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View of a Mach 1000 Shock Wave

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Mach1000Shockwave
A photograph of the Tycho supernova remnant taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Low-energy X-rays (red) in the image show expanding debris from the supernova explosion and high energy X-rays (blue) show the blast wave, a shell of extremely energetic electrons.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/K. Eriksen et al.; Optical (starry background): DSS

 

This incredible image is of a remnant of the supernova Tycho, which blew up long ago. Supernova remnants are often able to be seen hundreds of years after the initial explosion because of a reverse shockwave that occurs.

This reverse shockwave is created when the outwardly ejected material of the supernova explosion creates sort of a backward current or backwash of material that heads inward at speeds up to mach 1000 or 1000 times the speed of sound. This material then begins to heat up to the point where it begins to emit X-rays, and that’s what you see here in the image above. This image is from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics where you can read more about this particular image.

We wouldn’t be able to study ancient supernova remnants without a reverse shock to light them up,” – Hiroya Yamaguchi

 

Steven Sinofsky Gets a New Gig

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Steven Sinofsky was a Microsoft executive who ran the Windows division of the company for many years. Sinofsky had recently left Microsoft after not seeing eye-to-eye with other senior management at the company. One of those people included Steve Ballmer, the current CEO. Now, Sinofsky is heading to Harvard to teach product development, planning and more. Currently, is unclear how long Sinofsky will remain at Harvard.

A few days ago Sinofsky tweeted about heading to Harvard,

Steven_Sinofsky_at_BUILD
Steven Sinofsky at BUILD

“Excited to return to @HarvardHBS to teach again this spring!” Sinofsky wrote. “New perspectives, recharge, share experiences, write.”

Sinofsky is credited with restoring user’s faith in Windows by pushing out Windows 7, which has done quite well. He was also the main man behind Microsoft’s latest OS, Windows 8.

Harvard Scientists Work with Cyborg Tissue

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Cyborg TechnologyScientists at Harvard are hard at work using nano-wires that reach into tissues and and read electrical signals created by cells.  The idea is to merge nano-electronics with living tissue in a way that you would barely be able to tell the difference between the living tissue and the electronic components. This could lead to major advances in medical science and provide us with amazingly precise information about cell structure and how each cell interacts with each other.

Harvard’s scientists are also trying to create a ‘Cyborg Tissue’ by  integrating nano-electronic device arrays with synthetic tissue. Basically, innervating it or supplying the synthetic tissue with nerves. Imagine how this could be tied into human tissue and how we might somehow be able to have cyborg hands or limbs that can transmit the sensation of touch to our brains. The possibilities seem endless and the research is inspiring to say the least.

Is anyone else hearing terminator music in their head?

For more information about this research head here.