The Astronomers

Helmut Jerjen: Tales of stars and stellar systems - part one

In the first of this two-part video Dr Helmut Jerjen tells 'Tales of stars and stellar systems' . The event is part of Mount Stromlo's Centenary Celebrations. Astronomy has arguably had the single largest impact on the development of science, human society and culture over the past 10,000 years. On our journey through space and time we will explore the glorious life of our sun, learn how astrophysical knowledge acquired 100 years ago can help to solve the energy crisis on Earth today, and find out why we should rightfully call ourselves the children of the stars. The discovery of exoplanets is a regular topic in the international news. Dr Jerjen explains how astronomers measure the faint signal from these distant island worlds, show where our place in the Milky Way is, and disclose how the Universe grew a million times bigger on the night of October 6, 1923. Dr Jerjen is a member of academic staff at the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at ANU. As a genuine multi-wavelength astrophysicist he has published over 100 articles in international journals covering topics in the areas of near-field cosmology, stellar populations, galaxy evolution and dark matter. He is the head of the Stromlo Milky Way Satellite Survey team that will make use of the new ANU SkyMapper Telescope to study dark-matter dominated dwarf galaxies in the halo of our Milky Way. Dr Jerjen is passionate about educating future generations of astrophysicists.

Helmut  Jerjen  stars  stellar  systems  mount  stromlo  skymapper  ANU  The  canberra  education  astronomy  earth  planets  science  milky  way  astrophysics  cosmology  galaxies  dark  matter 

Channels: Stellar astronomy 

Added: 51 days ago by deek

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PREVIEW: Alien Planets & Eyeball Earths

Music by Zero Project. The hunt for planets beyond our solar system has reached a fever pitch. With some 500 planets revealed by ground telescopes, now, the ultimate planet finder, the Kepler space telescope, has released a tsunami of data. Among over a thousand new planet prospects are 200 multi-planet solar systems and 58 worlds in life-friendly orbits. They're all within a narrow window on the sky the size of your hand. That's why this may be the tip of the iceberg in a galaxy that's literally crawling with planets. Scientists are now beginning to envision what these worlds are like, with atmospheres, oceans, geological history. In the process, they are redefining what a planet might need to spawn life.

alien  planets  earth  kepler  gliese  581  planethunting  nasa  space  universe  solar  systems  stars  milky  way  orion  esa  eso  telescope  astronomy  hubble  spitzer  shuttle  orbit  ufo  moon  speed  of  light  hawking  einstein  black  holes  mercury  venus  jupiter  saturn  neptune  pluto  kuiper  belt  uranus  mass  supernova  planetary  science  environment  widescreen  airplanes  aliens  photography  scifi 

Channels: Planetary science 

Added: 51 days ago by deek

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Energy From Thorium: A Nuclear Waste Burning Liquid Salt Thorium Reactor

<http://www.energyfromthorium.com/lftradsrisks.html> _ Successfully developing a liquid-fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) would essentially solve our planets energy problems for thousands of years, because it would allow us to fully utilize the energy in natural thorium, which makes up 0.0012% of the Earths crust. Most of the research and development work for this technology was done by Oak Ridge National Labs back in the 50s and 60s. They were working to a different set of overall objectives, nevertheless, there are many lessons to be gleaned from their work that can help us to avoid pitfalls and develop LFTR into a high-performance, high-reliability power supply. ___________________ We need to form a consortium to develop a pilot plant to dispose of nuclear waste and generate usable power. Clean the planet to buy the planet!

Nuclear  Physics  Electronics  Energy  Systems 

Channels: The Astronomers  Lectures In Astronomy  Major questions in astronomy 

Added: 871 days ago by starnamer

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Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor

>http://www.energyfromthorium.com/lftradsrisks.html> _ We need to form a consortium to develop a pilot plant to dispose of nuclear waste and generate usable power. Clean the planet to buy the planet!______________________________ Google Tech Talks November 18, 2008 ABSTRACT Electrical power is, and will increasingly become, the desired form of energy for its convenience, safety, flexibility and applicability. Even future transportation embraces electric cars, trains, and chemical fuel production (jet fuel, hydrogen, etc.) based upon an abundant electrical supply. Although existing energy sources can and should be expanded where practical, no one source has shown to be practical to rapidly fulfill the world's energy requirements effectively. Presently there is an existing source of energy ideally suited to electrical energy production that is not being exploited anywhere in the world today, although its existence and practicality has been know since the earliest days of nuclear science. Thorium is the third source of fission energy and the LFTR is the idealized mechanism to turn this resource into electrical energy. Enough safe, clean energy, globally sustainable for 1000's of years at US standards. This talk is aimed at explaining this thorium energy resource from fundamental physics to today's practical applications. The presentation is sufficient for the non-scientist to grasp the whole subject, but will be intriguing to even classically trained nuclear engineers. By providing the historical context in which the technology was discovered and later developed into a power reactor, the story of thorium's disappearance as an energy source is revealed. But times have changed, and today, thorium energy can be safely exploited in a completely new form of nuclear reactor. The LFTR is unique, having a hot liquid core thus eliminating fuel fabrication costs and the need for a large reactor. It cannot have a nuclear meltdown and is so safe that typical control rods are not required at all. This design topples all the conventional arguments against conventional energy sources in such areas as: * Waste Production * Safety * Proliferation * Capital Costs and Location * Environmental Impact * Social Acceptance * Flexibility * Grid Infrastructure * Efficiency Should America take this step toward a New Era in Nuclear Energy Production? Hear the case for "The Electricity Rock" and then decide. Speaker: Dr. Joe Bonometti Dr. Bonometti has extensive engineering experience in the government, within industry, and in academia over a 25-year career. Recently completing an assignment as the NASA Chair Professor at the Naval Post graduate School, he supported a ship design study that utilized advanced nuclear power derived from thorium. Working at NASA for ten years as a technology manager, lead systems engineer, nuclear specialist, and propulsion researcher, he lead several NASA tiger teams in evaluating the Nuclear System Initiatives fission demonstration vehicle and missions. He managed the Emerging Propulsion Technology Area for in-space systems, the Marshall Air Launch team, as well as a variety of other power and propulsion assignments and is now the Lead Systems Engineer for the Ares I-Y flight. After earning a Doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Alabama in Huntsville, he spent several years as a Research Scientist & Senior Research Engineer at the UAH Propulsion Research Center where he served as a Principal Investigator and manager for the Solar Thermal Laboratory. He has worked as a Senior Mechanical Designer at Pratt & Whitney supporting aircraft engine manufacturing and at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory within the laser fusion program. A graduate from the United States Military Academy, at West Point, where he studied nuclear physics and engineering, Dr. Bonometti served as an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers; both in combat and district engineering management assignments. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia, and has authored numerous aerospace technical publications, particularly propulsion and space systems technologies. His technical expertise includes nuclear engineering, specialized mechanical & materials research, space plasmas & propulsion, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and space systems engineering. This Google Tech Talk was hosted by Boris Debic.

Nuclear  Physics  Electronics  Energy  Systems 

Channels: The Astronomers  Lectures In Astronomy  Major questions in astronomy 

Added: 871 days ago by starnamer

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