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"Electroencephalography, or EEG, was invented 100 years ago. In the years since the invention of this device to monitor brain electricity, it has had an incredible impact on how scientists study the human brain"....More at The Conversation ➜

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Found among the rich starfields of the Milky Way, star cluster NGC 7789 lies about 8,000 light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. A late 18th century deep sky discovery of astronomer Caroline Lucretia Herschel, the cluster is also known as Caroline's Rose. Its visual appearance in small telescopes, created by the cluster's complex of stars and voids, is suggestive of nested rose petals. Now estimated to be 1.6 billion years young, the galactic or open cluster of stars also shows its age. All the stars in the cluster were likely born at the same time, but the brighter and more massive ones have more rapidly exhausted the hydrogen fuel in their cores. These have evolved from main sequence stars like the Sun into the many red giant stars shown with a yellowish cast in this color composite. Using measured color and brightness, astronomers can model the mass and hence the age of the cluster stars just starting to "turn off" the main sequence and become red giants. Over 50 light-years across, Caroline's Rose spans about half a degree (the angular size of the Moon) near the center of the sharp telescopic image.

Photo by Massimo Di Fusco

Beauty is,
in the eyes of the beholder,
what else in life,
can make you bolder?

Life can be beautiful,
as you know.
At some time, it will
come to an end, so,

my writing is approaching
a point where I may'
be required to
or be unable to say,

the words clearly,
which reside in my mind.
It is OK, when that happens,
for in this world, you've been kind.

Life is a race,
and will always end.
I thank you in advance,
for being my friend.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

A glow from the summit of Mount Etna, famous active stratovolcano of planet Earth, stands out along the horizon in this mountain and night skyscape. Bands of diffuse light from congeries of innumerable stars along the Milky Way galaxy stretch across the sky above. In silhouette, the Milky Way's massive dust clouds are clumped along the galactic plane. But also familiar to northern skygazers are bright stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair, the Summer Triangle straddling dark nebulae and luminous star clouds poised over the volcanic peak. The deep combined exposures also reveal the light of active star forming regions along the Milky Way, echoing Etna's ruddy hue in the northern hemisphere summer's night.

Photo by Gianni Tumino

Once upon a time,
many years ago,
Summer would have,
many a musical show.

What back then,
TV was not around,
so, any, old noise,
was made by your sound.

They were the best of times,
filled with setbacks.
The strength, which poured through,
was beyond description.

There were times,
in the past,
which went on and on.
Much fun and a blast.

As life goes on,
and friends, pass bye,
make the best of life.
Easy if you try.

I was lost,
with a hole in my heart.
Your caring approach,
helped heal that part.

What do you do,
when you're old and grey,
and your life's partner,
has gone away.

You can sit alone,
or try as you may,
to help keep,
your sadness at bay.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. But the red emission region, roughly separated into three parts by obscuring dust lanes, is what lends the Trifid its popular name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn stars, above and right of the emission nebula's center, appear in famous Hubble Space Telescope close-up images of the region. The Trifid Nebula is about 40 light-years across. Too faint to be seen by the unaided eye, it almost covers the area of a full moon on planet Earth's sky.

Photo by Jesús Carmona Guillén