Omomyid - Slashdot User

Submission + - Impact on Jupiter Observed by Amateur Astronomers (spaceweather.com)

Submitted by Omomyid on Thursday June 03, 2010 @11:36PM

Omomyid writes: Space Weather has the story of a bright impact observed on Jupiter, they also have video (WMV file) from one of the amateur sky watchers — pay attention, it goes by quick! From the article:
The nature of the impactor is presently unknown. It might have been an asteroid or a comet. In either case, a dark and cindery debris field is expected to develop around the impact point; that's what has happened in the aftermath of previous Jupiter impacts. Professional and amateur astronomers are encouraged to monitor Jupiter in the hours ahead, and stay tuned for updates.

Submission + - Ardipithecus ramidus described (finally) (nytimes.com)

Submitted by

Omomyid

on Thursday October 01, 2009 @12:25PM

Omomyid writes: "I wasn't actually aware that Dr. Tim White of UC Berkeley had been 'sitting' on A. ramidus but apparently he has (I remember the original flurry of interest back in the 90's when it was announced), but now Dr. White and others have assembled a nearly complete skeleton of the 4.4mya specimen and the descriptions being carried by the NY Times and AP are intriguing. Ramidus is clearly differentiated from the other Great Apes and also more primitive than A. afarensis (Lucy) providing a nice linkage backwards to the last shared ancestor between humans and chimpanzees. According to the NY Times, a whole passel of papers will be published in tomorrow's Science magazine describing A. ramidus."

Submission + - The Oldest Music Intrument Ever Found (yahoo.com)

Submitted by

Omomyid

on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @02:12PM

Omomyid writes: "The AFP is reporting the discovery of a 35,000 year-old flute, made from a vulture wing bone. The context described makes it sound like a musician's shop. There were also fragments of ivory-based flutes and flint tools. Being at least 35KYO this bone flute beats the previous oldest-known musical instrument by at least 5,000 years and puts it very close to the beginning of the Aurignacian culture. Kind of begs the question, how far back does music really go?"

Submission + - Frank Herbert's Moisture Traps A Reality (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by

Omomyid

on Monday June 08, 2009 @11:17PM

Omomyid writes: "In the seminal science fiction book "Dune" Frank Herbert envisioned the Fremen collecting water from the air via moisture traps and dew collectors. Via Science Daily, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart and Logos Innovationen have developed a closed-loop and self-sustained method (no external power required) for teasing the humidity out of desert air and into potable water."

Submission + - Ultra-Dense Deuterium - Fusion Fuel Found? 1

Submitted by Omomyid on Tuesday May 12, 2009 @12:35PM

Omomyid writes: Scientists at the University of Gothenberg have successfully produced very small amounts of Ultra-dense Deuterium. It's so dense that a 10 cm3 cube would weigh 130 tons. UDD is 1 million times more dense than deuterium ice, a common fuel in laser-ignited fusion projects and would vastly improve the chances of starting a fusion reaction as the atoms are much closer together.

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