NASA News

Saturn's North Polar Hexagon

Saturn's north polar hexagon basks in the Sun's light now that spring has come to the northern hemisphere. Many smaller storms dot the north polar region and Saturn's signature rings, which appear to disappear on account of Saturn's shadow, put in an appearance in the background.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft's wide-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2012 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 750 nanometers.

The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 403,000 miles (649,000 kilometers) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 21 degrees. Image scale is 22 miles (35 kilometers) per pixel. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Page Last Updated: February 25, 2013
Page Editor: Sarah Loff
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

Uncertainty at a grand scale

Macro test of Heisenberg’s principle may aid hunt for gravitational waves

By Andrew Grant

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle, a tenet of quantum mechanics, has been demonstrated at scales visible to the naked eye. The research, described in the Feb. 15 Science, could help scientists detect minuscule perturbations in the fabric of space caused by merging black holes.

“The uncertainty principle has been demonstrated in many different ways, but to see it on a visible mechanical object is totally awesome,” says Keith Schwab, a physicist at Caltech who was not involved in the research. Besides astrophysics applications, the study could lead to practical methods of sending and processing information from quantum computers, he adds.

Supernovas are cosmic ray factories

Evidence emerges that intense stellar explosions send high-energy protons hurtling through the galaxy

By Andrew Grant

The supernova remnant known as W44 (shown in purple, combining infrared and X-ray observations) helped researchers find evidence that supernovas produce cosmic rays.

ESA/Herschel/HOBYS/XMM-Newton

Remnants of two supernovas have provided the best proof yet that supernova shock waves churn out the high-energy protons that whizz through the galaxy.

Admissions

 Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) 2013 Ph.D Admission 

The university will hold entrance examination on 18th-19th-20th-21st May, 2013 for admission to various full time programmes of study

Exam Centres: Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Allahabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bareilly, Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi, Dimapur, Gangtok, Guwahati, Goa, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Imphal, Indore, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Katihar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Pant Nagar, Patna, Pondicherry, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Sambalpur, Secunderabad, Shillong, Shimla, Silchar, Siliguri, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur, Varanasi, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam

In addition, the university will hold entrance examination at Kathmandu (Nepal)

Ph.D Admissions

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Ph.D / M.Sc (Engg) / M.E. / M.Tech / M.Des / M.Mgt Admissions-2013

Admission is open for Research Programmes (Ph.D/M.Sc Engg); Course Programmes (M.E./ M.Tech/ M.Des/ M.Mgt); Integrated Ph.D Programmes; and External Registration Programmes (Ph.D only) at the Institute

Eligibility criteria, specialization, areas of research and other details are available on website www.iisc.ernet.in/admissions

Candidates who are yet to complete their qualifying examinations and expect to complete all the requirements for the degree (including all examinations, project dissertation, viva-voce etc) before 31st July, 2013 are also eligible to apply

SET RESULT

Tamil Nadu Set Result Published See Official Website of Bharathiyar University

Physics News

Supernova's death throes revealed:

In archival images, astronomers see activity in weeks before giant star’s explosion

By Andrew Grant

Just before a giant star blew up in a spectacular supernova explosion, it gave hints to its imminent demise. The pre-explosion activity of this star, detailed online February 6 in Nature, could enable astronomers to predict a star’s coming supernova and then watch it in real time.

“It’s a very fascinating study,” says Jon Mauerhan, an astronomer at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the research. Astronomers have only rarely witnessed the activity of a massive star before its explosion, he adds.

Scholarships

Indo US Research Fellowships for Indian Researchers 2013

The Indo-US Science and Technology Forums (IUSSTF) in association with Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) of Dept of Science and Technology (DST), Govt of India announces the Indo-US Research Fellowships with the objective to enable young researchers from India to carry out research in frontier areas of science and technology at a premier institution in USA

Eligibility

Academic Qualifications: Ph.D in Science, Engineering, Technology or Medicine

Applicants must provide proof of independent work in internationally recognized academic journals

Age: Upto 40 years as on 31st December, 2012

Admission

National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela

Rourkela, Tel 0661-2464000, 2464034
Email ar-acad@nitrkl.ac.in, Website www.nitrkl.ac.in

Ph.D/M.Tech (Research) Programmes Admission 2012-13

Applications are invited online from eligible candidates for admission to Ph.D and M.Tech (Research) Programmes of the Institute with or without fellowship for Mid-Spring Semester 2012-13

Biotechnology and Medical Engineering (Ph.D); Ceramic Engineering (Ph.D/M.Tech-Research); Chemical Engineering (Ph.D/M.Tech-Research); Civil Engineering (Ph.D/M.Tech-Research); Computer Science and Engineering (Ph.D); Electrical Engineering (Sponsored); Electronics and Communication Engineering (Sponsored); Industrial Design (Ph.D/M.Tech-Research); Mechanical Engineering (Sponsored); Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (Ph.D/M.Tech-Research); Mining Engineering (Ph.D/M.Tech-Research); School of Management (Ph.D); Chemistry (Ph.D); Life Science (Ph.D); Mathematics (Ph.D); Physics (Ph.D) Humanities and Social Sciences (English, Psychology, Economics, Sociology) (Ph.D)