‘In 1998, just after he won a share of the Nobel prize for physics, Robert Laughlin of Stanford University in California was asked how his discovery of “particles” with fractional charge, now called quasi-particles, would affect the lives of ordinary people. “It probably won’t,” he said, “unless people are concerned about how the universe works.”
Well, people were. [..]
Helton was aware of Wen’s work and decided to look for such materials. Trawling through geology journals, his team spotted a candidate – a dark green crystal that geologists stumbled across in the mountains of Chile in 1972. “The geologists named it after a mineralogist they really admired, Herbert Smith, labelled it and put it to one side,” says team member Young Lee. “They didn’t realise the potential herbertsmithite would have for physicists years later.”‘
‘Mars’s southern polar ice cap contains enough water to cover the entire planet approximately 36 feet (11 meters) deep if melted, according to a new radar study.
It’s the most precise calculation yet for the thickness of the red planet’s ice, according to the international team of researchers responsible for the discovery.
Using an ice-penetrating radar to map the south pole’s underlying terrain, the scientists calculated that the ice is up to 2.2 miles (3,500 meters) thick in places, said the study’s leader, Jeffrey Plaut of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The radar, from the Mars Express orbiter, also revealed the surprising purity of the ice, Plaut added.’
‘A new survey revealing more than a thousand supermassive black holes in one region of the sky calls into question a popular model of how the gravity monsters behave. [..]
Typically, a black hole is surrounded by a doughnut-shaped region, or torus, of gas. The view of the black hole’s immediate surroundings is blocked by this torus by different amounts, depending on the orientation whether we’re looking through it edge-on or looking down on the setup from above, the thinking goes. [..]
“Instead of finding a whole range, we found nearly all of the black holes are either naked or covered by a dense veil of gas,” said Ryan Hickox of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “Very few are in between, which makes us question how well we know the environment around these black holes.”‘
’10> As he was led to die in an arcane alien ritual, Tank McPhoton tried one last time to apologize. How was he to know that what he took to be an extended hand of friendship which he gripped firmly and shook vigorously was actually the Supreme Ruler’s private parts? [..]
7> I lived on the land, she lived in the water. It gave shore leave a whole new meaning. Or the same old meaning, except with bigger crabs. [..]
6> As one, the Spacemarines stood up, raised their spacerifles in salute, then marched out the spacedoors to the spacedock, where their spaceship was waiting to boldly take them where they’d all been before: Space!
5> You could tell it was a real UFO because there weren’t any wires holding it up and it smelled like outer space. [..]’
‘I met god the other day.
I know what you’re thinking. How the hell did you know it was god?
Well, I’ll explain as we go along, but basically he convinced me by having all, and I do mean ALL, the answers. Every question I flung at him he batted back with a plausible and satisfactory answer. In the end, it was easier to accept that he was god than otherwise.
Which is odd, because I’m still an atheist and we even agree on that!
It all started on the 8.20 back from Paddington. Got myself a nice window seat, no screaming brats or drunken hooligans within earshot. Not even a mobile phone in sight. Sat down, reading the paper and in he walks.’
‘A dark red shadow crept across the moon, leaving only a silver, crescent-shaped sliver as a total lunar eclipse began late Saturday.
Around the world, amateur stargazers and astronomers watched the first total lunar eclipse in three years. Partly visible on every continent, residents of Europe, Africa and the Middle East had the best view, weather permitting. [..]
Residents of east Asia saw the eclipse cut short by moonset, while those in the eastern parts of North and South America found the moon already partially or totally eclipsed by the time it rose over the horizon in the evening.
While eastern Australia, Alaska and New Zealand missed Saturday’s show, they will have front-row seats to the next total lunar eclipse, on August 28.’
‘Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet’s recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist’s controversial theory.
Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures.
In 2005 data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide “ice caps” near Mars’s south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.’
‘A great presentation of five apocalyptic scenarios.’
(434meg Google video)
see it here »
‘A former Canadian defense minister is demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said Wednesday.
“I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation … that could be a way to save our planet,” Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen.
Alien spacecrafts would have traveled vast distances to reach Earth, and so must be equipped with advanced propulsion systems or used exceptional fuels, he told the newspaper.
Such alien technologies could offer humanity alternatives to fossil fuels, he said, pointing to the enigmatic 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico — which has become a shrine for UFO believers — as an example of alien contact.’
‘Friday the 13th of April 2029 could be a very unlucky day for planet Earth. At 4:36 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, a 25-million-ton, 820-foot-wide asteroid called 99942 Apophis will slice across the orbit of the moon and barrel toward Earth at more than 28,000 mph. The huge pockmarked rock, two-thirds the size of Devils Tower in Wyoming, will pack the energy of 65,000 Hiroshima bombs — enough to wipe out a small country or kick up an 800-foot tsunami.
On this day, however, Apophis is not expected to live up to its namesake, the ancient Egyptian god of darkness and destruction. Scientists are 99.7 percent certain it will pass at a distance of 18,800 to 20,800 miles. [..] We will have dodged a cosmic bullet.
Maybe.’
Followup to Space rock on a collision course.
‘State television reports that Iran has successfully launched its first space rocket. Fars news agency quotes the deputy head of Iran’s aerospace research centre, Ali Akbar Golrou, as saying the rocket reached an altitude of 150 kilometres, but did not stay in orbit. [..]
Bahrami, told state television that the rocket was carrying “material intended for research created by the ministries of science and defense.” Bahrami added, “All the tests [prior to the launch] have been carried out in the country’s industrial facilities in line with international regulations.” [..]
The announcement of the rocket launch comes at a time of growing tension between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program. [..]’
‘Astronomers say an exploding Russian rocket satellite may have caused a mysterious glow in the night sky over southern Queensland.
Tuesday’s spectacle was described as being twice the size of a full moon, with a bright centre.
Mark Rigby from the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium says the Russian launch went wrong almost a year ago.
“Unfortunately the rocket boost didn’t quite work, the satellite, the Arab satellite, re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere about a month later,” he said.
“But this rocket stage, the upper stage was still up and is still orbiting the Earth.
“And for some strange reason the fuel tanks have ruptured and it’s exploded.”‘
This is how you turn a car into a space shuttle. Absolutely hilarious. 🙂
(24.2 and 22.1meg Flash videos)
see it here »
‘What would happen if an astronaut became mentally unstable in space and, say, destroyed the ship’s oxygen system or tried to open the hatch and kill everyone aboard?
That was the question after the apparent breakdown of Lisa Nowak, arrested this month on charges she tried to kidnap and kill a woman she regarded as her rival for another astronaut’s affections.
It turns out NASA has detailed, written procedures for dealing with a suicidal or psychotic astronaut in space. The documents, obtained this week by The Associated Press, say the astronaut’s crewmates should bind his wrists and ankles with duct tape, tie him down with a bungee cord and inject him with tranquilizers if necessary.’
‘If lorry drivers can tear their eyes away from the satellite navigation system while approaching the village of Exton, they could well save themselves hours of trouble.
There at the side of the road are the first signs in the country specifically warning them to ignore the satnav.
Owing to a fault in the electronic information system, many drivers are sent through the Hampshire hamlet only to find the lane narrows to 6ft and they get stuck. [..]
The 49-year-old company director said: ‘The problem mushroomed overnight with the advent of satnav.’
‘Contrary to popular belief, NASA Astronaut Lisa Nowak did actually make a couple of stops along the way on her journey from Houston, TX to Orlando, FL.
Up for bid is ONE of only a small handful of historic news media frenzy spawned memorabilia that we found “left behind” and that has come to be known as the Lisa Nowak NASA Astronaut DIAPER! It is clean and unused, and it can be YOURS if you are the lucky winning bidder.’
Followup to: Astronaut charged with attempted murder is released on bond
‘ What’s the biggest hurdle to setting up a colony on the Moon or getting mankind to Mars and beyond? Aliens? Asteroids? Money? Try: humans themselves. Experts poring over plans to return to the Moon by 2018 and later stride to Mars believe the greatest-ever gamble in the history of space may ultimately depend on keeping the mind and body sound.
Anxiety, loneliness and tensions with crewmates, a daily battle to maintain fitness and avoid accidents, DNA-shredding radiation from solar flares or cosmic rays — all these make mental and physical health the key to whether a long-term mission will succeed or fail catastrophically.
Benny Elmann-Larsen, coordinator of physiology in human space flight at the European Space Agency (ESA), says psychological stress could be the biggest problem of all.’
Various different mapping services in a nice little flash application.
‘The United Nations has been urged to launch a space mission designed to take out an asteroid threatening to smash into the Earth in 2036.
In scenes straight out of Hollywood action movie Armageddon, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists say they are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a one in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036. [..]
“It’s not just Apophis we’re looking at. Every country is at risk. We need a set of general principles to deal with this issue,” Mr Schweickart, a member of the Apollo 9 crew that orbited the moon in March 1969, told an American Association for the Advancement of Science conference.’
Followup to NASA looks for solutions to asteroid problem.
‘Just when you think Republicans can’t get any crazier, we find out that the powerful chairman of the Texas House Appropriations Committee, Warren Chisum, doesn’t even believe that the earth revolves around the sun.’
‘It’s V to the A to the D E R.. Reconstructing the Death Star..’
(8.5meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘A hole in a frozen pond in northern Latvia achieved unexpected notoriety on Wednesday as rumours began circulating that it was created by an object falling from outer space.
“We’ve been collecting information on the story all day, and we’ll definitely report it in the morning,” Inguna Plume, editor of local newspaper Ziemellatvija, told reporters.
The “unusually large hole” appeared in the ice of a frozen pond near the northern Latvian village of Karki in early February, the Leta news agency wrote. Despite sub-zero temperatures, the hole reportedly did not freeze over for two days.
Locals initially reported seeing “strange things” in the area.’
‘Australia’s close military alliance with the United States is to be further entrenched with the building of a high-tech communications base in Western Australia.
The Federal Government is about to approve the base after three years of secret negotiations with Washington.
The Age has been told the base, which will be built on defence land at Geraldton, will provide a crucial link for a new network of military satellites that will help the US’s ability to fight wars in the Middle East and Asia. It will be the first big US military installation to be built in Australia in decades, and follows controversies over other big bases such as Pine Gap and North West Cape.’
‘NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak stalked her romantic rival for two months before attacking her in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport Monday morning, a hand-written statement by the victim reveals.
Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, stated that Nowak was an acquaintance of her “boyfriend” but the two had not met until the astronaut doused her with pepper spray.
Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando to “physically confront and assult (sic) me,” Shipman wrote when applying for a restraining order against Nowak.’
‘A commercial Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket disintegrated in a fiery catastrophe aboard its oceangoing platform Tuesday, destroying a sophisticated telecommunications satellite payload in a dramatic launch pad explosion reminiscent of the space program’s early days.
The Ukrainian/Russian booster was igniting its main engine when the 20-story vehicle inexplicably fell, triggering a hellish fireball that engulfed the floating Odyssey platform.’
(833kB Flash video)
see it here »
`On 27 January, Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) switched itself into a protective “safe mode” after a short in its electronics. NASA engineers believe the fault has killed the camera’s ability to see deep and wide. “It’s really a blow to Hubble science; there’s no way around that fact,” says Holland Ford, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and principal investigator for ACS. He adds that of the roughly 800 current proposals for using Hubble, two-thirds involved the ACS.’
`Paris-based satellite company Eutelsat is investigating “unidentified interference” with its satellite broadcast services that temporarily knocked out several television and radio stations. The company declined to say whether it thought the interference was accidental or deliberate.
The problem began Tuesday afternoon, blocking several European, Middle East and northeast African radio and television stations, as well as Agence France-Presse’s news service. All transferred their satellite transmissions to another frequency to resume operations.’
`China last week successfully used a missile to destroy an orbiting satellite, U.S. government officials told CNN on Thursday, in a test that could undermine relations with the West and pose a threat to satellites important to the U.S. military.
According to a spokesman for the National Security Council, the ground-based, medium-range ballistic missile knocked an old Chinese weather satellite from its orbit about 537 miles above Earth. The missile carried a “kill vehicle” and destroyed the satellite by ramming it.
The test took place on January 11.’
‘.. is an art intervention that involves placing a gigantic banana over the Texas sky. The object will float between the high atmosphere and Earth’s low orbit, being visible only from the state of Texas and its surroundings. From the ground the banana will be clearly recognizable and visible day and night; it will stay up for approximately one month.’
