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Wednesday, 15 December 2010, 12:00AM
Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe
Professor Ian Morison
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There are many things that we do not understand about our Universe. This lecture will discuss some of the most perplexing of these and survey the instruments that are now being built and planned to help us fathom its mysteries.
Ian Morison began his love of astronomy when, at the age of 12, he made a telescope out of lenses given to him by his optician. He attended Chichester High School and then went on to study Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at Hertford College, Oxford. In September 1965, he became a research student at the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory. In 1970 he was appointed to the staff of the Observatory and teaches astronomy at the University of Manchester.
In 1990 he helped found the Macclesfield Astronomy Society which meets at the Observatory and later became president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, the UK's largest astronomical society. He remains on the Society's Council and holds the post of instrument advisor helping members with their choice and use of Telescopes.
He lectures widely on astronomy, has co-authored books for amateur astronomers and writes regularly for the UK astronomy magazines Astronomy Now and Sky at Night. He also writes a monthly sky guide for the Observatory's web site and produces an audio version as part of the Jodrell Bank Podcast. He has contributed to many television programmes and is a regular astronomy commentator on local and national radio. Another activity he greatly enjoys is to take amateur astronomers on observing trips such as those to Lapland to see the Aurora Borealis and, last year, to Turkey to observe a total eclipse of the Sun.
In 2003 the Minor Planets Committee of the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 15,727 in his honour citing his work with MERLIN, the world's largest linked array of radio telescopes, and that in searching for intelligent life beyond our Solar System in Project Phoenix.
Ian is excited about the prospect of his time as Gresham Professor of Astronomy. He regards it as real challenge and expects it to play a major role in his life for the next three years. He will to give a wide variety of illustrated lectures ranging from how our understanding of the Universe has grown over the centuries to a gentle introduction to Einstein's theory of Gravity - now being tested to extreme accuracy by astronomers at Jodrell Bank.
He realised that his love of observational astronomy could not easily be covered in the City of London, so has instituted a Gresham Astronomy Weekend at a 'dark sky' location in the Cotswolds which will take place in March each year.
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This is part of the series: Astronomy lectures by Ian Morison
Astronomy Science
Gresham Lecture, Wednesday 15 December 2010
There is a, now famous, quotation from the American Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, in which he says (put in a slightly clearer way):
There are known "knowns." These are things we know that we know.
There are also known unknowns - that is to say there are things that we now know we don't know.
But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don't know."
Though this sounds like a riddle, the quotation actually encapsulates some real truths that are certainly applicable to astronomy. In the Gresham lectures I have spent my time telling you about the things that we know and that we are pretty certain about – the "known knowns" and I have certainly implied that there are things that, at the present time, we have no inkling of at all – the "unknown unknowns". But we also have "known unknowns" – things that we know must exist or happen to allow our universe to exist but of which we have no real understanding. In this lecture we will look at some of the, as yet unsolved, mysteries of the Universe and describe the scientific instruments that are now coming into use or are in the planning stage that will help to unravel them.
Matter, Anti-matter and Dark Matter (1): what gives matter its mass?
This is one of the key questions in Physics today and vast sums of money are being spent in trying to answer it! In the 1960's, Peter Higgs and others postulated that, very shortly after the origin of the universe, a "field", called the Higgs field came into existence that now permeates the whole of the Universe. It is believed that it is this field that gives mass to the particles that pass through it. It is not easy to explain how this works but an analogy may help. Imagine a crowded, post Oscar's party. If you or I could somehow be present, no one would take any notice of us and we could move around pretty easily - as a rather insignificant being (in this context) we have little "mass". Now the young lady who has just been awarded the "best actress" Oscar arrives. Everyone will congregate around her, congratulate her and want to shake her hand. Her passage through the room will be very slow - she has a lot of "mass"! The throng of people in the room simulate the Higgs field and slow down those trying to pass through it dependant on (in this case) their perceived importance. It is the interaction of the Higgs field and the fundamental particles that give them their perceived mass.
We all know about "electric" or "magnetic" fields which are produced by charged particles. It is thought that such a field arises due to the existence of what are called "Virtual Particles" and the strength of the field is simply a measure of the density of these particles. What do we mean by a virtual particle? They are particles that have no long term existence but come into being and can only exist for a very short time before disappearing again. The typical time of their existence is determined by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (one of the fundamental tenants of Quantum Theory) which, in one formulation, states that the heavier the virtual particles that spring into existence the shorter the time for which they can exist. The particle that relates to the electric and magnetic fields is the photon. So within a space permeated by an electric of magnetic field there will be virtual photons and the "force" that, for example, attracts unlike poles or repels like poles is due to the exchange of these virtual photons! In the same way, we believe that the strong nuclear force between the quarks that make up neutrons and protons is the result of interaction of virtual gluons and the force that holds neutrons and protons together in nuclei is due to the exchange of virtual mesons such as the pi and rho mesons. So, one way of looking at the interaction of particles and the Higgs Field is the exchange of the virtual particle that is associated with it which, in the case of the Higgs field, is called the Higgs Boson.
If we could prove the existence of a Higgs Boson then the theory would be proven. But, remember, these particles are virtual particles - they do not hang around to be detected! However there is a trick that can, in principle, be played. A virtual particle has "borrowed" energy to come into existence and must almost instantaneously pay it back. However, if you could somehow give it sufficient energy during the brief moment of its existence it could become real. There is a real problem here. Though we do not know the energy that is required we do know that it is very high and, to date, have not been able to create sufficient energy in a sufficiently small volume of space to create a real Higgs Boson. Even then, it would decay almost instantaneously into a myriad of other particles - decay products - but it is hoped that precise analysis of these could prove that a Higgs Boson had had a brief moment of existence!
This is why a key objective of the Large Hadron Collider is to attempt to detect the Higgs Boson – regarded as one of the holy grails of Particle Physics and a necessary component of the Standard Model that attempts to describe the fundamental particles that make up our universe.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator and lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres in circumference beneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. It is designed to collide opposing particle beams of either protons at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts (TeV) per particle, or lead nuclei at an energy of 574 TeV per nucleus. The proton collisions are those that will be used in the search for the Higgs Boson whilst the lead nuclei collisions (that began in November 2010) have a bearing on the matter-antimatter problem that will be discussed later.
The collider tunnel contains two parallel beam pipes, each containing proton beams which travel in opposite directions around the ring. Over 1,600 superconducting magnets keep the beams focussed on their circular paths, which cross at four points where the two beams will interact. In total, 96 tonnes of liquid helium are used to keep the magnets at their operating temperature of 1.9 K (−271.25 °C), making the LHC the largest cryogenic facility in the world at liquid helium temperature! When operating at full power the protons will have an energy of 7 TeV and circulate though the rings at ~0.999999991 c, about 3 m/s slower than the speed of light and taking less than 90 microseconds to make one revolution. The protons are bunched together so interactions take place at discrete intervals of time so that the electronics in the detectors that are placed at the intersecting beam points can complete their measurements.
The detectors that will be used to search for the signature of the Higgs Boson are the ATLAS and CMS detectors. ATLAS is about 45 meters long, more than 25 meters high, and weighs about 7,000 tons. It is about half as big as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and weighs the same as the Eiffel Tower! When running it produces a prodigious amount of data which, if all were recorded, would fill 100,000 CDs per second. In fact, very high speed computers analyse the data in real time and only record data when it looks as though an interesting event has occurred - a rate equivalent to 27 CDs per minute. The CMS detector is built around a huge solenoid magnet. This takes the form of a cylindrical coil of superconducting cable that generates a magnetic field of 4 teslas, about 100,000 times that of the Earth. The magnetic field is confined by a steel 'yoke' that forms the bulk of the detector's weight of 12 500 tonnes.
It has been said that the search for the Higgs Boson is not like looking for a needle in a haystack but one in 10,000 haystacks! It is thought that it could take several years before sufficient events to have taken place to prove, or otherwise, its existence.
Matter, Anti-matter and Dark Matter (2): Why do we have a Matter Universe?
In 1928 Paul Dirac took an important step towards bringing quantum physics into conformity with Einstein's special theory of relativity by devising an equation (now called the Dirac equation) that could describe the behaviour of electrons. This equation provided a natural explanation of one of the electron's intrinsic properties - its spin. [It is the change in the spin of an electron with respect to a proton in a hydrogen atom that gives rise to the 21cm hydrogen line that will play a key part in a later part of this lecture.]
Considering how his equation could be interpreted, in 1931 Dirac proposed that there should exist an 'anti-electron' - a particle with the same mass and spin as the electron but with the opposite electrical charge. By predicting the existence of this antiparticle, now called a positron, Dirac became recognized as the 'discoverer' of antimatter - one of the most important discoveries of the last century. In 1932, Carl Anderson, an American professor, was studying the tracks left by showers of cosmic ray particles in a Wilson cloud chamber. He saw a track left by "something positively charged, and with the same mass as an electron." Anderson had detected a positron and so proved that Dirac's prediction about antimatter was accurate.
Dirac asserted that every particle has an "antiparticle" with nearly identical properties, except for an opposite electric charge. And, just as protons, neutrons, and electrons combine to form atoms and matter, antiprotons, antineutrons, and antielectrons can combine to form antiatoms and antimatter. Worrying why our universe seems to be composed of matter only, his theory led him to speculate that there may even be mirror galaxies or universes made entirely of antimatter, but no experiments have yet been able to detect the antigalaxies or vast stretches of antimatter in space that Dirac imagined.
Should matter come into contact with antimatter (they are attracted to each other as they have opposite charges) it was discovered that they would instantly annihilate each other giving rise to a burst of radiation. This is the most efficient conversion of mass to energy possible and this is, no doubt, why it was used to power the Starship Enterprise and so allow it to travel at "warp" speeds.
The question that really confounds physicists today is why our universe appears to be made of matter only. The standard theories of physics say that when the universe came into existence some fifteen billion years ago in the Big Bang, the energy created must have formed equal amounts of matter and antimatter - the laws of nature require that matter and antimatter be created in pairs. But within less than a second of the Big Bang, matter particles somehow outnumbered antimatter particles by a tiny fraction, so that for, say, every billion antiparticles, there were a billion and one particles. All the antiparticles were annihilated giving rise to the radiation that makes up the Cosmic Microwave Background (then in the form of gamma rays). So, within a second of the creation of the universe, all the antimatter was destroyed, leaving behind only matter. So far, physicists have not been able to identify the exact mechanism that would produce this apparent "asymmetry", or difference, between matter and antimatter to explain why there arose this tiny excess of matter over antimatter.
Today, antimatter is created primarily by cosmic rays - extraterrestrial high-energy particles that form new particles as they penetrate the earth's atmosphere. It can also be produced in accelerators like that at CERN, where scientists create high-energy collisions to produce particles and their antiparticles. In one of the most recent CERN experiments, published in November 2010, a team has succeeded in producing a significant number of atoms of anti-hydrogen – made up of an antiproton and a positron: antiprotons at very low temperatures and thus almost stationary were first compressed into a matchstick-sized cloud 20 millimetres long and 1.4 millimetres in diameter and then a similar cold cloud of positrons were added giving rise to around 38 anti-hydrogen atoms which were successfully trapped inside a magnetic bottle for one sixth of a second. This is, for the first time, allowing scientists to study antimatter in detail and so may help to determine why matter appears to be in the ascendant.
Physicists believe that there must be a subtle difference in the way matter and antimatter interact with the forces of nature to account for a universe that prefers matter, but have not, as yet, been able to confirm this experimentally. In 1967, the Russian theoretical physicist Andrei Sakharov postulated several complex conditions necessary for the prevalence of matter. One of these is a "charge-parity" violation, which is an example of a kind of asymmetry between particles and their antiparticles in the way that they decay. The goal of the CERN scientists is to find evidence of that asymmetry.
The LHC Beauty (LHCb) detector is designed to answer a specific question: where did all the anti-matter go? In order to do this, the LHCb is investigating the slight differences between matter and antimatter by studying a type of particle called the "beauty quark". Although absent from the Universe today, these were common in the aftermath of the Big Bang, and will be generated in their billions by the LHC, along with their antimatter counterparts, anti-beauty quarks. 'B' and 'anti-b' quarks are unstable and short-lived, decaying rapidly into a range of other particles. Physicists believe that by comparing these decays, they may be able to gain useful clues as to why nature prefers matter over antimatter.
The LHC produces many different types of quark when the particle beams collide. In order to catch the beauty quarks, LHCb has developed sophisticated movable tracking detectors close to the path of the beams circling in the LHC. In September 2010, the LHCb observed what are called "beautiful atoms". The atoms are bound states of the beauty quark and anti-beauty quark. [Quarks can only exist in triplets, such as in Protons (Up, Up, Down) and Neutrons (Up, Down, Down), or as quark-antiquark pairs.] The beautiful atom is 10 times heavier than the proton and has a size slightly smaller than the size of the proton.
A further approach to the understanding of what happened during the Big Bang would be to try to recreate the conditions that then existed. Since November 2010 the LHC has been used to collide lead ions, 208 times heavier than a proton and the first results have shown for the first time that the proton and neutrons that make up the nuclei can "melt" into their constituent quarks and gluons and so form what was thought be the primordial "soup" that existed around a billionth of a second after the Big Bang.
Matter, Anti-matter and Dark Matter (3): What is Dark Matter?
One of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy is the fact that over 90% of the Universe is invisible. This mysterious missing stuff is known as 'dark matter'. The problem arose when astronomers tried to weigh galaxies. There are two methods of doing this. Firstly, we can tell how much a galaxy weighs just by looking at how bright it is and then converting this into mass using what is called the mass-luminosity relation. The second way is to look at the way stars move in their orbits around the centre of the galaxy. In just the same way that we can calculate the mass of the Sun by knowing how far we are from it and the speed at which we rotate round it we can calculate the mass of a galaxy by studying how fast stars at the very edge move around it. The faster the galaxy rotates, the more mass there is inside it. But when astronomers such as Jan Oort and Fritz Zwicky did these calculations in the early 1930's the two answers didn't match. As they were very confident that both methods were sound they came to a startling conclusion - there must be a form of matter out there that we cannot see - which became known as 'dark matter'.
So what is dark matter made of? No one knows for sure. Normal matter, making up the stars, planets and ourselves, is made of atoms, which are composed of protons, neutrons and electrons. Scientists call this "baryonic" matter. A small part of the dark matter is of the normal, baryonic variety, including brown dwarf stars, dust clouds and other objects such as black holes that are simply too small, or too dim, to be seen from great distances.
The amount of ordinary or baryonic matter in the Universe, whether visible or dark, can be estimated on the basis of the relative quantity of deuterium and helium that was formed three minutes after the Big Bang. If there was a lot of baryonic matter at that time, collisions first between nucleons and later between nuclei would have been very probable and the percentage of deuterium should now be very small because deuterium nuclei give rise to helium; if instead there was little baryonic matter, the quantity of deuterium should be relatively greater. From the most recent measurements of the current quantities of deuterium and helium, it can be deduced that the baryonic matter present in the Universe is only about one seventh of that needed to keep stars in their galaxies and galaxies in their clusters.
We know that a component of dark matter is in the form of neutrinos which do not have an electric charge and rarely interact with ordinary matter. The estimated mass for neutrinos is very small and if we multiply it by the huge number of neutrinos present in the Universe, we obtain a contribution to the total mass of the Universe which is slightly less than that from visible matter. As they are moving at the speed of light they form what is called "hot dark matter". If there were too much hot dark matter it would be very difficult for galaxies to form and we would not be here, so this is a comforting, if not surprising, result!
Thus we believe that the major contribution to dark matter is in the form of slowly moving (by comparison) massive particles called "cold dark matter". Theoretical physicists have come up with various hypotheses as to what these mysterious particles could be. Many of these come out of the physics theory called "supersymmetry". A good candidate is the neutralino which is the supersymmetric electrically neutral particle which has the lowest predicted mass.
Another possibility could come from nuclearites, combinations of up, down and strange quarks. These would have a higher density than ordinary nuclei and would be stable, even for masses much greater than those of the uranium nuclei. A key goal of the LHC is to attempt to produce such particles. So far, high energy accelerators have not observed any, which implies that they are very massive. As the LHC will be able to produce energies that are far higher than any existing accelerator (and hence be able to create more massive particles) there is hope that dark matter particles might be detected. It is thought that its detection might be quite an early result from the ATLAS and CMS detectors and, even if no detections were made, the LHC results would, at least, eliminate some of the possibilities.
If we know very little about dark matter, we know even less about dark energy! It gives rise, we believe, to a repulsive force that is arises out of the vacuum of space. In fact, Einstein, postulated it in the set of equations derived from his General theory of Relativity that he used to try to explain a static universe – the repulsive force just balancing the attractive force of gravity. He gave it the name of the Cosmological Constant, . When Hubble found that the Universe was expanding he realised that he had made the biggest blunder of his life and, if he had not brought in the repulsive force, he could have predicted that the Universe was expanding. However, observations of very distant Type 1a supernovae made in the late 1990's indicted that, in complete contrast to the then current ideas of cosmology which predicted that the rate of expansion would be slowing down, the universe was, in fact, expanding at an ever increasing rate - the switch from a slowing expansion rate to an expanding one happening some 4-5 billion years ago. One explanation is that it is the cosmological constant - a constant energy density uniformly filling space - that is the cause. In the current standard model of cosmology - the Lambda-CDM model - dark energy currently accounts for 74% of the total mass-energy of the universe. [CDM is Cold Dark Matter.]
There are, however, other possible scenarios apart from the  term which include scalar fields such as quintessence (fifth force) whose energy density can vary in time and space. These can be difficult to distinguish from a cosmological constant effect because the changes may be extremely slow. Very high-precision measurements of the expansion of the universe are required to understand how the expansion rate changes over time. In general relativity, the evolution of the expansion rate is determined by the cosmological equation of state which is the relationship between temperature, pressure, and the combined matter, energy, and vacuum energy density for any region of space. Measuring the equation of state of dark energy is one of the biggest efforts in observational cosmology today.
There are two new planned optical instruments that will help to distinguish between the various possibilities by providing the high precision observations that will be required.
The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT)
The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) will be a ground-based astronomical observatory with a 42-meter diameter mirror which will be made up from almost 1000 hexagonal segments. It will be located at Cerro Armazones in Chile which is located 20km from Cerro Paranal, where ESO operates its Very Large Telescope facility. Like Paranal, Armazones will enjoy near-perfect observing conditions - at least 320 nights a year when the sky is cloudless. The Atacama's famous aridity means the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere is very limited, reducing further the perturbation and attenuation starlight experiences as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere.
The telescope will gather 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today and incorporate an innovative five-mirror design that will use adaptive optics to correct for the turbulent atmosphere so giving exceptional image quality. This will enable it to provide images 15 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Due to its vast aperture, the E-ELT will help us to elucidate the nature of dark energy by helping to discover and identify distant type Ia supernovae. These are excellent distance indicators and can be used to map out space and its expansion history. In addition to this geometric method the E-ELT will also attempt, for the first time, to constrain dark energy by directly observing the global dynamics of the Universe: the evolution of the expansion rate causes a tiny time-drift in the redshifts of distant objects. The E-ELT will be able to detect this effect in the intergalactic medium - a measurement that will offer a truly independent and unique approach to the exploration of the expansion history of the Universe.
Final go-ahead for the E-ELT is expected in 2011 and it is hoped the telescope can be operational by the end of the decade having cost in the region of a billion euros.
Are the Physical Constants Constant?
The E-ELT will also search for possible variations over the values of the fundamental physical constants, such as the fine-structure constant and the proton-to-electron mass ratio, over the age of the Universe. An unambiguous detection of such variations would have far-reaching consequences for the unified theories of fundamental interactions and for the existence of extra dimensions of space and/or time. Physics will need to change!
Strong and Weak Gravitational Lensing
There is another technique for investigating both dark matter and dark energy. Called gravitational lensing, it is the result of a foreground mass such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies distorting the surrounding space. This makes the light from more distant galaxies lying beyond them to travel in curved lines and the result is to distort their images. There are two types of gravitational lensing - strong and weak. Strong lensing, which is comparatively rare, results when there are very close alignments between the background and foreground objects and multiple images may be produced. In this case it is possible to map out accurate matter distributions for the lensing galaxy cluster and so determine the distribution of the dark matter within it.
e-MERLIN
The first strong gravitational lens was discovered by the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory in 1972. Called the "Double Quasar" it is the result of a single distant quasar being lensed by a foreground galaxy so giving rise to two images. The way that the image of the distant quasar and its jets are distorted tell us about the mass distribution of the matter and dark matter in and around the lensing galaxy. The author was a designer of the MERLIN array and so was very pleased when, on 9th December 2010, the first image made with a major upgrade to the MERLIN array was released. Called e-MERLIN, it has resulted from the linking of the 7 radio telescopes that make up the array by fibre optic cables. This has increased the data rate from each telescope from 128 Mbits per second to 30 Gbits so, coupled with new receivers, gives a significant increase in sensitivity so allowing astronomers to probe deeper into the universe. The first e-MERLIN image was of the double quasar and shows in great detail in the jets emanating from the quasar which will allow a detailed study of the matter distribution that is distorting the image to be made.
The Double Quasar: combined Hubble Space Telescope and e-MERLIN image left, annotated e-MERLIN image right.
The very close alignments that give rise to strong gravitational lensing are very rare and so it requires the detailed observations of large areas of sky to find them. This, along with studies of weak gravitational lensing is a major goal of the Large Synoptic Telescope to be described below.
Weak gravitational lensing can best be described with the aid of the famous HST image of the Cluster Abell 2218 below. The mass distribution of the foreground cluster is distorting the images of a distant cluster beyond. In most such cases, the "lens" is not strong enough to form multiple images or giant arcs as we see in the above image. The background galaxies, however, are still distorted! They are stretched and magnified, but by such small amounts that it is hard to measure. For obvious reasons this is called "weak gravitational lensing".
Abell Cluster 2218 and map of the lensing distortions
In principle, weak lensing has the potential to be powerful probe of cosmological parameters, especially when combined with other observations such as the cosmic microwave background, supernovae, and galaxy surveys. Detecting the extremely small effects requires averaging over many background galaxies, so surveys must be both deep and wide, and because these background galaxies are small, the image quality must be very good.
An interesting technique is to use the redshifts of the background galaxies to divide the survey into multiple redshift bins. The low-redshift bins will only be lensed by structures very near to us, while the high-redshift bins will be lensed by structures over a wide range of redshift. This technique, dubbed "cosmic tomography", makes it possible to map out the 3D distribution of mass. Because the third dimension involves not only distance but cosmic time, tomographic weak lensing is sensitive not only to the matter power spectrum today, but also to its evolution over the history of the universe, and the expansion history of the universe during that time. This is a very valuable cosmological probe, and many proposed experiments to measure the properties of dark energy and dark matter have focused on weak lensing.
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)
The key requirement is to make observations over a very wide field with high image quality and the LSST is designed to do just that:-
the LSST is a planned wide-field "survey" reflecting telescope that will photograph all the available sky from its Chilean observing site every three nights. It is currently in its design and development phase and it is expected that full science operations for the ten-year survey will begin towards the end of the decade. The telescope will be located on the El Peñón peak of Cerro Pachón, a 2682 metre high mountain in Coquimbo Region, in northern Chile, alongside the existing Gemini South Telescope.
The LSST design is unique among 8m-class primary mirror telescopes in having a very wide field of view. 3.5 degrees in diameter it covers an area of 9.6 square degrees. (This is pretty comparable to a typical 200mm amateur telescope, so for an 8m telescope is amazing!) To achieve this very wide undistorted field of view requires three mirrors, rather than the two used by most existing large telescopes: the primary mirror will be 8.4 meters in diameter, the secondary mirror will be 3.4 metres in diameter, with a 5.0m tertiary mirror, located in a large hole in the primary. The primary/tertiary mirror was built as a monolithic unit and completed at the beginning of September 2008.
To make full use of the image quality across this large field will require a CCD array having 3.2 gigapixels! (A good digital camera has ~10-20 megapixels.) The camera, situated at the prime focus will take a 15-second exposure every 20 seconds. Allowing for maintenance, bad weather, etc., the camera is expected to take over 200,000 pictures per year, far more than can be reviewed by humans and so storing, managing and effectively mining the enormous data output of the telescope is expected to be the most technically difficult part of the project.
In January 2008, software billionaires Charles Simonyi and Bill Gates pledged $20 million and $10 million respectively to the project. It has still to receive the nearly $400 million National Science Foundation grant required to bring it to completion but, in August 2010, a prestigious committee convened by the National Research Council for the National Academy of Sciences ranked the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) as its top priority for the next large ground-based astronomical facility.
How did the first Stars and Galaxies form?
We now have good evidence that the Big Bang origin of the Universe happened 13.6 thousand million years ago. Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of the Ultra Deep Field in the constellation Fornax imaged a very faint "smudge" thought to be a very early galaxy. Follow-up observations using one of the 8m telescopes of the VLT in Chile, have enabled a redshift to be found. Published in October 2010, the value was found to be 8.55 – the largest redshift ever observed – and which indicates that the light that we now observe from the galaxy was emitted 13,000 million years ago. The stars that make up the galaxy must have been formed just 600 million years after the Big Bang when the universe was just 4% of its current age.
One of the key questions in astronomy is what happened during this 600 million year period which astronomers call the Cosmological Dark Ages. The name coming from the fact that there was then no visible light in the Universe. Several of the new instruments have key programmes to study how the matter created in the big bang came together to enable the first stars and galaxies to form. In this lecture we will consider two of these:-
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
During the first few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang the protons (hydrogen nuclei), alpha particles (helium nuclei) and electrons that had been created were unable to form stable atoms as the energy of the photons were then sufficiently high to ionise atoms as soon as they had formed. Finally, as the universe expanded, the photon energy dropped and then, after ~380,000 years, stable hydrogen and helium atoms could form and, soon afterwards, the electromagnetic radiation pervading the universe moved out of the visible part of the spectrum and the universe became dark.
The resulting hydrogen atoms give us, in principle, a way of observing the evolution of the universe during the dark ages as hydrogen emits a spectral line in the radio part of the spectrum. It has a frequency of ~1,400 MHz corresponding to a wavelength of 21cm, so is called the 21cm line. At the time during the dark ages when this wavelength was emitted, the universe was far smaller than now and, as the universe has expanded since then, the wavelength of the hydrogen photons will have lengthened in just the same ratio. [Hence the frequency that we would observe will be far less than 1,400 Mhz.] This is called the cosmological redshift. An important point is that, as one observes further back through the dark ages the redshift will be greater and the frequency lower so, by making observations over a range of appropriate frequencies one is able to observe the universe at different times and so show how the hydrogen gas was able to clump together and finally form the stars and galaxies.
Radio astronomers have been observing hydrogen emission since the 1940's and it is an incredibly powerful tool in probing the universe, but the signal from the hydrogen emission during the dark ages is very weak. Early in the 1990's, Peter Wilkinson of Jodrell Bank Observatory, calculated how large a collecting antenna would have to be in order to detect this emission. It turned out that an antenna with a collecting area of about 1 square kilometre would be needed! A collecting area that size would have to be made up of many smaller antennas linked together in a giant array and it is only now that it is possible to envisage the construction of such a giant radio telescope – now called the Square Kilometre Array.
The image above is an impression of the central core of 15x12 m antennas that are envisaged to make up the vast collecting area. Notice that they appear to be located in a desert region. It is vital that they are well away from human habitation as the radio interference (such as from mobile phones) would make it impossible to observe the very faint hydrogen emission in a populated area. Two possible sites are in contention to host the SKA: the Northern Cape in South Africa or the deserts in Western Australia. Smaller, precursor, arrays are already being built in both locations. Site testing continues and it is hoped that a site decision will be made by the end of 2012.
It is expected that funding to build phase 1 of the project will be provided shortly after and this might be carrying out initial science by 2018. All being well, the full array should be completed by 2024 and will be the major radio observatory for this century. It is ranked equally with the E-ELT by the European Astronomical funding agencies. Though it initially arose out of the investigation of the cosmological dark ages, it will be capable of a wide range of other investigations. A full account of the SKA and the science that it will undertake can be found in the "Square Kilometre Array" Wikipedia article written by the author. The SKA will also have a role in the last of the topics covered by this lecture.
The light from the formation of the first stars and galaxies brought the dark ages to an end, but that light can still not be observed in the visible part of the spectrum – again due to the expansion of the universe since then, it is redshifted into the infrared. Infrared observations are difficult to make from the ground as our Earth radiates profusely in the infrared, so an infrared space telescope is what is really required and one is on its way.
The James Webb SpaceTelescope (JWST)
This is NASA's follow up to the Hubble Space Telescope and named after a former NASA administrator. It is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014. Its large mirror, 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter, and sunshield the size of a tennis court will need to be erected in space. When launched, the spacecraft will be sent to a location about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the Earth directly away from the Sun. The location is called L2 and is a stable point where a spacecraft orbits with the same period of as the Earth. [Normally as one moves further out into the solar system, orbital periods get longer but, if precisely beyond the Earth, the Earth's gravitational pull adds to that of the Sun and, at just the right distance, the orbital period will be also be one year.]
A major role of JWST is to reveal the story of the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the Universe. Theory predicts that the first stars were 30 to 300 times as massive as our Sun and millions of times as bright, burning for only a few million years before exploding as supernovae. The emergence of these first stars marked the end of the "Dark Ages" in cosmic history and an understanding these first sources is critical, since they greatly influenced the formation of later objects such as galaxies. When the first massive stars exploded as supernovae their remnants would have been black holes. These, initially small, black holes started to swallow gas and other stars and merged to become the huge black holes that are now found at the centres of massive galaxies. It is hoped that the JWST will shed light on the nature of the relationship between the black holes and the galaxies that host them.
Even now, astronomers do not really know how the galaxies formed, what gives them their shapes and what happens when small and large galaxies collide or join together. The JWST will hopefully answer these questions. By studying some of the earliest galaxies and comparing them to today's galaxies we may be able to understand their growth and evolution. It will also allow scientists to gather data on the types of stars that existed in these very early galaxies. Follow-up observations using spectroscopy of hundreds or thousands of galaxies will help us understand how elements heavier than hydrogen were formed and built up as galaxy formation proceeded through the ages. These studies will also reveal details about merging galaxies and shed light on the process of galaxy formation itself.
How do Stars and Planets Form?
Stars and their planetary systems form together in thick dust clouds which makes it almost impossible to study their formation at visible wavelengths. Almost all of the obscuring gas and dust seen in visible images views may entirely disappear when viewed in the infrared, so that the proto-stars lying behind the gas and dust become easier to see. So infrared astronomy can penetrate dusty regions of space such as molecular clouds and observe the young stars forming within. As indicated above, infrared observations are also key to observing young stars in the early Universe as the visible light radiated by them will have been shifted down to infrared wavelengths by the expansion of the Universe that has occurred since the light was emitted.
The James Webb Space Telescope with its excellent imaging and spectroscopic capabilities will allow us to study the formation of stars and will also be able to image the proto-planetary disks around stars helping us to understand how planets may form in orbit around them. These studies will also be greatly helped by the high resolution imaging in the wavelength bands just beyond the infrared - the sub-millimetre and millimetre parts of the electromagnetic spectrum – that will be achieved using …….
The Atacama Large sub-Millimetre Array (ALMA)
One of 64, 12m, antennas and an artist's impression of their layout in the Atacama Desert.
ALMA will provide unprecedented sensitivity and resolution to study gas and dust emission in the millimetre and sub-millimetre bands. It will be a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high precision antennas operating at wavelengths of 0.3 to 9.6 mm. It is being built in the Atacama desert in the Chilean High Andes at a height of 5100 m at the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory. ALMA's chosen high location is due to the fact that water vapour emits and absorbs at sub-millimetre wavelengths. The Atacama desert is one of the driest locations on Earth, but can often suffer from wind speeds of up to 100 mph – hence the very solid antenna construction shown in the image above.
The antennas can be moved across the desert plateau giving separations of up to 16 km. This gives ALMA a powerful variable "zoom", similar in its concept to that employed at the VLA site in New Mexico, US - some observations being best made with a compact fully filled array whilst others benefit from the greater resolution given by a more spread out sparse array. The impressive total collecting area given by the large number of telescopes provides its high sensitivity.
The telescopes are provided by the European, North American and East Asian partners of ALMA. The American and European partners have each placed orders for twenty-five 12-meter diameter antennas (of two different designs for political reasons) to make up the main array. East Asia is contributing 16 antennas (four 12-meter diameter and twelve 7-meter diameter antennas) to produce the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). By using smaller antennas than ALMA, this allows larger fields of view to be imaged at one time. The ability to move them closer together also results in the possibility to image sources of larger angular extent. The ACA will also work together with the main array in order to enhance the latter's wide-field imaging capability.
The first science observations are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2011.
Is there other life in the Universe?
We are beginning to realise that life could exist in wider variety of locations than once thought. Such as, for example, in an ocean beneath the ice crust of a satellite kept liquid by tidal heating due to its proximity to a giant planet. [Europa, a satellite of Jupiter, is one such example.] However, the most likely location for advanced life would be on the surface of a planet, such as our Earth, within the habitable zone of its star (so not too hot or too cold and where water could exist as a liquid on the surface). One of the "holy grails" of astronomy would thus be the discovery of other earth-like planets within their star's habitable zone. As yet, none have been discovered, but a spacecraft called KEPLER (after Johannes Kepler who formulated the empirical laws of planetary motion) is now observing part of the Milky Way close to the constellations of Cygnus and Lyrae and is expected to discover such planets in the next few years. The stars in this region of the sky are, as in the case of the Sun, slightly off the plane of the galaxy and will be at roughly the same distance from the galactic centre. This is significant as, rather like the habitable zone of a star, it has been suggested that there may be a habitable zone of the Galaxy which would, of course, include our Sun.
KEPLER is simultaneously observing over 140,000 stars and looking for the slight drop in brightness as a planet passes across the disk of its parent star. (As, for example, in the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun in 2004.) An earth-sized planet is expected to result in a drop in brightness of order 0.01% in the brightness of its sun. The reduction in brightness enables one to deduce the diameter of the planet, and the interval between transits enables the planet's orbital period to be found. Using models of stellar radiation and knowing the planet's distance from its sun enables its surface temperature to be calculated, so determining whether liquid water could exist on the surface.
Artist's impression of the KEPLER spacecraft and a diagram showing the area of sky where over 140,000 stars are being observed
KEPLER can only detect planets whose orbital plane lies in the line of sight and the calculated probability of an Earth-like planet at 1 AU transiting a sun-like star is 0.465%, or about 1 in 215. As the planets in a solar system tend to lie in one plane, there is a good chance that, if one planet were detected, others is the same solar system would be as well.
Kepler began science observations in May 2009, having spent time optimising the positions and tilt of its ~1m primary mirror. It is now measuring the brightness of the target stars every 30 minutes to detect the planetary transits. If 10% of the stars observed had an Earth-like planet it would be expected to detect about 46. And the results, after its mission (expected to exceed 3.5 years in length) is completed will determine how often Earth-like planets orbit other stars.
The first five planet discoveries by Kepler were announced in January 2010: four were around 15 times the diameter of the Earth and thus larger than Jupiter (11 Earth diameters), but one was just 4 times the Earth's diameter. We cannot expect that any Earth-like planets will be announced in the near future as at least three transits need to be observed to be sure that the dimming was caused by a planet. If a planet is orbiting a star like our Sun and lies in its habitable zone (like our Earth), it will have a similar orbital period and so a period of at least 2 years of observations will be needed to observe three transits. We should thus not expect any such discovery announcements for a year or so and typically three years of observations will be needed. However we know that many stars have Jupiter sized planets in close orbits around them and these would have been detected within a few months of operation. To date, NASA has released data on 312 planetary candidates found by Kepler and is expected to release data on a further 400 in January 2011.
Once a target list of Earth-like planets has been produced, then infra-red telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, will be able to study their atmospheres. The Earth's atmosphere has a complex infrared spectrum showing evidence of water vapour, carbon dioxide and, significantly, ozone. Ozone can only exist in an atmosphere if it contains free oxygen. As oxygen is highly reactive, free oxygen can only exist long term if it is being replenished by some mechanism - in our case photosynthesis. Thus the discovery of water vapour and ozone in the atmosphere of another planet would indicate that some form of life was present!
Might ET phone home?
One way that we might detect the presence of advanced life is if we detected a radio signal from an advanced civilisation. This could be unintentional as if, for example, we detected a radar signal. More likely, it could be a contact signal deliberately beamed at us (as they have seen the presence of ozone in our atmosphere and suspected that life would exist). This study is called SETI - the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence - whose first observations were made by Frank Drake at the Greenbank Observatory in West Virginia in 1960. However, even the most sensitive observations yet undertaken (in Project Phoenix using the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in combination with the giant Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico) we have only searched out to a distance of 200 light years – a tiny part of the Milky Way galaxy! When the Square Kilometre Array is (hopefully) completed in 2024 it would have the sensitivity to detect signals beamed at us from across the galaxy and thus might, one day, show us that we are not alone in the Universe.
©Ian Morison, Gresham College 2010
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Makin' it in Memphis: Down to the studs.
There was more demo today - walls and flooring out. We're coming along!
Got exciting news as the walls came tumbling down - didn't think we'd be able to take that funny little mini wall section between the two parts of the kitchen down (see below), but turns out it is possible and we'll be doing it. Should make the place look less split up.


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From a slick urban loft to a suburban home that's embraced farmhouse chic, the Sauder Woodworking Studio RTA Nola Coffee Table is going to be the perfect table for any space. This table has a frame of welded metal with a powder-coated finish. Across the top is a single sheet of clear, tempered glass. This thick glass is easy to maintain, making this an ideal surface for regular daily use. The frame is offered in a variety of finish colors to suit any home décor style.
Coffee tables are crafted from all sorts of beautiful materials—iron, glass, you name it. To pick the one that's right for you, first consider three things: the overall aesthetic of your room, your color palette, and how it'll be used. Will it be purely decorative? (Try glass!) Hold books or serve as foot rest? (Think: sturdy wood or soft upholstery). Here, we outline all your options.
Brazil remains the largest coffee exporting nation, however Vietnam tripled its exports between 1995 and 1999 and became a major producer of robusta seeds.[129] Indonesia is the third-largest coffee exporter overall and the largest producer of washed arabica coffee. Organic Honduran coffee is a rapidly growing emerging commodity owing to the Honduran climate and rich soil.
Dishes are usually made of ceramic materials such as earthenware, stoneware, faience, bone china or porcelain. However, they can be made of other materials such as wood, pewter, silver, gold, glass, acrylic and plastic. Before it was possible to purchase mass-produced tableware, it was fashioned from available materials, such as wood. Industrialisation and developments in ceramic manufacture made inexpensive washable tableware available. It is sold either by the piece or as a matched set for a number of diners, normally four, six, eight, or twelve place settings. Large quantities are purchased for use in restaurants. Individual pieces, such as those needed as replacement pieces for broken dishes, can be procured from "open stock" inventory at shops, or from antique dealers if the pattern is no longer in production.
Give your living room an air of modern sophistication with the Belham Living Bradley Round Copper Coffee Table. Featuring a versatile copper-finish, this coffee table will look gorgeous next to a range of decor styles. The coffee table's mirrored table top surface adds a touch of refined aesthetic flair, sure to impress friends and family alike. As beautiful as it is sturdy, this piece boasts a base crafted from premium metal to ensure the coffee table will maintain its integrity throughout the years. Attention to the small details, stylish ...
Second only to the sofa, coffee tables are living room icons. They're ubiquitous in all interior designs and come in a seemingly endless amount of styles. Take this one for example: showcasing two triangular accents at the base, it brings a touch of mid-century style to your living room look. It's crafted from steel awash in a black finish and features a clean-lined tabletop made from tempered glass. Measures 17'' H x 46'' L x 22'' W.
Other stores have aped the success of West Elm, which is currently poised to become a $2 billion brand and has recently buoyed parent company Williams-Sonoma, whose other brands (Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma) have struggled post-recession. Some of its imitators, like Joybird, have doubled down on the mid-century modern aesthetic, added free shipping, and advertised like crazy on Facebook, effectively positioning themselves as a West Elm alternative; several respondents named it (or "that fake mid-century modern company whose ads are all over Facebook") as where they'd likely purchase their next large-ticket item.
Ultimately, when you're considering buying any piece of furniture (and especially a table) don't go to a store and look for something that catches your eye. First, take note of your home space. What's missing? What do you need from a decorative standpoint? Think about your aesthetic: do you prefer modern decor with stark materials and minimalist lines? Do you love traditional furniture that's plush and paired with traditionally stained wood? Are you more boho chic, and want to mix a variety of design periods for a look that's warm and homey?
You'll typically find kitchen tables in (ahem) kitchens! It's because they are workhorses, designed to be used daily by the family for meals, play, crafts, work, and more. Sometimes they are only large enough to seat two (though usually, in that case, they're known as bistro tables), but more often they sit four to six people. You can get a regular small dining table set or something with more of a space-saving feature such as corner breakfast nooks.
The 1947 Herman Miller catalog described the Noguchi coffee table as "sculpture-for-use" and "design for production".[1] The base was carved from solid walnut, and consisted of two identical parts; when one part "is reversed and connected to the other by a pivot rod, a base appears which has a smoothly flowing form and an interest rarely found in furniture of any period".[1] The shape of the two wooden supports produces a self-supporting and stable base, allowing the heavy plate glass top to be placed without the use of connectors.[1]
Setting up bluetooth communication between a smartphone and the Arduino proved surprisingly tricky but there are a few simple steps that will make this much easier. Firstly, you will need to download an app for your smartphone. I used https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.... but there is probably an iphone equivalent (that you have to pay for ;p )
Bold yet versatile, this mid-century chair rounds out a dining table arrangement or acts as a spare seat in the living room. It stands atop four tapered legs – the back two of which are splayed – and features dramatically curved arms for a look that's sure to grab glances. The poplar frame is wrapped in cotton upholstery, and foam fill in the cushion encourages you and your guests to kick back to enjoy your latest home-cooked meal.
To say that the glass arrived safely would be a gross understatement and not nearly respectful enough considering the care and packaging that went into shipping this ~80lb piece of tempered glass. Not only was this amazingly easy to order, it was finished exactly as I requested and it fits perfectly. Thank you very much and please consider me one of your new unpaid field sales people.
According to legend, ancestors of today's Oromo people in a region of Kaffa in Ethiopia were believed to have been the first to recognize the energizing effect of the coffee plant.[6] However, there is no direct evidence that has been found earlier than the 15th century indicating where in Africa coffee first grew or who among the native populations might have used it as a stimulant.[6] The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee when he noticed how excited his goats became after eating the beans from a coffee plant, did not appear in writing until 1671 and is probably apocryphal.[6]
Tables come in a wide variety of materials, shapes, and heights dependent upon their origin, style, intended use and cost. Many tables are made of wood or wood-based products; some are made of other materials including metal and glass. Most tables are composed of a flat surface and one or more supports (legs). A table with a single, central foot is a pedestal table. Long tables often have extra legs for support.
Streamlined modern style gets a subtle industrial edge in this curated coffee table. Crafted of steel in a blackened bronze finish, this table strikes a circular silhouette on three straight legs, while stretchers add structural support. Featuring a lipped tray rim, the mirrored glass tabletop provides an elegant platform for everything from remotes and coasters to drinks and plates of appetizers. Measures 17.5" H x 36" W x 36" D overall.
Defined by an arched arm that spans 17.75" wide, this distinctive 79.26" floor lamp brings a touch of modern flair as it lends a light. Founded atop a weighted circular base, its tubular metal frame sports a brushed nickel finish for a sleek and chic look. A solid-hued fabric drum shade up above completes the design, diffusing the brightness from a single bulb (not included) to cast a warm glow over your space.
Another reason we don't care (as much) about our furniture: Our taste is different than our parents. We tilt towards mid-century modern — an aesthetic many of our parents still conceive of as the furniture style of their parents. But we also care less about things like "furniture sets" — i.e., buying large groups of furniture that match, are meant to be kept in one room, and cost thousands of dollars. That's the kind of stuff that's made of real wood, and is bought on payment plans at old-school furniture stores you've probably never set foot in.
There's a couch that's in the backdrop of so many of my childhood photos, and if I concentrate, I can feel its texture: a bushy velvet, soft and pliant. Slate blue with white leafy fronds. It was passed down to my parents in the early '80s, when they were living in Minneapolis, from my grandparents, who'd had it in their basement — purchased sometime in the 1950s.
If are you looking for a unique shape, browse the different shapes we offer in the "Get a Quote" section. If you need something else, we offer a couple of ways to help us create that for you. The best way for us to make exactly what you want, is to provide us a digital file, like a CAD drawing. You can attach this directly with your online order. We understand that sometimes it can be too difficult to create a digital file. If that's the case, we can use a physical pattern traced on sturdy paper to create your glass.
11 of copies of both parts need to be laser cut out of 3mm plywood and then assemble them to make sure they fit correctly. Once you are happy, take the matrix apart again and spray it white to improve the reflective characteristics of the table. When dry put them back together again and place them over the LEDs. It might be a bit harder to fit them together after spraying as they are now a bit thicker but don't worry just gently tap them into place before you put the matrix into the table.
That blue couch survived as long as it did because its framing was solid wood; whatever its stuffing was, it held on for decades, not years. My grandparents, who'd lived through the Depression and, afterward, lived with great thrift, likely purchased the couch with a mind that it would be passed down to one of their three sons. It was a fixture of their home, and it became a fixture of our home.
The concept of fair trade labeling, which guarantees coffee growers a negotiated preharvest price, began in the late 1980s with the Max Havelaar Foundation's labeling program in the Netherlands. In 2004, 24,222 metric tons (of 7,050,000 produced worldwide) were fair trade; in 2005, 33,991 metric tons out of 6,685,000 were fair trade, an increase from 0.34% to 0.51%.[217][218] A number of fair trade impact studies have shown that fair trade coffee produces a mixed impact on the communities that grow it. Many studies are skeptical about fair trade, reporting that it often worsens the bargaining power of those who are not part of it. Coffee was incorporated into the fair-trade movement in 1988, when the Max Havelaar mark was introduced in the Netherlands. The very first fair-trade coffee was an effort to import a Guatemalan coffee into Europe as "Indio Solidarity Coffee".[219]
During all this the weather had turned and I never was able to get a sheet of ¼" ply. I finally had a chance to trudge out but now I had to stain and finish the bottom separately. I measured the base and cut the bottom. After a dry fit, I applied glue and then put it back in but I used small wood screws to hold it in place. After that it was off to the glass place. I wanted them to fit the glass in case things had come out of square. I almost forgot, before leaving for the glass I drilled a small hole in one corner of the bottom where it wasn't too noticeable. A little stain hid the fresh cut hole. A small dowel was cut to push through the hole to lift the glass. After all, the table is for displaying small nick nacks and needs to open easily without breaking off your fingernails or gouging the top with a knife or screwdriver.
As it has been earlier stated that some of the varieties of glass coffee tables are well suited for the houses that have a modern decor which can primarily accommodate a table with an elegant smoke glass top. Apart from them, there are also the ones that are supported by modern, and X-shaped chrome legs, or the longer coffee tables which are also made of glass and chrome but have a lower level shelf for storage. Other major types consist of the glass tabletops that are carved out on some metal pillars and have a coloured base which gives an amazing style and outlook to a living room. This particular kind of table is well suited for a modern studio, apartment or house.
Demographics bear this out: 30% of those between the ages of 20 and 29 will now spend time abroad; less than 60% of Americans now live in the same state they were born in. That may seem like a lot, but according to US Census Data, it was almost 70% in 1950. General mobility is up, in part because the time between graduation from high school or college and "settling down" is expanding: The average age of marriage has risen to 27 for women and 29 for men (in 1990, it was 23 for women and 26 for men in 1990), and the average age of motherhood has risen from 24.9 (1990) to 26.3; the average age to purchase a house has risen to age 33.
For a glass table top where the glass sits in a metal frame, such as a patio table top, it can be a little tricky to get the exact glass you'll need. If you need to replace broken glass that sits inside a metal frame, please straighten the frame before you measure for the glass you need. We will fabricate the glass exactly to the dimensions you provide with a 1/8" cutting tolerance.
I just wanted to take a moment to tell you what a pleasure it was to do business with your company. I only needed to order one piece of glass for my fireplace and your customer service rep made the whole process an incredibly smooth and pleasant one. Your prices and customer service were 'as advertised' and your reputation is well deserved. I can assure you that you will continue to serve my (or friends) needs in the future
If soup is the first course, to the left of the dinner plate, moving clockwise, are placed a small salad fork to the left of the dinner plate; a large dinner fork to the left of the salad fork; a side plate above the forks; a wine or water glass above and to the right of the dinner plate; a large dinner knife to the right of the dinner plate; a smaller butter knife to the right of the dinner knife; a dinner spoon to the right of the knives; a soup spoon to the right of the dinner spoon.
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking appears in modern-day Yemen in southern Arabia in the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines.[6] It was here in Arabia that coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed in a manner similar to how it is now prepared. But the coffee seeds had to be first exported from East Africa to Yemen, as Coffea arabica is thought to have been indigenous to the former.[7] The Yemenis obtained their coffee via Somali traders from Berbera (who in turn procured the beans from the Ethiopian Highlands) and began to cultivate the seed. By the 16th century, the drink had reached Persia, Turkey, and North Africa. From there, it spread to Europe and the rest of the world.
Whether your space is classic or contemporary, dry or damp, large or small, this versatile wall mirror is perfect for them all! Proudly made in the USA, this piece is crafted with a manufactured wood frame glass center face that offers a glimpse of your reflection in any room. Since installation cleat hardware is included, this rectangular design is ready to hang vertically or horizontally as soon as it reaches your door.
First up: rules. While you can, of course, go with whatever shape and size you like, to have an ideal relationship between your coffee table and sofa, here are some general things to keep in mind: Your coffee table should be at least half the length of your sofa (but no more than roughly ⅔ the length) and should sit at about the same height as the seat, give or take 4 inches (i.e., if your sofa is 90-inches long and 20-inches tall, you should look for something, no matter the shape, that's around 45 to 54 inches wide and 16 to 24 inches tall). However, if you have a sectional with a chaise, and your table is going within the open L-shape that sofa shape creates, that 1/2 to 2/3 guideline applies better to just the length of the horizontal seat, rather than the full length of the sofa. Here's a quick graphic to show you what we mean, as well as a breakdown of ideal shapes by sofa configuration:
Furniture is a signifier of taste, an indicator of both social and physical mobility, a testament to one's stage in life. And all of those thing have changed, some of them dramatically, between our parents' generation and ours. The styles of furniture, and what's fashionable, have always been evolving, but the sociological shift in where it fits in our lives is dramatic and telling. Simply put, we think of furniture differently — which is, in truth, a way of saying that we think about the trajectory of our lives differently.
Late in 1947, Mr. Bruce dropped the lawn chair line and began to manufacture a group of occasional tables. With a briefcase full of sketches, Mr. Bruce made a quick tour of Eastern retail furniture outlets and came home with $200,000 in orders... this before the first sample tables were made at the plant. In 1948, the company started producing mahogany and gum tables with leather and mahogany tops, shifting the next year to leather tops exclusively with all genuine Honduras mahogany.
Once the steel legs are bent and cut to the right length, they'll need to be welded to some steel plate that will be screwed into the underside of the wood tabletop. Drill holes for your screws before you do any welding. You can use a handheld drill for these holes if you clamp the metal plate down appropriately. Use a drill bit suitable for steel. I used a carbide center drill bit with LOTS of cutting fluid applied regularly.
Lighting up your home doesn't have to mean sacrificing style - set any space aglow while also adding contemporary appeal with this eye-catching floor lamp. Crafted from metal, it features a clean-lined base while three tubular arms crisscross for a distinctive look. Each arm features a frosted, thin cylinder that supports an included 40 W Halogen bulb (not replaced if missing or broken), perfect for brightening up your space in a contemporary style.
I just wanted to drop you a note of thanks for the great job you did for me. I had an emergency need for some tempered glass and all local sources indicated that it would be 7-10 days for delivery. While searching the internet, I came across your company and immediately made the call. Your representative immediately took my info and order and said I would have my items by 10:30 the next morning. I was amazed to find them here by 9:30, cut to the correct size and complete. Your service is amazing. Please accept my congratulations and thanks for a job well done. I only wish you could bottle it so it was more readily available to the rest of the manufacturing world.
Before you start playing you need to create two txt files on the SD card, one called "teths.txt" and the other called "snkhs.txt". In both of these files put the number 0 then save them on the root folder of the SD card. These are the high score tracking files and will be updated every time the high score is beaten. If you want to reset it, just change the values back to 0 on a PC.
A number of products are sold for the convenience of consumers who do not want to prepare their own coffee or who do not have access to coffeemaking equipment. Instant coffee is dried into soluble powder or freeze-dried into granules that can be quickly dissolved in hot water.[120] Originally invented in 1907,[121][122] it rapidly gained in popularity in many countries in the post-war period, with Nescafé being the most popular product.[123] Many consumers determined that the convenience in preparing a cup of instant coffee more than made up for a perceived inferior taste,[124] although, since the late 1970s, instant coffee has been produced differently in such a way that is similar to the taste of freshly brewed coffee.[citation needed] Paralleling (and complementing) the rapid rise of instant coffee was the coffee vending machine invented in 1947 and widely distributed since the 1950s.[125]
More (adult, nested) lifestyle, in other words, and less commodity: You don't need to buy everything at West Elm, the store suggests, but it'll provide you with the background elements (read: items over $750) against which you can build your own personality. It doesn't matter that everyone who looks and spends like you is doing the same: You'll still be able to make the look your own, a point driven home by West Elm's "Share Your Style" function, which encourages customers to tag Instagram posts with #MyWestElm. Those images not only show up on the webpage for each item, but are used, to great success, in West Elm's social media ads. (The click-through rate on #MyWestElm-content ads was 2.6 times that of normal content, the company told AdWeek, and those clicks ended in a sale three times more often than other click-throughs.)
Polyphenols in coffee have been shown to affect free radicals in vitro,[175] but there is no evidence that this effect occurs in humans. Polyphenol levels vary depending on how beans are roasted as well as for how long. As interpreted by the Linus Pauling Institute and the European Food Safety Authority, dietary polyphenols, such as those ingested by consuming coffee, have little or no direct antioxidant value following ingestion.[176][177][178]
This Juliette Glass Top Coffee Table will slay the design game. With an airy silhouette, the brass-finished frame is a ~work of art~ with its geometric cut outs and minimalist vibe. Stack your fave coffee table books and cutesy décor for an OTT look that will have you raking in the "Likes". Juliette's modern design and artistic side panels will upgrade your space to help you adult in style.
Of course, when choosing the right coffee table for you or your family, you should consider your lifestyle. Do you need a piece with a lot of storage? Consider a storage piece. Are you one to play board games in the living room constantly? Make sure it's a comfortable piece to gather around. Do you have a tendency to put your feet up on the coffee table when watching TV? Maybe an ottoman is a better option for you. As for coffee tables that are kid-friendly, opt for a piece that has no sharp edges and isn't made of glass.
I've been searching for a second hand, affordable round coffee table for almost a year. I learned the hard way that a 3 legged table isn't ideal for kids and their Lego building. My 5-year-old son flipped the table more than once just by leaning on it the wrong way. (milk, food, lego creations ended up all over the place). I finally found the perfect vintage table at a shop last week for $50!!! Four legs or a very heavy, sturdy table is the way to go with round.
If you are short on space the round glass coffee table can be a great addition to your living room. With the round shape you have more flexibility than if you were using a square or rectangular shaped table. With the round shape you can place furniture around any point of the table and still have a place to sit while also keeping the room balanced. Because of the freedom you have when arranging a room with a round glass coffee table it is easy to come up with a contemporary living room design. This kind of abstract design might have one chair to one side of the table and a couch on the other, depending on your space. With a rectangular table this would seem off balance, but with a round table, it blends together nicely.
ClickBank is the retailer of products on this site. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. ClickBank's role as retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of these products or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of these products.
But the couch's buttons began to fall off almost immediately — an event that, the more Hezel talked to other young professionals who'd also been seduced by West Elm aspirational marketing, was incredibly common. West Elm doesn't have a space to rate or comment on individual items, but Hezel found dozens of comments and complaints about it online — taking over West Elm's Instagram accounts, spreading their fury on local West Elm Yelp pages. She questioned West Elm employees about the couch, and even they admitted that its lifespan was a mere one to three years. On New Year's Eve, the couch collapsed under her friends.
She wanted something more traditional. I started by looking for a reasonably priced table leg. The one I found was from Van Dyke's Restorers. They have tons of shapes and sizes. It was on sale, around $16 each plus some shipping. I sketched up a square table per her request. The table would be 42" wide, 42" long and 18 ¾" tall. (the sketch originally had a 15" leg but it did not suit her). I attempted to use stock wood for all the components to keep it simple, on time and on budget.
Designer Shawn Henderson pared down the coffee table decor in the living room of this Montana mountain home. The custom sofa, in a JAB Anstoetz fabric, is by Dune, the 1950s chair (left) is in a Dedar fabric, and the custom armchair is covered in Arabel fabrics; the 1930s orange lacquer–and-shagreen sideboard is French, the 1950s Murano glass table lamp is by Seguso, the 1955 chandelier is by FontanaArte, the custom rug is by Beauvais, and the Venetian plaster walls are in Benjamin Moore's Stonington Gray.
Whether your style leans into the breeze or fast-forwards into futuristic territory, the Belham Living Lamont Round Coffee Table - Chrome creates a dynamic centerpiece for your seating group. Anything you place on the mirrored low shelf is displayed in a position of prominence. Beveled glass is tempered for strength and safety. Chrome-plated steel encircles all the edges, adding chic luster to the scene.
Possession of tableware has to a large extent been determined by individual wealth; the greater the means, the higher was the quality of tableware that was owned and the more numerous its pieces. In the London of the 13th century, the more affluent citizens owned fine furniture and silver, "while those of straiter means possessed only the simplest pottery and kitchen utensils." By the later 16th century, "even the poorer citizens dined off pewter rather than wood" and had plate, jars and pots made from "green glazed earthenware".[5] The nobility often used their arms on heraldic china.
Create a focal point of interest for your living room with a glass coffee table from Crate and Barrel. Contemporary and stylish, our glass tables stand out in your space. Browse our wide range of glass tables to find a style that complements your existing decor. We offer coffee tables in round, rectangular, square and parsons designs. We also have beautiful glass side and console tables as well as outdoor coffee tables with glass tops. Shop our selection of glass coffee tables.
Quite a number of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church also avoid caffeinated drinks. In its teachings, the Church encourages members to avoid tea, coffee, and other stimulants. Abstinence from coffee, tobacco, and alcohol by many Adventists has afforded a near-unique opportunity for studies to be conducted within that population group on the health effects of coffee drinking, free from confounding factors. One study was able to show a weak but statistically significant association between coffee consumption and mortality from ischemic heart disease, other cardiovascular disease, all cardiovascular diseases combined, and all causes of death.[215]
Offer a cosmopolitan twist to any seating group or entertainment space with this understated barstool, the perfect pop of on-trend appeal for your aesthetic. Let a pair flank a simple metal pub table in the living room to match its chrome-finished stainless steel base, then play off its block-y silhouette with midcentury-inspired arm chairs and tables in a nearby seating group. Featuring an adjustable height mechanism, classic foot rest, and swivel seat design, this piece makes it easy for...
When I was a toddler, my grandmother reupholstered it with the fabric I loved, stapled and sweating through the Minnesota summer while I napped. It traveled with our family when we moved to Idaho, one of our only pieces of furniture, a centerpiece of the living room. It moved to the new house we built down the street, where it became the TV room couch, home to hundreds of hours of cartoons and Star Trek: The Next Generation and MTV. My brother and I would hang upside down from it, our hair grazing the carpet, seeing how long we could last until the pounding in our heads became impossible to bear.
For anyone living in a small space where every piece of furniture counts, think about cutting corners (literally) and going with something round. It's also a good choice to pair with a sectional or sofa with chaise since it's a good "nook" shape, i.e. it fits into a little nook of space nicely like in the family room of Jaime Derringer from Design Milk above. Another hot tip if space is at a premium or if your room is already busy is to consider a glass top like #9 and #24. This helps things appear more visually open—if you don't see it, is it really even there? Speaking of smaller spaces, storage is NEVER unwelcomed in a tight room, which is why we really love #10, #22 and #25 for their deep, hidden-away storage (great for stashing hobby items, toys and more). Round coffee tables also seem to have a bit more fun (the blondes of the table world??), so why not cash in on the availability of options for something more sculptural like #4, #6, #16, #20 and #27?
Other accounts attribute the discovery of coffee to Sheikh Omar. According to an ancient chronicle (preserved in the Abd-Al-Kadir manuscript), Omar, who was known for his ability to cure the sick through prayer, was once exiled from Mocha in Yemen to a desert cave near Ousab (modern-day Wusab, about 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Zabid).[16] Starving, Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubbery but found them to be bitter. He tried roasting the seeds to improve the flavor, but they became hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the seed, which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this "miracle drug" reached Mocha, Omar was asked to return and was made a saint.[17]
Your coffee table serves as the centerpiece of your ensemble, so make sure you have one you love. For a contemporary look with ample display space, try this sleek piece. Simple and stylish, it showcases a distinct design with an oval top and two curved bottom shelves. The glass top is complemented by the sleek metallic legs and glossy black finish on the lower shelves. Try setting it in the middle of your entertainment arrangement, then use the lower shelves to stow glossy magazines and the top...
In 1672 an Armenian named Pascal established a coffee stall in Paris that was ultimately unsuccessful and the city had to wait until 1689 for its first coffeehouse when Procopio Cutò opened the Café Procope. This coffeehouse still exists today and was a major meeting place of the French Enlightenment; Voltaire, Rousseau, and Denis Diderot frequented it, and it is arguably the birthplace of the Encyclopédie, the first modern encyclopedia.[193] America had its first coffeehouse in Boston, in 1676.[194] Coffee, tea and beer were often served together in establishments which functioned both as coffeehouses and taverns; one such was the Green Dragon in Boston, where John Adams, James Otis, and Paul Revere planned rebellion.[33]
Give your outdoor arrangement a boost of light as you add a splash of contemporary style with this one-light wall sconce, rated for wet locations. This design is crafted from steel and lead wire, and it features a rectangular backplate and a cylindrical metal shade that projects its single light downwards. This luminary accommodates a 100W incandescent bulb (not included), and the manufacturer provides a one-year warranty on this product.
All olives are handpicked at exactly the optimal stage of ripeness. We use an age old, traditional long, slow, natural fermentation process to preserve all the goodness and rich olive taste. The olives are fermented in brine for 9-12 months, before it is ready for packing. Only sea salt and water are used to bottle the fruit, no preservatives or colouring agents are added.
A square shape makes the Bernhardt Merrill Square Metal Cocktail Table a natural pairing for your sectional sofa. It's crowned by thick, clear tempered glass that allows you to see the open, geometric leg base from all angles. The glass has notched details to accommodate the canted corners on this coffee table. The stainless steel framework is polished to high shine, adding a glamorous touch. For a cohesive living room, search out companion pieces in the Merrill line.
Siasos, G.; Oikonomou, E.; Chrysohoou, C.; Tousoulis, D.; Panagiotakos, D.; Zaromitidou, M.; Zisimos, K.; Kokkou, E.; Marinos, G.; Papavassiliou, A. G.; Pitsavos, C.; Stefanadis, C. (2013). "Consumption of a boiled Greek type of coffee is associated with improved endothelial function: The Ikaria Study". Vascular Medicine. 18 (2): 55–62. doi:10.1177/1358863X13480258. PMID 23509088.
Coffee tables are usually found in the living room or sitting room. They are available in many different variations and prices vary from style to style. Coffee tables may also incorporate cabinets or drawers for storage. The most common construction of coffee tables is out of wood (though faux wood tables are increasingly common); metal, glass, and leather coffee tables are also popular. Typically, stainless steel or aluminum are used for metal coffee tables. The idiom "Gather round the coffee table" is derived from the furniture piece and its proclivity for encouraging conviviality and light conversation. Coffee tables were thought to initially be constructed in Renaissance England.
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50 year old "petty crime" costs man his job!
This is exactly why you don't want a criminal record. It keeps coming up time and time again, costing you a job, or preventing you from getting a job. Having a criminal record is embarrassing and it is the type of thing that just stays with you for your whole life. If you have been charged with a crime or need a crime expunged from your record please contact an experienced criminal defense attorney. Don't be like this poor gentleman.
A 'nickel-and-dime' crime almost 50 years ago gets 68-year-old employee fired
By Ed Payne, CNN
updated 5:31 AM EDT, Thu Aug 30, 2012
(CNN) -- Sometimes life can turn on a dime. Just ask Richard Eggers, a former Wells Fargo employee. The 68-year-old Eggers was fired by the company's home mortgage division in West Des Moines, Iowa, in July for a petty crime he committed nearly 50 years ago. He got caught using a cardboard cutout of a dime to run a laundromat washing machine when he was 19.
Officially, the crime is called operating a coin changing machine by false means, court records from 1963 say. "It was silly and stupid," Eggers told CNN affiliate KCCI-TV. "I am not terribly proud of it, but, it doesn't warrant a termination a half a century later." Wells Fargo says it's following federal laws laid down by the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIC). They're designed to weed out employees guilty of identity theft and mortgage fraud. "Wells Fargo is ... bound by US Federal law ... to protect our customers and their personal financial information from someone who we know has committed an act of dishonesty or breach of trust -- regardless of when the incidents occurred," Vickee J. Adams, vice president of external communications, said in a statement.
"It is uncomfortable, but it is a law that we have to follow," she said. "We have the responsibility to avoid hiring or continuing to employ someone who we know has a criminal record." Wells Fargo says between May 2011 and May 2012, it performed thorough background checks on all its team members, regardless of when they were hired. The screenings were the same as those required for new hires. "The whole thing was too absurd for words," Eggers told KCCI. "They had their instructions and there was nothing I could change, but I wanted to let them know I didn't accept it as a logical and reasonable business practice."
Wells Fargo says Eggers has been put in touch with an FDIC case manager to work on steps to "make him eligible for reemployment." Leonard Bates, an attorney representing Eggers and three other employees who used to work for the company, said he may file a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo and the FDIC.
"Common sense tells you that Mr. Eggers and his 49-year-old crime was not the downfall of the mortgage industry in 2008 and 2009," Bates told KCCI.
Posted by Brandan Davies Esq. at 11:56 AM
Labels: . criminal defense lawyer, crimes, kansas lawyer, overland park lawyer
Archbishop faces DUI charge in San Diego
Is Social Media the new street corner? 15 busted ...


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Popular and Commercial Music
Popular and Commercial Music: Home
Music Industry Studies Research Guide
Contains resources (databases, etc.) related to research for Music Industry Studies.
Catalogs & Journals
What is this? A catalog of our library's holdings.
What can I search for? Records to books, journals, CDs, DVDs, musical scores, etc. Access to e‐books.
Browse the shelves:
HD30.28: Business/strategic planning (3rd floor)
ML74: Music Technology (1st floor)
ML112: Music Printing & Publishing (1st floor)
ML3785: Music Journalism (1st floor)
ML3790-‐3792: Music trade (1st floor)
ML3795: Music as a profession. Vocational guidance (1st floor)
The library's online catalog contains information about the books, e-books, music scores, videos (both DVD and VHS), and sound recordings that the library owns. The catalog also contains detailed information about the print journal and magazine titles that the library owns, but it does not contain citations for individual articles. For more help in using the catalog, ask a librarian, review our FAQs.
Catalog of books, web resources, and other material worldwide in OCLC member libraries. (Does not include book chapters or individual articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers.) Includes considerable non-English language material.
Use this to locate popular music magazines and journals like Billboard, Spin, and Rolling Stone.
Finding Music Scores
The library circulating collection contains scores and fake books for practice and performance. Call numbers for vocal music fall in M1495-2199, with "folk, national, and ethnic music" (which includes rock, pop, Broadway, jazz, country, and more) in M1627-1853. Call numbers for instrumental music fall in M5-M1480. Links to some specific types of scores and music books are listed below, or you can search the library catalog for a genre or particular artist.
Songs with piano
Songs with guitar
Rhythm and blues music
News, columns, charts, boxoffice, tour & concert bookings, and more information on the music industry. Login by reference librarian required. Please come to the front desk for assistance with electronic version. Dates vary, archives from 2000.
RILM Abstracts of Musical Literature
Provides citations and abstracts to articles, dissertations and books on music. Includes some non-English language material. 1967 to present. Limited to five simultaneous users.
Searchable full text of the daily newspaper. 1980 to present.
Times-Picayune [New Orleans] 1989 - present
Search or browse for full text of the New Orleans daily newspaper, the Times-Picayune. Part of America's News. 1989 to present.
Wavelength (the predecessor to Offbeat Magazine) was originally been a record review insert. Throughout its run from 1980-1991, Wavelength was dedicated to telling the life stories of the many unheralded New Orleans musicians who had influenced American popular music. It covered the range of New Orleans music -- jazz and gospel, rock and classical, but with an emphasis on rhythm and blues, highlighting the work of some of the city's most talented writers, artists, and photographers including Jeff Hannusch, Bunny Matthews, Skip Bolen, Rick Olivier, Kalamu ya Salaam, Gene Scaramuzzo, Rick Coleman, Paula Burch, Al Kennedy and dozens of others. The
Business Databases
Find articles about business in magazines, newspapers and journals, author profiles, and country economic reports. Coverage varies, as early as 1886 to present. Click "More" and then "Company Profiles" to view DataMonitor and LifeStyle Analytics reports.
Technology in the Library
Digital Media Workstations
Four iMacs and four PC computers are located in front of Media Services on the first floor of the library. They have flatbed scanners for scanning documents and images. Materials on how to use the scanners are located at the computers. The staff in Media Services can also assist you with these computers.
Portable Equipment
Media Services and the Learning Commons checkout portable equipment for student, faculty, and staff use.
URL: https://researchguides.loyno.edu/popular-and-commercial-music
Subjects: Music, Music Industry Studies