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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Lighter than air

Fill a lightweight material with hot air, helium or hydrogen, and you have a vessel that floats in the air. People around the world use balloons, blimps and airships for transportation, to conduct research, to deliver messages, to protest, and - mostly - for having fun. Collected here are recent photographs of balloons of all shapes, sizes and purposes - ranging from a child's toy to a football-field-sized research instrument, and much in between.


1. The MetLife blimp soars above the course during the third round of The Players Championship held at at TPC Sawgrass on May 8, 2010 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
2. Balloons with messages attached released by Palestinian children are seen in the sky during an event organized by UNICEF to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

FERRAS-MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE

moundial 2010; Opening weekend - 2010 World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup opened last Friday in South Africa, after years of preparation, with an Opening Ceremony at Soccer City Stadium - the first matches taking place over the weekend. Thousands attended the opening concerts and matches in person, while tens of millions watched events unfold on screens large and small across the world. Collected here are some scenes from the opening ceremonies, the first several matches, and fans young and old around the world riding emotional rollercoasters while watching the 2010 World Cup.

1. A man watches the opening match of the 2010 World Cup between South Africa and Mexico in Bloemfontein June 11, 2010. (REUTERS/Jorge Silva)
2. A South African flag incorporating the flags of each nation at the tournament is waved at the Opening Ceremony ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group A match between South Africa and Mexico at Soccer City Stadium on June 11, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Metal Sanaz

Here's a introduction clip of an Iranian Heavy Metal personality.

Alf Poier - Eurovision 2003 - Austria

This is very old song... in precise 7 years old. At the begging it seems to be childish... see the video...

Monday, June 14, 2010

Preparing for the World Cup

On June 11th, South Africa will steped onto the world stage as host nation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup as the international soccer tournament begins - welcoming 32 teams from around the world. South Africa was selected as the host six years ago, and has been preparing ever since, building five new stadiums, upgrading five existing stadiums, and building up public transportation, including a new rapid transit railway. Over the past weeks, the teams and their legions of fans have begun arriving while final preparations are made and and dress rehearsals held for the Opening Ceremony on Friday. The tournament takes place over a month, ending on July 11th. Collected here are recent scenes from South Africa as it readies itself to welcome the world.


1. A fan waves a South African flag during a parade for Bafana Bafana, the South African national soccer team on June 9th, 2010 in Sandton, South Africa. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
2. The South African soccer team parades through Sandton, South Africa as thousands of local supporters cheer on June 9, 2010. (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

extreme vocals from Focus- Hocus Pocus (live '73)

Friday, June 11, 2010

planet compare









Conclusion: we are nothing, in the middle of nowhere

Thursday, June 10, 2010

First of the last Space Shuttle launches

First launched twenty-five years ago in October of 1985, NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for its 32nd and final launch this afternoon (at 2:20pm ET). This launch - one of only three remaining missions left in NASA's Shuttle program - will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station. Collected here are a series of photographs of Atlantis' recent activity, as it descended from orbit last November, landed, and was processed and prepped for today's final launch.

1. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis is outlined by spotlights at the Vehicle Assembly Building as it rolls along the crawlerway to Launch Pad 39A. Atlantis' first motion on its 3.4-mile trip was at 11:31 p.m. EDT April 21. The shuttle was secured on the pad at 6:03 a.m. April 22. (NASA/Amanda Diller)
2. Late last year, near the end of Atlantis' previous expedition, a member of the Expedition 21 crew aboard the International Space Station photographed this view of Atlantis soon after the shuttle and station began their post-undocking relative separation, and the shuttle headed toward re-entry. (NASA)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Animals in the news

With the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico still unfolding, concerns over threats to wildlife have brought animals into the news quite a bit lately. From the oil spill, to preservation efforts, to zoo developments, pampered pets, harsh environments, invasive fish, a surfing alpaca and more, collected here are a handful of recent photographs of animals and our interactions with them, as companions, caretakers, observers, and stewards.

1. A bear cools down in the water at the zoo in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany, Thursday, April 29, 2010 as Germany faced the hottest day this year so far, with temperatures up to 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
2. Molly the Flat coated Retriever undergoes an eye test at the on site vet during the fourth and final of the annual Crufts dog show at the National Exhibition Center on March 14, 2010 in Birmingham, England. During this year's four-day competition nearly 28,000 dogs and their owners will vie for a variety of accolades, ultimately seeking the coveted 'Best In Show'. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Monday, June 7, 2010

A2 hypersonic airplane


Development

The LAPCAT A2 concept in the upper atmosphere

The vehicle is intended to have about 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) range and good subsonic and supersonic fuel efficiency, thus avoiding the problems inherent in earlier supersonic aircraft. The top speed is projected to be Mach 5+. It calls for the use of liquid hydrogen as a fuel, which has twice thespecific energy of kerosene, and can be used to cool the vehicle and the air entering the engines via a precooler.

The developers say it would be able to fly from Brussels to Sydney in about 4.6 hours; compared to around a complete day of travel with normal aircraft. The cost of a ticket is intended to be roughly business class level.[1]

Our work shows that it is possible technically; now it's up to the world to decide if it wants it.
— Alan Bond, managing director of Reaction Engines Limited


Design


Capabilities

Alan Bond told The Guardian newspaper:[2]

The A2 is designed to leave Brussels International Airport, fly quietly and subsonically out into the north Atlantic at Mach 0.9 before reaching Mach 5 across the North Pole and heading over the Pacific to Australia.

Another advantage of the design is that, while the 143 metre-long A2 is much bigger than conventional jets, it would be lighter than a Boeing 747 and could take off and land on current airport runways.

However, the A2 design does not have windows. The heat generated by traveling so quickly makes it difficult to install windows that are not too heavy. One solution Reaction Engines has proposed is to install flat panel displays, showing images of the scene outside.


Engines

The Scimitar engines use related technology to the company's earlier SABRE an engine which is intended for space launch, but here adapted for very long distance, very high speed travel.

Normally, as air enters a jet engine, it is compressed by the inlet, and thus heats up. This means that high speed engines need to be made of technologies and materials that can survive extremely hightemperatures. In practice, this inevitably makes the engines heavier and also reduces the amount of fuel that can be burnt to avoid melting the gas turbine section of the engine, which in turn reduces thrust at high speed.

The key design feature for the Scimitar engines is the precooler, which is a heat exchanger that transfers the heat from the incoming air into the hydrogen fuel. This greatly cools the air, which allows the engines to burn more fuel even at very high speed, and allows the engines to be made of lighter, but more heat susceptible, materials such as light alloys.

The rest of the engine is described as having high-bypass (4:1[3]) turbofan engine features to give it good efficiency and subsonic (quiet) exhaust velocity at low speeds. Unlike SABRE the A2's engine would not have rocket engine features.


Specifications

  • Range: 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi)
  • Length: 143 metres (469 ft)
  • Fuel: Liquid hydrogen
  • Passengers: 300 (Single Class)
  • Cruising speed: Mach 5
  • Specific fuel consumption: 0.86 lbf/lb·h at Mach 5 (40,900 m/s[4] - 4,170 seconds), 0.375 lbf/lb·h at Mach 0.9 (96,000 m/s[4] - 9,600 seconds)
  • Lift to drag ratio: 11.0 at 5.9 km, Mach 0.9, 5.9 at 25 km Mach 5[5]
  • Noise: 101 dBa at 450m lateral[5]




A2 2000 Ground
Takeoff 1
Inflight underneath
25km up
a2 heating
A380 compared
size comparison
With A380 Front
With A380 Side
With A380 Top

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Afghanistan... great pictures from the unterminated war

A recent Pentagon report on the situation in Afghanistan over the past 6 months gives the impression that while things aren't necessarily getting any worse, they are far from improving. Afghan citizens, when polled, showed only limited support for their government, and a slight majority placed the blame for instability on Taliban forces. There remains a heavy reliance on international forces to provide security, training and equipment. As of March 31st, there were approximately 133,500 foreign troops on the ground in Afghanistan - 87,000 U.S. forces and 46,500 international forces. This month also saw the departure of a U.S. military presence from Afghanistan's notorious Korengal Valley, a small, isolated, patch of difficult terrain where 42 soldiers lost their lives over the past five years. NATO is calling the move a "realignment", focusing efforts on more-populated areas.

1. An Afghan detainee sits in the entrance to a bunker while under guard by US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, inside their base in Marjah, Helmand province, on April 7, 2010. A single Afghan man was arrested by US Marines near the site where a roadside bomb blew up early in the morning, with a false Pakistan passport, two different Afghan identification cards, some wires wrapped on a few batteries, an old rifle and pamphlets of Taliban activities in Marjah. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)
2. A US Marines V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft kicks up dust as it takes off inside a US Marines base of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines in Marjah. A similar US aircraft crashed in Afghanistan, killing three American troops and a civilian, the military said April 9, 2010. The cause of the incident that downed the US Air Force CV-22 Osprey was under investigation. Photo taken on taken on March 22, 2010. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Hydrogen bomb RDS-220

Is a product of history's largest nuclear weapons during the Cold War Soviet power reached more than double its 3000 destruction of the little boy really Hiroshima.
The nuclear test was held on 30 October 1961 saw the explosion is seen from 1,000 kilometers away, even if the shock did not stop three laps of the earth.
The original force had doubled this further, it is expected to spread into Soviet territory with plenty of fallout, probably suppressed the output of this half.

Such mega-development, low during the bombing accuracy was considered necessary.
To uproot it extinguish the point deflected even dropped object.
However, the accuracy is improved surveillance technology and missile soon, ICBM big reason for the existence of these nuclei can not become a dead letter once onboard.
Once a symbol of prestige huge bomb the giant hangars and antiques, has entered into a missile race period.
Current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that were mostly destroyed by demolition.

Nuclear Explosion

RDS-220 is also known as Tsar Bomba (emperor of bombs) they are called, were so named according to the theory that it is Western.
Korokoru Tsar Bell is the world's largest exhibition in the Kremlin, it is the world's largest artillery from the Tsar Cannon.
But once it was used as both too large, the name of Tsar Bomba therefore "can not exercise too big," the ridicule that has been planned, he said.