Gerhana Supermoon

Pada 2012, diprediksi akan terjadi empat gerhana. Menurut data Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG), ada dua gerhana matahari dan dua gerhana bulan. Gerhana matahari berupa Gerhana Matahari Cincin yang terjadi pada 21 Mei 2012 lalu. Gerhana Matahari Total akan berlangsung pada 14 November 2012.
Hari ini, Senin 4 Juni 2012, Gerhana Bulan Sebagian akan tampak di langit Indonesia. Sedangkan gerhana Bulan Penumbra akan tiba pada 28 November 2012.

Durasi gerhana dari fase Gerhana Penumbra sejak mulai hingga akhir berjalan selama 4 jam 33,4 menit. Sedangkan fase Gerhana Sebagian durasinya sejak dimulai sampai akhir sekitar  2 jam 7,7 menit.
Pada saat puncak gerhana, persentase piringan bulan yang tertutup bayangan umbra bumi mencapai 37,05 persen. Piringan yang tertutupi ini merupakan bagian yang mengarah ke Selatan pada arah mata angin pengamat.

Setiap gerhana dapat diprediksi. Ini terkait siklus gerhana yang disebut seri Saros. Gerhana malam ini merupakan anggota ke-24 dari seri Saros 128 yang memiliki jumlah anggota 77 gerhana bulan.

Gerhana sebelumnya terjadi pada 25 Mei 1994. Gerhana seruppa akan terjadi lagi pada 15 Juni 2030. Indonesia dapat menyaksikan peristiwa ini. Semakin ke arah Timur Indonesia, keseluruhan fase gerhana akan dimungkinkan untuk teramati.

Profesor Riset Astronomi Astrofisika Lembaga Antariksa dan Penerbangan Nasional (LAPAN), Thomas Djamaluddin menjelaskan gerhana ini memiliki kaitan dengan gerhana matahari sebelumnya pada 21 Mei 2012.

Biasanya setelah Supermoon, selang dua pekan kemudian datang gerhana matahari cincin. Saat ini, kata dia, purnama masih dekat dengan bumi. Penampakan purnama yang tertutup bayangan akan terlihat besar.  "Bisa dibilang ini 'gerhana supermoon'," ujar Thomas.

Menurut National Geographic, bulan akan berada pada lokasi terdekat dalam orbit berbentuk telur, perigee. Inilah yang membuat Gerhana Supermoon. Gerhana bulan terjadi ketika purnama, bumi, dan matahari hampir sejajar sehingga bulan melintas melalui bayangan bumi.

"Ini sangat keren untuk dilihat. Ini memberikan efek 3D di angkasa yang tidak biasa kita dapatkan," ujar pakar astronomi Planetarium Adler Chicago, Amerika Serikat, Mark Hammergren.

Supermoon yang terjadi pada awal Mei memperlihatkan purnama lebih besar 16 persen dan lebih terang 30 persen dibanding purnama lain selama setahun. Purnama saat gerhana akan lebih besar pada Senin ini.

"Purnama akan tampak 5 persen lebih besar dari rata-rata, terlihat sedikit lebih besar dari biasanya," imbuhnya.
Pemandangan malam ini dinilai Hammergren tergolong langka.  "Jika Anda membatasi label 'perigee' hanya satu hari dari perigee sesungguhnya, maka gerhana semacam ini hanya akan terjadi setiap 10 hingga 12 tahun," ujar Hammergren.



*Sumber : VIVANews.com

Weird Science - The Inner Workings Of The National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is an independent government agency in the United States. The National Science Foundation is responsible for providing support to basic science research, which is primarily accomplished through research funding.

The National Science Foundation mostly provides research funding in the form of grants. These grants are most often given in the form of individual grants to graduate students and professors. In fact, with an annual budget of approximately $5.5 billion, the National Science Foundation provides about 20% of federally supported funding for basic research to America's universities and colleges.

Under the leadership of its director, Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., the National Science Board meets six times per year to determine the policies of the National Science Foundation. The National Science Board consists of 24 members, all of which are appointed by the President of the United States to 6 year terms.

History of the National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation was originally established as the result of the 1950 National Science Foundation Act. The mission of the National Science Foundation, as stated within this act, was "To promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense."

The National Science Foundation has competed with defense research agencies, such as the Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, for funding. This battle for funding has led many science historians to claim that the National Science Foundation is an "inept compromise" between visions within the federal government in regards to the scope and purpose of the foundation.

Programs of the National Science Foundation

Fields within the National Science Foundation include: astronomy, physics, behavioral science, biology, chemistry, and computer science. Economic science, social sciences, science education, engineering, environmental science and education, polar research, geoscience, mathematics, and statistics are also fields covered by the National Science Foundation. <

In addition to working within its regular fields, the National Science Foundation promotes a variety of special programs. These programs are sometimes put into place in order to increase the participation of under-represented minorities in the sciences. The Research Experience for Undergraduates program, for example, targets minorities and women. This program provides grants to institutions in order to assist them in providing opportunities for summer research to undergraduate students.

In addition, the GK-12 Crosscutting Program was established by the National Science Foundation to provide universities with money to encourage graduate students to interact with k-12 students. The goal of this program is to increase science retention in children at an early age.

The National Science Foundation also funds projects on a national scale. One such project is the National Science Digital Library. Also, the National Science Foundation helps pay for the establishment of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers that are located in some research universities.

Space exploration and the National Science Foundation

At times, there is conflict between the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This is because both agencies strive to increase knowledge regarding the universe, space, and the human body. Neither, however, wants to pay more than its fair share for this research. Furthermore, clear guidelines concerning which agency is responsible for which aspects of the fields have not been established.

Currently, the two agencies have developed a truce of sorts. Under the unofficially structured guidelines, NASA is responsible for paying form space based operations. These include projects such as Chandra, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The National Science Foundation, on the other hand, funds ground based operations. These include the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, and Kitt Peak.

High Definition Tuners

High definition TV tuners or HDTV tuners are designed to receive high definition programs by connecting to an external antenna. HDTV tuners will not only show movies and DVD's at high definition, but will improve the viewing of normal TV. It is because of the improved definition or color and picture quality of DVD's and programs that make HDTV tuners very popular with viewers.

Television sets often come with HDTV tuners already built into them, these are called integrated HDTV's. If you are considering buying an external high definition TV tuner for your television, make sure that your TV set is HDTV compatible. A separate tuner may also be needed. This can be either a cable or satellite box for watching high definition programs.

Most people have heard that there is a mandate on televisions to make integrated HDTVs. This is not entirely correct. Certain televisions that are for sale after a certain date will be required to have built in tuners. The tuners required won't be HDTV. The mandate is actually referring to ATSC tuners. It is not even necessary that TV's be able to display HDTV resolutions without either an internal or external tuner. This new mandate will not apply to plasma and front projectors. The mandate will not take effect for some time. Until then there will be no change in television manufacture or tuners.

It is important to ask about features of high definition TV tuners before making a choice. If you are not sure what some of the features are, ask for clarification. Make sure that your television is compatible, HDTV tuners may not work with older televisions. Ask your cable or satellite company weather they support high definition TV, as many people find out later down the road that they cannot receive HDTV programs through cable or satellite.

Ask about what kind of warranties are available and what parts they actually cover before buying. External high definition TV tuners are quite reasonably priced. Prices start at around $150. If you are on a budget, make sure not to buy cheaply made appliances. Always wait for specials or price reductions on reliable brands.

One of the most popular brands available is the Samsung SIR-T451. This one is ideal for high definition programming on any high definition TV compatible television. There are many more HDTV tuners available on the market. By doing a quick search on your favorite search engine, you will be able to find a HDTV tuner that will fit both your budget and your TV's requirements.

Seattle Schools: Are All Children Special Needs?

It's a great commentary that the "save Seattle Schools" blog hosted on is a wildly active forum for community interaction. Anytime I visit the site there are discussions on anything from the military recruiting in Seattle Schools to discussions of the budget and the school board. One of the latest really got my attention. It was focusing on the way that the Seattle Schools run its gifted program.

Now I know that the Seattle Public Schools aren't alone in their challenges of how to educate these children. But the reason it attracted my attention was because of a recent NPR (National Public Radio) segment on educating children with autism. What struck me was the similarity in the Seattle Schools attempt to educate its gifted population and its special needs population.

It left me with the burning question: are all Seattle Schools' students really special needs students? Well, think about it. One of the hottest topics in educational pedagogy is multiple intelligences. That's the belief that people have academic intelligence, emotional intelligence, kinesthetic (movement) intelligence, and other specific intelligences. And more importantly, that schools should teach in ways that reach children who learn best in all these different ways.

So the fact that a gifted child in the Seattle Schools requires a different sort of challenge to motivate him, or that an autistic child needs a different environment to facilitate learning, really means they both have special needs. And if a "regular ed" child is an auditory learner, while her classmate is a visual learner; well, aren't those special needs as well? <

What Do Special Needs Students Require from the Seattle Schools?

Frankly, I don't think that many teachers in the Seattle Schools would argue with my characterization of all children as having special needs. In fact, the best teachers I know strive to individualize instruction in classes with 30 or more students. Of course, one issue is that the resources of the Seattle Schools, while better than most of the nation, are never enough. But the other, and I think easier issue to tackle, is one of knowledge. There's still a lot of disagreement among parents and educators about the best ways to teach classically labeled "gifted and special needs" students.

Inclusion is often seen as the most desirable option for special needs students, but many a parent will tell you that ideal is often a frustrating reality. One of the best things that the Seattle Schools can do today to make future education better is to track the success of students in different special needs environments. Since the children are required to be in public schools classes, it only makes sense to track their progress in the different venues. Again- cost rears its ugly head. But the Seattle Schools are fortunate to have some powerful corporations and higher learning institutions helping them out with a variety of initiatives.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter whether a child's "special needs" are extreme or not. The Seattle Schools are going to have to find ways to address them.

Nutrients for brain health

The brain is clearly one of the most important parts of our body. With many of the processes and functions of the brain still not fully understood, it can be difficult to tell exactly what you need to help make it function properly. There are some supplements on the market, however, which clearly display a remarkable effect on the health of this crucial organ. Here are a few of them:

Fish Oil:
Harvested from the bodies of fish, fish oil is purified through a scientific process and turned into supplement form. Containing Omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil can have numerous effects on your body for the better. For one, fish oil can aid in preventing the onset of Alzheimer's disease. It has also been associated with better memory, clearer thinking, and health of the heart. One of the best nutrients for brain health, this supplement's effect on your body can be vast.

Be sure to only purchase pharmaceutical grade fish oil, however, since this is the process which removes the heavy metals found in fish due to pollutants. If your fish oil is not pharmaceutical grade, you run the risk of consuming such dangerous materials as mercury.

St. John's Wort:
A remedy for depression that has been used for centuries, this naturally occurring substance has far less side-effects than the anti-depressants offered by the drug companies. All but proven to elevate moods and ward off depression, this herb is rapidly gaining validity as an anti-depressant in the scientific community. It can be purchased in supplement format.

Gingko Biloba:
Harvested from the oldest species of tree naturally occurring on the planet, Gingko can help keep your brain in its finest working condition. Used for over 5,000 years, ginkgo is known for its help in aiding memory loss and age-related circulation problems. Studies show that ginkgo may help increase blood flow to the brain and stimulate neural activities, resulting in better short-term memory.