The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Astronomer finds new moon orbiting Neptune Posted: 15 Jul 2013 09:08 PM PDT Estimated to be about 20 km in diameter, the moon is located about 105,251 km from Neptune. Astronomer Mark Showalter, with the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, was searching Hubble images for moons inside faint ring fragments circling Neptune when he decided to run his analysis program on a broader part of the sky. "We had been processing the data for quite some time and it was on a whim that I said, 'OK, let's just look out further," Showalter told Reuters. "I changed my programme so that instead of stopping just outside the ring system it processed the data all the way out, walked away from my computer and waited an hour while it did all the processing for me. When I came back, I looked at the image and there was this extra dot that wasn't supposed to be there," Showalter said. Follow-up analysis of other archived Hubble images of Neptune verified the object was a moon. Showalter and colleagues are mulling over a name to propose to the International Astronomical Union, which has final say in the matter. "We haven't really gone far with that. What I can say is that the name will be out of Roman and Greek mythology and it will have to do with characters who are related to Neptune, the god of the oceans," Showalter said. Neptune's largest moon, Triton, was discovered in 1846, just days after the planet itself was found. Nereid, Neptune's third largest moon was found in 1949. Images taken by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft unveiled the second largest moon, Proteus, and five smaller moons, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea and Larissa. Ground-based telescopes found Halimede, Laomedeia, Sao and Nestor in 2002. Sister moon Psamathe turned up a year later. The newly found moon, designated S/2004 N 1, is located between Larissa and Proteus. It orbits Neptune in 23 hours. A paper on the discovery is pending. – Reuters, July 16, 2013. |
| It’s all about the roll when choosing running shoes Posted: 15 Jul 2013 08:17 PM PDT Fitness experts have long advised clients choosing a running shoe to forget fashion and consider the roll or pronation - the way the foot leans inward upon impact. Analysing the roll of the foot remains standard practice among fitness and medical professionals in the belief it will lead to a better shoe fit and fewer injuries. "When it comes to shoe choice, the amount of pronation control is extremely important," said Dr. Jane Andersen, a podiatrist in private practice in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. "Some people need more than others. It can cause a lot of problems if you have the wrong one." Anderson, a runner herself and past president of the American Association for Women Podiatrists, said the No. 1 cause of the overuse injuries she sees, from stress fractures to tendonitis to Plantar fasciitis (heel pain), is shoes that are worn out or the wrong fit. There are three basic levels of control for standard running shoes: neutral, stability and motion control. "Neutral is generally good for a high-arch foot; it doesn't provide extra control for pronation," she said. "The stability shoe works for people who need more support; motion control is for the super flat-footed." At Jack Rabbit Sports store in New York City, clients' arches are observed before they hit the treadmill for runs that are videotaped for slow-motion analysis. "The basic premise is that most people land on their heel (and) overpronate or underpronate," said Johanna Bjorken, the store's merchandise director. "This causes running injuries and shoes can address this. This has been the model." Bjorken said neutral shoes account for 60 to 63 percent of the running shoes sold in her store; 30 to 35 percent are stability shoes. The mobility category is very small and usually follows on doctor's advice. "Some rolling in is natural, normal and beneficial," she explained. "Compared to 20 years ago, running shoes are really much more flexible, lightweight and well designed to work with movements of running." American Council on Exercise spokesperson, Dr. Mark Kelly, a runner for 35 years, is a self-described underpronator who believes in heeding an individual's "biomechanical tendencies." "Get a certified trainer to look at the biomechanics of how you're running," Kelly said. "How are you turning your foot? Are you a forefoot striker, midfoot striker, heel striker, or extreme heel striker?" Connecticut-based exercise physiologist Tom Holland, author of "The Marathon Method," thinks many of the common running-related injuries, such as runner's knee, shin splints and hip issues are related to and exacerbated by improper footwear. "Once you find a shoe that works for you, stick with it," he said. Nevertheless, a recent Danish study cast doubt on whether shoes that control pronation do actually cut down on injury. But the scientists said more work is needed to determine if highly pronated feet face a higher risk of injury than neutral feet. – Reuters, July 16, 2013. |
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