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ALMA sees gaps in a protoplanetary disc that suggest planet formation is underway

 

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Source: ESO

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) runs a set of infrared telescopes in the Atacama Desert of Chile. This array is called the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). These infrared telescopes can be configured to run like one large telescope, meaning they are capable of measuring with an angular resolution previously unavailable to astronomers. This new configuration has now resolved gaps in the protoplanetary disc of a star 450 light years away. Astronomers interpret these gaps as areas swept out by new planets. If confirmed, this would be the first such observation.

Thanks to Pablo Yanez for bringing this to my attention.

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Videos

Space Oddity on the ISS

This video has received over 30 millions views since the astronaut Chris Hadfield posted it in 2013. David Bowie considers it the ‘most poignant’ cover of his song.

A perfect example the Equivalence Principle in action, and a good intro to our discussion of local frames, the General Theory of Relativity, and so forth…

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TED Talks Videos

Quadcopter athleticism

This TED talk by Rafaello D’Andrea presents some amazing examples of robotic control for quadcopters. The ‘model-based’ control theory he describes is based upon Newtonian mechanics, and is an example of how even now — a century after Newton’s world view was replaced by Einstein’s — we can still use Newton’s ideas to understand how things move in space and time in our local part of the world.

Here is an artistic performance called “Shadow” by elevenplay, with a human dancing with quadcopters

The following short film, a collaboration between D’Andrea and Cirque du Soleil, shows how precision flying can be done, with real artistry and grace. This is live performance, not CGI:

Here’s the ‘Making of’ video that shows the background work and testing that went into the previous film:

 

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Videos

A bird’s eye view of the Wren Building

This past summer, some members of the Physics Department purchased a quadcopter in order to explore new ways to create demos for the introductory physics classes with Professor Bill Cooke. Some of our students buzzed the Wren Building with it. See W&M Old Campus in a new way. Note that this is raw footage, without a sound track. Play it to your favorite music, or compose your own soundtrack…

If you want to see more of what quadcopters are capable of, take a look at this TED talk by Raffaello D’Andrea.