AP reports 25,000 new asteroids found by Wise
An AP report today says that the infrared WISE space telescope has catalogued 25,000 new asteroids, 95 of which are near Earth objects. Actual data, however, has not yet been released.
Tag: science
Genetically modified mosquito developed that can’t carry malaria
Scientists say they have successfully produced a genetically modified mosquito that is unable to carry the malaria parasite. If so, and this mosquito can be bred throughout the mosquito population, it will eradicate malaria entirely.
More cave images from the Moon
James Fincannon of NASA has forwarded me two additional pictures of the same cave on the Moon, taken recently at different times by the camera on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and made available by the Goddard Space Flight Center and Arizona State University.
These images clearly show that the skylight looks down into a much larger space, with the underground room belling out from the skylight in all directions. This can be seen by how the angle of sunlight hitting the floor of the cave changes over time. Below is a very crude cartoon I have drawn to illustrate what I think we are seeing in the image on the left. The dashed lines indicate unseen walls whose precise location is not yet determined.
James also forwarded me this link, showing even more images of additional lava tube skylights on the Moon.
Clive Cook’s take on climategate whitewashes
Still have doubts whether the climategate investigations were awhitewash? Then read this blistering condemnation by Clive Cook, senior editor at The Atlantic and a global warming advocate.
Lunar conference at Ames
The third annual Lunar Science Forum is being held July 20-22 at the Ames Research Center in California. The list of papers, some of which are quite intriguing, can be found here. Fun quote from one abstract: “Purity levels of the ice suggest a degree of comingling of ice and regolith grains within the permanently shadowed crater.”
Greenland icecap is not melting
Steve Goddard has posted on Anthony Watt’s webpage a very detailed update on the state of the icecap covering Greenland. Surprise! There are no signs of it disappearing anytime soon. (Note that you might have to scroll to the right to see the text of Goddard’s post, as on some computers Watts’s webpage is unfortunately far too wide for the screen.)
Caves on the Moon
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has sent back some amazing pictures of some recently discovered caves on the Moon. I like this one the best.
Boulder tracks on Mars
Here’s a nice picture from the HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, released July 7, showing the boulder tracks left by rocks bouncing down the escarpment of Kasei Valles in the low gravity of Mars. Fun quote:
Some of these blocks traveled downhill several hundred meters (yards) as they rolled and bounced, leaving behind a trail of indentations or poke marks in the surface’s fine-grained, light-toned soils. The raised borders in some of these poke marks indicate they are relatively recent features, unaffected by wind erosion, or that this soil has cohesive properties, such as if it was cemented.
Scientists complain about Obama government
Scientists are shocked, shocked, to discover that it doesn’t matter whether the Republicans or the Democrats are in power, governments like to interfere with the free flow of information and with scientific research.
The state of the polar ice caps, June 2010
On July 6, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) of the University of Colorado published its monthly report on the state of the polar ice caps. The Arctic ice cap, which this winter had been larger and more extensive than seen for many years, also shrank this spring at the fastest rate in years. (This chart, produced by data from the Japanese AMSR instruments on two research satellites, shows these trends very clearly.) Meanwhile, NSIDC reports that the ice cap in Antarctica is far larger than normal. Not unexpectedly, NSIDC immediately argues (quite unconvincingly if you ask me) that more ice in Antarctica is evidence for global warming.
From my perspective, the data continues to be inconclusive. We still do not really understand the long term trends of the Earth’s climate.
overruns at JWST
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) is questioning the new cost overruns for building the James Webb Space Telescope.
Rosetta flyby results
Check out the Rosetta flyby images.
Climategate whitewash
It appears that the chief investigator of the recently released climategate investigation of Phil Jones and the University of East Anglia never attended any of the investigation’s interviews of Phil Jones. What a strange way to do an investigation!
Webcast of Rosetta flyby of 21 Lutetia
Rosetta approaches asteroid
Rosetta has sent back its first picture of the asteroid 21 Lutetia. The flyby is scheduled for July 10.
More questions about climategate inquiry
More questions are being raised about the various climategate investigations, this time in the UK Parliament. Key quote:
Climategate may finally be living up to its name. If you recall, it wasn’t the burglary or use of funding that led to the impeachment of Nixon, but the cover-up. Now, ominously, three inquiries into affair have raised more questions than there were before.
Water found around carbon star; Bok globule
Water vapor detected in deep space, first near the carbon star V Cygni and second in two dark starless cores. The second detection is a first time water has been seen in these black clouds. Fun quote from the abstract of the first paper notes how the detection “raises the intriguing possibility that the observed water is produced by the vapourisation of orbiting comets or dwarf planets.”
Largest hoard of Roman coins found in England
The largest hoard of Roman coins, more than 52,000 total, has been found in Britain.
Solar powered plane flies for over 24 hours
Icarus truly rising. A solar-powered plane has successfully flown for over 24 hours.
East Anglia violated FOI rules
The University of East Anglia has been found in violation of the UK’s freedom of information law in connection with the climategate emails, suggesting again and strongly that the final conclusions of the investigation of Phil Jones was a whitewash.