The way I understand it is this is just a the standard Meissner effect but in this case because the superconductor is very thin (most of the floating puck in the video is dry ice) and the fields are strong, rather than going around the object as with regular Meissner effect videos we've seen (where you have the thing floating in mid air), in this case the magnetic field is compressed into tubes that go through the superconductor along defects (or through the superconductor where it takes less energy to go through than it takes to go around).
And because stretching magnetic field lines takes energy, when it's left to itself (i.e. moved and then left alone) the superconductor will tend to stay in the orientation it was left in (the tubes of field lines hold it in place I guess you could say, though I'm probably making someone who actually understands this cringe).
Then they just use various configurations of fields to get the various results.
Very cool effect.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
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"This new discovery that the moon may be a rather porous body could significantly alter our approach to founding lunar bases," veteran spaceman Sergei Krikalyov, who heads Russia's Star City cosmonaut training center outside Moscow, said at a forum on the future of manned spaceflight.
"If it turns out that the moon has a number of caves that can provide some protection from radiation and meteor showers, it could be an even more interesting destination than previously thought," he said.
Scientists are on the verge of answering one of the greatest questions in history: Are we alone? Aired October 19, 2011 on PBS
Take a spectacular trip to distant realms of our solar system to discover where secret forms of life may lie hidden. Combining the latest telescope images with dazzling animation, this program immerses audiences in the sights and sounds of alien worlds, while top astrobiologists explain how these places are changing how we think about the potential for life in our solar system. We used to think our neighboring planets and moons were fairly boring—mostly cold, dead rocks where life could never take hold. Today, however, the solar system looks wilder than we ever imagined.
Powerful telescopes and unmanned space missions have revealed a wide range of dynamic environments—atmospheres thick with organic molecules, active volcanoes, and vast saltwater oceans. This ongoing revolution is forcing scientists to expand their ideas about what kinds of worlds could support life. If we do find primitive life-forms elsewhere in the solar system, it may well be that life is common in the universe—the rule, and not the exception.
Scientists are on the verge of answering one of the greatest questions in history: Are we alone? Aired October 19, 2011 on PBS
Take a spectacular trip to distant realms of our solar system to discover where secret forms of life may lie hidden. Combining the latest telescope images with dazzling animation, this program immerses audiences in the sights and sounds of alien worlds, while top astrobiologists explain how these places are changing how we think about the potential for life in our solar system. We used to think our neighboring planets and moons were fairly boring—mostly cold, dead rocks where life could never take hold. Today, however, the solar system looks wilder than we ever imagined.
Powerful telescopes and unmanned space missions have revealed a wide range of dynamic environments—atmospheres thick with organic molecules, active volcanoes, and vast saltwater oceans. This ongoing revolution is forcing scientists to expand their ideas about what kinds of worlds could support life. If we do find primitive life-forms elsewhere in the solar system, it may well be that life is common in the universe—the rule, and not the exception.
I heard if the SKA goes ahead, it pretty much guarantees we have an answer by mid century. I apparently it will deliver better data than even the James Webb scope.
Reminds me of one of my favourite quotations from Stephen J. Gould that non-scientists should learn.
In the American vernacular, "theory" often means "imperfect fact"--part of a hierarchy of confidence running downhill from fact to theory to hypothesis to guess.
...facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them.
Moreover, "fact" doesn't mean "absolute certainty"; there ain't no such animal in an exciting and complex world. The final proofs of logic and mathematics flow deductively from stated premises and achieve certainty only because they are not about the empirical world. ...In science "fact" can only mean "confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional consent."
I heard if the SKA goes ahead, it pretty much guarantees we have an answer by mid century. I apparently it will deliver better data than even the James Webb scope.
Most of the intelligence out there must be artificial intelligence. We keep looking for critters like us living on a planet like ours, where in fact the majority of the intelligence out there is not biological. That would be my argument. The timescale to go from being technological so we have some hope of finding you, to going to an artificial-based intelligence is very short.
The new Science Centre has been designed and built both with and for Calgarians and southern Albertans. Student advisors and community groups have helped guide and shape the direction, and through an over 2-year prototyping and piloting process, over 1,000 exhibit concepts have been whittled down to over 100 that best resonated with the local community.
Join us October 29 to celebrate.
Opening day events will include:
Guests from all three levels of Government, who have been key in bringing this $160 million project to life
A spectacle hosted in the 10,000 sq. ft. Atrium that is guaranteed to surprise, delight and amaze visitors
Face painters for the young, and young at heart
Plus, all opening day visitors will have the chance to contribute to a Time Capsule, capturing your thoughts and reactions to the new Science Centre. The Time Capsule will become a feature within the 4-acre Outdoor Park.
The new Science Centre has been designed and built both with and for Calgarians and southern Albertans. Student advisors and community groups have helped guide and shape the direction, and through an over 2-year prototyping and piloting process, over 1,000 exhibit concepts have been whittled down to over 100 that best resonated with the local community.
Join us October 29 to celebrate.
Opening day events will include:
Guests from all three levels of Government, who have been key in bringing this $160 million project to life
A spectacle hosted in the 10,000 sq. ft. Atrium that is guaranteed to surprise, delight and amaze visitors
Face painters for the young, and young at heart
Plus, all opening day visitors will have the chance to contribute to a Time Capsule, capturing your thoughts and reactions to the new Science Centre. The Time Capsule will become a feature within the 4-acre Outdoor Park.
I think that the books of the Twilight series should be included in this time capsule.
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I used to work at the Science Center when I was in university, about 10 years ago. I loved the place, and I know that the new facility was really a long time coming. Anybody who brought kids there knew that it was bursting at the seams and needed way more space.
<-----Check the Badge bitches. You want some Awesome, you come to me!
