Â鶹´«Ã½

Oiling the wheels

By

A two-wheel-drive motor cycle has been invented by the Japanese company
Yamaha (EP 779 205). The petrol engine not only drives the rear wheel through a
chain, but it also powers an oil pump. The pump feeds a hydraulic motor that
drives the front wheel. The motor also serves as a hydraulic clutch, ensuring
that the front and rear wheels revolve at the same speed.

More from Â鶹´«Ã½

Explore the latest news, articles and features

Humans

Flat head syndrome discovered in Iron Age skeletons

News
NGC 6357: Cosmic 'Winter' Wonderland Although there are no seasons in space, this cosmic vista invokes thoughts of a frosty winter landscape. It is, in fact, a region called NGC 6357 where radiation from hot, young stars is energizing the cooler gas in the cloud that surrounds them. This composite image contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the ROSAT telescope (purple), infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (orange), and optical data from the SuperCosmos Sky Survey (blue) made by the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. Located in our galaxy about 5,500 light years from Earth, NGC 6357 is actually a "cluster of clusters," containing at least three clusters of young stars, including many hot, massive, luminous stars. The X-rays from Chandra and ROSAT reveal hundreds of point sources, which are the young stars in NGC 6357, as well as diffuse X-ray emission from hot gas. There are bubbles, or cavities, that have been created by radiation and material blowing away from the surfaces of massive stars, plus supernova explosions. Astronomers call NGC 6357 and other objects like it "HII" (pronounced "H-two") regions. An HII region is created when the radiation from hot, young stars strips away the electrons from neutral hydrogen atoms in the surrounding gas to form clouds of ionized hydrogen, which is denoted scientifically as "HII". Researchers use Chandra to study NGC 6357 and similar objects because young stars are bright in X-rays. Also, X-rays can penetrate the shrouds of gas and dust surrounding these infant stars, allowing astronomers to see details of star birth that would be otherwise missed. A recent paper on Chandra observations of NGC 6357 by Leisa Townsley of Pennsylvania State University appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series and is available online. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

Space

Why the most central law in cosmology may need to be broken

Comment
Spectacular discovery provides insight into the internal organs of a marine reptile Fossil of the 245-million-year-old marine reptile Austronaga minuta. https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1143115

Life

Spectacular fossil preserves internal organs of ancient marine reptile

News

Comment

Our verdict on Claire North’s space opera Slow Gods: a big thumbs-up

Culture

Popular articles

Trending Â鶹´«Ã½ articles

A new kind of drug will help fight previously untreatable conditions

Eye implant that restores vision lost to age approved for use

An island has been waging war on rats. They think they’ve finally won

Your body changes as you age and so should your diet – here’s how 

Hunter-gatherers introduced fish to a mountain lake 7000 years ago

Lost civilisation in the Amazon may have numbered 3 million people

Extraordinary ichthyosaur fossil shows its last meal was a pterosaur

Jupiter’s deepest mysteries were hidden in shadow. Now we can see them

Why the most central law in cosmology may need to be broken

What if the idea of the autism spectrum is completely wrong?