Gravitational lensing
Gravitational lensing is caused by a massive body between a distant object and ourselves. It can create the appearance of two or more objects where there is really only one. The light from the object gets bent round the massive body in between.
The massive body, such as a galaxy or black hole, creates a very strong gravitational field in space. The exact nature of the effect depends on:
Albert Einstein predicted the possibility of gravitational lensing. The discovery that our Sun bends the light of distant objects when their light passes close to it was evidence that the general theory of relativity was correct.
There are three types of lensing:
Strong lensing betrays itself by producing multiple images from the same object. A well-known example is "Einstein's Cross" (Q2237+0305) at a distance of 8 billion lightyears. Here, the gravitational lens produces four images from the same object (a quasar), although it is only one object. The light of the quasar does not travel in a straight line to earth. Instead, it is bent along the gravitational field of a galaxy in front of it. This galaxy is at a distance of 400 million lightyears.
The first discovery of this kind (except the Sun) happened in 1979. Two quasars were close to each other. They both had the same spectrum and proved to be two images of the same quasar (Q0957+651). In 1980 scientists found out which group of galaxies functioned as the lens.
Weak lensing does not produce multiple images of the same object. Instead it produces a highly deformed or stretched image from an object far beyond the lens. In 1986 this was discovered in cluster Abell 370. Later it was understood that this was a greatly deformed image of a galaxy far beyond the cluster.
The object can appear larger or smaller, as is shown in the table. Weak lenses allow us to observe very distant galaxies, which we would be unable to observe without such lens. By bending the light, the amount of light (magnitude) from the source increases. This way a very distant and faint galaxy can become visible, while we normally would not be able to observe it.
In cases of microlensing, there is no distortion in shape. However, the amount of light visible from an object changes periodically. This can be used to detect exoplanets. Light from a distant star is bent and enhanced by the gravitational field of a closer star. The presence of an exo-planet rotating around that closer star bends the light of the star farther away periodically. Object OGLE-2005-BLG-390-Lb, discovered 25 January 2006, is the first exoplanet detected by using microlensing.
Lasse Lindh
Lasse Lindh is a Swedish indie pop musician born in 1974. His debut album "Bra" came out in 1998 on EMI and three singles, "I en annan flicka", "Jag vill vara som du" and "Hon ar battre", were released. After his first solo album he tried a project team named Tribeca with his album producer Claes Björklund.
His second official album "You Wake Up At Sea Tac" was released in 2002. In this album he started to write songs in English. This album was released in USA, France, Japan and other countries.
His most recent album is "Sparks", released in 2009.
Glen Hansard
Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970 in Dublin, Ireland) is the main songwriter and singer/guitarist for Irish rock group The Frames. He is also known for starring in the movie "Once" and co-writing its Academy Award-winning song, "Falling Slowly."
Hansard quit school at age 13 to begin busking on local Dublin streets. He formed The Frames in 1990, and they have been an important part of the Irish music scene ever since. Their first album, "Another Love Song", was released on Island Records in 1991, and their most recent, "The Cost", was released in 2006.
Hansard first came to international attention as guitar player Outspan Foster in the 1991 Alan Parker movie "The Commitments", after attending the New York movie Academy School of Acting. He has often stated that he regretted taking the role, because he felt it distracted from his music career.
In 2003, he presented the television programme "", which showcased Irish music talent on RTÉ.
On 22 April 2006, he released his first album without The Frames, "The swell season", on Overcoat Recordings in collaboration with Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Markéta Irglová, Marja Tuhkanen from Finland on violin and viola, and Bertrand Galen from France on cello. Hansard also spent part of 2006 in front of the cameras for a music-infused Irish movie "Once", in which Hansard plays a Dublin busker, and Irglová an immigrant street vendor. The movie had its American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and received the Festival's World Cinema Audience Award. During the promotional tour, he and Irglová began dating. Said Hansard about his relationship with Irglova: "I had been falling in love with her for a long time, but I kept telling myself she's just a kid". One of the songs they wrote together for the movie ("Falling Slowly") won an Oscar for Best Song in February 2008. Hansard became the first Irish-born person to win in that category. Hansard and Irglová also recorded a version of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" for the movie "I'm Not There" in 2007. In 2009, Hansard said that he and Irglova were no longer romantically linked, and that they are now "good friends."
Aside from his projects with The Frames and Irglová, Hansard also appeared as part of the band on the 2006 Oxfam charity album, "The Cake Sale". In addition, Hansard has recorded a few cover songs, both alone and with band member Colm Mac Con Iomaire, for the Today FM discs "Even Better than the Real Thing". Songs that he has recorded include Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" on "Vol. 1" and Britney Spears' "Everytime" on "Vol. 2".
Outside music, he appeared on a "Simpsons" episode as a street musician in Ireland.
Hansard has remarked about his musical influences: "In my house, when I was a kid, there was the holy trinity, which was Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan with Bob sitting center."
Hansard and The Frames toured as the support act for Bob Dylan in Australia and New Zealand in August 2007 and Hansard often performs Van Morrison's songs in concert. "Into the Mystic" and "And the Healing Has Begun" were included on the collector's edition of the soundtrack for the movie "Once".
Ciscaucasian hamster
The Ciscaucasian hamster ("Mesocricetus raddei") is a species of rodent in the Cricetidae family. It is found only in Russia and some areas of Devon.
MacBook Pro
A MacBook Pro is a type of laptop computer made by "Apple Inc." It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second Intel model to be released. It runs macOS and comes with a built in webcam and microphone and a power adapter that is attached by magnets. MacBook Pros are housed in aluminum metal and are currently available in 13" and 16" models.
The MacBook Pro was first introduced on January 2006 at the Macworld Expo.
The first MacBook Pro was the 15" model, but a 17" model was released later that year. New models were released in late 2006, late 2007, early 2008, late 2008, and early 2009. In June 2009, a 13" model was added and the other sizes were also updated. The next updates happened in April 2010 and February 2011. Another update was released in June 2012, in which a new 15" model was introduced with a much higher display resolution (dubbed the Retina Display, meaning that it can display more pixels, creating a smoother image). However, Apple stopped making the 17" model, but Apple released 16" model in 2019.
The new MacBook Pro has several features:
The aluminum unibody case makes the MacBook Pro lighter, polished, and stronger. On the left side of the computer, there is a button next to many indicator lights. This button will turn on the lights. They say how much battery power the computer has left. More lights on means more battery.