Universe Today » Science

Large Hadron Collider Could Re-Start This Weekend

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:24:42 +0000

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could be re-started on this Saturday morning CERN officials said. Engineers are preparing to send a beam of sub-atomic particles around the 27km-long circular tunnel, which has been shut down since an accident in September 2008. Scientists hope to create conditions similar to those present moments after the Big Bang in search of the elusive Higgs particle to shed light on fundamental questions about the universe.
(...)
Read the rest of Large Hadron Collider Could Re-Start This Weekend (161 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Good News for Science News

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:32:20 +0000

Here's some refreshing news! In an era when mainstream media is cutting back on their science departments and science reporting, the Discovery Channel has just made an investment to step-up their science news with the re-launch of their new and improved news website, Discovery News. In the middle of it all is our very own Ian O'Neill, who is also the producer for Discovery News Space. The "new" part of Discovery News is that Ian's work on the space side is now integrated into a higher profile, redesigned news site. Ian and I had a chance to talk today about this good news for science news.
(...)
Read the rest of Good News for Science News (255 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Ig Nobel Prizes Awarded for 2009

Nancy Atkinson — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:01:53 +0000

The Ig Nobel awards. Credit: Harvard University

Ahh, the wonders of science! But some science is just a little more wonderful than others. For the really great and wonderful science there are the Nobel Prizes. For the off-the-beaten-path and unusual science, Harvard University's Annals of Improbable Research magazine awards the "Ig Nobel" Prizes, touted as "research that makes people laugh and then think." Prizes were doled out Oct. 1, but if you are in the Massachusetts area, you might want to attend a free lecture given by the winners on Oct. 3 at 1:00 pm EDT. Here are the 2009 winners:
(...)
Read the rest of Ig Nobel Prizes Awarded for 2009 (217 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

UFOs This Weekend? No, Just an Experiment

Nancy Atkinson — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:06:37 +0000

Reports of UFOs skyrocketed last weekend along the east coast of the US after a NASA launched an experiment to study an unusual phenomenon called noctilucent clouds, or 'night shining' clouds. The Charged Aerosol Release Experiment (CARE) was conducted by the Naval Research Laboratory and the Department of Defense Space Test Program, created artificial noctilucent cloud using the exhaust particles of the rocket’s fourth stage at about 173 miles altitude. It created a bright object with a fan-shaped tail, prompting calls of concern from residents in Virginia and Massachusetts to local authorities. But this object was definitely identified.
(...)
Read the rest of UFOs This Weekend? No, Just an Experiment (255 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Future Designs: Robotic Mars Greenhouse, Teleporting Fridge

Nancy Atkinson — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:50:59 +0000

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! Every year Electrolux holds a competition for students to design concepts for future appliances, and they've just announced the eight finalists. My favs: a robotic greenhouse for Mars and a teleporting refrigerator. Le Petit Prince (Little Prince) is a robotic greenhouse concept that is specially designed to help the future exploration and expanding population when we colonize Mars. This intelligent robot carries and cares for a plant inside its glass container, which is functionally mounted on a four-legged self-transporting pod. Not only does it search for the optimum place to receive enough sunlight and other nutrients, it also send reports of its movements and developments to its fellow greenhouse robots through wireless communication. It was designed by Martin Miklica, from the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic. He said he was inspired by the book The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov and R2-D2 from Star Wars (and surely Wall-E had something to do with this, too.)

See video of Le Petit Prince, below, and of the teleporting fridge.
(...)
Read the rest of Future Designs: Robotic Mars Greenhouse, Teleporting Fridge (122 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Watermelons: The Newest Renewable Energy Source

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:15:43 +0000

This has nothing to do with space or astronomy, but is perhaps one of the juiciest pieces of new I have ever read. Could we one day be driving cars fueled by watermelons? Researchers say that watermelon juice can be a valuable source of biofuel, as it can be efficiently fermented into ethanol. But have no fear, using watermelons for biofuel wouldn't cut into the amount of watermelons available for the public to eat. This research evaluated the biofuel potential of juice from 'cull' watermelons – those not sold due to cosmetic imperfections, and currently ploughed back into the field. Wayne Fish from the US Department of Agriculture said, "About 20% of each annual watermelon crop is left in the field because of surface blemishes or because they are misshapen. We've shown that the juice of these melons is a source of readily fermentable sugars, representing a heretofore untapped feedstock for ethanol biofuel production."
(...)
Read the rest of Watermelons: The Newest Renewable Energy Source (95 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Solar Cycle Triggers La Nina, El Nino-like Climate Shifts

Anne Minard — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:57:19 +0000

Credit: National Center for Atmospheric Research

Researchers have discovered a link between the 11-year solar cycle and tropical Pacific weather patterns that resemble La Niña and El Niño events.

When it comes to influencing Earth's climate, the Sun's variability pales in recent decades compared to greehouse gases – but the new research shows it still plays a distinguishable part.
(...)
Read the rest of Solar Cycle Triggers La Nina, El Nino-like Climate Shifts (653 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Welcome "Copernicium," Our Newest Element

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:01:03 +0000

Nicolaus Copernicus

The newest element on the periodic table will likely be named in honor of scientist and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Element 112 will be named Copernicum, with the element symbol "Cp."

"We would like to honor an outstanding scientist, who changed our view of the world", says Sigurd Hofmann, head of the team who discovered the element.
(...)
Read the rest of Welcome "Copernicium," Our Newest Element (299 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Device Makes Radio Waves Travel Faster Than Light

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:49:04 +0000

Polarization Synchrotron. Credit: Singleton, et al., via Current.com

A scientist has created a gadget that can make radio waves travel faster than light. Einstein predicted that particles and information can't travel faster than the speed of light, but phenomena like radio waves are a different story, said John Singleton, who works at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The polarization synchrotron combines the waves with a rapidly spinning magnetic field, and the result could explain why pulsars — which are super-dense spinning stars that are a subclass of neutron stars — emit such powerful signals, a phenomenon that has baffled many scientists.

Singleton said the polarization synchrotron basically abuses radio waves so severely that they finally give in and travel faster than light. This may be what happens in pulsars, as well.
(...)
Read the rest of Device Makes Radio Waves Travel Faster Than Light (356 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Have Astronomers Discovered A New Type of Supernova?

Brian Ventrudo — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:42:12 +0000

The sudden appearance of the transient "mystery object" SCP 06F6 in Hubble's field of view. The lower image quadrant represents a zoomed in view.

A team of astronomers at the University of Warwick think they've finally explained what caused the bizarre transient object SCP 06F6. By comparing the optical spectrum of SCP 06F6 to that of carbon-rich stars in our own galaxy, the team concludes the sudden outburst was not a low-energy local event but a supernova-like explosion within a cool carbon-rich atmosphere some 2 billion light years away. If they're right, it means the collapse of carbon-rich stars may lead to supernovae unlike any yet seen.

(...)
Read the rest of Have Astronomers Discovered A New Type of Supernova? (372 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New Finding Shows Super-Huge Space Tornados Power the Auroras

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:45:27 +0000

If you think tornadoes on Earth are scary, newly found "space tornadoes" sound downright horrifying. But they are likely the power source behind the beautiful Northern and Southern Lights. A new finding by a cluster of five space probes – the THEMIS, or Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms show that electrical funnels which span a volume as large as Earth produce electrical currents exceeding 100,000 amperes. THEMIS recorded the extent and power of these electrical funnels as the probes passed through them during their orbit of Earth. Ground measurements showed that the space tornadoes channel the electrical current into the ionosphere to spark bright and colorful auroras on Earth.
(...)
Read the rest of New Finding Shows Super-Huge Space Tornados Power the Auroras (257 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Major Utility Company Makes Agreement for Space Based Solar Power

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:55:25 +0000

Solar Collecting Satellite. Image courtesy of Mafic Studios.

One of the largest utility companies in the US has decided to look towards space to find more power. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) in California announced a proposed agreement with startup company Solaren Corporation to provide 200 mega watts of space based solar power (SBSP) starting in 2016. PG&E is now seeking approval from California state regulators for permission to sign this agreement. While PG&E is not making any financial investment at this time, the announcement shows that SBSP is being taken seriously as a viable energy source. PG&E and the two other California utilities are required by the state to source 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010 and 30 percent by 2017. None are producing the required amount so far.
(...)
Read the rest of Major Utility Company Makes Agreement for Space Based Solar Power (324 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Small Engine For the Big Job of Testing Theory of Relativity

Nancy Atkinson — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:09:48 +0000

The FEEP. Credit: ESA

Researchers from the European Space Agency are testing what they describe as the smallest, yet most precisely controllable engine ever built for space. Measuring 10 centimeters (4 inches) across and making a faint blue glow as it runs, the Field Emission Electric Propulsion, or FEEP, engine produces an average thrust equivalent to the force of one falling hair. But its thrust range and controllability are far superior to more potent thrusters, and will be important for a future space mission that will test Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.
(...)
Read the rest of Small Engine For the Big Job of Testing Theory of Relativity (480 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New Array Captures Redoubt Volcano Lightning

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:13:47 +0000

Redoubt lightning. Credit: Bretwood Higman

When Redoubt Volcano in Alaska started rumbling in January, a team of researchers from New Mexico Tech hurried to south central Alaska to deploy a series of radio sensors. When the volcano began erupting overnight on March 22 and 23, the Lightning Mapping Array started returning clear and dramatic information about the electricity created within volcanic plumes and the resulting lightning. This is the first time ever anyone has been able to record data from a volcanic eruption right from the start. “We’re getting all the data we hoped to get and a lot more,” principal investigator Dr. Ron Thomas said. “Absolutely, the quality and quantity of the data will allow us to better understand the electrical charge structure inside a volcanic plume."
(...)
Read the rest of New Array Captures Redoubt Volcano Lightning (483 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Could Astrophysics Save Lives?

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:20:48 +0000

Artist’s impression of the proto-planetary disk, courtesy of NASA.

Who would have guessed astrophysics could save lives? But it's true. Planetary geologists studying how molten metal coagulates at the center of planets while they are forming have discovered that their research can also be used to investigate blood flow in the human heart. Using the methods developed by astrophysicists, surgeons were able to find the location of a potentially life-threatening blood clot in a patient's heart.
(...)
Read the rest of Could Astrophysics Save Lives? (456 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Follow the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference at AC LIVE

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:31:29 +0000

Dr. Pamela Gay from Astronomy Cast is attending the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference this week and is blogging from the conference. You can catch her updates at Astronomy Cast Live . She's already posted some very interesting reports on how the Martian north pole region — where the Phoenix lander sits — may currently be habitable, and the debate on how planets should be classified. Great stuff — check it out!

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Disappearing Stars Confirm Supernova Origins

Anne Minard — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:39:21 +0000

Artist's rendering of SN 1993J, where a red supergiant supernova progenitor star (left) is exploding after having transferred about seven solar masses of hydrogen gas to the blue companion star (right). Credit: ESA

Astronomers have caught two stars in the disappearing acts that link them to type II supernova events.

Type II supernovae are widely believed to result from the internal collapse and explosion of massive stars, about nine times the size of our sun. But precious few observations have actually confirmed the relationship.

Now, researchers have spotted two parent stars that showed up in supernovae "before" images — but not in images taken after the blasts.

"The disappearance of the progenitors confirms that these two supernovae were produced by Red Supergiants," write co-authors Justyn Maund and Stephen Smartt. Their new paper is out in this week's issue of Science.

(...)
Read the rest of Disappearing Stars Confirm Supernova Origins (514 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New Particle Throws Monkeywrench in Particle Physics

Anne Minard — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:58:47 +0000

The hits just keep on coming from Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. So far this month, the lab has announced the discovery of a rare single top quark, and then narrowed the gap — twice, actually — for the mass of the elusive Higgs Boson particle, or "God particle," thought to give all other particles their mass.

Now, scientists have detected a new, completely untheorized particle that challenges what physicists thought they knew about how quarks combine to form matter. They're calling it Y(4140), reflecting its measured mass of 4140 Mega-electron volts.

“It must be trying to tell us something,” said Jacobo Konigsberg of the University of Florida, a spokesman for Fermilab's collider detector team. “So far, we’re not sure what that is, but rest assured we’ll keep on listening.”

(...)
Read the rest of New Particle Throws Monkeywrench in Particle Physics (480 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Rocket Scientists Use 'Star Wars' Technology to Fight Mosquitoes

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:14:47 +0000

Artist impression of the Stategic Defense Initiative.

Mosquitoes are a hardy, resilient sort; these insect have been around for thousands of years and recently, one mosquito even survived a stint in space. Mosquitoes aren't just an annoyance, but they also carry deadly diseases. Now, humans may have a new defense against mosquitoes and the diseases they carry, like malaria. Laser technology developed for the Cold War missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (also known as Star Wars) is now being retooled to for the fight against mosquitoes. The laser system is intelligent enough that humans and butterflies aren't affected by the beams, but it zaps mosquitoes flat. It can even tell the difference between female mosquitoes, the blood-drinkers, and males. "We like to think back then we made some contribution to the ending of the Cold War" with the Star Wars program, said Dr. Jordin Kare. "Now we're just trying to make a dent in a war that's actually gone on a lot longer and claimed a lot more lives."
(...)
Read the rest of Rocket Scientists Use 'Star Wars' Technology to Fight Mosquitoes (361 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Why is Science Important?

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:23:43 +0000

Science is everywhere in today’s world. It is part of our daily lives, from cooking and gardening, to recycling and comprehending the daily weather report, to reading a map and using a computer. Advances in technology and science are transforming our world at an incredible pace, and our children’s future will surely be filled with leaps in technology we can only imagine. Being “science literate” will no longer be just an advantage but an absolute necessity. We can’t escape from the significance of science in our world.

But not everyone understands that, or has been taught to think critically, or been provided with the tools to analyze and test a problem or situation.

Alom Shaha is a school teacher in the UK, and he has put together a website and a video, asking people to share why science is important. There are scientists, educators, psychologists, artists and many others from different walks of life who participated in this project. The video is of exceptional quality, and I urge everyone to watch and share it.

Why is Science Important? from Alom Shaha on Vimeo.

(...)
Read the rest of Why is Science Important? (21 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Evidence of Supernovae Found in Ice Core Sample

Nancy Atkinson — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:07:47 +0000

Ice core sample. Credit: University of Alaska Geophysical Institute

Chinese and Arabic astronomers left historical documentation of a supernova that occurred in our own galaxy in the year 1006 (SN 1006), and another one 48 years later (SN 1054). Some of the writings about SN 1006 say there was a visual explosion half the size of the moon, and it shone so brightly that objects on the ground could be seen at night. We know these writings weren't just fantastical imaginations because we now have the "leftovers" of these supernovae; Supernova Remnant 1006 and the Crab Nebula. But now there is more evidence. A team of Japanese scientists has found the first evidence of supernovae in an ice core sample.
(...)
Read the rest of Evidence of Supernovae Found in Ice Core Sample (367 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

UFOs or High Altitude Lightning?

Nancy Atkinson — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:08:53 +0000

Sprites over thunderstorms in Kansas on August 10, 2000, observed in the mesosphere, with an altitude of 50-90 kilometers as a response to powerful lightning discharges from tropospheric thunderstorms. Credit: Walter Lyons, FMA Research, Fort Collins, Colorado

Over 90% of UFO sightings can be easily explained, and are usually visual misinterpretations of meteors, weather balloons, a flock of birds, blimps, or even the Moon. Here's one more to add to the list of items mistakenly identified as UFO's: sprites. No, not the elf or troll-like sprites, but a natural phenomenon which occurs during thunderstorms. "Sprites appear above most thunderstorms," said Colin Price of the Tel Aviv University, "but we didn't see them until recently. They are high in the sky and last for only a fraction of a second." While there is much debate over the cause or function of these mysterious flashes in the sky, Price says they may explain some bizarre reports of UFO sightings.
(...)
Read the rest of UFOs or High Altitude Lightning? (390 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Sweet Potatoes Flew into Space Aboard Columbia

Anne Minard — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:54:28 +0000

Sweet potato cuttings grown in an Alabama laboratory were flown aboard Columbia to test root growth in microgravity. Courtesy of NASA.

A team of researchers from the Deep South sent sweet potato plants into space, as part of an experiment aimed at providing food for long-term space missions.

Desmond G. Mortley, from the G.W. Carver Agricultural Experiment Station at Alabama's Tuskegee University, and his colleagues launched the sweet potato cuttings on a five-day mission aboard the space shuttle Columbia, and compared their success to ground-based cuttings at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"The intent of the experiment was to study if stem cuttings would be a successful means of propagating plants in space, just as they are on Earth," said Raymond Wheeler, a study co-author from NASA's Biological Science Office at the Kennedy Space Center. "The results showed that the cuttings did indeed produce adventitious roots in microgravity, suggesting that cuttings should work well in space settings."

(...)
Read the rest of Sweet Potatoes Flew into Space Aboard Columbia (194 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New Company Looks to Produce Space Based Solar Power Within a Decade

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:44:37 +0000

Solar Collecting Satellite. Image courtesy of Mafic Studios.

Is space-based solar power (SBSP) a technology whose time has come? The concept and even some of the hardware for harnessing energy from the sun with orbiting solar arrays has been around for some time. But the biggest challenge for making the concept a reality, says entrepreneur Peter Sage of Space Energy, Inc., is that SBSP has never been commercially viable. But that could be changing. Space Energy, Inc. has assembled an impressive team of scientists, engineers and business people, putting together what Sage calls "a rock-solid commercial platform" for their company. And given the current looming issues of growing energy needs and climate change, Space Energy, Inc. could be in the right place at the right time.

"Although it’s a very grandiose vision, it makes total sense," Sage told Universe Today. "This is an inevitable technology; it's going to happen. If we can put solar panels in space where the sun shines 24 hours a day, if we have a safe way of transmitting the energy to Earth and broadcasting it anywhere, that is a serious game changer." If everything falls into place for this company, they could be producing commercially available SBSP within a decade.
(...)
Read the rest of New Company Looks to Produce Space Based Solar Power Within a Decade (1,630 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Citizen Science: Unmannedspaceflight.com

Nancy Atkinson — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:51:47 +0000

Mosaic created by UMSF's James Canvin from images taken by the Opportunity rover, sol 1707. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/James Canvin

Note: This is the first in a series of articles about Citizen Science projects, where science is not just for professional scientists anymore!

The desire to seek out others of a like mind must be coded into our DNA. Take any subject — music, literature, art, science, math, sports, animals — you name it, and there is a group you can join to share your interest with others. Or if you can't find a group, then you can start one and see who joins in. Doug Ellison is a great example. His online forum Unmannedspaceflight.com (UMSF) has become a place where a combination of interest in space exploration and serious "Photoshopping" has taken on new proportions. But it is also a place where the line between amateur interest and professional science is starting to blur.

Plainly put, the images, mosaics and movies created by the participants at UMSF are stunning. Whether it be a panoramic view from the top of Husband Hill on Mars, recalibrated images from the Pioneer or Voyager spacecraft to create 3D renderings or maps of the planets, or a movie of Opportunity roving on Meridiani Planum, the work being done at UMSF is a feast for the eyes. And this is all being done by amateurs who don't receive any compensation for their painstaking handiwork, except for the joy of sharing their images with each other and the public, and perhaps converting a few space exploration naysayers along the way. They do their work using cheap, free, or even personally-created imaging software, to generate their labors of love.
(...)
Read the rest of Citizen Science: Unmannedspaceflight.com (2,878 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh