RSS 2.0 Specification (version 2.0.11) RSS 2.0 Specification Editor's Note: This is the current version of the RSS 2.0 specification, published by the RSS Advisory Board on March 30, 2009 as version 2.0.11. The current version of the RSS spec will always be available at this link, all changes have been logged and other revisions have been archived. Contents What is RSS? RSS is a Web content syndication format. Its name is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a dialect of XML. A summary of RSS version history. At the top level, a RSS document is a <rss> element, with a mandatory attribute called version, that specifies the version of RSS that the document conforms to. Subordinate to the <rss> element is a single <channel> element, which contains information about the channel (metadata) and its contents. Sample files Here are sample files for: RSS 0.91, 0.92 and 2.0. Note that the sample files may point to documents and services that no longer exist. About this document Required channel elements Optional channel elements
STEREO Saturn Moon Has Oxygen Atmosphere An oxygen atmosphere has been found on Saturn's second largest moon, Rhea, astronomers announced Thursday—but don't hold your breath for colonization opportunities. For one thing, the 932-mile-wide (1,500-kilometer-wide), ice-covered moon is more than 932 million miles (1.5 billion kilometers) from Earth. For another, the average surface temperature is -292 degrees Fahrenheit (-180 degrees Celsius). And at less than 62 miles (100 kilometers) thick, the newfound oxygen layer is so thin that, at Earthlike temperatures and pressure, Rhea's entire atmosphere would fit in a single midsize building. Still, the discovery implies that worlds with oxygen-filled air may not be so unusual in the cosmos. (Related: "Potentially Habitable Planets Are Common, Study Says.") At about 327,000 miles (527,000 kilometers) from Saturn, Rhea orbits inside the planet's magnetic field. Knowing where and how oxygen exists in the universe may in turn help scientists plan future robotic and manned missions.
Cassini Images of Seas on Titan Cassini Spacecraft Images Seas on Saturn's Moon Titan Instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft have found evidence for seas, likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn's moon Titan. One such feature is larger than any of the Great Lakes of North America and is about the same size as several seas on Earth. Cassini's radar instrument imaged several very dark features near Titan's north pole. Much larger than similar features seen before on Titan, the largest dark feature measures at least 100,000 square kilometers (39,000 square miles). Image right: A comparison view of a lake on Titan and Lake Superior. "We've long hypothesized about oceans on Titan and now with multiple instruments we have a first indication of seas that dwarf the lakes seen previously," said Dr. The imaging cameras, which provide a global view of Titan, have imaged a much larger, irregular dark feature.
The Oracle of Bacon Sights and Sounds of Titan Sights and Sounds of Titan The European Space Agency's Huygens probe has landed on Saturn's giant moon Titan. Listen to this story via streaming audio, a downloadable file, or get help. January 16, 2005: Congratulations, ESA! The European Space Agency's (ESA's) Huygens probe, carried to Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft, parachuted to the surface of Saturn's giant moon Titan on Friday, Jan. 14th, revealing finally what lies beneath Titan's thick orange clouds. Right: From an altitude of 16 km, Huygens photographed these drainage channels leading to a shoreline. First images released by the ESA depict sinuous drainage channels leading to an apparent shoreline. It's all a bit familiar, yet at the same time utterly alien. Above: Small "rocks," possibly made of water ice, at the Huygens landing site. Because Titan has a thick atmosphere, able to carry sound waves, the moon is a noisy place. Huygens was designed to float in case it landed in a river or lake--but it didn't.
Cassini Virtual Tour Cassini Virtual Tour [Editor's note, March 2011: for expanded development of this project, please see [Editor's note, July 2010: The data that drives the "Mission Mode" of CASSIE was made available through the first days of July 2010. It was deemed cost prohibitive to update, so this page and CASSIE itself remains active as an archive reference until a suitable replacement becomes available.] If this is the first time you've tried CASSIE, when you click on the button below it will automatically download and install the needed software (a free plug-in to your web-browser) and real Cassini mission data. The initial download is about 9 megabytes so it should only take a minute or two. When CASSIE appears in your web browser, click on one of the three Modes located in the large tab along the bottom of the screen. Windows and Mac OS only Further description
Trees could be the ultimate in green power - tech - 10 September 2009 Shoving electrodes into tree trunks to harvest electricity may sound like the stuff of dreams, but the idea is increasingly attracting interest. If we can make it work, forests could power their own sensor networks to monitor the health of the ecosystem or provide early warning of forest fires. Children the world over who have tried the potato battery experiment know that plant material can be a source of electricity. In this case, the energy comes from reduction and oxidation reactions eating into the electrodes, which are made of two different metals – usually copper and zinc. The same effect was thought to lie behind claims that connecting electrodes driven into a tree trunk and the ground nearby can provide a current. Practical power While proving that trees can provide a source of power is a significant step, a key question remains: can the tiny voltage produced by a tree be harnessed for anything useful? Green power race More From New Scientist Promoted Stories Gmail is....OUT!
Enceladus Saturn II Enceladus ("en SEL a dus") is the eighth of Saturn's known satellites: orbit: 238,020 km from Saturn diameter: 498 km mass: 7.30e19 kg In Greek mythology Enceladus was a Titan who was defeated in battle and buried under Mount Etna by Athena. Discovered in 1789 by Herschel. Craters and smooth plains Enceladus has the highest albedo (>0.9) of any body in the solar system. At least five different types of terrain have been identified on Enceladus. This means that Enceladus must have been active until very recently (and perhaps is still active today). Enceladus is much too small to be heated solely by the decay of radioactive material in its interior at present. Cassini closeup view (looks like Europa?) Enceladus is locked in a 1:2 resonance with Dione (similar to the situation between Io and Europa). Enceladus is very likely the source of the material in Saturn's tenuous E ring. More about Enceladus Open Issues What is the resurfacing mechanism? Home ...
Cassini-Huygens: Kids Space-Amazing Stories KIDS SPACE - Amazing Stories - DVD with signatures on way to Saturn As it makes its long, lonely journey through the solar system, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is carrying more than just science instruments and sophisticated cameras. Keeping the spacecraft company is the result of a NASA campaign-- a DVD disk placed onboard the spacecraft containing the signatures of more than a half million well-wishers from 81 nations. These signatures of 616,420 people were recorded onto the disk, then strategically tucked into the side of the Cassini spacecraft. To send signatures into space is not a new concept, but it has never been done on such a widespread scale. The advent of the digital age gave NASA the opportunity to dramatically increase the number of signatures that could be sent to space. The public loved the idea. "The response was overwhelming," recalls Charley Kohlhase, then-Science and Mission Design Manager of the Cassini-Huygens mission.
Plastic converts raindrops to electricity The pitter-patter of raindrops on a plastic panel could be a new source of electricity thanks to work done by researchers at France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Grenoble. While humans have harnessed the power of rain for thousands of years, energy is usually extracted from rainwater as it flows downhill in a river or stream. Now, Jean-Jacques Chaillout and colleagues have created a panel that converts the impact energy of falling raindrops directly into electricity. Their device uses a plastic called polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) that vibrates when struck by raindrops. Impact energies The team studied several different types of rainfall and found that drizzle produced millimeter-wide droplets with an impact energy of around 2 µJ, while a downpour involved drops that were about 5 mm across and produced an impact energy five hundred times greater. The team settled on a device based on a 10 cm strip of PVDF just 25 µm thick, which they then built and tested (Smart Mater.
The Unsolved Mystery of Saturn's Hexagon -4 Times the Size of Earth "Cassini is indebted to Voyager for its many fascinating discoveries and for pavingthe way for Cassini," says Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at JPL, who started her career working on Voyager from 1977 to 1989. "On Cassini, we still compare our data to Voyager's and proudly build on Voyager's heritage." But the Voyager Mission left a few mysteries that Cassini has not yet solved. One of the most perplexing mysteries is Saturn's hexagpn. NASA scientists first spotted a hexagonal weather pattern when they stitched together Voyager images of Saturn's north pole. Cassini has obtained higher-resolution pictures of the hexagon – which tells scientists it's a remarkably stable wave in one of the jet streams that remains 30 years later – but scientists are still not sure what forces maintain the object. After the sunlight faded, darkness shrouded the north pole for 15 years. The hexagon was originally discovered in images taken by the Voyager spacecraft in the early 1980s.
Cassini's continued mission NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now a nearly a year into its extended mission, called Cassini Equinox (after its initial 4-year mission ended in June, 2008). The spacecraft continues to operate in good health, returning amazing images of Saturn, its ring system and moons, and providing new information and science on a regular basis. The mission's name, "Equinox" comes from the upcoming Saturnian equinox in August, 2009, when its equator (and rings) will point directly toward the Sun. The Equinox mission runs through September of 2010, with the possibility of further extensions beyond that. Collected here are 24 more intriguing images from our ringed neighbor. This natural color mosaic was acquired by the Cassini spacecraft as it soared 39 degrees above the unilluminated side of Saturn's rings.
Tempest-from-hell seen on Saturn (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists analyzing data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft now have the first-ever, up-close details of a Saturn storm that is eight times the surface area of Earth. On Dec. 5, 2010, Cassini first detected the storm that has been raging ever since. It appears approximately 35 degrees north latitude of Saturn. The storm is about 500 times larger than the biggest storm previously seen by Cassini during several months from 2009 to 2010. "Cassini shows us that Saturn is bipolar," said Andrew Ingersoll, an author of the study and a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. At its most intense, the storm generated more than 10 lightning flashes per second. Cassini has detected 10 lightning storms on Saturn since the spacecraft entered the planet's orbit and its southern hemisphere was experiencing summer, with full solar illumination not shadowed by the rings.