Astronomers Create First Realistic Virtual Universe

Credit: Dr Debora Sijacki, Cambridge University

Tracking 13 billion years of cosmic evolution, astronomers have created the first realistic virtual simulation of the Universe. A newly-developed computer simulation has created the first realistic version of the Universe, enabling researchers to understand how galaxies, black holes and other cosmic phenomena developed from shortly after the Big Bang to the present day. The simulation, known as Illustris, follows the complex development of both normal and dark matter over 13 billion years, matching many of the features observed in the real Universe for the first time. Developed by an international team of researchers, Illustris tracks the development of the Universe from 12 million years after the Big Bang up to the present, and identified more than 41,000 galaxies in a cube of simulated space 350 million light years on each side. The results are reported in the May 8th issue of the journal Nature.  Over the past two decades, researchers have been attempting to build accurate computer simulations of the development of the Universe, using computer programs which are capable of encapsulating all the relevant laws of physics governing the formation of galaxies. Previous attempts to simulate the universe were hampered by lack of computing power and the complexities of the underlying physics.As a result those programseither were limited in resolution, or forced to focus on a small portion of the universe. Earlier simulations also had trouble modelling complex feedback from star formation, supernova explosions, and supermassive black holes. Illustris employs a sophisticated computer program to recreate the evolution of the universe in high fidelity. It includes both normal matter and dark matter using 12 billion 3D “pixels,” or resolution elements. Illustris yields a realistic mix of spiral galaxies like the Milky Way and giant elliptical galaxies. It also recreated large-scale structures like galaxy clusters and the bubbles and voids of the cosmic web. The team dedicated five years to developing the Illustris project. The actual calculations took three months of run time, using a total of 8,000 CPUs running in parallel. In comparison, the same calculations would have taken an average desktop computer more than 2,000 years to complete. “Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the Universe on both large and small scales simultaneously,” says lead author Dr Mark Vogelsberger of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, who conducted the work in collaboration with researchers at the University of Cambridge, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies. “The Illustris simulation is a remarkable technical achievement,” said Dr Debora Sijacki of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy, one of the paper’s co-authors. “It shows us for the first time how the bewildering variety of galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their centres have formed.” Since light travels at a fixed speed, the farther away astronomers look, the farther back in time they can see. A galaxy one billion light-years away is seen as it was a billion years ago. Telescopes like Hubble can give us views of the early Universe by looking to greater distances. However, astronomers can’t use Hubble to follow the evolution of a single galaxy over time. “Illustris is like a time machine. We can go forward and backward in time. We can pause the simulation and zoom into a single galaxy or galaxy cluster to see what’s really going on,” said co-author Dr Shy Genel of Harvard University. A selection of videos and imagery from the project are available online at www.illustris-project.org, Source: Ineffableisia.com 

• Contacts and sources: Dr Debora Sijacki, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University

Read More........→May 28, 2014

Virtual keyboard and gesture control system on brink of development

.

A virtual keyboard was recently developed by researchers at Mälardalen University (MDH) in Sweden. The concept uses existing head mounted displays, such as Google Glass, and a pair of wrist or hand-worn sensors that support gesture control as well as sensing the keyboard input. The research project started in 2005 with a focus on robotic vision and developers are now confident that, with extra funding, they could have a product in a year.

Lars Asplund, Professor Emeritus in Robotics at MDH, said: “Keyboards today look almost the same as, and work in almost the same way, as 19th century typewriters. Our virtual keyboard makes a completely new form of interaction possible and offers positions which may, for instance, decrease the risk of repetitive strain injury.” Asplund’s research team moot a number of possible business and individual applications for the solution including use in small spaces and for journalists conducting interviews. The solution could also make its way into wider virtual reality applications, in either entertainment or research and development, as well as providing field workers with a system to type notes while working out of the office. The team is now calling for more funding. “The project has great potential and can be completed in a year, but we need another SEK 10-15 million (approximately €1.1-1.7 million) to develop the hardware design, manufacture a series and launch the product on the market,” said Asplund. Source: InAVate

Read More........→May 23, 2014

AV Tech opens up a world of museums in Romania

A museum in Romania is utilising 3D projection, 3D screens and a host of touchscreens to allow visitors to explore exhibitions and displays from numerous museums around the world. The Digital Museum was designed by architect Claudiu Ionsecu to deliver a great number of presentations within a very small space. It is situated near the Mures Floodplain Natural Park in Pecica, Romania.

Forty-five inch touchscreens and passive 3D technologies are packed into the 125m² space. Content ranges from exhibits from museums around the world down to information on the local area. The museum also encourages visitors to explore the local area virtually using exercise bikes coupled with digital displays or physically using one of 60 mountain bikes. Ionescu said: “Inspired by Constantin Brancusi’s ‘miracle’ sculpture, the building rises naturally from the ground through golden spirals (the fibonacci spirals) and crystallizes in a shape that, just like its muse, tries to set itself free from ‘the past burdens’, striving to rise high. Its shape offers the visitor a feeling of aspiration, an aspiration not only of the building, but of life itself.” Source: InAVate

Read More........→December 30, 2013

NASA-Funded Scientists Detect Water on Moon's Surface that Hints at Water Below

Chandrayaan-1 Moon mission description

NASA-funded lunar research has yielded evidence of water locked in mineral grains on the surface of the 

moon from an unknown source deep beneath the surface. Using data from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists remotely detected magmatic water, or water that originates from deep within the moon's interior, on the surface of the moon. The findings, published Aug. 25 in Nature Geoscience, represent the first detection of this form of water from lunar orbit. Earlier studies had shown the existence of magmatic water in lunar samples returned during the Apollo program. M3 imaged the lunar impact crater Bullialdus, which lies near the lunar equator. Scientists were interested in studying this area because they could better quantify the amount of water inside the rocks due to the crater's location and the type of rocks it held. The central peak of the crater is made up of a type of rock that forms deep within the lunar crust and mantle when magma is trapped underground. "This rock, which normally resides deep beneath the surface, was excavated from the lunar depths by the impact that formed Bullialdus crater," said Rachel Klima, a planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins University

NASA patch / NASA / ISRO - Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) patch's.

Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md. "Compared to its surroundings, we found that the central portion of this crater contains a significant amount of hydroxyl - a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom -- which is evidence that the rocks in this crater contain water that originated beneath the lunar surface," Klima said. In 2009, M3 provided the first mineralogical map of the lunar surface and discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon. This water is thought to be a thin layer formed from solar wind hitting the moon's surface. Bullialdus crater is in a region with an unfavorable environment for solar wind to produce significant amounts of water on the surface. "NASA missions like Lunar Prospector and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and instruments like M3 have gathered crucial data that fundamentally changed our understanding of whether water exists on the surface of the moon," said S. Pete Worden, center director at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Similarly, we hope that

LADEE Mission poster

upcoming NASA missions such as the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, will change our understanding of the lunar sky." The detection of internal water from orbit means scientists can begin to test some of the findings from sample studies in a broader context, including in regions that are far from where the Apollo sites are clustered on the near side of the moon. For many years, researchers believed that the rocks from the moon were bone-dry and any water detected in the Apollo samples had to be contamination from Earth. "Now that we have detected water that is likely from the interior of the moon, we can start to compare this water with other characteristics of the lunar surface," said Klima. "This internal magmatic water also provides clues about the moon's volcanic processes and internal composition, which helps us address questions about how the moon formed, and how magmatic processes changed as it cooled." APL is a not-for-profit division of Johns Hopkins University. Joshua Cahill and David Lawrence of APL and Justin Hagerty of the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., co-authored the paper. NASA's Lunar Advanced Science and Engineering Program, the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) at Ames and the NASA Planetary Mission Data Analysis Program supported the research. NLSI is a virtual organization jointly funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate and NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate in Washington, to enable collaborative, interdisciplinary research in support of NASA lunar science programs. For more information about NASA programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. Images, Text, Credit: NASA / JPL / ISRO. Greetings, Orbiter.ch. Source: Orbiter.ch Space News

Read More........→October 16, 2013

Docomo turns surfaces interactive with smart glasses

Docomo showed off a Google Glass rival that transforms any surface into a touchscreen at Japan's Ceatec show last week. The company demonstrated a number of applications including manipulation of virtual content on any surface using the 'intelligent-glasses' and a ring sensor. Ceatec ran from October 1 to 5, 2013 at the Makuhari Messe convention center outside Tokyo.

Other uses on show included facial recognition capabilities, which pulled up relevant profile information on the person being viewed and character recognition enabling instant language translation. Technology news site Slashgear reported on the technology showcased at  the mobile industry trade show, posting
the video featured above. The concept builds on existing Docomo developments. At last year’s Ceatec show Docomo demonstrated. glasses that enabled hands-free video calling. Source: InAVate

Read More........→October 13, 2013