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Your passion is ignited. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope pictures have captivated your imagination. Now you are on the quest to buy your own astronomical telescope, yes your very own! But, where can you buy a scientific instrument for a beginner, and still be able to use it properly?

Telescopes are simply amazing scientific instruments. You point it up in the night sky, and soon find that you have access to the whole universe. You find stars, nebula, galaxies, and many more fascinating parts of our universe. This is an instrument which you can never get exhausted from. As long as there are objects in heaven, a telescope will always be used to peer into the universe.

How is a novice, someone who is an amateur at astronomy going to be able to see the beauty of the heavens? We hear of the Hubble Space Telescope, and many other great observatories. Well, luckily there have been passionate people about astronomy. These men and woman have created telescopes for people like you and me.

The telescope is pretty much an easy enough instrument to use. There is nothing complicated with telescopes, and these telescopes which are mass produced today are available to all for modest prices. However, there are many options.

Finding a telescope is not as easy as buying milk or honey. Buying a telescope needs research, to be able to find the right one. Some toy stores, especially the big stores, have telescopes in there scientific toy sections. This kind of telescope, though easily accessible, may not be your best option. Though they are great for children and people who only want a passing hobby with astronomy, a better telescope can show you so much more, and can really ignite your passion.

Another step up would be to go to an optical product retailer. You find cameras, digital cameras, and binoculars. Often they will have telescopes for sale. Though the telescopes you will find may be best suited for terrestrial viewing. They can however give you much better views of the heavens than a telescope from a toy store.

One of the problems with the camera seller is that they can’t really give you much real advice about the telescope. They may give you facts and figures, but many will not know much about astronomy.

Another solution, which is the best by far, is the dedicated telescope retailer. These retailers are there because of there passion for astronomy. They know what works and what doesn’t. In almost all cases, you will only find telescopes which produce the kind of results you expect to see. Again this is at a price. A good quality telescope is not cheap, and can run anywhere from several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.

The choice of where to go will depend on your needs, and how much you have an interest in astronomy. A point to make; some high end binoculars perform just as same as the lower quality telescopes, and may in fact produce better results.

A great reason to buy a good quality telescope is that you get to have a scientific instrument which is made with quality optics, and a sturdy mount. What you then have is a scientific instrument which will last you for many years.

Here is some telescope resources that can help you find and buy a telescope:
Buy Telescopes |
Meade Telescope Sales |
Buying Binoculars UK

Disinfectant is used for a surprising amount of uses in the chemical, domestic and scientific spheres. It is normally purchased as tablets or in a powder compound, the mixture usually following a ratio of one percent disinfectant and the rest water. Some forms of disinfectant are extremely powerful without being to chemically harsh, an example would be Virkon. It is useful against foot and mouth disease, avian influenza and even SARS but also has uses in the aquaculture field.

In ponds and large tanks these disinfectant tablets will effectively cleanse the water of bacteria, fungi and microbial spores. Based upon the original work of T.R. Auchencloss it represents what a modern disinfectant is, powerful and yet not harsh to the surrounding environment. stronger disinfectants are used more widely in the disinfecting of livestock and animal enclosures as well as hospitals and other laboratory settings. Being able to control such highly contagious pathogens makes modern disinfectant in either tablets or powder one of the most powerful defences we have to prevent the spreading of disease.

Ultimately it is a safe disinfectant perfect for use in the agricultural sphere, farmers can use the tablets easily as they give a simple way of measuring concentration. In addition, it is often a tiresome and difficult task to empty livestock areas for cleaning, thankfully this type of disinfectant allows farmers to clean livestock areas without having to move animals; it is perfectly safe to use in farm conditions. Even with this level of safety however it manages to kill all known viral strains, fungi, bacteria families and mycoplasma.

The specially formulated disinfectant that is used in the aquaculture industry has had some fundamental changes to ensure that it does not harm fish and other inhabitants. One of the ways it has been made safer for aquaculture use has been through the removal of certain cleaning agents present in agricultural disinfectant. As it is less of an issue to remove dirt from surfaces in aquaculture management it is possible to remove some of the harsher abrasives to ensure that the safety of fish and other creatures is in the primacy.

Aquaculture disinfectant of this variety also has a number of other differences from its cousin used in the agricultural sphere. Instead of tablets it is more common to have the solution mixed from a powder; this is due to the control of dilution being more important in the aquaculture field. In addition, aqua-cultural disinfectant has a stronger colouration than its agricultural counterpart; once again this is so dilution can be controlled more accurately. The dilution is normally measured using a colour chart containing different shades of the distinctive pink disinfectant. By matching the solution to the chart it is possible to accurately measure its strength.

The use of scientifically developed disinfectants has become widespread in the food production industry as a way of cleaning and disinfecting machinery and production areas. Its safety is so certain that governments around the world have deemed it a safe disinfectant to be used in organic food production. That is as long as the maximum exposure level is not met; this level however is predefined and hence those in food production know to avoid it. The reasons behind its safety lie with its method of disinfecting. Rather than harsh and abrasive chemical disinfectants modern formulas rely upon enzymes that actively work towards breaking down viral strains and bacteria.

Today the uses for this disinfectant are far reaching, with some industries recommending it as a matter of course and even some government departments advising its usage it has revolutionised the way we disinfect. Thanks to the enzymes it is now possible to disinfectant without harsh chemical additives making the process easier and safer.

Industry expert Thomas Pretty looks into why Virkon tablets and powder is now the disinfectant of choice in a number of spheres

From the very ancient times dating back to the ancient Greek civilization, man has been constantly on the lookout of tools that could reduce the amount of effort required to carry out operations such as pushing, pulling and lifting heavy objects. Traditionally, machines have been divided into two categories: simple and complex.

Simple machines are tools that make work easier. They have few or no moving parts. These machines use energy to work.

There are only six simple machines: the lever, pulley, wheel and axle, inclined plane, wedge, and screw. Complex machines, on the other hand, are made up of several simple machines, and are used to perform complex tasks that are not possible to do by humans. For instance, a crane is a complex machine using the many simple machines like the pulley and lever (the arm of the crane), and is used to lift very heavy objects.

As mentioned before, levers are simple machines. A lever is a board or bar that rests on a turning point. This turning point is called the fulcrum. An object that a lever moves is called the load. The closer the object is to the fulcrum, the easier it is to move.

Now, all of us have loved playing on a see-saw swing with our friends or siblings, but did you ever think that a see saw is nothing but a simple lever? A see-saw (or teeter-totter) is a plank of wood, the center of which is hinged on to a bar - the fulcrum. It moves up or down around this rod.

While playing on it, you would have noticed that the heavier person between you and your friend was pushed down as you rose up in the air. Moreover, by applying a little force on the see-saw, you were able to lift a heavier person, thus greatly reducing the amount of effort required to lift the heavier person. To realize the difference in the effort required, try to lift your friend in the air by grabbing him physically.

Another example of a lever is a bottle opener. As you would have seen, it is extremely tough to open a glass soda bottle by hand. By using a bottle opener, we are magnifying the force applied and thus reducing the effort required to do the job.

A similar example can be seen in the form of a hammer which is used to pull a nail out of the wooden block.

Levers are divided into three classes, depending on the location of the fulcrum. A first-class lever is a lever in which the fulcrum is located between the input effort and the output load. Example: see-saw, hammer’s claw etc.

In a second class lever the input effort is located at one end of the bar and the fulcrum is located at the other end of the bar, opposite to the input, with the output load at a point between these two forces. Example: Door knob, wrench (used by plumbers and mechanics).

In third class levers, effort is applied between the output load on one end and the fulcrum on the opposite end. Example: Baseball bat, broomstick, etc.

In the modern world we use levers all the time, and usually don’t even realize how much easier this simple machine makes our lives.

Sara Jones was a fine student but science was a source of frustration she didn’t want her kids to suffer. She met Rick and Amanda Birmingham and realized their grasp of everyday science was the secret to making science fun. To learn more about the solution to science stress visit www.SuperFunScience.com

I am fortunate to be living in a region of Australia with one of the richest Aboriginal cultures and a living history. North East Arnhem land in the Northern Territory is located at the confluence of the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpenteria. As an Avid Astronomer I am always on the lookout for an opportunity to share the night sky with others. This day the two came together in a beautiful symmetry.

Sharing the delights of North East Arnhem land with Visitors is always a satisfying experience in it self. A crystal clear stream teaming with beautiful fish, bush land alive with the sound and movement of tropical birds and lunch shared with friends really sets the scene well.

Follow this up with a lazy afternoon on a white sandy beach cradled by Ochre red cliffs with a backdrop of Coastal Rain forest and you have to wonder can it get any better than this!

The final stop for the day was to be the open Coastal plain known as Macassans (local spelling) Beach. Fringed with Casuarina trees that seemed to sing in the wind, as the dry season sea breeze whistled through their pale green pine like leaves.

To put you in the picture, the Aboriginal people of NE Arnhemland are called the Yolngu People, The Language is Known as Yolngu Mata. Not all the words in their language originate from our shores though. The Makassan people of Sulawesi (now part of Indonesia) had been trading with the Yolngu people 200 years before Australia was even colonized by Europeans. The Makassan’s have had a material influence on the Yolngu People including the addition of many words to their already rich language.

We had just finished looking at the “Macassan” stone drawings, a very significant site for the local Yolngu people.

I looked up (as you do often when you are an astronomer!) and there the IIS was, high overhead and bright as can be. The ISS was traveling from North West to South East and was as bright as the Planet Jupiter. It was only afterwards that I made the link with the Makassan people sailing on their annual trading journey to the Yolngu homelands in NE Arnhem land, coming from the northwest into the southeast . Just as the ISS had done before our eyes, high above the stone pictures of the arriving Makassan ships, laid down in the late 18th Century!

What a contrast the ISS is to the Makassan sailing ships of old that plied a trade with the Yolngu people 200 years before Europeans were even in this country, let alone flying through space.

Yet the similarities are still there, people of different races bought together through a knowledge of the stars. For surely the Makassan ’s must have navigated their way here by the position of the stars and the Yolngu people anticipated their arrival by their own celestial calendar. Just as the ISS brings people of all Nations together in the pursuit of Space Science, as we work out our own place in the universe. With ever more accurate distances plotted to stars in our galactic neighborhood and an insatiable desire to discover a habitable planet around another star.

The “Macassan” Pictures and the passage of the ISS was a real treat for everyone present and one that will be remembered for a long time to come. Keep looking up, you never know what you might see!

Ian Maclean: Author, Presenter and Science Show host
Discover the night sky’s hidden secrets for yourself at
http://www.nightskysecrets.com
Hear podcasts from my weekly radio show The Science Hour, all the latest science news at
http://www.askthescienceguru.com

Almost all of us are acquainted with lasers, as we have used or seen lasers in action at some point of our lives. Lasers are used in a variety of places, like for pointers for a presentation in a corporate boardroom classroom or as a cat toy.

A closer example at home is the usage of lasers in the CD players, where a laser is used to read the information stored in the CD. A recent breakthrough in this field is BLU ray discs, in which a high intensity laser is used to read ultra high capacity discs.

Lasers also find intensive application in fields such as holography (holography is the art of etching a three-dimensional image onto a material using lasers - the type of laser depends upon the material to be etched). Apart from this, lasers are used by the military in many of their programs, to correct eye disorders by LASIK surgeries, and in industries that use dangerous chemicals to detect leakage.

So that’s what they’re used for, but we haven’t answered the question of what a laser actually is. LASER is an acronym that stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Now what this means is that lasers are basically tiny particles which are radiated, and these particles are converted to laser beams by manipulating them by a number of means.

Unlike white light which is made up of seven colors - ROY G BIV, or red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, the seven colors which form the rainbow, lasers are usually made up of monochromatic (single-colored) light. This is because white light spreads out as it travels, but monochromatic light is almost non divergent, that is it does not spread much even after traveling large distances.

This increases the range of the laser light. Moreover, normal white light will refract (bend) differently when it hits an object - each color bends at a slightly different angle. Monochromatic light only has to bend in one way, so it keeps its coherence (the ability of light rays to stay together as a bundle), so the laser stays more focused.

Monochromatic light can be generated by utilizing free electrons (electrons are very small parts of atoms which are the building blocks of all kinds of matter existing in the universe). Electrons, when highly energized, give out that energy in the form of radiation before coming back to their normal state.

Specific types of radiation can be created by electrons energized to specific energy levels, giving out single colored light. This light is then focused into a single powerful beam by one of several methods, such as by using a cathode tube or by utilizing ionized air in vacuum tubes.

The following is a list of the types of lasers and their applications, and shows that lasers can be produced by different methods:

*Dye Lasers- used for spectroscopy, various kinds of research, birthmark removal, and for separating isotopes. The range of this laser can be tuned by changing the kind of dye used.

*Free electron lasers- has various medical uses, and is used in atmospheric research and material science.

*Nickel-like samarium lasers- can be used for high resolution microscopy and holography.

*Raman lasers- used in creating optical signal amplification for telecommunications.

*Nuclear pumped lasers- currently being used for research.

Lasers, if used in the right way have innumerous applications, which are growing by the day, but they can also be devastating if used in the wrong way. Of course, always be careful when using, playing with or looking at lazers (such as when you play with a laser cat toy), they can be very damaging to your eyes (or your kitty’s) if you look directly at them.

Sara Jones was a fine student but science was a source of frustration she didn’t want her kids to suffer. She met Rick and Amanda Birmingham and realized their grasp of everyday science was the secret to making science fun. To learn more about the solution to science stress visit www.SuperFunScience.com

What comes to your mind when you think of the Milky Way? Well, the Milky Way is a galaxy among the billions of galaxies in the universe. A galaxy refers to a cluster of billions of stars and other heavenly bodies, including solar systems like ours.

Galaxies are classified on the basis of the arrangement of stars - they form a shape like a spiral, disk, or sphere. The Milky Way or the spiral galaxy is home to our own solar system, and the planet Earth.

Our galaxy is called the Milky Way because of how it looks in the night sky. As many famous astronomers have said, the Milky Way looks like a stream of milky glowing stars.

The Milky Way is over 13.2 billion years old (about the age of the universe itself) and consists of about 200 to 400 billion stars. It has fascinated humans for many millennia, and will continue to do so in the future because it possesses some intriguing properties.

The Milky Way, as already mentioned, is an elegant spiral-armed galaxy. A spiral galaxy consists of a ball-shaped body with swirling arms surrounding it.

There is very dense celestial matter at the core of the galaxy, and the stars become less crowded going down the arms. Our sun and the solar system are located in one of the arms of our galaxy.

The galaxy itself rotates around its center, completing one rotation in just over 220 million years. Now that, my friends, is a very long period when compared to the earth’s rotation period of 1 day.

New reports are coming out that suggest that the common perception of the Milky Way’s structure may not be correct. However, mapping the Milky Way is very difficult, since we are looking at it from the inside, with many stars blocking views of the core of the galaxy.

New research shows that the galaxy is missing two of the four arms that it was thought to have. This research has forced most of our scientists to reconsider their perception about the galaxy. Two research teams have carried out studies very recently, giving some amazing results.

The first team used the Spitzer Space Telescope, which can see through dust and successfully map the orbital speeds of the stars. Two astonishing results that were brought out were that two of the galaxy’s four arms are in fact just small side branches, and the central core is almost twice in size that was previously believed!

The other team utilized such a powerful telescope that you may even be able to read newspaper on the moon sitting here on earth. There, the research shows that the galaxy is moving in a much different manner than what we thought it to be.

Change in the pattern of the motion leads to a change in the shape gradually, which scientists can use to backtrack and make better guesses about the origins of the Universe. It also helps us in having a better understanding of spiral galaxies like the Milky Way and its nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, and galactic motion in general.

However, it may be a long time before we can say that we have substantial information about galaxies and the universe in general, because there is so much more to learn!

Sara Jones was a fine student but science was a source of frustration she didn’t want her kids to suffer. She met Rick and Amanda Birmingham and realized their grasp of everyday science was the secret to making science fun. To learn more about the solution to science stress visit www.SuperFunScience.com/form