Science and Math resources

These links will be good resources for self learning in sciences, and a good read for the new or advanced scientists (or geeks) alike.

The /sci/ guide

MIT has courses for free, however they don't really have a starting point, I will link them, however.

MIT open courses

Enjoy these!

NASA Slated To Utilize New Xenon ION Engine

NASA blows away the traditional combustion and chemical engines of previous decades, and presents the new Xenon Ion Engine. Glowing with an electric blue jet of photons, the Xenon can change the way in which space-faring craft navigate. Ion engines allow a slow but steady and nearly non-depletable acceleration of a craft, without the need of extra tonnage to cargo along fuel, and the necessary compartments to contain said fuel. Initial thrust compared to chemical based engines is not as powerful, but in the long run, the Xenon's solar panel power absorption will allow craft to travel much further while using much less resource. As we all know, in space, the sun is always a force at large, and this means as long as the Xenon gets light from the Sun, it can keep going. Ideal for long range travel, the slow and controlled acceleration of a Xenon engine  means that course correction can be made quicker and more simple.
     As an example of the scenario in which it can be useful, imagine a satellite travelling to Jupiter. It must use small adjustments of its boosters ( which can and will run out of fuel) and its wings to correct its flight to the planet. There is little room for error, as the satellite is only equipped with just enough means to make it into the planetary orbit, but a side track, or major course issue can logistically render its destination impossible. However, if the same satellite, only utilizing a Xenon engine were to plot the same course, if it were to be knocked off course, blown aside, or find data that was worth side tracking for, it would not mean a total loss of investment: since it is equipped with a near inexhaustible source of self propulsion, the satellite may take more time for accurate readings, navigate to other entities along the way, and not be rendered a purposeless hunk of metal if its fuel reserves or electronics malfunction. As long as there was a way to control the Xenon engine from afar, the possibilities could be expansive. Now, I'm no expert on satellites or propulsion, but that's the beauty of this advancement: physics can be dismissive, but ideas and hypothesis can be endless.
   An early model of the Ion type engine has been utilized by NASA by its craft Dawn, on a voyage to a Dwarf planet named Ceres. NASA is weighing the possibility of utilizing the Ion engine once more on a mission to bring an steroid into near orbit of earth for study.
   Weigh your own thoughts about what the Xenon can bring to space travel, what can it mean for humans and an eventual colonization of a foreign planet?

All information credit to: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23601-xenonion-engine-makes-space-travel-a-rhapsody-in-blue.html#.UhPLVpJ4xCw and http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html