Citizen Minute

Astronomers working with the Hubble Space Telescope have...

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:08:44 -0400

Astronomers working with the Hubble Space Telescope have spotted a new moon around distant Pluto, bringing the known count up to 5. The image above was released by NASA, the new moon will be called P5.

The news was announced by Alan Stern through his twitter account.

Astronomers estimate P5 to be between 6 and 15 miles (9.6 to 24 km) in diameter. It orbits Pluto in the same plane as the other moons — Charon, Nix, Hydra and P4.

The Most Expensive Rent Award Goes To...

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 10:48:54 -0400

As a New Yorker I am always deterred from living in the city due to its ludicrous rent prices. I am...

Amazon is the largest online retailer around. It is famous for...

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 10:19:47 -0400

Amazon is the largest online retailer around. It is famous for revolutionizing free shipping. Amazon offers free shipping on items over $25 + if it is sold by amazon or an amazon approved retailer. Amazon is about to revolutionize shipping again.

Amazon is planning to open two shipping centers in New Jersey. What does this mean for people in the East Coast? The availability of same day shippign options. New York is 1 hour away from Northern NJ, 2 Hours Away from Central Jersey, & 3 Hours away from South Jersey with traffic. Amazon will be able to do same day deliveries to New York, Most likely the city only. It will also make same day shippping availble to New Jersey and Pennsylvania residents.

The greatest news is that Amazon is working to make next day shipping Standard & Free. When you buy an amazon item, you will no longer have to wait days for it ship from the warehouse and another few days to get it, with free shipping option.

Amazon will be opening new warehouse shipping centers in:

New Jersey
Texas
California
Virginia
Tenesse
Indiana

If you live near these states chances are you will see the same day shipping available to you and free next day shipping.

The Bad:

As an online retailer amazon has its perks of avoiding that pesky sales tax. They fought it off for years, but government pressure has made them change their mind. In accordance to US law, if amazon has a physical location in the state, then it is required to collect sales tax. Amazon for the most part had most of its major shipping locations in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and California. Every state that will get an amazon warehouse will have to start paying state tax.

Source: Slate

Chewing Gum = Better Test Scores

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:54:50 -0400

Chewing gum is delicious, helps with your breath, and now can help you do better in the...

The Avengers movie, to say the least was directed and produced...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:52:41 -0400

The Avengers movie, to say the least was directed and produced very well. It was commercially successful, funny at times, and had enough action to keep you entertained for hours.

The movie had a big chunk of the drama centered around the Helicarrier and everyone basically pissing each other off, until the Hulk started destroying everything. In the movie you will see that everyone is impressed by the sheer size of the carrier, and its ability to fly.

Luckily for us, someone decided to test out the physics behind the Helicarrier and its flight capabilities. Wired science did all of the math and physic equations.

Their results are as follow:

1. Flight is possible, only if the rotors were MUCH bigger.

Look at the size of those rotors

2. When Iron man tried to jump start the rotors. The G forces created at the speed he was going would have probably killed him. It is up for discussion on whether his suit can protect him for the G forces.

3. The speed needed for the rotors to create lift off would have too much tension, and there probably isn’tany material light weight + strong enough to lift the Helicarrier.

All the physics and how it was done is explained on Wired! Take a look.

When you hear Graphene, what comes to mind? Pencils, Lead,...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:03:09 -0400

When you hear Graphene, what comes to mind? Pencils, Lead, Batteries? Anything that sounds like graphite.

What is Graphite & Why is it important

Graphite is a Hexagonal- Honey Comb shape structure of carbon atoms tightly packed together. It is most commonly associated with the lead that comes in your pencil. It has properties that make it a valuable resource in today’s society. For instance every time you write with your pencil, a layer of the carbon atoms slides off to your paper and creates that lead silvery mark. It is also used as an electrode in items such as batteries. The material is very strong having one of the highest weight to strength ratio’s available and light thus finding its way into the construction arena. Due to its slippery nature, graphite is also used as a dry lubricant in machine parts.

What is Graphene & Why is it Important?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms in the hexagonal honeycomb shape. The layer is so thin that it has many number of applications.

Transistors: Graphene can be used to make excellent transistors. It is so thin we can easily control whether or not it conducts by applying an electric field.

Gas Sensors: Gas molecules that land on graphene affect its electronic properties in a measurable way. We can create gas sensors which are sensitive to a single atom or molecule!

Strong & Thin: Graphene is effectively the thinnest material that we can make out of atoms. Suprisingly it is also very strong, thanks to a lack of crystal boundaries to break along and very strong bonds between carbon atoms

Elevator To Space: Carbon nanotubes are made from rolled up graphene, and it has been suggested that cabling made from nanotubes would be strong enough to create an elevator into space.

Self Healing: Due to its nature of being incredibly thin, it is easily damaged. However A study, published in Nano Letters suggests that Graphene can easily repair itself by attaching itself to other exposed carbon atoms. The found that the atoms snapped back into place very quickly. The self healing properties will increase the importance of graphene for future uses.

Sources:

Graphene Industries

BBC News

NASA Engineers have a tough job getting out of the Earths...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:59:12 -0400

NASA Engineers have a tough job getting out of the Earths atmosphere, you would think re entering another atmosphere would be easier. Actually, its just as complicated and suspenseful to get a rover onto Mars surface. The Mars atmosphere is thinner than earths, thus the rover will fly faster through it and it will still have to face re entry heat. The rover capsule will be flying at 1,000 MPH in Mar’s atmosphere when it will deploy its parachute that will lower the speed to 200 MPH. Then its back shell will separate itself from the capsule. Then back shell will separate itself from the Rover and then you can land.

Entry into Mar’s atmosphere goes something like this. (According to The Video)

Entry Interface
Peak Heating
Hyper-sonic Aero-Maneuvering
Parachute Deploy
Heat Shield Separation
Radar Data Collection
Backshell Separation
Powered Descent
Sky Crane Rover Separation
First Contact
Touch Down
Back Shell Fly Away

To make things more interesting, the entry follows the sequel of a suspense movie. Radio signal takes 7 minutes to reach earth, and re entry takes 7 minutes. Thus, by the time the signal reaches earth the Rover may or may have not crashed. These 7 minutes are the crunch time jeopardy music background that tells NASA if their creation is alive

Youtube Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s&feature=player_embedded

Solutions to Your Productivity Problems!

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 21:20:44 -0400

There are many online resources that have vast articles explaining how to be more productive. How to...

We are now on Tumblr!

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:31:58 -0400

If you’re a huge tumblr fan and/or hate writing citizenminute.com on your url bar, dont...

Pardon Us

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:42:23 -0400

Please pardon us, the formats for our articles are being mixed up through the website export...

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:23:09 -0400

CHICKEN

Logo

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:19:01 -0400

Logo

iOS 6 - Apple's New Mobile Operating System

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 01:56:00 -0400

iOS 6 is Apples next operating system that will be included on its iPhones, iPads, and...

Can you afford to rent an apartment? "For Dummies"

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:41:00 -0400

Okay, what we’re going to talk about is plain and simple as the title states. We’re not...

New MacBook Air & MacBook Pro Retina

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:56:56 -0400

The new line of Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have been announced. MacBook Air Spec...

25% of Tablet Buyers Waiting for Windows 8 Tablets

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 16:27:00 -0400

A recent study conducted by Morgan Stanley finds that potential Tablet buyers will flock to...

Are Certificates Of Deposit really worth it today?

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 15:13:14 -0400

Well, I’m sure we all know what certificates of deposits are. They work basically like a savings...

Get a Job !

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:30:00 -0400

Many people out there are just sitting at home, wasting time and not making any money. Time is...

Suits for Executives (Price: $1000 - $5000)

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:03:32 -0400

This section is mainly for people who have a net worth of $1M or higher. People who are CEO’s, VP,...

Suits for Corporate Workers (Middle Class) Price: $400 - $1000

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:21:34 -0400

This section is mainly for people who just started working or for people who just started their own...