Interest of the day

The DARPA Robot Challenge finals will be streamed live on June 5 & 6. Twenty five teams compete for a $2M prize. Each challenger must complete task on a simulated disaster course like search and rescue. The challenge is partly in response to the Fukushima accident that occurred in 2011.

YouCubed has posted a week inspirational math lessons. The program was developed at Stanford by professor Jo Boaler, and the lessons are based on her How to Learn Math course. The first lesson explains that all students can perform well in math. Neuroscience shows that the brain in neuroplastic and learning occurs through practice.

The LHC become fully operational tomorrow at 1 AM EDT. It will operate at 13 TeV now and the event will be webcast live.

NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory capture an multispectal image of a coronal loop on the Sunspot. Ten wavelength were captured and combined with measurements of the magnetic field to create this composite image.

The NASA WISE space telescope has discovered a new galaxy that emits as much light as 1 trillion suns. The galaxy is 12.5 light years away and was found by its infrared signature. It is unusual to see such a large old and bright galaxy. It's thought that a super massive black hole is feasting on matter at the center of the galaxy and is the source of so much photonic activity.

The skin of an octopus might be another eye. Researchers have found photo-sensitive cells in the skin of octopus and cuttlefish. The full paper can be found here.

Symmetry Magazine has posted the article 10 unusual detector materials describing the unusual materials used to detect neutrinos. The materials include:

• Dry cleaning fluid
• Brass
• Mineral oil
• Lead
• Smartphone cameras
• Sodium Iodide crystals
• Antarctic ice
• Octofluoropropane
• Dry ice

Annie Easley earned her BS in mathematics and worked as a computer engineer at what became NASA. Her career at NASA (NACA at the time) began in 1955, and she developed battery technology and software for the Centaur upper stage rocket booster that is still in use today.

The Telegraph has posted an interesting reference of Women in Space. This includes astronauts and women that work in the space sciences.


Valentina Tereshkova is the first women in space

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has produces some global statistics of energy production and consumption by energy source, region, and country. They also include nice illustration in the complex web that energy flows from production to use.