LastGoodEmperor

“First Evidence for Extraterrestrial Sources of High-Energy Neutrinos” —Reports Antarctica Observatory

Although cosmic rays were discovered 100 years ago, their origin remains one of the most enduring mysteries in physics. Until now. A massive telescope at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in the Antarctic ice reports the detection of 28 extremely high-energy neutrinos that might have their origin in cosmic sources. Two of these reached energies greater than 1 petaelectronvolt (PeV), an energy level thousands of times higher than the highest energy neutrino yet produced in a manmade accelerator.

“We’re looking for the first time at high energy neutrinos that are not coming from the atmosphere,” says Francis Halzen, principal investigator of IceCube and the Hilldale and Gregory Breit Distinguished Professor of Physics at University of Wisconsin–Madison. “This is what we were looking for,” he adds.

Because they rarely interact with matter and are unimpeded by gravity, neutrinos can carry information about the workings of the highest-energy and most distant phenomena in the universe. Though billions of neutrinos pass through the Earth every second, the vast majority originate either in the sun or in the Earth’s atmosphere. Far rarer are high-energy neutrinos that may hail from the most powerful cosmic events — such as gamma ray bursts, black holes, or star formation — where they would be created in association with high-energy cosmic rays that can reach energies up to thousands of PeVs.

Postdoctoral fellow Nathan Whitehorn described 28 high-energy neutrino events captured by the detector between May 2010 and May 2012. These events, including two that exceeded the unprecedented energy level of 1 PeV, were one of the main goals for building a detector such as IceCube.

“Their properties are strongly inconsistent with what you would expect of atmospheric sources and are almost exactly what you would expect from an astrophysical source,” Whitehorn says. It is premature to speculate where these neutrinos originated, he adds, but the IceCube collaboration is continuing to refine and expand the analysis.

IceCube is comprised of more than 5,000 digital optical modules suspended in a cubic kilometer of ice at the South Pole. The National Science Foundation-supported observatory detects neutrinos through the tiny flashes of blue light produced when a neutrino interacts with a water molecule in the ice.

The first hints of high-energy neutrinos came with the unexpected discovery in April 2012 of two detector events above 1 PeV. An analysis of those events was reported last month in a paper submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters. An intensified search, led by Whitehorn and fellow WIPAC scientists Claudio Kopper and Naoko Kurahashi Neilson, turned up 26 additional events exceeding 30 teraelectronvolts (TeV; one-thousandth of a PeV), which will be described in a forthcoming publication.

The Daily Galaxy via http://www.news.wisc.edu/21790

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Sun, 12 May 2013 11:25:52 -0400

theoddmentemporium: The Mummies of Guanajuato Mexico The...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:25:11 -0400

theoddmentemporium:

The Mummies of Guanajuato Mexico

The Mummies of Guanajuato are a number of naturally mummified bodies interred during a cholera outbreak around Guanajuato, Mexico in 1833. These mummies were discovered in a cemetery located in Guanajuato, which has made the city one of the biggest tourist attractions in Mexico. All of these mummies were disinterred between 1865 and 1958, when the law required relatives to pay a tax in order to keep the bodies in the cemetery. If the relatives could not pay this tax, they would lose the right to the burial place, and the dead bodies were disinterred. Ninety percent of the bodies in the cemetery were disinterred because their relatives did not pay the tax. However, only 2% of them were naturally mummified. The mummified bodies were stored in a building and in the 1900s the mummies began attracting tourists. Cemetery workers began charging people a few pesos to enter the building where bones and mummies were stored. This place was turned into a museum called El Museo De Las Momias, The Mummies’ Museum. A law prohibiting the disinterring of more mummies was passed in 1958, but this museum still exhibits the original mummies.

nerdylolita: disgustinghuman: taken last night while finally...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:24:51 -0400

nerdylolita:

disgustinghuman:

taken last night while finally getting around to watching toradora!
i was really high and found some s’mores poptarts and i forgot how good they taste untoasted (◡‿◡✿)

That tattoo is so cute

jetgreguar: kholendx78: Superman: Unbound (2013) REALLY NEED...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:24:30 -0400

jetgreguar:

kholendx78:

Superman: Unbound (2013)

REALLY NEED TO WATCH THIS

thefingerfuckingfemalefury: ealperin: thefingerfuckingfemalefur...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:23:59 -0400

thefingerfuckingfemalefury:

ealperin:

thefingerfuckingfemalefury:

atadolfo:

Modelo: Bianca Beauchamp - Era Venenosa (Poison Ivy)

Hnnnnnnnggggg

Oh jesus she got even hotter O.O

*Fans self*

Suddenly it’s gotten very hot in here >.>

cjwho: carl-viggo holmebakk: sight apparatus the program for...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:23:17 -0400

cjwho:

carl-viggo holmebakk: sight apparatus

the program for ‘sight apparatus’ by olso-based architect carl-viggo holmebakk defines a site for users to enjoy the view from an optimal lookout position.
intending to conceive a conspicuous object, the observatory establishes an articulated division between nature and architecture. at this point, three platforms are
built along the road, accommodating different landscape scenarios for alternative installations such as stands for geological information and viewing instruments.
pre-cast concrete elements are used throughout the sites, with stairs, bridges and pathways connecting the platform to the surrounding grounds. foundation walls
are poured on site, adapting the platforms to the local topography and environment.