Science | Universe Today

Space biology experiments have just arrived in the classroom. With a focus on hundreds of K-12 students, a University of Colorado, Boulder payload will be launched on board Space Shuttle Endeavour on November 14th carrying spiders and butterfly larvae. The purpose? To provide an educational research tool for youngsters, helping to develop their interest in biology and space science. The butterfly larvae will be studied over their complete life cycle in space; from larvae to pupae to butterfly to egg. Web-building spiders will be studied to see how their behaviour alters when lacking gravity. Both sets of experiments will then be compared with control subjects on the ground… I wish I had the chance to do this kind of research when in school. I wish I had the chance to do this kind of research now!
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Filed under: Science, Space Shuttle, Space Station | 20 Comments »

We already know that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be the biggest, most expensive physics experiment ever carried out by mankind. Colliding relativistic particles at energies previously unimaginable (up to the 14 TeV mark by the end of the decade) will generate millions of particles (known and as yet to be discovered), that need to be tracked and characterized by huge particle detectors. This historic experiment will require a massive data collection and storage effort, re-writing the rules of data handling. Every five seconds, LHC collisions will generate the equivalent of a DVD-worth of data, that's a data production rate of one gigabyte per second. To put this into perspective, an average household computer with a very good connection may be able to download data at a rate of one or two megabytes per second (if you are very lucky! I get 500 kilobytes/second). So, LHC engineers have designed a new kind of data handling method that can store and distribute petabytes (million-gigabytes) of data to LHC collaborators worldwide (without getting old and grey whilst waiting for a download).
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Filed under: Physics, Science | 17 Comments »

On Wednesday August 27th, at 9 p.m. ET/PT in the US, the famed "Mythbusters" on the Discovery Channel will take on one of the biggest myths ever: the belief the Apollo Moon landings were faked. Some folks who lived through the 1960's never believed the moon landings actually happened, and some how this belief persisted. In 2001 the Fox Channel aired a show "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" and the belief grew. But now the Mythbusters take on the HB's (hoax believers) who say they have scientific evidence the moon landings were faked. Adam and Jamie will fight bad science with their usual good science. The results? We'll have to wait and see until tonight. But here's a preview:
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Filed under: Science | 36 Comments »

Puzzled about particle physics? Want to know what the inside of the Large Hadron Collider looks like? Like music, fun and science? Want to know for sure the LHC won't create a black hole that will swallow the Earth? Find all of the above in a rap song created by Kate McAlpine, 23, who used to work in the press office of CERN, where on September 10, the LHC will be powered up. The song has been a hit on You Tube, and has been downloaded over 400,000 times. Physicists say the science in the song is "spot on" and provides a rhythmic tour of the mysteries of modern physics and the workings of the LHC, while noting that "the things that it discovers will rock you in the head." Without further ado, here it is:
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Filed under: Physics, Science | 38 Comments »

You seem to like a nice series, so here's a new one Fraser and Pamela have been thinking about. Over the course of the next 4 weeks, they're going to cover each of the basic forces in the Universe. And this week, they're going to start with gravity; the force you're most familiar with. Gravity happens when masses attract one another, and we can calculate its effect with exquisite precision. But you might be surprised to know that scientists have no idea why gravity happens

Click here to download the episode

Or subscribe to: astronomycast.com/podcast.xml with your podcatching software.

Gravity Show notes.

Filed under: Podcasts, Science | 4 Comments »

A debate today between astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson and planetary scientist Mark Sykes, moderated by NPR's Ira Flatow, addressed the issue of Pluto's planetary status. There was lots of arm-waving and finger-pointing, endless interruptions, disagreements on details big and small, and battling one-liners. The two scientists sat at a table with the moderator between them and Flatow was often obscured by Tyson and Sykes getting in each other's faces in eye-to-eye confrontation. At one point, Flatow was hit by Tyson's ebullient arm motions. Yes, it was heated. But it was fun, too. It ended up being not so much a debate between the Pluto-huggers and the Pluto-haters as a disagreement over the lexicon of astronomy and planetary science and, primarily, the definition of a planet. Pluto's planetary status was definitely not decided here, and the debate concluded with an amicable agree-to-disagree concurrence that the scientific process is an ongoing, evolving practice. But it wasn't without fireworks.
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Filed under: Pluto, Science | 24 Comments »

Former NASA astronaut and Rocketplane test pilot John Herrington has a new state-of-the-art vehicle of choice: a bike. But it’s a touring bike fully loaded with a GPS, laptop, broadband phone, and digital and video cameras. Herrington is embarking on a cross country bike trek to promote and encourage student participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Herrington, once a college dropout who went on to fly in space in 2002 on the STS-113 mission, hopes he can help make a difference and impact on children by sharing his experiences and providing web-based, hands-on activities using STEM skills to solve problems while following his journey. Herrington also wants to encourage children to pursue their dreams and seek out exciting opportunities. "The generation that grew up in the age of the Apollo program and the journey to the moon was motivated by the excitement of space and the possibilities that it brought to the nation," said Herrington. "Those kinds of possibilities to explore the unknown and make new discoveries still exist, but we must motivate students to learn and have a way to connect what they learn to what they do on a daily basis."
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Filed under: Science | 2 Comments »

Standard in almost every Star Trek episode are warp drives and cloaking devices. But in reality these science fiction gadgets defy the laws of physics. Or do they? Different scientists have been working on developing these two devices and they say they are getting closer to actually creating working prototypes. While warp drive won't be available anytime soon, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how faster-than-light speed could possibly be achieved. And as for cloaking devices, don't look now, but researchers recently cloaked three-dimensional objects using specially engineered materials that redirects light around objects.
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Filed under: Science, Space Flight | 49 Comments »

The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights are stunningly beautiful. But they can also disrupt radio communications and GPS signals, and even cause power outages. What's behind the ethereal Northern Lights that causes them to shimmer and dance with colorful lights while sometimes wreaking havoc with electrical systems here on Earth? Using a fleet of five satellites, NASA researchers have discovered that explosions of magnetic energy a third of the way to the moon power substorms that cause sudden brightenings and rapid movements of the aurora borealis, called the Northern Lights. "We discovered what makes the Northern Lights dance," said Dr. Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles. Angelopoulos is the principal investigator for the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms mission, or THEMIS.
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Filed under: Missions, Science | 8 Comments »

All the best sci-fi films have them, and they may become our future automated space explorers. Currently, one of the biggest drawbacks for using robots in space is that they depend on human input (i.e. commands need to be sent for every robotic arm motion and every rover wheel rotation). This means that, especially with missions operating far from Earth (such as the Phoenix Mars Lander and Mars Expedition Rovers), very simple and mundane tasks can take hours or even days to complete. One of the main reasons supporting manned exploration of space is that very complex science can be carried out very rapidly (after all, astronauts are human and many robotic operations that take weeks can be completed in seconds). But say if our robotic explorers had a high degree of automation? Say if they could sever the requirement for human input and carry out tasks with intelligent reasoning? As robotic and computer technology increases in sophistication, one Caltech scientist believes space exploration by artificial intelligence is closer than we think…
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Filed under: Missions, Science | 17 Comments »

NASA’s Marshall and Ames Research Centers will team up with the commercial space company SpaceX to launch and deploy a solar sail this summer. A bread-box sized payload called NanoSail-D will travel to space onboard a SpaceX Falcon 1 Rocket and if all goes well, it will be the first fully deployed solar sail in space, and the first spacecraft to use a solar sail as a primary means of orbital maneuvering. The first launch window is from July 29th to August 6th, with a back-up window extending from August 29th to September 5th. Weighing less than 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) the aluminum and plastic sail has about 9.3 m² (100 square feet) of light-catching surface which researchers hope will successfully propel the spacecraft.
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Filed under: Satellites, Science | 15 Comments »

Astronomers and cosmologists endeavor to solve some of the great mysteries of the universe. One mystery scientists here at the AAS meeting in St. Louis are seriously trying to address is how to make science more interesting and accessible to the general public. While this issue has little cosmic implications, having a “science literate” population in our ever-growing technology-based civilization is not just an advantage, but becoming an absolute necessity. In attempt to tackle this concern, a group of astronomers are encouraging others to follow the lead of a concept that seems to be working: Invite the public out for a beer.
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Filed under: Science | 5 Comments »

There are many possible "geo-engineering" solutions open to scientists in the aim to stave off global warming. One of the main candidates to dim the solar energy input to the atmosphere is to inject huge quantities of sulphate particles high in the atmosphere. This mimics the emissions from a large volcanic explosion proven to cool the Earth's atmosphere in the past. But, you guessed it, there's a problem. New research suggests that tampering with the atmosphere in this way will have serious repercussions for the ozone layer… Now there's a surprise!
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Filed under: Earth, Science | 39 Comments »

One thing is certain, Wolf-Rayet stars produce some interesting
science. In this week's portrait we see a distorted bubble produced
by a moving star blowing a strong stellar wind into a surrounding
uniform interstellar medium - yet is isn't uniform. What exactly is
going on here? Read more…

Filed under: Astronomy, Science | 1 Comment »

NASA is quite proud of its “spinoffs,� technology developed for NASA’s needs in space that in turn contribute to commercial innovations that improve life here on Earth. And rightly so. Just as a quick example, improvements in spacesuits have led to better protection for firefighters, scuba divers and people working in cold weather. But the list of NASA spinoffs is quite extensive.

Just like NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) has a Technology Transfer office to help inventors and businesses use space technology for non-space applications. The latest invention touted as an ESA spinoff is a small hand-held device called a Carbon Hero that might help make people more aware of the carbon footprint they are leaving behind due to vehicle emissions.
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Filed under: Science | 32 Comments »

For European scientists and space enthusiasts, the wait will soon be over. The Columbus module, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) major component for the International Space Station, will finally be delivered to the ISS aboard space shuttle Atlantis on STS-122. The launch is scheduled for Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 4:31 pm EST. Flying along with Columbus are two ESA astronauts, Hans Schlegel from Germany, and Leopold Eyharts from France.
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Filed under: Missions, Science, Space Station | 3 Comments »

Space travel is dangerous, make no mistake. So many ways to die. But now scientists think they've got a handle on how one of the threats operates: killer electrons from space.

Using data from a fleet of spacecraft, scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have puzzled out how electromagnetic waves accelerate normal electrons in the Earth's radiation belts to killer velocities. These electrons are then hazardous to satellites, spacecraft, and especially astronauts.
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Filed under: Earth Observation, Science | No Comments »

The scientific consensus is that the Universe is expanding, having gotten its start in a single point 13.7 billion years ago. There are several lines of evidence to support this theory: the movement of galaxies away from us, the cosmic microwave background radiation, and the quantities of hydrogen and helium in the Universe.
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Filed under: Astronomy, Science | 11 Comments »

Science@NASA has a cool article about how US and Japanese researchers are working on a folding tether system that could help keep satellites in their proper orbits, and return spent rocket stages to Earth.
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Filed under: Satellites, Science | No Comments »