The universe may have existed forever, according to a new model that applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein's theory of general relativity. The model may also account for dark matter and dark energy, resolving multiple problems at once.

The widely accepted age of the universe, as estimated by general relativity, is 13.8 billion years. In the beginning, everything in existence is thought to have occupied a single infinitely dense point, or singularity. Only after this point began to expand in a "Big Bang" did the universe officially begin.

Although the Big Bang singularity arises directly and unavoidably from the mathematics of general relativity, some scientists see it as problematic because the math can explain only what happened immediately after—not at or before—the singularity.

"The Big Bang singularity is the most serious problem of general relativity because the laws of physics appear to break down there," Ahmed Farag Ali at Benha University and the Zewail City of Science and Technology, both in Egypt, told Phys.org.

Ali and coauthor Saurya Das at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, have shown in a paper published in Physics Letters B that the Big Bang singularity can be resolved by their new model in which the universe has no beginning and no end.

Old ideas revisited

The physicists emphasize that their quantum correction terms are not applied ad hoc in an attempt to specifically eliminate the Big Bang singularity. Their work is based on ideas by the theoretical physicist David Bohm, who is also known for his contributions to the philosophy of physics. Starting in the 1950s, Bohm explored replacing classical geodesics (the shortest path between two points on a curved surface) with quantum trajectories.

In their paper, Ali and Das applied these Bohmian trajectories to an equation developed in the 1950s by physicist Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri at Presidency University in Kolkata, India. Raychaudhuri was also Das's teacher when he was an undergraduate student of that institution in the '90s.

                                                                                                              source- www.phys.org/          

ASTEROID GOT A CHANCE

Scientists believe that ABOUT 30 yrs from now an asteroid will hit the earth. They have discovered that it pass us every 3 yrs. The asteroids have an Orbit given below:

Near Earth Asteroids

Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHA) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding NEW ONES all the time.

On January 3, 2015 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.

Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid	Date(UT)	Miss Distance	Size
2014 YC42	Dec 30	4.2 LD	46 m
2014 YE15	Dec 30	2.9 LD	10 m
2014 YD15	Dec 31	1.6 LD	19 m
2014 YE42	Jan 3	4.3 LD	94 m
2014 YP34	Jan 4	8.8 LD	27 m
2007 EJ	Jan 12	68.9 LD	1.1 km
1991 VE	Jan 17	40.6 LD	1.0 km
2004 BL86	Jan 26	3.1 LD	650 m
2008 CQ	Jan 31	4.8 LD	36 m
2000 EE14	Feb 27	72.5 LD	1.6 km

Mangalyaan: India's race for space success

The orbiter lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in November 2013

Continue reading the main story\Watch

India's maiden mission to Mars, the Mangalyaan, has arrived in orbit after a 300-day marathon covering over 670 million kilometres (420 million miles). Science writer Pallava Bagla traced its journey as it neared the Red Planet.

On the morning of 24 September, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) slowed down the spacecraft sufficiently so it could be caught in the orbit of Mars.

"India will become the first Asian country to have achieved this and if it happens in the maiden attempt itself, India could become the first country in the world to have reached distant Mars on its own steam in the first attempt," said Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan as it approached.

Both Russia and the US failed in their maiden attempts. The first Chinese mission to Mars, called Yinghuo-1, failed in 2011 alongside the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission with which it was launched. Earlier in 1998, the Japanese mission to Mars ran out of fuel and was lost.

Undoubtedly, India - a late starter - is way ahead of its Asian rivals in trying to get to the Red Planet.

"We are really not racing with anyone, but with ourselves to reach the next level of excellence," said Mr Radhakrishnan.

'Pink of health'

India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) - an indigenously made unmanned robotic mission weighing 1,350kg (2,976lb) - was launched from the rocket port at Sriharikota on the coast of the Bay of Bengal on a balmy afternoon on 5 November last year.

Since then, the mission "has been in the pink of health", says Isro, and has been cruising at breakneck speed to reach close to Mars, half-way around the Sun.

The health of Mangalyaan is monitored from Isro's Mars mission control complex in Bangalore

The 4.5bn rupee ($74m; £45m) mission is, as Mr Radhakrishnan says, "the cheapest inter-planetary mission ever to be undertaken by the world".

On his visit to India's rocket port on 30 June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "The [making of the] Hollywood movie Gravity cost more than our Mars mission - this is a great achievement."

India's low-cost and quick turnaround satellite mission has been attracting a lot of global attention from the scientific community that seeks to better understand the mysterious Mars.

On the morning of 24 September Indian time, Isro re-oriented Mangalyaan and fired its on-board rocket motor for about 24 minutes to slow the spacecraft.

It was a very tricky operation - if it did not slow down sufficiently, it would have missed being caught by the gravity of Mars and the mission could have be lost in outer space; but if the rocket engine had fired more than required it could have slowed the Mangalyaan so much that it risked crashing down on to the red soil of Mars.

Since 1960, there have been 51 global missions to Mars and the overall success rate stands at 42% so the odds were loaded against the Indian Martian entry.

M Annadurai, head of the Indian Mars mission, said he was "confident that the laws of physics will favour India and the country could have its first robotic Martian baby soon".

'Delusional dream?'

Isro dubs the mission a "technology demonstrator", essentially showcasing to the world that India is no longer a country of snake charmers but a high-tech hub that has developed its technology against the odds and stringent sanctions.

The mission also makes a big global geo-political statement ahead of Mr Modi's imminent visit to the US.

In its six-month life, the mission will study the atmosphere of Mars and search for methane gas while asking that eternal question that has dogged humanity: "Are we alone in the universe?"

Within hours of its arrival in the orbit, the spacecraft is expected to relay the first images taken by an Indian eye of the Red Planet and help decipher why and how Mars lost its liquid water.

These are important questions essential for the long-term survival of human beings on Earth.

In the sprint for the Martian marathon, India has shown its technological capability and resilience to undertake arduous inter-planetary journeys.

Many, however, say this bid to reach Mars is a "delusional dream" of India seeking super-power status since 400 million Indians still live without electricity and 600 million people still do not have access to toilets.

However, in real terms, the Mangalyaan has cost India just about four rupees (seven cents; four pence) per person. 

                                                                                              - An Article From BBC

Mangalyaan - Launch Successful !!!

Mangalyaan Mission, India's first interplanetary mission launched on November 5, 2013 From Sriharikota is launched successfully. 

Mangalyaan will be mapping and studying the surfaces of the red planet Mars.  It is expected to reach into Mars' orbit in the month of September or October 2014. India will have to speed up its process as Mars' moon will be nearest to Earth in 2014 September. For this, India will have to launch in end of 2013 to reach its destination, conserving time and fuel. India is the third Asian Country to attempt Mars Mission, and if it will reach its destination, would become the fourth country to reach Mars.  

                                                                                              - Article By - M. Santosh

NASA's MAVEN - Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN), set to launch in November 18 2013, will explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind. Scientists will use MAVEN data to determine the role that loss of volatile compounds—such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and water—from the Mars atmosphere to space has played through time, giving insight into the history of Mars atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability. The MAVEN Principal Investigator is Dr. Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP), and the project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

MAVEN will carry three instrument suites. The Particles and Fields Package, built by the University of California at Berkeley with support from CU/LASP and Goddard Space Flight Center, contains six instruments that will characterize the solar wind and the ionosphere of the planet. The Remote Sensing Package, built by CU/LASP, will determine global characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, provided by Goddard Space Flight Center, will measure the composition and isotopes of neutral ions. Lockheed Martin, based in Littleton, Colorado, will provide the MAVEN spacecraft, as well as mission operations for the mission. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will navigate the spacecraft. CU/LASP will provide science operations and data packaging.

                                                                                              - From NASA

Last Preparations for Mangalyaan !!!!!

Mangalyaan Mission, India's first interplanetary mission will be launched on November 5, 2013 From Sriharikota. USA's mission, MAVEN ( Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN ) will be launched also in November.

Mangalyaan will be mapping and studying the surfaces of the red planet Mars.  It is expected to reach into Mars' orbit in the month of September or October 2014. India will have to speed up its process as Mars' moon will be nearest to Earth in 2014 September. For this, India will have to launch in end of 2013 to reach its destination, conserving time and fuel. India is the third Asian Country to attempt Mars Mission, and if it will reach its destination, would become the fourth country to reach Mars.  

                                                                                              - Article By - M. Santosh

Apocalyptic Comet - Story about 28 million years ago...

Scientists and researchers have found a small stone with diamonds in the Sahara Desert. They think it was the first evidence of a comet strike, and that happened 28 million years ago!

This is the first evidence of a comet strike as all the known comets have burned in the atmosphere. As the discovered stone was filled with diamonds, it didn't burn up and was left behind in the desert.

Scientists and researchers think that it was a huge comet that burned in the atmosphere, killed many living species and heated the earth's surface in that part to 3500 C. Due to this heat in the desert, sand in that part of the desert transformed into glass and Egyptian Kings used that glass to make statues and many other kings.

This discovery is very important as this may reveal where that comet came from, was that actually a planet, or something else. This may also reveal how this solar system and earth was made. These comet particles were also found in the upper atmosphere, which made diamonds, which were not visible to naked eye. 

                                                                                                                    - Article by M. Santosh
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First Evidence Found of a Comet Strike on Earth

From National Geographic - 

Saharan glass and a brooch belonging to King Tut provide the first evidence of a comet directly impacting Earth, a new study claims. The finding may help unlock some of the mysteries surrounding the birth of our solar system.

About 28 million years ago a comet exploded over Egypt, creating a 3600°F (2000°C) blast wave that spread out over the desert below. The fiery shock wave melted the sand, forming copious amounts of yellow silica glass scattered over 2,300 square miles (6,000 square kilometers) of the Sahara.

Polished into the shape of a scarab beetle, a large piece of this glass found its way into a brooch owned by the famed Egyptian boy king Tutankhamen.

"Because there is no sign of an impact crater, it has been a mystery as to what kind of celestial event actually could have caused this debris field, but a small, black stone found lying in the middle of the glass area caught our attention," said study co-author David Block, an astronomer at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Saharan Surprise

A tiny slice of the black pebble was put through isotopic analysis, which definitely ruled out that it came from a meteor. Instead, the analysis showed that the pebble possessed the unique chemical signature of a comet, measured in terms of elements such as argon and carbon.

"It was then basically a matter of running the movie backwards in time and predicting what temperatures were needed to create the conditions we find that make up the fragment today," Block says. "So when I saw the result of the analyses, I was completely ecstatic to realize that such a piece of cosmic history has been found for the first time right on our doorstep."

While meteors are known to enter the Earth's atmosphere frequently—one can be seen as a shooting star every 15 minutes or so on any random night—not so with comets.

The implosions of comets in planetary atmospheres are exceedingly rare events—the only other definitive case of a comet hitting a planet was back in 1994 when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted Jupiter's atmosphere.

Astronomical Odds Inspire Caution

And it's because of this rarity that Earth scientist Andrew Glikson of the Australian National University in Canberra, who was not involved in this study, questions if these yellow glass objects, called tektites, might instead have been created through much more common meteoric events, as seen at many impact sites around the world.

"Why can't the material represent a large tektite formed by heating and melting of sand at the Earth's surface by an asteroid impact, such as, for example, the Australite tektites?" asks Glikson.

While this extraterrestrial glass is considered common around many impact sites,  geologist Gerald Johnson, who was not involved in the study, says that beyond the compelling evidence the team presents in their chemical workup of the black pebble, it's not surprising that the research community may be wary of these results.

"A comet, mostly water, vaporizes in the atmosphere and leaves little for the geologic record, while the 'dirt' incorporated in the comet also is disseminated widely and is unlikely to be found because of impact dispersal, surface weathering, and erosion," said Johnson, a meteor impact researcher at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

"Undoubtedly, the Earth has been hit numerous times by comets, but our knowledge of these is lacking because comets leave such a poor record ... so this discovery is amazing."

Solar System Origins

Microscopic dust particles from these icy interlopers have been collected from the upper atmosphere and from Antarctic ice, and have been scooped up by space probes.

But having a chance to study sizable comet material firsthand would be exceptional, and Block and his team believe it can offer a unique chance to study the birth of our solar system.

Cosmic particles called presolar grains formed in the stellar cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to our solar system, and are thought to have remained within comets and meteors.

"My bet is that this little rock will unlock some unique secrets in time to come, specifically because it appears packed with presolar grains," said Block.

The comet study will be published in an upcoming issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Nobel Prize Physics 2013 - For Higgs and Englert

It is a pleasure to hear that the Nobel Prize 2013 went to the scientists who predicted Higgs Boson and the prediction turned out to be true! A higgs boson like particle was observed in the CERN using the Large Hadron Particle Collider before. After that event, scientists began to study it and observed properties of higgs boson as predicted. So, news became viral about it. If the discovery was true, particle physics will be hundred steps ahead. Higgs Boson is a particle that creates a Higgs field in deep space, and whenever anything interacts with it, gains mass. Only photons are the particles that never react with the Higgs Field. Particles that interact more have more mass. 

The of the discovery of the particle was confirmed on March 2013 and the credits went to Higgs and other five scientists, Kibble, Guralnik, Hagen,Englert, Brout. The discovery of the higgs boson completes the standard model of the Universe and now

scientists can briefly explain how elements gain mass to form matter.
                                                                                                                Article by - M.Santosh________________________________________________________________________

Cyclone Phailin

A very dangerous cyclone is going to hit the coastal areas of India. It will the coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at 6:00 pm in the evening on Saturday 12.10.2013. Thousands have already been safely evacuated. According to latest media reports, almost 1.2 crore people will be affected, and army units are moving to the areas that are going to be affected. It will be worse than the super cyclone that hit Odisha in the year 1999. It will be almost similar to Katrina, that hit the US. 

Meteorological department says that the cyclone is now approaching the coast at 230 km per hr and wave's height at the coast will be about 3 meters. Local people are made to take shelter under strong buildings and rest are being evacuated. Almost 30 disaster management teams are moving to the coastal areas will be helping local people with food and evacuation. Indian Air-Force will help the affected areas with food and water. All possible prior actions are being taken to reduce the destruction of lives.  

                                                                                                               Article by - M.Santosh
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TMT - Thirty Meter Telescope

                  

TMT is the largest telescope project to be built at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Countries to be contributing for this project are the USA ( NASA ),  India ( ISRO ), Japan ( NAOJ ), China ( NAOC ), and Universities of Canada. The project's estimated cost would be around 1.3 billion and all the countries will contribute for this and will have benefits for future space missions.

Features

As information collected from www.tmt.org, the instruments used in this observatory are:

HROS (High-Resolution Optical Spectrometer)

A single-object, seeing-limited, high-resolution (R = 50000 for 1 arc sec slit) optical-UV Echelle spectrograph in the heritage of HIRES at Keck and UVES at the VLT.

IRMOS (Infrared Multi object Spectrometer)

designed to use multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) techniques over a 5 arcmin field of regard to feed up to 20 deployable IFUs.

MIRES (Mid-Infrared Echelle Spectrometer)

Is a diffraction-limited, high-resolution (5000 < R < 100000) spectrometer and imager operating at 8 – 18 µm. It will employ a separate AO system optimized for the mid-infrared.

NIRES (Near-Infrared Echelle Spectrometer)

Fed by NFIRAOS, NIRES is a diffraction-limited highresolution (20 000 < R < 100 000) spectrometer covering 1 – 2.4 µm simultaneously. It is a scientific descendant of NIRSPEC at Keck and CRIRES at the VLT.

PFI (Planet Formation Instrument)

an extreme AO high contrast exoplanet imager with spectroscopic (R ≤ 100) capability. The first generation system will obtain 106 (goal: 107) contrasts while the second generation requirement is 108(goal: 109) in H-band for R < 8 mag. PFI is intended to be deployed after GPI at Gemini and SPHERE at the VLT so that lessons learned from those pathfinder high-contrast imagers can be fed back into PFI. Indeed, there is a large overlap between the GPI and PFI development teams.

WIRC (Wide Field InfraRed Camera)

a moderate field near infrared imager configuration fed by NFIRAOS to provide near diffraction-limited images through a variety of filters with high photometric and astrometric accuracy. WIRC is expected to deliver Nyquist sampled images (λ/2D = 0.004 arcsec) over a 30 arcsec diameter field-of-view with wavelength coverage 0.8 – 2.5 µm (goal: 0.6 – 5 µm).

This observatory can be used for tests for the standard model of particle physics. The tests and researches for the Higgs Boson can be conducted here, at Hawaii. From this observatory, formations of galaxies and universe can be studied and their characteristics can be observed. Using the speed of light, from this observatory, we can see distances of 13 billion light years so we can see how galaxies evolved. We can also find other terrestrial planets, where life can exist.
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See the following video from You tube what this project looks like:

                                                                                                                        Article By - M. Santosh
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Mangalyaan - India's Mission to Mars

                                                

Mangalyaan is a Mars Mission by ISRO ( Indian Space Research Organization ) scheduled to be launched in the month of November 2013. India will launch by PSLV Rocket ( Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ). It is expected to reach into Mars' orbit in the month of September or October 2014. India will have to speed up its process as Mars' moon will be nearest to Earth in 2014 September. For this, India will have to launch in end of 2013 to reach its destination, conserving time and fuel. India is the third Asian Country to attempt Mars Mission, and if it will reach its destination, would become the fourth country to reach Mars. 

Mission Tactics

Launch is scheduled in the month of November 2013 to reach Mars in September 2014. It will be launched using PSLV Rocket in the coast of Bay of Bengal, Sriharikota.

News from ISRO Website

The main objective of this first Indian mission to Mars is to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission, comprising the following major tasks:

Orbit maneuvers to transfer the probe from Earth-centered orbit to heliocentric trajectory and finally capture into Martian orbit.

Development of force models and algorithms for orbit and attitude computations and analyses.

Navigation in all phases.

Maintain the probe in all phases of the mission meeting power, communications, thermal and payload operation requirements.

Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.

The 15 kg (33 lb) scientific payload consists of five instruments:

• Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA)
• Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM)
• Mars Color Camera (MCC)
• Probe For Infrared Spectroscopy for Mars (PRISM)
• Lyman-alpha photometer - would measure atomic hydrogen in the Martian atmosphere.

NASA's Help

NASA will help mission Mangalyaan in tracking. It's Deep Space Network is currently operating the Curiosity Rover on Mars.   

                                                                                                                        Article by M. Santosh
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