Hexaflexagons
An evening pause: In honor of Martin Gardner’s birthday today. To find out the connection, make sure you also watch part 2.
Tag: science
The first analysis of the water from Lake Vostok, buried deep under the Antarctic icecap, has shown no evidence of life.
The first analysis of the water from Lake Vostok, buried deep under the Antarctic icecap, has shown no evidence of life.
Bulat and his colleagues counted the microbes present in the ice sample and checked their genetic makeup to figure out the phylotypes. They counted fewer than 10 microbes/ml — about the same magnitude they would expect to find in the background in their clean room. And three of the four phylotypes they identified matched contaminants from the drilling oil, with the fourth unknown but also most likely from the lubricant.
The scientists note that this is a preliminary result. Further drilling for new deeper samples will take place in 2013.
The first analysis of the water from Lake Vostok, buried deep under the Antarctic icecap, has shown no evidence of life.
Bulat and his colleagues counted the microbes present in the ice sample and checked their genetic makeup to figure out the phylotypes. They counted fewer than 10 microbes/ml — about the same magnitude they would expect to find in the background in their clean room. And three of the four phylotypes they identified matched contaminants from the drilling oil, with the fourth unknown but also most likely from the lubricant.
The scientists note that this is a preliminary result. Further drilling for new deeper samples will take place in 2013.
The mysterious shiny particles uncovered by Curiosity’s scoop are from Mars, not the rover.
The mysterious shiny particles uncovered by Curiosity’s scoop are from Mars, not the rover.
After last week’s plastic encounter, Curiosity’s science team worried the new particles might be man-made. Since they turned up in scoop holes, however, the granules must have been buried in the subsurface. They likely came from larger minerals that broke down. They might also represent the product of some geological soil process that generates a bright but unknown mineral.
These are not the same mysterious objects first seen when the rover began science operations. Those particles were on the surface, and looked like bits of plastic that might have come off the rover or its descent stage.
The mysterious shiny particles uncovered by Curiosity’s scoop are from Mars, not the rover.
After last week’s plastic encounter, Curiosity’s science team worried the new particles might be man-made. Since they turned up in scoop holes, however, the granules must have been buried in the subsurface. They likely came from larger minerals that broke down. They might also represent the product of some geological soil process that generates a bright but unknown mineral.
These are not the same mysterious objects first seen when the rover began science operations. Those particles were on the surface, and looked like bits of plastic that might have come off the rover or its descent stage.
The science team for New Horizons is considering shifting the spacecraft’s Pluto flyby away from the planet to avoid orbital debris.
The science team for New Horizons is considering shifting the spacecraft’s Pluto flyby away from the planet to avoid orbital debris.
“We’ve found more and more moons orbiting near Pluto — the count is now up to five,” Stern said. “And we’ve come to appreciate that those moons, as well as others not yet discovered, act as debris generators populating the Pluto system with shards from collisions between those moons and small Kuiper Belt objects.”
The science team for New Horizons is considering shifting the spacecraft’s Pluto flyby away from the planet to avoid orbital debris.
“We’ve found more and more moons orbiting near Pluto — the count is now up to five,” Stern said. “And we’ve come to appreciate that those moons, as well as others not yet discovered, act as debris generators populating the Pluto system with shards from collisions between those moons and small Kuiper Belt objects.”
Astronomers now have the technology to observe Io’s volcanoes erupt, from Earth.
Astronomers now have the technology to observe Io’s volcanoes erupt, from Earth.
Astronomers now have the technology to observe Io’s volcanoes erupt, from Earth.
Kepler reveals our Sun might be more variable than we imagine
More exoplanet news: The problems of Kepler.
The article outlines the status — both good and bad — of Kepler in its hunt for Earthlike exoplanets.
I have already reported on Kepler’s failed reaction wheel. It no longer has a backup and needs every reaction wheel it has to keep it pointed in so precise a manner. Thus, the loss of one more wheel will shut the telescope down.
However, I had not been aware that the scientists now need more than twice as much time, eight years instead of three, to do their work, because they have discovered that sunlike stars are far more variable than expected. To quote the article,
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Astronomers have discovered that the nearest star to the Earth, Alpha Centauri, has an exoplanet only slightly heavier than the Earth.
Big news: Astronomers have discovered that the nearest star to the Earth, Alpha Centauri, has an exoplanet only slightly heavier than the Earth.
Alpha Centauri is actually a triple star system, with two sunlike stars in a tight orbit around each other and a third star far out orbiting them both. The exoplanet orbits one of the inner stars every 3.2 days.
More details from Nature here.
Big news: Astronomers have discovered that the nearest star to the Earth, Alpha Centauri, has an exoplanet only slightly heavier than the Earth.
Alpha Centauri is actually a triple star system, with two sunlike stars in a tight orbit around each other and a third star far out orbiting them both. The exoplanet orbits one of the inner stars every 3.2 days.
More details from Nature here.
A review of the extraterrestrial solar systems found by Kepler shows that most are like our own, “flatter than pancakes.”
A review of the extraterrestrial solar systems found by Kepler shows that most are like our own, “flatter than pancakes.”
A review of the extraterrestrial solar systems found by Kepler shows that most are like our own, “flatter than pancakes.”
A planet with four suns, found by amateurs.
A planet with four suns, found by amateurs.
A planet with four suns, found by amateurs.
Scientists have found the source of the water on the Moon and Mercury: the solar wind.
Scientists have found the source of the water on the Moon and Mercury: the solar wind. Key paragraph:
“We found that the ‘water’ component, the hydroxyl, in the lunar regolith is mostly from solar wind implantation of protons, which locally combined with oxygen to form hydroxyls that moved into the interior of glasses by impact melting,” said Zhang, the James R. O’Neil Collegiate Professor of Geological Sciences. “Lunar regolith is everywhere on the lunar surface, and glasses make up about half of lunar regolith. So our work shows that the ‘water’ component, the hydroxyl, is widespread in lunar materials, although not in the form of ice or liquid water that can easily be used in a future manned lunar base.” [emphasis mine]
Though this result would explain the detection of hydrogen on the lunar surface and would also mean that this hydrogen is far less useful for future colonists than previously hoped, it doesn’t eliminate the possibility that there is ice in the permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles that came from other as yet unknown sources.
Scientists have found the source of the water on the Moon and Mercury: the solar wind. Key paragraph:
“We found that the ‘water’ component, the hydroxyl, in the lunar regolith is mostly from solar wind implantation of protons, which locally combined with oxygen to form hydroxyls that moved into the interior of glasses by impact melting,” said Zhang, the James R. O’Neil Collegiate Professor of Geological Sciences. “Lunar regolith is everywhere on the lunar surface, and glasses make up about half of lunar regolith. So our work shows that the ‘water’ component, the hydroxyl, is widespread in lunar materials, although not in the form of ice or liquid water that can easily be used in a future manned lunar base.” [emphasis mine]
Though this result would explain the detection of hydrogen on the lunar surface and would also mean that this hydrogen is far less useful for future colonists than previously hoped, it doesn’t eliminate the possibility that there is ice in the permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles that came from other as yet unknown sources.
The models are wrong
Today one mainstream newspaper finally caught up with the global warming skeptic community and recognized that a recent release of data from the United Kingdom’s Met Office shows that since 1996 the temperature of the climate has stalled. For the past sixteen years there has been no global warming, at all.
Three takeaways from this story.
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Scientists studying a meteorite thought to come from the asteroid Vesta have concluded that it contains evidence that the asteroid once had a magnetic field.
Scientists studying a meteorite thought to come from the asteroid Vesta have concluded that it contains evidence that the asteroid once had a magnetic field.
This appears to be a very tentative finding, intriguing and possible, but not yet strongly proven.
Scientists studying a meteorite thought to come from the asteroid Vesta have concluded that it contains evidence that the asteroid once had a magnetic field.
This appears to be a very tentative finding, intriguing and possible, but not yet strongly proven.
Bouncing on Titan
How Huygens bounced on Titan. With animation.
How Huygens bounced on Titan. With animation.
A super Earth, made of diamonds
A super Earth, made of diamonds.
Astronomers also thought 55 Cancri e contained a substantial amount of super-heated water, based on the assumption that its chemical makeup was similar to Earth’s, Madhusudhan said. But the new research suggests the planet has no water at all, and appears to be composed primarily of carbon (as graphite and diamond), iron, silicon carbide, and, possibly, some silicates. The study estimates that at least a third of the planet’s mass — the equivalent of about three Earth masses — could be diamond. “By contrast, Earth’s interior is rich in oxygen, but extremely poor in carbon — less than a part in thousand by mass,” says co-author and Yale geophysicist Kanani Lee.
A super Earth, made of diamonds.
Astronomers also thought 55 Cancri e contained a substantial amount of super-heated water, based on the assumption that its chemical makeup was similar to Earth’s, Madhusudhan said. But the new research suggests the planet has no water at all, and appears to be composed primarily of carbon (as graphite and diamond), iron, silicon carbide, and, possibly, some silicates. The study estimates that at least a third of the planet’s mass — the equivalent of about three Earth masses — could be diamond. “By contrast, Earth’s interior is rich in oxygen, but extremely poor in carbon — less than a part in thousand by mass,” says co-author and Yale geophysicist Kanani Lee.
A gallery of planetary nebula.
Ten incredible rock pillar landscapes.
Science vs religion
The anthropologist who led the research into the Kennewick Man skeleton found in the Columbia Valley presented his research to Indian tribal leaders yesterday.
First the science:
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Has Voyager 1 already left the solar system?
Has Voyager 1 already left the solar system?
New data from the spacecraft indicate that the historic moment of its exit from the solar system might have come and gone two months ago. Scientists are crunching one more set of numbers to find out for sure.
Has Voyager 1 already left the solar system?
New data from the spacecraft indicate that the historic moment of its exit from the solar system might have come and gone two months ago. Scientists are crunching one more set of numbers to find out for sure.
Curiosity takes its first scoop
Curiosity takes its first scoop.
The very tiny bright object spotted on the ground nearby has ironically turned out to be more intriguing to the science team than the dirt in the scoop.
Curiosity takes its first scoop.
The very tiny bright object spotted on the ground nearby has ironically turned out to be more intriguing to the science team than the dirt in the scoop.
A competitor has debuted its full-size prototype rover designed to hunt for water in the craters of the Moon.
The Google Lunar X-Prize: One competitor has unveiled its full-size prototype rover, designed to hunt for water in the craters of the Moon.
The company, Astrobotic Technology, is consider to be in second place in the race to build the first private lunar rover.
The Google Lunar X-Prize: One competitor has unveiled its full-size prototype rover, designed to hunt for water in the craters of the Moon.
The company, Astrobotic Technology, is consider to be in second place in the race to build the first private lunar rover.
Resurrecting the chestnut tree.
Resurrecting the chestnut tree.
As chief scientist of the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF), a group of chestnut enthusiasts and scientists, Hebard has bred thousands of hybrids at the organization’s research farm in Meadowview, Virginia. He crosses descendants of the original American chestnut with the much smaller Chinese variety (Castanea mollissima), which has some natural immunity to the Asian fungus. And after decades of work, he is within reach of his goal, a tall American tree with enough Chinese traits to keep it healthy. Other researchers are trying to attack the blight with viruses or are creating trees that are genetically modified (GM) to resist the fungus, and could be the first GM forest trees released in the wild in the United States. Progress with all three approaches is raising hopes that chestnuts will soon start to flourish again in the forests of the American east. “We’re starting to pull the American chestnut tree back from the brink of extinction,” says Hebard.
This work is an example of human behavior at its best, using our ability to adapt as well as our brains to help another species come back to life. And we aren’t doing just to help the trees. Bringing the chestnut tree back will benefit us as well as other species.
Resurrecting the chestnut tree.
As chief scientist of the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF), a group of chestnut enthusiasts and scientists, Hebard has bred thousands of hybrids at the organization’s research farm in Meadowview, Virginia. He crosses descendants of the original American chestnut with the much smaller Chinese variety (Castanea mollissima), which has some natural immunity to the Asian fungus. And after decades of work, he is within reach of his goal, a tall American tree with enough Chinese traits to keep it healthy. Other researchers are trying to attack the blight with viruses or are creating trees that are genetically modified (GM) to resist the fungus, and could be the first GM forest trees released in the wild in the United States. Progress with all three approaches is raising hopes that chestnuts will soon start to flourish again in the forests of the American east. “We’re starting to pull the American chestnut tree back from the brink of extinction,” says Hebard.
This work is an example of human behavior at its best, using our ability to adapt as well as our brains to help another species come back to life. And we aren’t doing just to help the trees. Bringing the chestnut tree back will benefit us as well as other species.
Crushing a 55 gallon steel drum with icecubes
The solar maximum continues to fizzle
As it does every month, NOAA today posted its monthly update of the ongoing sunspot cycle of the Sun. This latest graph, covering the month of September, is posted below the fold.
Not only is the Sun’s sunspot production continuing to fizzle, it is fizzling even more than before.
» Read more
25 Amazing Images With An Electron Microscope
A star has gone supernova and astronomers get to see it from the very beginning, and even earlier!
A star has gone supernova and astronomers get to see it from the very beginning, and even earlier!
The star had erupted several times before but had not produced a real supernova explosion. On September 26 it finally did so. Moreover, astronomers have images of the star prior to any eruption, information that until recently was not available for any supernovae.
A star has gone supernova and astronomers get to see it from the very beginning, and even earlier!
The star had erupted several times before but had not produced a real supernova explosion. On September 26 it finally did so. Moreover, astronomers have images of the star prior to any eruption, information that until recently was not available for any supernovae.
NASA and the Russians have agreed to fly a two-person year long mission on ISS beginning in the spring of 2015.
It’s now official: NASA and the Russians have agreed to fly a two-person year long mission on ISS beginning in the spring of 2015.
NASA has denied that this agreement has any connection with the Sarah Brightman/Russian deal, but I still wonder. Either way, it is very good news. Not only will they finally be using ISS appropriately, a mission like this will generate some real excitement for space exploration that the repeated boring six month expeditions to ISS have failed to do. Even better would be to schedule a two year mission, simulating a journey to and from Mars.
It’s now official: NASA and the Russians have agreed to fly a two-person year long mission on ISS beginning in the spring of 2015.
NASA has denied that this agreement has any connection with the Sarah Brightman/Russian deal, but I still wonder. Either way, it is very good news. Not only will they finally be using ISS appropriately, a mission like this will generate some real excitement for space exploration that the repeated boring six month expeditions to ISS have failed to do. Even better would be to schedule a two year mission, simulating a journey to and from Mars.
Deep Impact fired its engines today to adjust its orbit, giving it the option of visiting a near Earth asteroid in the future.
Deep Impact fired its engines today to adjust its orbit, giving it the option of visiting a near Earth asteroid in the future.
The press release is very vague about this future mission. I suspect there is a question of funding, which means that even if they can go to the asteroid, they might not have the funds to staff the mission.
Deep Impact fired its engines today to adjust its orbit, giving it the option of visiting a near Earth asteroid in the future.
The press release is very vague about this future mission. I suspect there is a question of funding, which means that even if they can go to the asteroid, they might not have the funds to staff the mission.
A new study has found that scientific misconduct and fraud is on the rise.
A new study has found that scientific misconduct and fraud is on the rise.
A review of retractions in medical and biological peer-reviewed journals finds the percentage of studies withdrawn because of fraud or suspected fraud has jumped substantially since the mid-1970s. In 1976, there were fewer than 10 fraud retractions for every 1 million studies published, compared with 96 retractions per million in 2007.
The study’s authors suggest that the high pressure of big science might be a cause, combined with an overall decline in our culture itself. I wonder if the influence of government money, granted not because of good science but in the service of a political agenda, might also be a contributing factor.
A new study has found that scientific misconduct and fraud is on the rise.
A review of retractions in medical and biological peer-reviewed journals finds the percentage of studies withdrawn because of fraud or suspected fraud has jumped substantially since the mid-1970s. In 1976, there were fewer than 10 fraud retractions for every 1 million studies published, compared with 96 retractions per million in 2007.
The study’s authors suggest that the high pressure of big science might be a cause, combined with an overall decline in our culture itself. I wonder if the influence of government money, granted not because of good science but in the service of a political agenda, might also be a contributing factor.
Astronomers have identified the same kind of minerals found in comets in the dusty disk surrounding the nearby star Beta Pictoris.
Astronomers have identified the same kind of minerals found in comets in our solar system in the dusty disk surrounding the nearby star Beta Pictoris.
Astronomers have identified the same kind of minerals found in comets in our solar system in the dusty disk surrounding the nearby star Beta Pictoris.
Using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope astronomers have narrowed the universe’s rate of expansion to about 74.3 kilometers per second per megaparsec.
The uncertainty of science: Using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope astronomers have narrowed the universe’s rate of expansion to about 74.3 kilometers per second per megaparsec.
The importance of this number, also called the Hubble Constant, is that it allows astronomers to extrapolate more precisely backward to when they believe the Big Bang occurred, about 13.7 billion years ago. It also is a crucial data point in their effort to understand dark energy, in which this expansion rate is actually accelerating on vast scales.
Back in 1995 a team led by Wendy Freedman, the same scientist leading the work above, announced that they had used the Hubble Space Telescope to determine the expansion rate as 80 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Then, the margin of error was plus or minus 17 kilometers. Now the margin of error has been narrowed to plus or minus 2.1 kilometers.
Do I believe these new numbers? No, not really. Science has nothing to do with belief. I do think this is good science, however, and that this new estimate of the Hubble constant is probably the best yet. I would also not be surprised if in the future new data eventually proves this estimate wrong.
The uncertainty of science: Using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope astronomers have narrowed the universe’s rate of expansion to about 74.3 kilometers per second per megaparsec.
The importance of this number, also called the Hubble Constant, is that it allows astronomers to extrapolate more precisely backward to when they believe the Big Bang occurred, about 13.7 billion years ago. It also is a crucial data point in their effort to understand dark energy, in which this expansion rate is actually accelerating on vast scales.
Back in 1995 a team led by Wendy Freedman, the same scientist leading the work above, announced that they had used the Hubble Space Telescope to determine the expansion rate as 80 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Then, the margin of error was plus or minus 17 kilometers. Now the margin of error has been narrowed to plus or minus 2.1 kilometers.
Do I believe these new numbers? No, not really. Science has nothing to do with belief. I do think this is good science, however, and that this new estimate of the Hubble constant is probably the best yet. I would also not be surprised if in the future new data eventually proves this estimate wrong.