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NASA measures heavy rain in Tropical Storm Nock-Ten over Philippines

NASA satellite data has shown that Tropical Storm Nock-ten has been a big rainmaker across the Philippines for the last two days and is now tracking into the South China Sea.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite data was used to create a 3-D image of Tropical Storm Nock-ten's rainfall and cloud heights as it passed overhead on July 25. Nock-ten had towering convective storms near their centers of circulation that extended to heights above 15km (~9.3 miles) with heavy rainfall, falling at 2 inches (50 mm) per hour.

Wave power can drive sun's intense heat

BOULDER—A new study sheds light on why the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, is more than 20 times hotter than its surface. The research, led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), may bring scientists a step closer to understanding the solar cycle and the Sun's impacts on Earth.

NASA sees Tropical Storm Nock-ten knocking the Philippines

Tropical Storm Nock-ten, formerly tropical depression 10W continues raining on the Philippines, and a NASA satellite image shows the extent of the storm's clouds.

NASA sees dramatic temperatures around Tropical Depression 11W

Tropical Depression 11W appears as a huge and very cold area of clouds on infrared imagery from NASA. Infrared imagery basically provides temperature data of factors such as clouds and sea surface and there's quite a contrast between the two around Tropical Depression 11W.

ESO's VST looks at the Leo Triplet 35 million light years away

The VST is the newest addition to ESO's Paranal Observatory. It is a state-of-the-art 2.6-metre telescope, which is equipped with a giant 268-megapixel camera, OmegaCAM [2]. As the name indicates, the VST is dedicated to surveying the skies in visible light, and it is the largest telescope in the world designed exclusively for this purpose. This large view of the Leo Triplet demonstrates the excellent quality of images produced by the VST and its camera.

Enceladus sends water to Saturn

Water expelled from the moon Enceladus forms a giant torus of water vapor around Saturn, a discovery solves a 14-year mystery by identifying the source of the water in Saturn's upper atmosphere.

That means that Enceladus is the only moon in the Solar System known to influence the chemical composition of its parent planet.

Enceladus expels around 250 kg of water vapor every second, through a collection of jets from the south polar region known as the Tiger Stripes because of their distinctive surface markings.

A new way to measure the expansion of the universe

A PhD student from The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Perth has produced one of the most accurate measurements ever made of how fast the Universe is expanding.

Florian Beutler, a PhD candidate with ICRAR at the University of Western Australia, has calculated how fast the Universe is growing by measuring the Hubble constant.

"The Hubble constant is a key number in astronomy because it's used to calculate the size and age of the Universe," said Mr Beutler.

Sandia National Labs completes final scan of space shuttle heat shield

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Nine engineers from Sandia National Laboratories helped ensure Atlantis' safety from Mission Control at Johnson Space Center as the shuttle made its final flight, marking the end of NASA's 30-year space shuttle program. For the past 22 missions — every one since NASA's 2005 return to space — Sandia Labs' engineers have worked tirelessly to protect the astronauts with ingenious, space-based inspections of the orbiter's thermal protection system.

Minority rules: Scientists discover tipping point for the spread of ideas

Troy, N.Y. –Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, who are members of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at Rensselaer, used computational and analytical methods to discover the tipping point where a minority belief becomes the majority opinion.

Tropical Depression 10W bringing rain to the Philippines

The tenth tropical depression formed in the western North Pacific Ocean this past weekend, and brought rains to the central Philippines as seen on infrared imagery from a NASA satellite.

Sandia's CANARY software protects water utilities from terrorist attacks and contaminants

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Americans are used to drinking from the kitchen tap without fear of harm, even though water utilities might be vulnerable to terrorist attacks or natural contaminants.

Now, thanks to CANARY Event Detection Software — an open-source software developed by Sandia National Laboratories in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — public water systems can be protected through enhanced detection of such threats.

Accident protection in the windshield

Driver-assistance systems help prevent accidents. Quite simply, the more a car knows about its surroundings, the more intelligently it can respond to them. Researchers have now developed an optical sensor for the windshield that can even tell the difference between fog and darkness. The system will also be available for small cars.

Researchers provide detailed picture of ice loss following the collapse of Antarctic ice shelves

GREENBELT, Md. -- An international team of researchers has combined data from multiple sources to provide the clearest account yet of how much glacial ice surges into the sea following the collapse of Antarctic ice shelves.

Illinois scientists learn startling new truth about sugar

URBANA – Flying in the face of years of scientific belief, University of Illinois researchers have demonstrated that sugar doesn't melt, it decomposes.

"This discovery is important to food scientists and candy lovers because it will give them yummier caramel flavors and more tantalizing textures. It even gives the pharmaceutical industry a way to improve excipients, the proverbial spoonful of sugar that helps your medicine go down," said Shelly J. Schmidt, a University of Illinois professor of food chemistry.

Treating HIV sooner would save South African lives and money

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — If the South African government followed a recent recommendation by the World Health Organization to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected residents earlier in the progress of the disease, the policy shift would start saving the country money after 16 years and would extend thousands of lives for dozens of years, according to a new study.