Tag: science
Attack of the blobs
For the last five days there has been no contact with the Russian scientists drilling down more than two miles to Lake Vostok in Antarctica.
Updated and bumped: Six days now, and no word.
Fact meets science fiction: For the last five days there has been no contact with the Russian scientists drilling down more than two miles to Lake Vostok in Antarctica.
The team from Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the ice sheet’s surface. The lake hasn’t been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.
Priscu said there was no way to get in touch with the team — and the already cold weather is set to plunge, as Antarctica’s summer season ends and winter sets in. “Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius [-40 degrees Fahrenheit] and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station,” he said. “I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week.”
Updated and bumped: Six days now, and no word.
Fact meets science fiction: For the last five days there has been no contact with the Russian scientists drilling down more than two miles to Lake Vostok in Antarctica.
The team from Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the ice sheet’s surface. The lake hasn’t been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.
Priscu said there was no way to get in touch with the team — and the already cold weather is set to plunge, as Antarctica’s summer season ends and winter sets in. “Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius [-40 degrees Fahrenheit] and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station,” he said. “I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week.”
Another superEarth has been found orbiting a star in the habitable zone.
Another superEarth has been found orbiting a star in the habitable zone.
An M-class dwarf star called GJ 667C, which is 22 light-years away from Earth, had previously been observed to have a super-Earth (called GJ 667Cb) that orbited the star in only 7.2 days, making it too close to the star, and thus too hot, to support life.
The study started with the aim of learning more about the orbit of GJ 667Cb. But the research team found a clear signal of a new planet (GJ 667Cc) with an orbital period of 28.15 days and a minimum mass of 4.5 times that of Earth.
Though the planet is much closer to its star than the Earth, the star itself is much smaller and dimmer, so overall the planet gets about the same amount of energy as the Earth.
Another superEarth has been found orbiting a star in the habitable zone.
An M-class dwarf star called GJ 667C, which is 22 light-years away from Earth, had previously been observed to have a super-Earth (called GJ 667Cb) that orbited the star in only 7.2 days, making it too close to the star, and thus too hot, to support life.
The study started with the aim of learning more about the orbit of GJ 667Cb. But the research team found a clear signal of a new planet (GJ 667Cc) with an orbital period of 28.15 days and a minimum mass of 4.5 times that of Earth.
Though the planet is much closer to its star than the Earth, the star itself is much smaller and dimmer, so overall the planet gets about the same amount of energy as the Earth.
The scale of the universe
Want to know where we fit in the actual scale of the universe? Go here.
Want to know where we fit in the actual scale of the universe? Go here.
Ebb returns its first video of the far side of the moon
Ebb (of the Grail spacecraft) has returned its first video of the far side of the Moon.
Ebb (of the Grail spacecraft) has returned its first video of the far side of the Moon.
Russia announces plans to launch Phobos-Grunt 2 in 2018
If at first you don’t succeed: Russia today announced plans to launch Phobos-Grunt 2 in 2018.
If at first you don’t succeed: Russia today announced plans to launch Phobos-Grunt 2 in 2018.
The face in space
The hotbed of star birth, called NGC 3324, is full of hot young stars, whose ultraviolet radiation is making the gas clouds glow. The stellar wind and radiation from the newborn stars has also punched out a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust. The edge of the wall of gas and dust at the right in the photo resembles the profile of a human face, with a ridge in the center that looks like a nose.
The hotbed of star birth, called NGC 3324, is full of hot young stars, whose ultraviolet radiation is making the gas clouds glow. The stellar wind and radiation from the newborn stars has also punched out a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust. The edge of the wall of gas and dust at the right in the photo resembles the profile of a human face, with a ridge in the center that looks like a nose.
A boycott against Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of scientific journals, has quickly gathered the support of more than 2,400 scientists.
Trouble in peer-review land: A boycott against Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of scientific journals, has quickly gathered the support of more than 2,400 scientists.
Trouble in peer-review land: A boycott against Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of scientific journals, has quickly gathered the support of more than 2,400 scientists.
A U.S. government panel today unanimously recommended that scientists limit publication of results relating to bird flu.
A U.S. government panel today unanimously recommended that scientists limit publication of their results relating to bird flu.
We found the potential risk of public harm to be of unusually high magnitude. In formulating our recommendations to the government, scientific journals and to the broader scientific community, we tried to balance the great risks against the benefits that could come from making the details of this research known. Because the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) found that there was significant potential for harm in fully publishing these results and that the harm exceeded the benefits of publication, we therefore recommended that the work not be fully communicated in an open forum. The NSABB was unanimous that communication of the results in the two manuscripts it reviewed should be greatly limited in terms of the experimental details and results.
As much as I am almost always in favor of the free flow of information, in this case this recommendation seems quite reasonable. The situation is in many ways identical to the government’s policy to routinely limit publication of the engineering details of its weaponry.
A U.S. government panel today unanimously recommended that scientists limit publication of their results relating to bird flu.
We found the potential risk of public harm to be of unusually high magnitude. In formulating our recommendations to the government, scientific journals and to the broader scientific community, we tried to balance the great risks against the benefits that could come from making the details of this research known. Because the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) found that there was significant potential for harm in fully publishing these results and that the harm exceeded the benefits of publication, we therefore recommended that the work not be fully communicated in an open forum. The NSABB was unanimous that communication of the results in the two manuscripts it reviewed should be greatly limited in terms of the experimental details and results.
As much as I am almost always in favor of the free flow of information, in this case this recommendation seems quite reasonable. The situation is in many ways identical to the government’s policy to routinely limit publication of the engineering details of its weaponry.
The Japanese government has given the final go-ahead for a new Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission, set for launch in 2014.
The Japanese government has given the final go-ahead for a new Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission, set for launch in 2014.
The Japanese government has given the final go-ahead for a new Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission, set for launch in 2014.
A NASA spacecraft has directly detected atoms from outside Solar System and found that the region is depleted in oxygen.
A NASA spacecraft has directly detected atoms from outside Solar System and found that the region appears depleted in oxygen.
A NASA spacecraft has directly detected atoms from outside Solar System and found that the region appears depleted in oxygen.
Five of the biggest unsolved mysteries of physics
The Great Moonbuggy Race
The Great Moonbuggy Race is an engineering competition that requires a team of six students to design a “proof-of-concept” wheeled rover that will race over a half mile of simulated lunar terrain. In April, two team members, one male and one female, will drive the completed vehicle in competition at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This contest will present design challenges that are similar to those encountered by the original lunar rover team. This is the 16th year of competition for high school teams, but it will be the first year for Chicago’s public high school students.
The Great Moonbuggy Race is an engineering competition that requires a team of six students to design a “proof-of-concept” wheeled rover that will race over a half mile of simulated lunar terrain. In April, two team members, one male and one female, will drive the completed vehicle in competition at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This contest will present design challenges that are similar to those encountered by the original lunar rover team. This is the 16th year of competition for high school teams, but it will be the first year for Chicago’s public high school students.
White nose syndrome has been found in bats in Europe
White nose syndrome, the fungus that has been killing bats in the northeast United States these past five years, has now been definitively found on bats in Europe.
With this information, scientists now know that it is the differences between North American and European bats that can explain why European bat colonies can survive the fungus while North American bats cannot. Furthermore, this information should show us how future North American bats will adapt to the fungus.
White nose syndrome, the fungus that has been killing bats in the northeast United States these past five years, has now been definitively found on bats in Europe.
With this information, scientists now know that it is the differences between North American and European bats that can explain why European bat colonies can survive the fungus while North American bats cannot. Furthermore, this information should show us how future North American bats will adapt to the fungus.
Six former and current employees have sued the FDA agency under the Obama administration over its secret surveillance of their private emails.
How Obama encourages transparency: Six former and current employees have sued the FDA agency under the Obama administration over its secret surveillance of their private emails.
According to a release by the law firm representing the group, the FDA targeted the employees with a “covert spying campaign” that lasted for two years after it learned they had written a letter to President-Elect Obama in early 2009. … The plaintiffs allege the agency used spyware to read the their personal emails and take screenshots while they used government computers. But whether such reconnaissance is illegal is not quite clear. According to the Washington Post, “the startup screen on FDA computers warns employees, ‘you have no reasonable expectation of privacy,’ ” including any communication accessed or sent from the machine.”
According to the law firm representing the current and former FDA employees, the monitoring continued even after the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General “denied the FDA’s request to take any criminal and/or administrative action against the whistleblowers” and noted the whistleblowers’ communications with Congress were protected under law.
How Obama encourages transparency: Six former and current employees have sued the FDA agency under the Obama administration over its secret surveillance of their private emails.
According to a release by the law firm representing the group, the FDA targeted the employees with a “covert spying campaign” that lasted for two years after it learned they had written a letter to President-Elect Obama in early 2009. … The plaintiffs allege the agency used spyware to read the their personal emails and take screenshots while they used government computers. But whether such reconnaissance is illegal is not quite clear. According to the Washington Post, “the startup screen on FDA computers warns employees, ‘you have no reasonable expectation of privacy,’ ” including any communication accessed or sent from the machine.”
According to the law firm representing the current and former FDA employees, the monitoring continued even after the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General “denied the FDA’s request to take any criminal and/or administrative action against the whistleblowers” and noted the whistleblowers’ communications with Congress were protected under law.
Newt and Scientists: A Long, Complicated Love Affair
Newt and scientists: A long, complicated love affair.
The article gives you the science community’s take on Gingrich. And since that community is almost entirely Democratic in make-up and routinely hostile and almost bigoted in their hatred of Republicans, it is not surprising that this take has a certain schizophrenic air about it. They want to like him because of his passionate interest and support of science, but how can they? He’s a Republican (whispered softly like one was saying a curse word.)
Newt and scientists: A long, complicated love affair.
The article gives you the science community’s take on Gingrich. And since that community is almost entirely Democratic in make-up and routinely hostile and almost bigoted in their hatred of Republicans, it is not surprising that this take has a certain schizophrenic air about it. They want to like him because of his passionate interest and support of science, but how can they? He’s a Republican (whispered softly like one was saying a curse word.)
Identifying our galaxy’s next supernova
How crayons are made
Data issued last week without fanfare by both the UK’s Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit has confirmed that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.
Data issued last week without fanfare by both the UK’s Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit has confirmed that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.
The article also discusses at great length the additional influence the sun and its sunspot cycle might have on the climate, something I have discussed here at great length. However, the above factoid is the article’s most important data point.
Data issued last week without fanfare by both the UK’s Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit has confirmed that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.
The article also discusses at great length the additional influence the sun and its sunspot cycle might have on the climate, something I have discussed here at great length. However, the above factoid is the article’s most important data point.
The Vintage Computer Festival
Want to play with some old computers? You can, at the Vintage Computer Festival East 8.0.
Want to play with some old computers? You can, at the Vintage Computer Festival East 8.0.
DNA research suggests that “Native Americans” actually came from a tiny mountain region in Siberia.
DNA research suggests that “Native Americans” actually came from a tiny mountain region in Siberia.
I added the quotes above. It is really hilarious to see the headline’s use of the politically correct term “Native Americans” while simultaneously describing proof that the American Indians were as much immigrants to the New World as everyone else.
DNA research suggests that “Native Americans” actually came from a tiny mountain region in Siberia.
I added the quotes above. It is really hilarious to see the headline’s use of the politically correct term “Native Americans” while simultaneously describing proof that the American Indians were as much immigrants to the New World as everyone else.
The Kepler team today announced the discovery of eleven new solar systems holding twenty-six planets.
Planets galore! The Kepler team today announced the discovery of eleven new solar systems holding twenty-six planets.
The planets orbit close to their host stars and range in size from 1.5 times the radius of Earth to larger than Jupiter. Fifteen of them are between Earth and Neptune in size, and further observations will be required to determine which are rocky like Earth and which have thick gaseous atmospheres like Neptune. The planets orbit their host star once every six to 143 days. All are closer to their host star than Venus is to our sun.
No Earths in the habitable zone quite yet, but we are circling in on our prey.
Planets galore! The Kepler team today announced the discovery of eleven new solar systems holding twenty-six planets.
The planets orbit close to their host stars and range in size from 1.5 times the radius of Earth to larger than Jupiter. Fifteen of them are between Earth and Neptune in size, and further observations will be required to determine which are rocky like Earth and which have thick gaseous atmospheres like Neptune. The planets orbit their host star once every six to 143 days. All are closer to their host star than Venus is to our sun.
No Earths in the habitable zone quite yet, but we are circling in on our prey.
A wiretap could exonerate the six seismologists on trial for manslaughter in Italy for not properly warning the public of an earthquake.
Scientists on trial: A wiretap conversation might exonerate the six seismologists on trial for manslaughter in Italy for not properly warning the public of an earthquake.
Scientists on trial: A wiretap conversation might exonerate the six seismologists on trial for manslaughter in Italy for not properly warning the public of an earthquake.
Roughly half of Vesta is cold enough for water ice to survive below the surface
New computer models suggest that roughly half of the asteroid Vesta is cold enough for ice to survive below the surface.
New computer models suggest that roughly half of the asteroid Vesta is cold enough for ice to survive below the surface.
Scouring the Aegean Sea for the world’s oldest shipwrecks.
Scouring the Aegean Sea for the world’s oldest shipwrecks.
A Bronze Age wreck called Ulu Burun shows how the remains of a single ship can transform archaeologists’ understanding of an era. Discovered in 1982, it lies about 9 kilometres southeast of Kaş in southern Turkey, and dates from around 1300 BC, a century or two after the Minoans disappeared.
Christos Agourides, secretary-general of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology in Athens, describes it as “the dream of every marine archaeologist”. It took ten years to excavate, and researchers are still studying the nearly 17 tonnes of treasures recovered. The vast cargo includes ebony, ivory, ostrich eggs, resin, spices, weapons, jewellery and textiles as well as ingots of copper, tin and glass.
But what really stunned archaeologists was that the artefacts on this one vessel came from at least 11 different cultures1 — from a gold scarab bearing the name of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti to copper from Cyprus and tin from central Asia.
The wreck provided tangible evidence of an astonishing array of contacts and trade between the different cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East in the late Bronze Age. The Ulu Burun ship sailed at around the time that Tutankhamun ruled Egypt, and “it is far more important than Tutankhamun’s tomb as a contribution to our understanding of the period”, according to Wachsmann. “This goes to the nitty gritty of the world. It’s Wall Street in a ship.”
Scouring the Aegean Sea for the world’s oldest shipwrecks.
A Bronze Age wreck called Ulu Burun shows how the remains of a single ship can transform archaeologists’ understanding of an era. Discovered in 1982, it lies about 9 kilometres southeast of Kaş in southern Turkey, and dates from around 1300 BC, a century or two after the Minoans disappeared.
Christos Agourides, secretary-general of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology in Athens, describes it as “the dream of every marine archaeologist”. It took ten years to excavate, and researchers are still studying the nearly 17 tonnes of treasures recovered. The vast cargo includes ebony, ivory, ostrich eggs, resin, spices, weapons, jewellery and textiles as well as ingots of copper, tin and glass.
But what really stunned archaeologists was that the artefacts on this one vessel came from at least 11 different cultures1 — from a gold scarab bearing the name of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti to copper from Cyprus and tin from central Asia.
The wreck provided tangible evidence of an astonishing array of contacts and trade between the different cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East in the late Bronze Age. The Ulu Burun ship sailed at around the time that Tutankhamun ruled Egypt, and “it is far more important than Tutankhamun’s tomb as a contribution to our understanding of the period”, according to Wachsmann. “This goes to the nitty gritty of the world. It’s Wall Street in a ship.”
A Japanese whistleblower is using the web and YouTube to document scientific fraud by a prominent Japanese researcher.
A Japanese whistleblower is using the web and YouTube to document scientific fraud by a prominent Japanese researcher.
Jigen has created separate Web sites for half a dozen cases in Japan in which he alleges scientific misconduct has occurred, and last week he posted details of what he believes is a case of image manipulation by researchers at a U.S. institution. The sites often include information about major grants and significant awards won by the scientist in question and any press releases from the institutions involved. The allegations against Kato are the first time Jigen has produced a video. He had previously used slide shows to make his point.
You can see his website here.
A Japanese whistleblower is using the web and YouTube to document scientific fraud by a prominent Japanese researcher.
Jigen has created separate Web sites for half a dozen cases in Japan in which he alleges scientific misconduct has occurred, and last week he posted details of what he believes is a case of image manipulation by researchers at a U.S. institution. The sites often include information about major grants and significant awards won by the scientist in question and any press releases from the institutions involved. The allegations against Kato are the first time Jigen has produced a video. He had previously used slide shows to make his point.
You can see his website here.
A new superconducting detector might supersede CCDs for astronomy
Good news: A new superconducting detector might supersede CCDs for large astronomical telescopes.
Ben Mazin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, believes that he is on the cusp of a camera breakthrough: his lab is working on a superconducting detector that could eventually replace the charge-coupled devices (CCDs) that have become de rigueur in both consumer and astronomical digital cameras. Mazin’s detectors, known as microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), can simultaneously count photons, measure their energy and record each one’s time of arrival — something that CCDs can do only after the light is split with a prism or a grating, an extra step that adds to the loss of photons.
And you know that inevitably some variation of this technology is going to find its way into ordinary commercial products.
Good news: A new superconducting detector might supersede CCDs for large astronomical telescopes.
Ben Mazin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, believes that he is on the cusp of a camera breakthrough: his lab is working on a superconducting detector that could eventually replace the charge-coupled devices (CCDs) that have become de rigueur in both consumer and astronomical digital cameras. Mazin’s detectors, known as microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), can simultaneously count photons, measure their energy and record each one’s time of arrival — something that CCDs can do only after the light is split with a prism or a grating, an extra step that adds to the loss of photons.
And you know that inevitably some variation of this technology is going to find its way into ordinary commercial products.
It doesn’t exist
In a preprint paper published today on the Los Alamos astro-ph website, astronomers have concluded that the exoplanet orbiting the star Formalhaut might not exist. This planet, the first exoplanet ever thought to be directly imaged in visible light, was first described in a paper published in 2008, and was actually tracked in its orbit over several years, as shown in the image on the right.
The new research used the Spitzer Space Telescope to see if the planet’s heat could be detected in infrared wavelengths. Unfortunately, the scientists found nothing.
» Read more
A 33,000-year-old dog skull found in a Siberian cave, when compared with other ancient dog remains found in a Belgium cave, suggest to scientists that the domestication of dogs took place separately in many different places.
A 33,000-year-old dog skull found in a Siberian cave, when compared with other ancient dog remains found in a Belgium cave, suggest to scientists that the domestication of dogs took place separately in many different places.
A 33,000-year-old dog skull found in a Siberian cave, when compared with other ancient dog remains found in a Belgium cave, suggest to scientists that the domestication of dogs took place separately in many different places.
Cavers in West Virginia return a stalagmite to its original cave home after nearly fifty years
Cavers in West Virginia have returned a stalagmite to its original cave home after nearly fifty years above ground.
Cavers in West Virginia have returned a stalagmite to its original cave home after nearly fifty years above ground.