft landing on the moon on September 7.
NASA released images taken from
its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) which showed the site of the
Vikram lander’s impact and “associated debris field” of the lander scattered
over the lunar surface, some 350 miles (600 Km) from the lunar South Pole.
The debris was found by an
amateur Indian astronomer, Shanmuga Subramanian, who was scouring the images
released by LROC team of the impact site.
This image shows the Vikram Lander impact point and associated debris field. Credits: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.
Comparing the images of the impact site before the Vikram lander crashed
and a later picture, there was a disturbance spotted on the lunar terrain.
Vikram lander was the rover onboard Chandrayaan 2 and attempted to carry out a soft landing on the lunar South Pole. While many missions by other nations―US, Russia, and China―have carried out a soft landing on the moon, but none has attempted to land on the lunar South Pole. Chandrayaan 2 had successfully deployed its orbiter into the lunar orbit and subsequently, Vikram lander started its descent. Everything was going as planned when, suddenly and unexpectedly, the ground stations lost control with lander just 2.1 km above the lunar surface.
A Historic Achievement
The live launch was witnessed by an enthusiastic crowd of around 7000, apart from millions of online viewers, at the Sriharikota Space Station, an island on the eastern coast of India. Even though three lunar maneuvers were completed, the lander crashed just before landing. The attempt was lauded and ISRO was widely appreciated around the world.
“I congratulate India and ISRO on its historic attempt to make a successful soft landing of the Vikram Lander at the South Pole of the Moon,” said Namira Salim, who is renowned as the First Pakistani to go to space aboard Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the First Space-line of the world. “The Chandaryaan 2 lunar mission is indeed a giant leap for South Asia which not only makes the region but the entire global space industry proud.” Vikram Lander exhibited normal performance up to an altitude of 2.1 kilometers from the moon until ISRO lost signals.
Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His central exploration was in the areas of theoretical cosmology, focusing on the evolution of the Universe, governed by the laws of general relativity. He is best known for his work on black holes. With the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, a theory called ‘Hawking radiation,’ he became the first to set forth a cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Hawking suffered from a rare and life-threatening condition of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease he suffered all of his adult life. The illness started when he was 21 and pursuing his Ph.D. at Cambridge University. For a significant part of his later life, he was almost completely paralyzed and communicated through a speech-generating device. Not succumbing to the despair of the disease, Hawking devoted all his life to his work and research. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for around three decades and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. For his contribution to his pioneering work in cosmology, he made Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Hawking suffered from a rare and life-threatening condition of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Hawking became a member of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge in 1968, and the discoveries of cosmologist Roger Penrose on Black Hole really fascinated him. He started research on the origin of the Universe. In 1970, Hawking discovered the ‘Second Law of Black Hole Dynamics,’ which states that the event horizon of a black hole can never get smaller. Along with James M. Bardeen and Brandon Carter, he proposed the four laws of ‘Black Hole Mechanics.’
Hawking visited Moscow in 1973, and his discussions with Yakov Borisovich Zel and Alexei Starobinsky helped him to come up with ‘Hawking Radiation.’ The following year, he became a ‘Fellow of the Royal Society.’ He started to get more recognition for his research and discoveries through his print and TV interviews. In 1975, he was awarded the Eddington Medal and the Pius XI Gold Medal, followed by the Dannie Heineman Prize and the Maxwell Prize.
Hawking was then appointed as a professor with a chair in gravitational physics in 1977 and received the ‘Albert Einstein Medal’ and an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford. He gradually started losing control over his speech, and it became increasingly difficult to understand him but that this did not stop him from getting appointed as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University in 1979.
In 1982, Hawking and Gary Gibbons organized a Nuffield Workshop on the topic ‘The Very Early Universe’ at Cambridge University, which focused principally on the cosmological inflation theory. He published a model, the ‘Hartle-Hawking state’ with Jim Hartle, which stated that before the Big Bang, time did not exist, and the concept of the beginning of the Universe is meaningless.
Hawking received the ‘Albert Einstein Medal’ and an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford
In 1985, he lost his voice after a tracheotomy. As a result of this, he required 24-hour care. His condition caught the attention of a Californian computer programmer who invented a speaking program that could be directed by the head or eye movement.
Hawking gained international prominence for the first time in 1988 with the publication of ‘A Brief History of Time.’ It was meant to be a simplified version of cosmology for the masses and became an instant bestseller. In 1993, he co-edited a book on Euclidean quantum gravity with Gary Gibbons. A famous collection of essays, interviews, and talk titled ‘Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays’ was published in 1993. It was followed by a six-part television series, ‘Stephen Hawking’s Universe’ and a companion book.
Hawking wrote a bunch of cosmology books and made appearances in popular TV shows as well
He made a constant appearance on television during this period, in documentaries like—‘The Real Stephen Hawking (2001)’, ‘Stephen Hawking: Profile (2002)’, ‘Hawking (2004)’, ‘Stephen Hawking, Master of the Universe (2008)’, etc.
Hawking retired as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 2009, owing to University rules and regulations. He continued to work as a director of research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.
Hawking became a ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire’ in 1982. He was later honored with many prestigious awards like ‘the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society,’ ‘the Paul Dirac Medal,’ etc. Other notable honors bestowed upon Hawking include ‘the Wolf Prize,’ ‘Companion of Honor by Her Highness,’ ‘Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize,’ ‘the Copley Medal,’ ‘the Presidential Medal of Freedom,’ ‘the Russian Fundamental Physics Prize.
Hawking’s physical condition increasingly began to deteriorate. He could no longer drive his wheelchair; he required a ventilator at times and was hospitalized several times since 2009. He was closely working with researchers on systems that could translate his brain patterns into switch activations.
Stephen Hawking died peacefully at his home in Cambridge, England, on March 14, 2018, at the age of 76.
