China - Xian

Old and new China - Xian



Photo: Alfred Molon

Kaiyuan shopping mall downtown Xian, the ancient capital of China.


My valet was stolen here. It was sad because I had so many souvenirs in it. Like 10 different dollar currencies from my travels...And the most precious; an irreplaceable photo of my son when he was 3 years old. Devastating. On the other hand I got to cruise around Xian with the Chinese police reporting the theft. Invaluable experience!

Now I will help my friend Shirl to keep some of her ideas about old China. First my comment on how headless the Chinese city planners are...This is from outside Xian.




Photo: Bente Lilja Bye



A shopping mall like Kaiyuan look just like any other shopping mall on the inside. I went to this mall to buy more memory for my camera. Shouldn't have done. Because this is where my valet was stolen.



Photo: Bente Lilja Bye



Then here is the view FROM the Kaiyuan shopping mall. Ancient Bell Tower. All in all, Xian was very beautiful. :-)



Photo: Bente Lilja Bye

ISS - Fridge

Cool Fridge




We hear all about the launching and spacewalks and what not in the media these days. But what on Earth - or rather in Space - are they DOING up there at the International Space Station?

Well, I have already expressed my enthusiasm over the different "toys" they get to play with. I will explore now the exact content of their playing. But first, one more gadget they need to play properly.

The ultimate fridge. I learned how to appreciate cooled drinks in the US. The drinks gotta be cool! Now this space fridge should do the job, don't you think?




I think technical drawings are true pieces of art!

Pi

Pi Day




K2K neutrino event at Super-Kamiokande reconstructed as a pi-zero.

Pi-zero decays to two gammas which make two electron-like rings. Color is time-of-flight subtracted time when light arrived at the photo detector.

This is where the "action" is - the "crime" scene of the neutrino event illustrated above. :-) Yes, you see a boat.








A T-shirt has been sent to Frannyy.

Mars

Mars - Icy Promethei Planum



Looks great! :-)



Credit both images: ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The Sun

What a blast!



You are TapwaterJ! :-)



Coronal Mass Ejection - CME

CME blast -- This dramatic coronal mass ejection was captured 7 August 2002 as it blasted billions of tons of particles millions of miles per hour out into space. In order to see the corona, an occulting disk has to block out the Sun disk. This image consists thus of two images; one of the corona and an image of the sun taken approximately at the same time and then superimposed on the occulting disk. Credit: SOHO - ESA/NASA



Here comes the Sun!

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis



Credit: Richard W. Castenholz, University of Oregon

Sausage-shaped cells are unicellular cyanobacteria (Synechococcus) and filaments are green nonsulfur bacteria.


Photosynthesis by plants, algae, and some bacteria supports nearly all living things by producing food from sunlight, and in the process these organisms release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.

NEW: Some marine microorganisms get a significant proportion of their energy without a net release of oxygen or uptake of carbon dioxide. This discovery will influence the way we understand the photosynthesis. It will also have impacts on our understanding on how microorganisms in the oceans affect rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Jupiter

Magnetic Fields on Jupiter



Radio waves accelerate electrons within Jupiter's magnetic field in the same way as they do on Earth, according to new research published in Nature Physics this week. The discovery overturns a theory that has held sway for more than a generation and has important implications for protecting Earth-orbiting satellites.





to be cont'