The unofficial SCIENCE Thread.

HeathfieldRoad1874

HeathfieldRoad1874

Miserable Sod
I keep seeing amazing stories, which are Science related, but don't want to clog up the board with them. I hope they will provide some interest if I keep posting them here.

I'm starting with the amazing Rosetta satellite.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30012854

At 08:35 GMT, the Rosetta satellite released its Philae lander towards Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a large mass of ice and dust some 510 million km from Earth.

The descent should take seven hours, with a signal confirming touchdown received at Earth at around 16:00 GMT.

"It's all down to Issac Newton and the laws of physics now. Philae is on its way down to the surface," said Prof Mark McCaughrean, senior science adviser at the European Space Agency (Esa).

"If Isaac's friendly to us, we'll have a great landing later today."




I watched a documentary on this last night, and the maths, physics and chemistry that has gone into every stage of this is amazing. The people involved are just in a different league.
 
DeanoVilla - 12/11/2014 09:45

God Rules!!!!!
Click to expand...


:5: :5: :5: :5: :5: :5: :5:

LOL. I knew one of you wouldn't be able to resist. I'll forgive this one time, seeing as you are going to be a Dad, but next time it will be a first warning.


:39: :39: :39: :39: :39: :39: :39: :39:
 
I luv this story and missed that bloody documentry last night knew there was one on this week or soon pfffff,

Whilst i do think our heath dude is a bit science mad :5: this is something that can learn us about where we come from, exciting stuff ay it, lets hope it all goes to plan, but agree these clever clogs who worked this landing out am just phenominal :30:
 
I also found this interesting. In the late 80's I did a Parapsychology course, and my thesis proposed just such an idea. It's great to see they are making progress in this field. I've always thought the human Brain does a lot more than we understand.

http://www.livescience.com/48649-ghost-illusion-created-with-new-robot.html

In experiments, the researchers were able to trick the participants' brains into creating the eerie sensation.

"The sensation that somebody is nearby when no one is actually present is called 'the feeling of a presence,'" the researchers said. "Although people do not see the 'presence,' they may describe its spatial location and frequently turn around or offer food to the invisible presence."
 
ClivetheVillan - 12/11/2014 09:59

I luv this story and missed that bloody documentry last night knew there was one on this week or soon pfffff,

Whilst i do think our heath dude is a bit science mad :5: this is something that can learn us about where we come from, exciting stuff ay it, lets hope it all goes to plan, but agree these clever clogs who worked this landing out am just phenominal :30:
Click to expand...

Science mad, or mad scientist? Either way, I'm happy Clive, mate.

I'm sure there will be quite a few programs about this once they land and start getting data back. If I see any I'll try and remember to post it here.
 
It's an amazing feat to be honest. I mean, it's not as though it's a planet, and it's spinning as it hurtles through space. It'll be a remarkable job if it manages to land, sends back signals and does what is planned.
 
I heard about the comet thing this morning on the radio. I do like science, but I always struggle to grasp the why's and wherefore's, it just blows my mind.

This comet thing is the perfect example.....

How far into deep space is the RossettaStone thing now? It's been travelling for years hasn't it?

So surely it is waaaay too far away to be able to control it like a remote control car?

So how do you land it on a moving comet?

There must be a delay (of minutes, days, weeks???) from the guys in the control centre pressing the button to make it move left/right/up/down to it actually receiving that signal and doing what they want?

so how on earth do you control it with such precision to land it on a moving object, with that kind of delay?

Or am I missing something glaringly obvious, like Ewoks are helping out?
 
The fact they could navigate anywhere near it is a feat on it's own, isn't it Pride. They then had to make calculations on the fly as the got nearer to it, as they need to know it Mass and size to work out how much Gravity was created, so they got their orbit right.

I used to be able to do the Maths behind all this, when I was young and my brain still worked, but it still amazes me. One false move, and the whole thing would have been a waste of time and money.
 
This might help, Deano.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Frequently_asked_questions

How did Rosetta reach comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and how long did it take?
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko loops around the Sun between the orbits of Jupiter and Earth, that is, between about 800 million and 186 million kilometres from the Sun. But rendezvousing with the comet required travelling a cumulative distance of over 6.4 billion kilometres. As no launcher was capable of directly injecting Rosetta into such an orbit, gravity assists were needed from four planetary flybys – one of Mars (2007) and three of Earth (2005, 2007 and 2009) – a long circuitous trip that took ten years to complete.


Is Rosetta pre-programmed or are commands sent from the ground?
Rosetta is operated from the ground. It was impossible to programme manoeuvres for the whole mission before the launch because this would have entailed adjustments at each stage of the journey. Ground commands are sent periodically to readjust the spacecraft’s trajectory. These take up to 50 minutes to reach the spacecraft, when it is farthest from the Earth.
 
Interesting.... an again just goes to show how bloody amazing it is...

Using the remote control car analogy again, just imagine how hard it would be to park a remote control car on a constantly moving platform, if it took 50 minutes to react to your every command. Mind boggling!
 
HeathfieldRoad1874 - 12/11/2014 10:01

ClivetheVillan - 12/11/2014 09:59

I luv this story and missed that bloody documentry last night knew there was one on this week or soon pfffff,

Whilst i do think our heath dude is a bit science mad :5: this is something that can learn us about where we come from, exciting stuff ay it, lets hope it all goes to plan, but agree these clever clogs who worked this landing out am just phenominal :30:
Click to expand...

Science mad, or mad scientist? Either way, I'm happy Clive, mate.

I'm sure there will be quite a few programs about this once they land and start getting data back. If I see any I'll try and remember to post it here.
Click to expand...

Cheers Heath dude, with sooo many channels today with Sky keeping up with programmes requires studying or luckily catching it on as i flick through :3: :35:

You may be our Vital Villan mad scientist science mad dude but it brings up so many interesting things on here and points out things i wouldn't come across,i do admit i luv science and the universe, i just hope if they find an important finding from this landing on the Comet they actually share it with us all, will they,,,would they? :37:
 
Just to say I like this thread. For me all things entwine and I shall hopefully be more informed by this topic. Cheers Heath.

Yes it does make a change to the overdone 3 letter word threads, in Witton Lane, which are just well um yeah LOL

:19: :15: :19:
 
Hope Bruce Willis is on standby for when they knock the comet off course and send it towards us.
:91:

posted this one before but interesting storyville on what to do with a large Hadron
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lcyzy

(only on iplayer for another 3 days)

the James Randi one exposing frauds,spiritualists etc not bad either in the same series. (bit of flawed 'scientific' testing in there which was interesting)
 
Jonah - 12/11/2014 13:04

What did science ever do for us? :39:
Click to expand...
Learnt me to be careful sitting under a tree in case a big apple drops on your head :139:
 
I love science. All forms. New scientist is the only thing I read cover to cover. Every article no matter what it is about.

A great read for those of us without anything more than a passing interest and without any great knowledge.

I save it for my train journey to London for work.
 
I always read the teletext on BBC1 page 154 the science gossip page, always has the latest stories on findings etc, The thing about science that does me head in is it leaves you asking more and more questions than the bugger you started with i found lol
 
ClivetheVillan - 12/11/2014 13:34

I always read the teletext on BBC1 page 154 the science gossip page, always has the latest stories on findings etc, The thing about science that does me head in is it leaves you asking more and more questions than the bugger you started with i found lol
Click to expand...

Takes me back to the song Clive ''There are more questions, than answers and the more I find out the less I know'' by Johnny Cash. Here is the link, if you fancy a listen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqkCT-_Q1DI
 
ClivetheVillan - 12/11/2014 14:18

Jonah - 12/11/2014 13:04

What did science ever do for us? :39:
Click to expand...
Learnt me to be careful sitting under a tree in case a big apple drops on your head :139:
Click to expand...


You missed youe cue Clive, at that point you should have posted, "Well, there's the roads........."


 
You must log in or register to reply here.