Space Shuttle Atlantis, flying mission servicing 4 (STS-125),The fifth and the final human spaceflight to visit the observatory.

General Information

• NSSDC ID-1990-037B
• Organization- NASA/ESA/STScI
• Launce date- 24 April 1990, 8:33:51 am EDT
• Launce vehicle- Space Shuttle  Discovery-(STS-31)
• Mission length- 19 years, 9 months and 29 days elapsed
• De orbited- 2013-2021
• Mass- 11,110 kg (24,500 Ib)
• Type of orbit Near – circulation low Earth orbit
• Orbit height- 559 km (347 mi)
• Orbit period- 96-97 minutes
• Orbit velocity- 7,500 m/s (25,000 ft/s)
• Acceleration due to gravity- 8.169m/s2 (26.80 ft/s2)
• Location-Low Earth orbit
• Telescope style- Ritchey-Chretien reflector
• Wave length optical, ultraviolet , near infrared
• Focal length-57.6 m(189 ft)

Instruments

• NICMOS infrared camera/spectrometer
• ACS optical survey camera (partially failed)

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the space shuttle in 1990.It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research too and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and is of NASA’s Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. Hubble was funded in the 1970’s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster. When finally launched in 1990, scientists found that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, severely compromising the telescope’s capabilities .However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality. Hubble’s orbit outside the distortion of Earth’s atmosphere allows to it to take extremely sharp images with almost no background light. Hubble’s ultra-deep field image, four instance, is the .most detailed visible-light image even made of the universe’s most distant objects. Many Hubble observations have led to break troughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe. Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. Four servicing missions were performed1993-2002, but the fifth was canceled on safety grounds following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. However, after spirited public discussion, NASA administrator Mike Griffin approved one final servicing mission to function until at least 2014, when its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is due to be launched.

The writer is a student of STD VI
The Ark Int’l School

Hello! The coolest readers of YOUTHWAVE. Welcome you again to the world of Future Science. In this edition we will take you to area between Switzerland and France, where the largest scientific experiment ever undertaken is going on.  We hope you will definitely like this article.
At the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), or European Council for Nuclear Research, they have been planning and constructing the biggest machine in the history of planet Earth. This is the Large Hadron Collider – a gigantic synchrotron over 8 km in diameter, built 100 metres underground on the border between Switzerland and France. On 10 September 2008, it was switched on (after a couple of years of delay), at a cost of just under four Billion Euros, with staff from 111 nations involved in its building and operation. It is the largest experiment ever undertaken. Running at 1.9K the LHC will be the coldest place in the solar system when running (excluding colder man-made experiments).

Four Smashing Experiments
The machine is designed to collide protons into each other at energies of 14TeV, travelling at 99.9999991% of the speed of light. These conditions emulate those occurring in the Universe 1 billionth of a second after the Big Bang. LHC scientists are hoping that this will then produce particles and interactions not seen since the Big Bang.

At such high energies, the beams of protons counter-rotating around the 27km ring will cross each other’s paths 30 million collisions per second. There are four critical experiments in the LHC, each named by an acronym: CMS, LHCb, ATLAS and ALICE. Each of the experiments has an incredibly complex detector built in a cavern around the accelerator and one of the beam-crossing points is at the centre of each detector. Each experiment is aimed at detecting particular products from the collision; each is searching for specific undiscovered but theoretical particles.

The detectors include strong magnetic fields and will track the movements of particles through the space that the detector occupies. As mass-energy and momentum are always conserved in particle interactions, along with charge, the records of particle tracks can be interpreted to identify the particles in the detector and any reactions that they undergo.

CMS – the Compact Muon Solenoid
If the Large Hadron Collider achieves the exiting discoveries it has been designed for, they well may come from this detector. There are several hypotheses in different areas of theoretical physics which may gain confirmation evidence from the LHC. Some of these sound a little bizarre. For example, it is hoped that the CMS will observe mini black holes, dark matter, super symmetric particles, gravitons and the Higgs boson.

The CMS is set up with various detecting chambers for different types of particle and has 100 million individual detectors organized in a 3D barrel containing as much as iron as the Eiffel Tower. By monitoring the tracks of particles their charges and masses can be determined. The energies and momenta can also be measured, and all this information analysed together can identify all the particles and reactions in each collision.

LHCb – Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment
This detector will be watching out for the decays of both the bottom quark (sometimes called beauty) and the charm quark by looking for mesons containing these.

This is particularly aimed t working out why our Universe contains mostly matter and very little antimatter, when theoretically the two should appear in equal amounts.

ALICE – A Large Ion Collider Experiment
Although ALICE will initially observe the proton-proton collisions that the LHC will start with, this detector is particularly intended to study the collisions of heavy ions, such as lead, accelerated to almost the speed of light.

It is hoped that these collisions will create a quark-gluon plasma which has been predicted by quantum mechanics theory.

ATLAS
The ATLAS detector is 45m long and 25m high. Among the possible discoveries are the origin of mass, extra dimensions of space, microscopic black holes, and evidence for dark matter particles in the universe.

Originally, ATLAS was an acronym for A Toroidal Lhc ApparatuS, but this has largely been dropped and it is simply the name of the experiment.

What must a detector be capable of doing?
In developing the Large Hadron Collidor experiment, the scientists had to work out what they needed the detectors to do. The following nine points are listed on the ATLAS website as their intentions as to the abilities of the detector:

1)    Measure the directions, momenta, and signs of charged particles.
2)    Measure the energy carried by electrons and photons in each direction from the collision.
3)    Measure the energy carried by hadrons (protons, pions, neutrons, etc) in each direction.
4)    Identify which charged particles from the collision, if any are electrons.
5)    Identify which charged particles from the collision are muons.
6)    Identify whether some of the charged particles originate at points a few millimeters from the collision point itself (signaling a particle’s decay a few millimeters from the collision point).
7)    Infer (through momentum conservation) the presence of undetectable neutral particles such as neutrinos).
8)    Have the capability of processing the above information fast enough to permit flagging about 10-100 potentially interesting events per second out of the billion collisions per second that occur, and recording the measured information.
9)    The detector must also be capable of long and reliable operation in a very hostile radiation environment.

Data analysis
It has been estimated that the amount of data resulting from the LHC experiments will be approximately 10% of that produced through all human activities across the world. To analyse the raw data from the incredibly complex detectors, a system of computer analysis called the Grid will be used. This enables hundreds of computers across the world to be linked together via the internet in order that their combined computing power can be used to study the experiment results and search out any which indicate the discoveries it is hoped the LHC will produce. Of every 10 billion collision results, we expect only about 10-100 will be ‘interesting’ reactions. The ones that show things we already know need to be quickly filtered out of the data so that computing power is not wasted.

Large Hadron Collider could “open door to new physics by yearend”
The world’s largest particle accelerator could provide key insights into the makeup of matter and change our view of physics as early as at the end of 2010, the director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said.

The LHC was restarted at the end of February and repeated its record collision energy output of 2.36 tera-electron volts (TeV) on March 8. Scientists plan to force the particles to collide at 7 TeV by the end of March.

The collider will run at 7 TeV through next year, before being shut down in 2012 to upgrade to full design energy of 14 TeV. It will then restart in 2013.

Speaking at a March 8 news conference, Rolf-Dieter Heuer said the LHC could start generating its first scientific breakthroughs into elusive dark matter as early as later this year, even while operating at half-capacity.

“We will open a door for new physics by the end of this year,” Heuer told reporters. “It took several decades for us to understand the visible universe. This is all nicely explained by the standard model, but the big problem is that this is only 5 percent of the universe.”

“If we can detect and understand dark matter, our knowledge will expand to encompass 30 percent of the universe, a huge step forward,” he added.

The $5.6 billion international LHC project has involved more than 2,000 physicists from hundreds of universities and laboratories in 34 countries since 1984. Over 700 Russian physicists from 12 research institutes have taken part.

The collider, located 100 meters under the French-Swiss border with a circumference of 27 km, enables scientists to shoot subatomic particles round an accelerator ring at almost the speed of light, channeled by powerful fields produced by superconducting magnets.

In order to fire beams of protons round the vast underground circular device, the entire ring must be cooled by liquid helium to minus 271 degrees C, just two degrees above absolute zero.

By colliding particles in front of immensely powerful detectors, scientists hope to detect the Higgs boson, nicknamed the “God particle,” which was hypothesized in the 1960s to explain how particles acquire mass. Discovering the particle could explain how matter appeared in the split-second after the Big Bang.

Thanks for being with us. Hope to see you again, in another edition of Monthly YOUTHWAVE.

Adapted, Edited and Compiled from:
Wikipedia, Future Science, Modern Physics, Edexcel A2 Physics, The particle Anatomy, The miracles of Physics.
Special thanks to:
Ranjan Kumar Bishwas, UniWorld Education. Mohsin Ahmad, Taha Yeasin Ranan and Asif Iqbal Choudhury.

Insects and human beings are the dominant organisms on this Earth today. The total mass of insects and people are almost equal but the two play very different roles on this planet. Insects are an integral part of Earth’s ecosystem. They are the nuts and bolts of this finely tuned machinery whereas human beings are the ones disrupting the work of the ecosystem. We have barged in and we have been sucking on the resources of this planet for billions of years and we have contributed nothing in return. We are the parasites. Within this world of environment and nature we have created a world of our own- a world, in which crops are made to grow faster, a world in which genetic science creates “perfect” flowers, a world in which technology is made to bend the laws of nature. However, today with the advent of global warming, imminent scarcity of fuel and our own lives at peril we are beginning to realize that reconciliation between these two clashing worlds has become necessary. Solar panel is one fine example of technology meeting nature. As the name suggests, solar panels use energy from the sun to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect. Voltage is created due to the exposure of electromagnetic radiation on the material. Other solar panels are used to concentrate sun’s thermal energy at one point to heat up a water body which results in the eventual rise of steam generated power. Solar power can also be stored and used in the absence of sunlight (during nighttime). Through this saving of solar energy astronauts are able to sustain themselves in outer space when their satellites are not facing the sun. Not just in outer space, solar power technology can also be used to provide electricity to ordinary households. In many European countries, for instance- Spain, Germany etc, solar panels account for a significant percentage of electricity supply in households. In fact, a third world country like Bangladesh has 110,000 solar home systems installed in its rural areas. Grameen Shakti lends the solar panels to Bangladeshi villagers and they pay back the cost of the solar panels in installments. Often the money that the villagers save on kerosene bills covers the amount of loans they take from Grameen Shakti. Fire hazards caused by kerosene lamps are avoided and the village markets are able to stay open for longer periods of time. Thus areas in which Grameen Shakti has set up solar panels have improved economically.

Wind mill is another example of nature driven technology. It is a rotating machine which converts the energy of the motion of the wind into electricity. The use of vertical axle windmills dates back to 634 AD. The first practical windmill was invented by the Persians and thus windmill is perhaps the most ancient form of energy generator or converter. One of the most notable organizations working with wind power is RDST Ltd. It is based in UK and supplies roof-mounted wind turbines throughout Edinburgh.

Water turbines also use the same principle of utilizing a source of energy that is available to us for free. These turbines use energy from moving water. As water falls from a height with high potential energy it is able to rotate the turbine and cause generation of power. Hydropower forms nineteen percentage of the world’s electricity supply and water wheels have been used for hundreds of years to power mills and machinery. Using hydropower, Practical Action provided electricity to approximately 5000 homes in the remote Andean villages in Peru. Heavy rainfalls made the poverty stricken area suitable for hydropower generation. Due to the presence of electricity using hydropower the area is now thriving with better job opportunities and better business prospects.

The most remarkable aspect of all of these energy sources is that they are renewable and they are free. It’s only the harnessing of these energy sources that takes money. No extra amount of money would need to be spent for the usage of an extra unit of electricity. Once the plants are set up the variable costs associated with its usage become negligible. However, investors are discouraged by the long time it takes for the investment to pay off. Unlike a coal plant, a solar plant or a wind turbine needs a huge financing for set-up. However the long term benefits of using environment friendly technology are incomparable. Low green-house gas emissions, high energy use efficiency are just a few of the perks of using a solar panel, a wind mill or a water turbine.

“Since the environmental crisis is the result of social mismanagement of the world’s resources, then it can be resolved and man can survive in a humane condition when the social organization of man is brought into harmony with the ecosphere.” – Barry Commoner, The Closing Circle: Nature, Man and Technology (1971)
Thus it is only when science is used in coherence with nature, will the results of human action be constructive and contributory to the workings of our planet.

Buckyball

Hello everyone to another edition of ‘Wonders of the Universe’. In the last edition we explored the unknown world of the ‘Food Additives’, this month we will fly our jet to the future world of the scientific technology: nanotechnology.

What is Nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology is a broad term that covers many areas of science, research and technology. In its most basic form, it can be described as working with things that are small. Things so tiny that they can’t be seen with standard microscopes. The same stuff that has always been there, but we just couldn’t see it. The building blocks of nature, atoms and molecules. Nano-technology involves understanding matter at the “nano” scale.
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. In comparison, a human hair is about 100,000 nanometers in diameter.

New types of imaging tools, like the atomic force microscope, have allowed scientists to peek into the nano world. A world that before could only be visualized in theory. These tools help scientists validate theories about the way that atoms group together to form molecules of different types and shapes.
“Consider the element carbon at the nanoscale. In nature, when carbon atoms are arranged one way you get a diamond. If they’re put together another way, you get graphite.” – Eleanor Imster, Earth and Sky Radio Series.

The discovery in 1985 of buckminsterfullerene (buckyball), opened a new era for the chemistry of carbon and for novel materials. In 1991 the Japanese scientist Sumio Iijima reported that in the soot produced while he was making fullerenes he had discovered elongated cage-like structures. Other scientists replicated his work and this led to the development of nanotubes and nanotube technology. These closed-cage carbon structures all contain 12 five-member rings and almost any number of six-member rings. They make highly complex shapes- doughnut shapes, corkscrews and cones have been produced.

Applications of nanotechnology

Nanoprob

Chemists have found single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs). Reacting MWNTs with metal oxides produces carbon nanorods, some of which are superconducting (they have zero resistance to the passage of electric currents). Studies of nanotubes show that they are stiffer than other materials. If embedded in polymer resins they could produce composite materials which would have good electrical conductivity along with enormous strength and great lightness. They could find uses in the aircraft, space and car industries.

One idea is to develop nanoprobes which could circulate around the human blood system and identify cancerous cells. Then surgeons could use lasers to heat up these cells and destroy them. It might sound like science fiction today but some scientists believe it is possible.
The transition of nanotechnology research into manufactured products is limited today, but some products moved relatively quickly to the marketplace and already are having significant impact.

Nanoprobs inside the tiniest artery of our body

The “jumbotron lamp,” that lights many of today’s athletic stadiums is a nanotube-based light source. Additional products available today that benefit from the unique properties of nanoscale materials include: bumpers on cars, sunscreens and cosmetics, stain-free clothing and more.
New applications of nanotechnology that are expected in two to five years are:
• Implantable devices that automatically administer drugs and sense drug levels.
• Cancer tagging mechanisms and real time diagnostics for physicians.
• Sensors for airborne chemicals or other toxins.
• Improved solar cells and fuel cells
• Faster, smarter and inexpensive computers.

The power of nanotechnology is in the manipulation of materials at the nanoscale. This enables scientists to alter the properties of materials to make them do new things and to invent materials not found in nature.

Nanoparticles

Nanotechnology in cosmetics

You are probably aware that mixtures of coal dust and air can explode, although lumps of coal do not explode in air. This is because coal dust has a much larger surface area for the combustion reaction to take place than a lump of coal.

Particles called nanoparticles are much smaller than the particles in coal dust, just a few nanometers across. One nanometer (nm) is one billionth of a meter. For comparison, typical carbon-carbon bond lengths, or the spacing between these atoms in a molecule, are in the range 0.12-0.15 nm. The smallest cellular lifefoms, the bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma, are around 200 nm in length.
Materials reduced to the nanoscale can show very different properties compared with what they exhibit on a macroscale. This offers new opportunities for exciting applications, such as:
•    Opaque substances become transparent (eg copper)
•    Inert materials become catalysts (eg platinum)
•    Stable-materials turn combustible (eg gold)
•    Insulators become conductors (eg silicon)

Nanotechnology in Cosmetics
Nanoprticles are now being used in cosmetic preparations. The skin provides natural barriers to chemical being absorbed through it. However, if the particles in cosmetics are scaled down to the size of nanoparticles, they become small enough to penetrate the skin. Such particles are smaller than the wavelength of light and therefore too small to see. Very small particles of titanium (IV) oxide are already being used in sunscreens because they disappear completely into the skin, providing an invisible protective layer. Medications called serums are serum are sold which deliver vitamin E into the skin via nanoparticles.

Who will suffer from the risk?
However some toxicologists are alarmed by this trend to deliver cosmetics through the skin. The skin forms a barrier with the function of keeping harmful substances out of the body. If nanoparticles can penetrate the skin, might they end up in the bloodstream and the brain? What damage might they do? Will other, less welcome, substances piggy-back on those particles? And what will happen if a number of different nanoparticles, eg from hand cream, sunscreen and foundation, join together?
Major cosmetics companies state that nanoparticles will not penetrate the skin to reach the bloodstream or circulate around the body. They claim that their chemical compounds will not go further than the first layer, the stratum corneum. The reality is that we do not know what the effects of these preparations are and further research is necessary.

Types of Nanotechnology
There are many different types of Nanotechnology available. In general they can be classified into the following categories: carbon nanotube, optical (or particle-wave based), crystalline, DNA, and quantum. Each of these categories has a significant impact in the study of Nanotechnology. You see, Nanotechnology is not just technology. It is the study of atoms, and the world as we know it. It is the ability to look deep into what and how basic elements are created and how they can be manipulated to benefit mankind.

Collected and compiled from:
Wikipedia,
Future Science,
Edexcel AS Chemistry.
Special thanks to Baidya Sir and Dr. Qazi Saiful Hoq from Uni World Education.

Food Additives

welcome you again to yet another edition of ‘Wonders of the Universe’. In the last edition, we took you all to the ancient world of Chinese medicine and showed you, how those Chinese herbs and extracts are healing the present world. On this issue, we will have a tour to the world of food-processing. We will discover the extra ingredients that we are eating everyday with our regular processed foods – “Food Additives”.
Check the Nutrition Facts before you buy it.
Why use additives?
In food processing, many substances are added. They are called food additives. A food additive is defined as a substance which is not normally eaten or drunk as a food either by itself or as a typical ingredient of food. Salt and sugar are added to foods but are not called additives. No substance may be used as an additive unless the food manufacturer can give a good reason for its use. The reasons for using additives are:

?    To flavour food
?    To colour food
?    To alter the texture of the food
?    To preserve food

Additives are chemicals, but so are proteins, vitamins and all the other substances which occur naturally in foodstuffs. In 1950, 50 additives were in general use, now 3500 additives are used in our food.

Types of food additives
Additives which alter the taste of food:
Flavourings: Flavourings are the largest group of food additives, with about 3000 in use. The large number is not so surprising when it takes a mixture of up to 50 substances to produce a natural flavour such as apple or peach.

Sweetened food

Sweeteners: The commonest sweetener is sucrose (sugar); this is a food, not an additive. Some people want to cut down on sucrose either because it causes tooth decay or because they are overweight. Diabetics cannot cope with sucrose. Substitutes are saccharin, sorbitol and mannitol.

Flavour enhancers: Flavour enhancers are not flavourings; they are substances which make existing flavours seem stronger. The best known is monosodium glutamite, MSG. It stimulates the taste buds.

Additives which alter the colour of food:
When food is processed, it may lose some of its colour; then the manufacturer will want to restore the original colour of the food. Different countries vary widely in the number of colourings allowed. Colourings are not added to baby foods.
Additives which alter the texture of food:

Emulsifiers and stabilizers: When oil and water are added, they form two layers. Some substances, called emulsifiers, can make oil and water mix. The mixture is called an emulsion. Any substance which helps to prevent the emulsion from separating out again is called a stabilizer. Margarine, ice cream and salad dressings all use emulsifiers and stabilizers.
Thickeners: You will see that ‘modified starch’ appears on many labels. It is used to thicken foods. It can be a main ingredient of instant soups and puddings.

Anti-caking agents and humectants: Anti-caking agents are substances which can absorb water without becoming wet. They are added to powdery or crystalline foods, such as cake mixtures cake mixes and table salt, to prevent lumps from forming. Humectants keep products moist. They are added to products such as bread and cakes.

Gelling agents: to make jams, desserts etc. set a gelling agent is added. Pectin is the commonest.

Anti-oxidants:
Foods which contains fats and oils can turn rancid on exposure to the air. The fats and oils are oxidized to unpleasant-smelling acids. Anti-oxidants are added to prevent oxidation. Two common ones are BHA and BHT (butylated hydroyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene). Sulfur dioxide and sulfites are widely used as anti-oxidants. They have two effects: as well as preventing oxidation of fats and oils, they also deprive micro-organisms of the oxygen they need and delay their growth.

Food preservatives

Preservatives:
Food is stored in the warehouse, in the shop and in the home before it is eaten. Chemical preservatives are added to stop the growth of micro organisms. Preservatives increase the food’s shell-life, i.e. the length of time the food will keep before it deteriorates. Longer shell-lives mean less wastage on the shelves. This allows the shop keeper to charge lower prices and to stock a wider range of foods. Some people are doubtful about whether the customer receives all the benefit of the lower prices. Some people believe that the savings from the widespread use of additives go to the food manufacturers rather than the customers.

Controls on additives
It is illegal to put anything harmful into food. Before an additive may be used, it must be approved by the Government. By law, all additives must be safe that is, safe or almost everyone. Some people are made ill by some additives, but then some people are made ill by some natural foods.

Are additives good for you?
Some foods make some people ill. When a person reacts to a food by becoming ill, the reaction is called an intolerance reaction or an allergic reaction. Allergic reactions can take the form of asthma (breathing difficulty), eczema (a skin complaint), digestive troubles, rhinitis (like hay fever), headaches, migraines and hyperactivity. Putting hyperactive children on a diet free from additives often produces a dramatic improvement. Tartrzine (E102), a yellow dye, is the one that is most under suspicion. It is use in sweets, fizzy drinks and packet desserts. If you know that you are allergic to tartrazine, you can read the labels on the foods you fancy and reject any which list E102. Many of the large supermarket chains are reducing the number of additives in their products, and some firms are offering additive-free items.

Eid Mubarak
Dear buddies, its again the time to say good bye to you all. Hope you all will have a blast on the Eid-day. The main reason behind this article was to warn you about the extra foods that we all will eventually have during the Iftars and Suhur. Be careful about your foods and drink ample amount of water.

Hope to see you again in the next edition of ‘wonders of the universe’, till then ba bye. Do send us your feedback.

Asif Mahmood Abbas