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A 200-mile-long long lightning strikes in Oklahoma. A flashlight with the strength of 21,000 suns is now a thing. Black roofs may soon reflect as much sunlight as white ones. Who knew?
The Universe Has No Direction
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Above: An illustration of the possible patterns an anisotropic universe would leave in the cosmic microwave background, including—clockwise from bottom left— the contribution from quantum fluctuations, and from three different aspects of the anisotropic expansion. Image credit: Saadeh et al. Top: Lost in the universe. Image credit: Getty Images
Feeling lost at work or school? It turns out you’re in good company. The universe has no sense of direction, either, according to research published by University College London cosmologists. Studying remnants of the Big Bang called the cosmic microwave background, the group found the universe is expanding the same way in all directions. Their work backs up assumptions that underpin cosmology’s standard model, which accounts for the large-scale structure of the universe. “Our current understanding of the universe is built on the assumption that it doesn’t prefer one direction over another, but there are actually a huge number of ways that Einstein’s theory of relativity would allow for space to be imbalanced,” said Daniela Saadeh, the first author of the study, which was published in the journal Physical Review Letters. “Universes that spin and stretch are entirely possible, so it’s important that we’ve shown ours is fair to all its directions.”
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Lightning over the Grand Canyon. Image credit: Getty Images
Weather geeks, take note: The World Meteorological Organization has just named the winners of two new world records for lightning. The first strike, deemed the longest reported distance of a single lightning flash, covered a horizontal distance of 199.5 miles. It occurred on June 20, 2007, across the state of Oklahoma. The second, which boasts the longest reported duration for a single lightning flash, lasted for 7.74 seconds. It occurred in Southern France, specifically over Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, on August 30, 2012. Not only does the announcement draw attention to this mesmerizing but dangerous weather phenomenon, but it also underlines improving detection capabilities. “This investigation highlights the fact that, because of continued improvements in meteorology and climatology technology and analysis, climate experts can now monitor and detect weather events such as specific lightning flashes in much greater detail than ever before,” said Randall Cerveny, WMO’s chief rapporteur of climate and weather extremes.
Dark Roofs Can Stay As Cool As White
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Berkeley National Laboratory researchers found a way to make ruby red coatings as cool as white coatings. Image credit: Marilyn Chung, Berkeley National Laboratory
White roofs have long been heralded as a simple tool to use to help combat climate change and the urban heat island effect. By reflecting as much as 90% of the sun’s energy, they keep buildings and vehicles cooler, decreasing energy use and higher nighttime ambient air temperatures in cities. The problem is that people don’t seem to like white roofs. Now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have found a fact that runs counter to what we learned in school — certain dark colors can reflect sunlight as well as light colors. So far, they have figured out how to make coatings of red, blue, green and black pigments that remain cool in the sun. They work differently from white, which passively reflects solar energy, and instead absorb visible light and then actively fluoresce near-infrared wavelengths. The researchers’ work was published in the journal Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells.
Most Powerful Flashlight Ever?
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These 18 light sources arranged in a half-sphere can be bright as 21,700 suns. Image credit: Alain Herzog
Engineers in Switzerland and Australia have built a light source whose output is equal to parking yourself in space right next to the sun. The luminous radiation produced by the 18 light sources arranged in a half-sphere is several thousand times that received on Earth from our star. Each lamp is composed of a cup-shaped reflector and a xenon bulb. At the focal point of all 18 lamps, the maximum intensity reaches the equivalent of 21,700 suns, around 21.7 megawatts per square meter. This is the point where the researchers are placing solar power equipment and materials, studying new solar energy conversion and storage processes and dramatically speeding up durability and resistance tests. The group described their work in an article published Sept. 16 in the journal Optics Express.
Catching A Ride To Watch Whales Eat
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The dorsal fin on a blue whale lounging in the estuary of St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Image credit: Getty Images.
They’re some of the biggest animals on Earth, yet because they spend most of their time in the oceans’ depths, we know surprisingly little about the lives and habits of whales. Stanford University researchers are changing that by attaching new technology to these giant mammals. They built a sensor package to attach to the whales that accurately records three-dimensional movement data and a side-to-side-facing dual camera. The package can adhere to the whale’s skin with suction cups, going along for the ride as it dives, lunges, hunts and eats. The team attached the package to rorquals, a family of baleen whales that includes blue whales, humpbacks and minke whales, off the coasts of South Africa, Patagonia, and the west and east coasts of the United States. The video they get back makes it look like they’re riding on the whales’ backs. “Combining these two modalities is really eye-opening,” said David Cade, a PhD biology student and lead author of a study published in Current Biology. “Every time we do a deployment, we get something back that’s new and interesting.”
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Caption: Illustration of the possible patterns an anisotropic universe would leave in the cosmic microwave background, including (clockwise from bottom left) the contribution from quantum fluctuations, and from three different aspects of the anisotropic expansion (credit: Saadeh et al.)