Tag: science
The mystery of Vesta’s south pole depression
The mystery of Vesta’s south pole depression.
The mystery of Vesta’s south pole depression.
How Iron Age people decorated their homes
Archeologists have discovered a 2,600-year-old wall mural used as a wall decoration during the Iron Age.
Archeologists have discovered a 2,600-year-old wall mural used as a wall decoration during the Iron Age.
Some questions about today’s hypersonic test flight
Here are some additional stories describing today’s test flight of the Hypersonic Test Vehicle.
- Los Angeles Times: Falcon hypersonic vehicle test flight fails
- Aviation Week: Telemetry Lost During Hypersonic Test Flight
- DARPA: HTV-2 collects unique data during several phases of second flight
I have several questions, and no answers:
Legal rabbit farm raided and destroyed
The abuse of power: A legal rabbit farm raided and destroyed by Colorado police.
“They’ve destroyed me emotionally, socially and professionally,” Bell said, listing numerous ways in which local animal rights activists have publicized information about the case in an effort to make her and her four children — all adults who haven’t lived under her roof for several years — look bad. But that’s not all.
“They’ve made 4-H kids all across Colorado just sob,” she said, “because I am their 4-H connection.” Bell noted that 12 of the seized rabbits belong to 4-H kids who were planning to show them at upcoming fairs — two at the Jefferson County Fair that begins Thursday and the remaining 10 at the Colorado State Fair which runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 in Pueblo.
The abuse of power: A legal rabbit farm raided and destroyed by Colorado police.
“They’ve destroyed me emotionally, socially and professionally,” Bell said, listing numerous ways in which local animal rights activists have publicized information about the case in an effort to make her and her four children — all adults who haven’t lived under her roof for several years — look bad. But that’s not all.
“They’ve made 4-H kids all across Colorado just sob,” she said, “because I am their 4-H connection.” Bell noted that 12 of the seized rabbits belong to 4-H kids who were planning to show them at upcoming fairs — two at the Jefferson County Fair that begins Thursday and the remaining 10 at the Colorado State Fair which runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 in Pueblo.
Hubble captures a necklace in space
Who needs aliens and imagined cities on the moon when you have a reality that produces such strange and beautiful things as the image on the right?
On July 2, the Hubble Space Telescope took this image of a planetary nebula, aptly dubbed the Necklace Nebula. As the caption explains,
A pair of stars orbiting close together produced the nebula, also called PN G054.2-03.4. About 10,000 years ago one of the aging stars ballooned to the point where it engulfed its companion star. The smaller star continued orbiting inside its larger companion, increasing the giant’s rotation rate.
The bloated companion star spun so fast that a large part of its gaseous envelope expanded into space. Due to centrifugal force, most of the gas escaped along the star’s equator, producing a ring. The embedded bright knots are dense gas clumps in the ring.
The binary still exists, and can be seen as the star in the center of the necklace. The two stars are now only a few million miles apart and complete an orbit around each other in about a day.
Japan revises its tsunami warning system following March earthquake/tsunami
Japan has revised its tsunami warning system following the March 11 earthquake/tsunami.
Japan has revised its tsunami warning system following the March 11 earthquake/tsunami.
The very slow ramp up to maximum
As it does every month, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center released today its monthly updated graph of the Sun’s solar cycle sunspot activity. I have posted the July graph below.
For the first time in four months there was a increase in sunspot activity, albeit small. The sun has been even more active in August, as shown by the flurry of sunspots on its face from August 1 (shown on the left) and the August 8 solar flare, the most powerful produced in four years.
This monthly graph, however, continues to suggest that the next solar maximum will be very very weak, even weaker than the most up-to-date predictions for the next solar maximum.
Sun unleashes its largest solar flare in years
The sun unleashed its largest solar flare in years on Tuesday.
The sun unleashed its largest solar flare in years on Tuesday.
Lying for Politicians
With the recently passed debt ceiling deal, there are going to be a lot of news reports talking about how that deal is going to force cuts and reductions in government spending. Everyone one of these stories will be a lie.
Take for example this story today in Nature, discussing the fate of science research under the deal. Here is how they describe what will happen if the Congressional “super-committee” cannot come up with an agreement and across-the-board “cuts” are triggered:
“Then there will be extraordinary pain,” says Michael Lubell, director of public affairs for the American Physical Society in Washington DC. “And it will get worse in 2014.”
The two-stage structure of the debt deal explains both the short-term reprieve and the long-term worry. The first set of agreed cuts, totalling US$917 billion, will be spread over 10 years, but two factors mitigate their effect. First, reductions to defence spending will account for a significant share of the cuts — meaning that other US agencies won’t bear the entire burden. Second, the cuts are heavily loaded forward onto the 2014 fiscal year and beyond, in an apparent effort to shelter the current fragile economy. Only minimal cuts will be implemented in fiscal years 2012 and 2013.
The trouble with this is that it is simply not true. There will be no cuts at all, under any condition, according the debt deal.
» Read more
Trying to grow arsenic-based life
A scientist is trying to grow arsenic-based life to prove or disprove the Mono Lake results, and describes her results day-by-day on her blog.
A scientist is trying to grow arsenic-based life to prove or disprove the Mono Lake results, and describes her results day-by-day on her blog.
Endeavour Crater at last!
The science team for the rover Opportunity have released their first image taken from the rim of Endeavour Crater.
Since this picture looks south from Spirit Point less than a football field’s distance from the rim, it appears to look into the crater, the mountains on the right being the crater’s rim. What looks like a debris field running across the center of the image looks to me to be a combination of exposed patches of bedrock and boulders on the plateau above the rim. For the scientists, those boulders will be the prime research targets, as they are possibly ejecta produced at crater impact and could therefore be material thrown out from deep within the Martian crust.
Japan Tsunami Broke Huge Icebergs Off Antarctica
Satellite data has confirmed that the March 11 Japanese tsunami caused icebergs to calf off the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Satellite data has confirmed that the March 11 Japanese tsunami caused icebergs to calf off the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Harvesting icebergs for water and profit
Nebraska rare earth mineral discovery to challenge China’s monopoly
A discovery in Nebraska of rare earth minerals appears set to challenge China’s monopoly.
To me these were the key quotes from this article:
The U.S. used to produce rare earths through the Mountain Pass Mine in California, but it was shut down in 2002, primarily because of environmental concerns, including the spillage of hundreds of thousands of gallons of water carrying radioactive waste into a nearby lake.
and
Although studies have shown the U.S. has 13 million metric tons of rare-earth minerals, National Mining Association spokeswoman Carol Raulston said it does not mine any of it – partly as a result of the difficulty of obtaining permits. “One of the key problems that investors tell us about is that the permitting regime in this country is so complicated and time-consuming that it has hurt investments here in the United States,” Ms. Raulston said.
A discovery in Nebraska of rare earth minerals appears set to challenge China’s monopoly.
To me these were the key quotes from this article:
The U.S. used to produce rare earths through the Mountain Pass Mine in California, but it was shut down in 2002, primarily because of environmental concerns, including the spillage of hundreds of thousands of gallons of water carrying radioactive waste into a nearby lake.
and
Although studies have shown the U.S. has 13 million metric tons of rare-earth minerals, National Mining Association spokeswoman Carol Raulston said it does not mine any of it – partly as a result of the difficulty of obtaining permits. “One of the key problems that investors tell us about is that the permitting regime in this country is so complicated and time-consuming that it has hurt investments here in the United States,” Ms. Raulston said.
Half of Earth’s Heat from Radioactive Decay
Global warming: Half of the Earth’s internal heat comes from radioactive decay.
Global warming: Half of the Earth’s internal heat comes from radioactive decay.
A thin belt of antimatter particles enveloping the Earth has been spotted for the first time.
A thin belt of antimatter particles trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field has been spotted for the first time.
A thin belt of antimatter particles trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field has been spotted for the first time.
Opportunity now less than 400 feet from the rim of Endeavour Crater
Opportunity is now less than 400 feet from the rim of Endeavour Crater.
Opportunity is now less than 400 feet from the rim of Endeavour Crater.
The Jupiter probe Juno has lifted off
After a delay slightly under one hour, the Jupiter probe Juno has lifted off. Check here for updates on its status.
After a delay slightly under one hour, the Jupiter probe Juno has lifted off. Check here for updates on its status.
The north pole of Mars in summer
The north pole of Mars in summer: the dry ice is gone, leaving an icecap of water only.
The north pole of Mars in summer: the dry ice is gone, leaving an icecap of water only.
Getting closer to Vesta
The Dawn mission team released another image today of the giant asteroid Vesta, this time taken from about 2,300 miles away. At this distance the resolution is still somewhat coarse, with the smallest visible detail about 0.43 miles in size.
To the right is a cropped section of the full image, focusing in on what appears to be a very strange geological feature, indicated by the arrows. From what I can tell, the dark meandering streak looks like a rille or flow coming out of the mound or peak near the bottom of the image. Yet, this dark meander continues directly across a crater as if it were a wind-blown dust streak.
I really have no idea what geological process created this. I also suspect that the scientists don’t quite know yet either, though I am sure they have some good theories, mostly based on the very light gravity that should exist on a world only 330 miles in diameter. As I’ve already noted, however, it is going to take them a couple of months to digest the data they are getting and come up with some reasonable conclusions. It will be fun to finally find out what they have learned.
More evidence that there are active flows of water on Mars
More evidence that there are active flows of water on Mars.
Dark, finger-like features appear and extend down some Martian slopes during late spring through summer, fade in winter, and return during the next spring. Repeated observations have tracked the seasonal changes in these recurring features on several steep slopes in the middle latitudes of Mars’ southern hemisphere.
Though there are a number of unsolved issues about these features, the best explanation appears to be a liquid brine.
Saltiness lowers the freezing temperature of water. Sites with active flows get warm enough, even in the shallow subsurface, to sustain liquid water that is about as salty as Earth’s oceans, while pure water would freeze at the observed temperatures.
Go here to see the full image.
More evidence that there are active flows of water on Mars.
Dark, finger-like features appear and extend down some Martian slopes during late spring through summer, fade in winter, and return during the next spring. Repeated observations have tracked the seasonal changes in these recurring features on several steep slopes in the middle latitudes of Mars’ southern hemisphere.
Though there are a number of unsolved issues about these features, the best explanation appears to be a liquid brine.
Saltiness lowers the freezing temperature of water. Sites with active flows get warm enough, even in the shallow subsurface, to sustain liquid water that is about as salty as Earth’s oceans, while pure water would freeze at the observed temperatures.
Go here to see the full image.
It’s the coverup, not the crime
A new Rasmussen poll finds that 69% of the public now believe that climate scientists falsified data to support their own theories about global warming. Moreover, these numbers are up ten points since December 2009, which happens to be just after the climategate emails were released.
These terrible numbers are further evidence that the willingness of the scientific community to whitewash their investigations of the climategate scientists, what I consider to be the equivalent of a community-wide cover-up, has done serious harm to science and its reputation.
» Read more
The importance of a large moon to a habitable planet
New research on the influence of a large moon to a habitable planet.
New research on the influence of a large moon to a habitable planet.
Cost issues might force Europe to downsize its 2016 Mars mission
Cost issues might force Europe to downsize its 2016 Mars mission.
Cost issues might force Europe to downsize its 2016 Mars mission.
Did the Earth once have two moons? And did they collide?
Did the Earth once have two moons?
Both satellites would have formed from debris that was ejected when a Mars-size protoplanet smacked into Earth late in its formation period. Whereas traditional theory states that the infant Moon rapidly swept up any rivals or gravitationally ejected them into interstellar space, the new theory suggests that one body survived, parked in a gravitationally stable point in the Earth–Moon system.
This new model also posits that the two moons eventually collided, producing the moon we have today.
Did the Earth once have two moons?
Both satellites would have formed from debris that was ejected when a Mars-size protoplanet smacked into Earth late in its formation period. Whereas traditional theory states that the infant Moon rapidly swept up any rivals or gravitationally ejected them into interstellar space, the new theory suggests that one body survived, parked in a gravitationally stable point in the Earth–Moon system.
This new model also posits that the two moons eventually collided, producing the moon we have today.
Oxygen molecules detected in star-forming region
Oxygen molecules have been detected for the first time in space, and they were found in the Orion nebula, a giant molecular cloud where stars are being born. More here.
Oxygen molecules have been detected for the first time in space, and they were found in the Orion nebula, a giant molecular cloud where stars are being born. More here.
Dawn begins science operations in orbit around Vesta
The Dawn science team today released what they are calling “the first full-frame image” of Vesta. The image is shown below the fold.
The picture was taken from 3,200 miles, and shows a pockmarked irregularly shaped world. While many features that resemble the Moon (the craters, the rays radiating out from those craters), that Vesta itself is not spherical makes it very much unlike the Moon. It is probably going to take scientists several months at least to decipher the data they are getting and come up with some concrete conclusions about this strange dwarf planet.
» Read more
Six of the most ridiculous scientific studies ever commissioned
Six of the most ridiculous scientific studies ever commissioned.
Six of the most ridiculous scientific studies ever commissioned.
The story of Hayabusa inspires three major movie releases
The story of Hayabusa, the Japanese space probe that was the first to successfully return material from an asteroid despite serious technical failures, has now inspired three major movies.
The story of Hayabusa, the Japanese space probe that was the first to successfully return material from an asteroid despite serious technical failures, has now inspired three major movies.