Primordial Helium

smk writes: "NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite has given astronomers their best glimpse yet at the ghostly cobweb of helium gas left over from the big bang, which underlies the universe's structure. The helium is not found in galaxies or stars but spread thinly through the vastness of space. The helium traces the architecture of the universe back to very early times."

I want to know about Artist's Concepts.

[taliver]

Completely off topic, but exactly where do they find these artists with concepts? Every scientific paper dealing with subatomic physics or astronomy has some "artist's concept" picture in it.

Now, I know several artists, and I wouldn't trust them with anything even remotely scientific. So, is there a "scientific art" major in college that I don't know about? Or does NASA and the like have some artist on payroll who attends all the meetings and then just draws what he's thinking about?

Re:I want to know about Artist's Concepts.

[dutky]

There is an entire field of artistic endeavor known as either scientific illustration or technical illustration. I don't actually know much about what you study to get such a degree, but I know a few technical illustrators [hawaii.edu], and would easily trust them with far-more-than-remotely scientific things.

As for NASA having artists on the payroll, you can see some examples of just this sort of thing when the NASA Art Train [artrain.org] comes to a town near you. You might even recognize a few of the artists [artrain.org] in the exhibition (scroll down past the sponsors' names).

Re:I want to know about Artist's Concepts.

[Mononoke]

Believe it or not, being an artist doesn't keep a person from also having scientific knowledge and understanding.

That said, here's the site of some of my favorite "space artists":

http://www.novaspace.com/

The mysterious disappearing story

[MAXOMENOS]

I thought this story was quite interesting; but as I read it now, I see that it's not on the front pages. It's stuck instead between the stories "Rhythms Flatlines" and "Matrix Sequel Delayed to 2003." What happened? Was it not froody enough to attract the advertisers? Enquiring minds want to know!

Re:The mysterious disappearing story

[rhadamanthus]

Same here, apparently this story exists, but not on the front page. You can access it via the "science" link in the sections tab on the left of the screen.

-rhad

Re:The mysterious disappearing story

[EMH_Mark3]

Do like me and put the 'Science' slashbox on your page /. page :)

Re:The mysterious disappearing story

[mordorian]

Well its not really a break thru.. They've havd lower quality pictures for some time now.
And the story is quite brief leaving little to discuss.
Sure this is important for understanding the physical distribution of matter in the universe, and give us better data to theories against,b ut not particularly newsworthy.