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sábado, 9 de maio de 2015

Protecting mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills - 4

Blue prisms of borosilicate grandidierite in gneiss with aluminosilicate sillimanite and tourmaline

Blue prisms of the borosilicate grandidierite in gneiss with the aluminosilicate sillimanite (white prisms) and the borosilicate tourmaline (dark) can be seen in this sample from the Wilcock Bay area on the southern Stornes Peninsula. The sample was collected as part of a research study of minerals in the Larsemann Hills in Antarctica.
In November 2003, Edward S. Grew, a research professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences at the University of Maine in Orono, and Christopher J. Carson, a senior Antarctic geoscientist with Geoscience Australia in Canberra, were part of a team of researchers that travelled to Antarctica's Larsemann Hills as part of a study to determine how abundant boron and phosphorus were in the area, and to suggest an explanation for why there might be an exceptional enrichment there. The trip began a decade-long research project that culminated in the 2014 designation of the area as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA).
The Larsemann Hills are a 40-square-kilometer region of rocky islands and promontories on the eastern shore of Prydz Bay. Previous studies of the area suggested that boron and phosphorus were there in large quantities, which would be particularly exciting because the two elements are rarely found in more than trace amounts in highly deformed and metamorphosed rocks such as the granulite-facies metamorphic rocks exposed in the Larsemann Hills.

You can read the entire story about this expedition online in Earth magazine, "Protecting the mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills."

Credit: Edward S. Grew, University of Maine

Protecting mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills - 3

Yellow-orange phosphate mineral Wagnerite in a matrix of biotite mica and other minerals

The yellow-orange phosphate mineral Wagnerite in a matrix of biotite mica, the borosilicate prismatine, cordierite and oxides. This sample of schistose granulite was taken from the base of Gneiss Peak on the northern Stornes Peninsula. The sample was collected as part of a research study of minerals in the Larsemann Hills in Antarctica.
In November 2003, Edward S. Grew, a research professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences at the University of Maine in Orono, and Christopher J. Carson, a senior Antarctic geoscientist with Geoscience Australia in Canberra, were part of a team of researchers that travelled to Antarctica's Larsemann Hills as part of a study to determine how abundant boron and phosphorus were in the area, and to suggest an explanation for why there might be an exceptional enrichment there. The trip began a decade-long research project that culminated in the 2014 designation of the area as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA).
The Larsemann Hills are a 40-square-kilometer region of rocky islands and promontories on the eastern shore of Prydz Bay. Previous studies of the area suggested that boron and phosphorus were there in large quantities, which would be particularly exciting because the two elements are rarely found in more than trace amounts in highly deformed and metamorphosed rocks such as the granulite-facies metamorphic rocks exposed in the Larsemann Hills.

You can read the entire story about this expedition online in Earth magazine, "Protecting the mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills." (Date of Image: 2014)

Credit: Edward S. Grew, University of Maine

Protecting mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills - 2

Spectacular, randomly-oriented prisms of the borosilicate mineral prismatine on a foliation plane

Spectacular, randomly-oriented prisms of the borosilicate mineral prismatine on a foliation plane can be seen in this outcrop east of Prismatine Peak. Originally reported to be tourmaline--a relatively common borosilicate--by researchers in the late 1980s, later research found that the large prisms were actually prismatine, another silicate mineral containing boron as an essential constituent but far more limited in occurrence. Correcting the mineral identification resulted in the renaming of "Tourmaline Peak" to "Prismatine Peak," the official name for the prominent hill on central Stornes Peninsula where prismatine spectacularly occurs.
In November 2003, Edward S. Grew, a research professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences at the University of Maine in Orono, and Christopher J. Carson, a senior Antarctic geoscientist with Geoscience Australia in Canberra, were part of a team of researchers that travelled to Antarctica's Larsemann Hills as part of a study to determine how abundant boron and phosphorus were in the area, and to suggest an explanation for why there might be an exceptional enrichment there. The trip began a decade-long research project that culminated in the 2014 designation of the area as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA).
The Larsemann Hills are a 40-square-kilometer region of rocky islands and promontories on the eastern shore of Prydz Bay. Previous studies of the area suggested that boron and phosphorus were there in large quantities, which would be particularly exciting because the two elements are rarely found in more than trace amounts in highly deformed and metamorphosed rocks such as the granulite-facies metamorphic rocks exposed in the Larsemann Hills.

Credit: Edward S. Grew, University of Maine

Protecting mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills - 1

Researchers studying minerals in the Larsemann Hills set up their camp on Stornes Peninsula

Researchers studying minerals in the Larsemann Hills set up their camp on Stornes Peninsula. This view, taken facing north, was taken after the researchers returned to camp from a traverse. For several days, approach to camp was blocked by rising water from nearby Lake Ferris that necessitated a detour--and moving one tent. The icebergs in the distance remained during the time the team was there, and probably through the entire summer.
In November 2003, Edward S. Grew, a research professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences at the University of Maine in Orono, and Christopher J. Carson, a senior Antarctic geoscientist with Geoscience Australia in Canberra, were part of a team of researchers that travelled to Antarctica's Larsemann Hills as part of a study to determine how abundant boron and phosphorus were in the area, and to suggest an explanation for why there might be an exceptional enrichment there. The trip began a decade-long research project that culminated in the 2014 designation of the area as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA).
The Larsemann Hills are a 40-square-kilometer region of rocky islands and promontories on the eastern shore of Prydz Bay. Previous studies of the area suggested that boron and phosphorus were there in large quantities, which would be particularly exciting because the two elements are rarely found in more than trace amounts in highly deformed and metamorphosed rocks such as the granulite-facies metamorphic rocks exposed in the Larsemann Hills.

You can read the entire story about this expedition online in Earth magazine, "Protecting the mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills."

Credit: Edward S. Grew, University of Maine

The kings

XploR cane lets the blind track down family and friends

The XploR cane features facial recognition and GPS navigation systems (Photo: Birmingham City University)

We've already seen experimental "white canes" that allow blind users to get a sense of their surroundings via ultrasound and lasers. Birmingham City University's XploR mobility cane, however, uses its onboard electronics towards another end – to help users locate people that they know.

The XploR was developed by Information and Communications Technology students Steve Adigbo, Waheed Rafiq and Richard Howlett.

It draws upon a database of facial photos of people known to the user, which is stored on an internal SD card. Using those face shots and a facial recognition system, the cane can identify known faces from a distance of up to 10 meters (33 ft).

When someone familiar is spotted, it lets the user know by vibrating. With some help from a built-in GPS navigation system, it then guides the user over to that person, delivering verbal directions through a Bluetooth earpiece – presumably it also lets the user know who that person is.

Its electronic components are reportedly nothing particularly expensive or exotic, being described simply as "smartphone technology."

The students now plan on testing the cane at the UK's Beacon Centre for the Blind, and ultimately hope to market it.

Source: Birmingham City University

Friendship

Sur la galerie Instagram de la photographe Stasha Becker, nous pouvons découvrir des photos de son fils, Julian, accompagné de ses deux fidèles Terre-neuve Max et Bruce, ainsi que de son cheval nommé Vizon. Une série de photos attendrissantes capturées au quotidien, qui nous montre une belle amitié entre un petit garçon et ses animaux.

www.fubiz.com

Timelapse Through Lofoten Islands

Le photographe Lasse Henning s’est rendu dans les Îles Lofoten au nord de la Norvège, proche du cercle polaire arctique. Il en est revenu avec des clichés à couper le souffle, qu’il a regroupé dans un timelapse où les nuances de bleus des paysages se succèdent, entrecoupées par les nuits ornées d’aurores boréales et les couchers de soleil.

source : www.fubiz.com