Rare blue galaxy may shed new light on Big Bang

Astronomers have discovered a faint blue galaxy about 30 million light-years from Earth that could shed new light on conditions at the birth of the universe.

The galaxy nicknamed Leoncino, or "little lion," located in the constellation Leo Minor, contains the lowest level of heavy chemical elements, or "metals" ever observed in a gravitationally bound system of stars. "Finding the most metal-poor galaxy ever is exciting since it could help contribute to a quantitative test of the Big Bang," said John J Salzer, a professor at Indiana University in the US.  "There are relatively few ways to explore conditions at the birth of the universe, but low-metal galaxies are among the most promising," Salzer said.  This is because the current accepted model of the start of the universe makes clear predictions about the amount of helium and hydrogen present during the Big Bang, and the ratio of these atoms in metal-poor galaxies provides a direct test of the model.  In astronomy, any element other than hydrogen or helium is referred to as a metal.  The elemental make-up of metal-poor galaxies is very close to that of the early universe.  "Low metal abundance is essentially a sign that very little stellar activity has taken place compared to most galaxies," said lead author Alec S Hirschauer, a graduate student at Indiana University.  Leoncino is considered a member of the "local universe," a region of space within about 1 billion light years from Earth and estimated to contain several million galaxies, of which only a small portion have been catalogued.  A galaxy previously recognised to possess the lowest metal abundance was identified in 2005; however, Leoncino has an estimated 29 per cent lower metal abundance. The abundance of elements in a galaxy is estimated based upon spectroscopic observations, which capture the light waves emitted by these systems.  Regions of space that form stars, for example, emit light that contains specific types of bright lines, each indicating the atoms from various gases: hydrogen, helium, oxygen, nitrogen and more.  In the light of the star-forming region in Leoncino, scientists detected lines from these elements, after which they used the laws of atomic physics to calculate the abundance of specific elements.  Aside from low levels of heavier elements, Leoncino is unique in several other ways.  A so-called "dwarf galaxy," it is only about 1,000 light years in diameter and composed of several million stars.  The Milky Way, by comparison, contains an estimated 200 billion to 400 billion stars. Leoncino is also blue in colour, due to the presence of recently formed hot stars, but surprisingly dim, with the lowest luminosity level ever observed in a system of its type.

India successfully test fires indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile

India has successfully test fired indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile as part of a user trial by army from test range at Chandipur in Odisha.

Inducted into India's armed forces in 2003, Prithvi II, is the first missile to be developed by DRDO under the prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Notably, Prithvi is India's first indigenously-built ballistic missile. Prithvi-II has been designed to operate with both liquid and solid fuels and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear payloads. The last user trial of Prithvi-II was successfully conducted on February 16, 2016, preceded by a trial on 14th of November 2014.

No, Mercury Retrograde Will Not Mess Up Your Life

For people of the astrological persuasion, few planetary trends are as noteworthy as Mercury in retrograde. As the solar system's smallest planet appears to reverse through the sky, you'll hear it blamed for a wealth of frustrating situations, including overspending on new purchases, poorly planned work pitches and unimpressive first dates.

The common astrological advice for people during Mercury retrograde is to avoid starting anything new and to focus instead on reassessment, mimicking the way the planet appears to be retracing its own movements. In 2016, Mercury retrograde will occur four times, totaling about 80 days. That is a lot of time for reassessment.

Astronomers tend to disagree with these associations. "The idea that the gravity from these very distant bodies affects our lives in some way just doesn't work in the framework of physics," said Jean-Luc Margot, a planetary astronomer and professor at UCLA.

Finding the facts about Mercury's retrograde motion is complicated because it's both a real and imagined phenomenon. "All the planets rotate around the sun in the same direction, and that never changes," Margot said. However, if a person were able to trace Mercury's position during retrograde — which is a challenge, because the sun blocks our view — they'd end up with a line that changes direction. This is because Mercury retrograde is an optical illusion resulting from our position (on Earth) relative to Mercury.

The term "retrograde" in this instance refers to a perceived reversal in the standard west-to-east movement of Mercury through the stars. While some objects in space do experience true retrograde motion — Venus spins about its axis in the opposite direction than the other planets, a situation called retrograde spin — Mercury's backtracking is an issue of perspective. Its orbit is smaller and faster than Earth's. When its orbit catches up to and passes Earth, it creates the illusion that Mercury is backtracking, astronomers say.

Put more plainly, pretend you're Earth, watching Mercury run around a track. As it runs its loop, it will start out moving from the left side of your field of vision to your right. Then, it rounds the corner and, although not moving backward, is now running from right to left. This analogy is oversimplified because it doesn't take into account the fact that Earth is also moving, but it gives a good idea of how this optical illusion plays out.

All of the planets exhibit apparent retrograde motion, although it plays out slightly differently for planets farther from the sun than Earth versus those, like Mercury, that are closer to the sun than Earth.
Pseudo planetary effects

As for the potential influence of this seemingly odd movement on our daily lives, science doesn't back it up. In his 1974 book "The Jupiter Effect" (Walker Books), writer John R. Gribbinpredicted that the alignment of all of the planets and the sun on the same side of the Earth would have catastrophic effects.

James Zimbelman, a geologist at the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, said this prediction actually prompted some scientists to look into the magnitude of the gravitational effects of planetary objects on Earth. "The net result of all of that was, the force is so small compared to either the sun or the moon, that any kind of planetary effect would just be swamped by the things the Earth is always feeling by either the sun or the moon," Zimbelman told Live Science.

(For reference, Margot said the gravitational effects a person experiences when standing next to another person are thousands to tens of thousands of times greater than the gravitational forces exerted on them by the moon.)

The vast number of internet sources mentioning Mercury's retrograde are astrological sites, which then go on to offer advice on how to combat its influence. Mars' apparent retrograde motion is the most obvious of the retrogrades because people can easily view Mars in the night sky as it is the closest planet and, unlike Mercury and Venus, doesn't require a person to look at the sun in order to observe it. This apparent retrograde motion garners much more notice from educational sources. Of the three experts contacted by Live Science, all three considered Mercury retrograde fairly unworthy of discussion.

"All planets appear to go through a period of retrograde (east-to-west) motion against the stars as seen from the Earth," Geoff Chester, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Observatory, wrote in an email to Live Science. "There is nothing unusual in this. Mercury is no exception. There is no story here."
The Mercury transit

Even if retrograde isn't worthy of much scientific thought, it does overlap with a more exciting astronomical event. About once every 10 years, while Mercury is passing Earth, everything lines up just right, and Mercury crosses in front of the sun from our point of view on Earth. This is called the transit of Mercury and will occur on May 9

Enjoying the transit may be perhaps the greatest, clearest effect Mercury retrograde can have on your life.

New Print-Out Lasers Are So Cheap They're Disposable

Everyone's heard of disposable razors, but what about disposable lasers? Using inkjet printers, scientists have made laser devices cheap enough to be thrown out after a single use.

Lasers create their high-energy beams using a so-called gain medium, which takes advantage of the interactions between the electrons of its atoms and incoming photons to amplify light to high intensities. Typically, the gain medium is made from inorganic materials such as glasses, crystals or gallium-based semiconductors, but in recent years, researchers have investigated using organic carbon-based dyes instead.

Organic lasers hold great promise because they are low-cost and can emit light in a wide range of wavelengths, but they are limited because the dyes degrade rapidly.

Now, researchers from France and Hungary have used inkjet printers to produce the organic laser chips at the heart of these devices for mere cents, making it cost-effective to regularly replace the degraded parts.

"I think that this is an exciting piece of work with great potential for applications," said organic laser expert Graham Turnbull, a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. "The lasers could have future applications as disposable light sources for chemical analysis such as medical screening or pollution monitoring," Turnbull, who was not involved in the new study, told Live Science.

In a paper published today (May 3) in the Journal of Applied Physics, the researchers said the key to their approach's low cost is its efficiency. The most popular method for creating organic laser chips in the past has been spin coating. In this process, the surface on which the dye solution is to be deposited is spun rapidly so that centrifugal force spreads the liquid evenly to form a uniform thin film.

Inkjet printed "lasing capsules" serve as the core of an organic laser. Figure (a) shows a schematic of the laser setup, while figure (b) shows actual lasing capsules, which would cost only a few cents to produce. OC stands for "Output Coupler" and FP stands for Febry-Perot etalon.Credit: Sanaur, et al/JAP

But with typical spin-coating techniques, the vast majority of the dye solution spins off the surface and thus is wasted; as little as 2 percent is actually deposited usefully, the researchers said. In contrast, inkjet printers can accurately squirt small jets of fluid onto the underlying material, they added.

"You print 'where you want, when you want,' without wasting raw materials," study lead researcher Sébastien Sanaur, an associate professor of microelectronics at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne in France, said in a statement.

For the laser dyes to be printed, they first needed to be mixed with an ink. Although the researchers experimented with inks specifically designed for optical applications, they eventually settled on a commercial variety called EMD6415 that exhibited excellent printing and optical properties.

Then, the solution was printed onto a slide made of quartz in 0.08-square-inch (50 square millimeter) pixels to make the laser chip. The chip was placed between two mirrors that reflected light back and forth through the gain medium during amplification. Another laser, known as the pump, was used to provide the light energy input, the researchers said.

Importantly, the scientists said the laser chip can be switched out easily when it deteriorates. They also demonstrated that they could use two different dyes to produce laser emissions ranging in color from yellow to deep red.

"The major advance here is the perfection of the inkjet printing process for the fabrication of organic 'gain' chips," said Stéphane Kéna-Cohen, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Physics at Polytechnique Montréal in Canada. "When used in a laser cavity, these can be used to fabricate broadly tunable lasers, and several dyes exist that together can span the entire visible spectrum," Kéna-Cohen, who was not involved with the new study, told Live Science.

Both Kéna-Cohen and Turnbull said one of the most promising aspects of the research is the possibility of printing several dyes onto the same chip to generate a spectrum of colors with the same device.

"The major obstacle, however, is that these organic lasers still need to be pumped by an external, relatively high-energy laser," Kéna-Cohen said. "Finding a way to pump these electrically or with a low-cost LED would be a major breakthrough for many practical purposes."- See more at: http://www.livescience.com/54632-disposable-lasers-made-from-inkjet-printers.html#sthash.wpz9uo7h.dpuf

Microsoft removes store-blocking from Windows 10 Pro

Businesses running the professional version of Windows 10 can no longer block access to the Windows Store.

Following an update the function is now available only on the more expensive Windows 10 Enterprise version, as well as the Education edition.

Many firms try to prevent staff from downloading additional software as it can cause problems with existing programs and affect productivity.

Microsoft said it had made the change "by design".

"Windows 10 Enterprise is our offering that provides IT pros with the most granular control over company devices," the tech giant said in a statement.

"Windows 10 Pro offers a subset of those capabilities and is recommended for small and mid-size businesses looking for some management controls, but not the full suite necessary for IT pros at larger enterprises."

Educate staff

John Harrison, owner of Harrison IT services, said the change could cause problems for small businesses.

"Users like to change settings or try to install software by themselves. If they don't know what they're doing or don't have the appropriate experience, they can cause all kinds of issues," he said.

"You are going to have to educate staff, tell them not to use the Windows Store unless it really is relevant to the business. How do you manage that policy?"

In September 2015 there were 669,000 apps on the Windows Store, according toMicrosoft's own figures.

Microsoft says there are 300 million devices using Windows 10 one year after its launch.

On 29 July, a free upgrade offer for Windows users with earlier versions of the operating system will come to an end.

SpaceX successfully launches Japanese JCSAT-14 Satellite

US based private space transport service company, SpaceX has successfully launched Japanese JCSAT-14 communication satellite into the space. The satellite was place into its intended preliminary geostationary transfer orbit by SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US. After meeting its primary goal of the mission, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on an ocean (floating) platform, known as a drone ship, off the coast of Florida. This is for the second time in row the reusable main stage booster of Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on offshore floating platform after the April 8, 2016 landing.
About JCSAT-14 Satellite
JCSAT-14 Satellite is owned by Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation. The satellite will boost the company’s fleet of relay stations to 17. The satellite is built by Space Systems/Loral and is equipped with 26 C-band and 18 Ku-band transponders. It has design life of 15 years and replaces the aging JCSAT-2A which is now stationed at 154 degrees East longitude. Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation is the only non-governmental provider of multi-channel pay television and satellite communications in Japan and a major communications provider across Asia and Oceania.

Wireless toilet flush with your smartphone

A visit to your local public bathroom is always a doubtful experience to those among us who is over-aware about self hygiene. Every touch of the water’s handle or the seat might make you very discomfort, considering the huge amount of germs that reside there. (Even if you wash your hand with soap afterwards.)

That is why the Japanese company “Lixil” have invented ‘Satis‘, A Bluetooth-based smartphone application that wirelessly control your toilet. These smart toilets support flushing your toilet without touching it and automatically raising the toilet seat, amongst other things.

The application for the smart phone will allow users to play their favorite music through speakers that are installed on the toilet, and run an “exit” diary to follow their stool. Did I mention this is Japanese? Surprising

I sure hope no one will hack my toilet. Wouldn’t want it to be flooded with… pings.

MIT's new bug finder uncovers flaws in Web apps in 64 seconds

Finding bugs in Web applications is an ongoing challenge, but a new tool from MIT exploits some of the idiosyncrasies in the Ruby on Rails programming framework to quickly uncover new ones.

In tests on 50 popular Web applications written using Ruby on Rails, the system found 23 previously undiagnosed security flaws, and it took no more than 64 seconds to analyze any given program.

Ruby on Rails is distinguished from other frameworks because it defines even its most basic operations in libraries. MIT's researchers took advantage of that fact by rewriting those libraries so that the operations defined in them describe their own behavior in a logical language.

That turns the Rails interpreter, which converts high-level Rails programs into machine-readable code, into a static-analysis tool that describes how data flows through the program. The result is that running a Rails program through the interpreter produces a formal, line-by-line description of how the program handles data.

Dubbed Space, the new debugger focuses on a program’s data-access procedures using a simple logical model that describes what operations a user can perform on what data and under what circumstances. From the descriptions generated by the hacked libraries, Space can automatically determine whether the program adheres to those models; if it doesn’t, there’s likely to be a security flaw.

Chrome extensions will soon have to tell you what data they collect

Google is about to make it harder for Chrome extensions to collect your browsing data without letting you know about it, according to a new policy announced Friday.

Starting in mid-July, developers releasing Chrome extensions will have to comply with a new User Data Policy that governs how they collect, transmit and store private information. Extensions will have to encrypt personal and sensitive information, and developers will have to disclose their privacy policies to users.

Developers will also have to post a "prominent disclosure" when collecting sensitive data that isn't related to a prominent feature. That's important, because extensions have tremendous power to track users' browsing habits and then use that for nefarious purposes.

With this change, an extension that's marketed as a way to add themes to social media sites but also scrapes the number of friends a user has on that site for sale or research purposes will have to prominently tell users about it.

By requiring developers to be up front about what they might be collecting behind the scenes, Google can help make sure that its users are protected from shady extensions, and make sure that people know how their information is being used.

However, users shouldn't expect prominent disclosures for every piece of information collected. For example, Google allows developers to collect anonymized data about how people use their extensions without a prominent disclosure (though it should be represented in their privacy policies).

Google has given developers until July 14 to update their extensions to comply with the new policy. After that, extensions that don't follow Google's new guidelines will be removed from the Chrome Web Store.