Science & TechnologyS


Magic Wand

Corrupted Science Leaves Logic and Conscience at the Door while Debunking Unexplained Mysteries and Ecological Atrocities of 2011

Image
© iStockPhoto
As we head inexorably toward 2012, we decided to look back at some of the strangest mysteries of this past year, and some of the mysteries that remain with us as we enter the new year.

5 "Unexplained" Mysteries Solved in 2011

The Jerusalem UFO Video

Just a few weeks into 2011 a stunning UFO video circulated around the world. On Jan. 28, a mysterious glowing light hovered high above the Dome of the Rock, an ancient Islamic shrine in Jerusalem.

It was touted as possibly the best video ever taken of an extraterrestrial spacecraft -- made all the more apparently authentic because it was captured by at least two other people at the same time, from different angles. When the videos appeared on YouTube UFO interest was whipped into a frenzy; as Ian O'Neill noted, "The news headlines read: "Holy Smoke -- UFO in Jerusalem," "Dome of the Rock Jerusalem light all proof UFO fans need that aliens exist" and "Credible? Jerusalem UFO footage captured from multiple viewpoints."

Comment: Read 2012 - On The Eve Of Destruction? to learn more about what awaits us in the next year.


Boat

New calculations suggest Jupiter's core may be liquefying

Jupiters core liquefies
© NASA

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, may be causing its own core to liquefy, at least according to Hugh Wilson and colleague Burkhard Militzer of UC, Berkeley. They've come to this conclusion after making quantum mechanical calculations on the conditions that exist within the big planet. In a paper published on the preprint server arXiv, and submitted to Physical Review Letters, the two explain that because the gas giant has a relatively small core made of mostly iron, rock (partly magnesium oxide) and ice, and sits embedded in fluid hydrogen and helium all under great pressure from the planet's gravity (which has created very high temperatures (16,000 K)), there is a likelihood that the core is liquefying due to the heat and pressure exerted on the magnesium oxide.

Calculating the possibility of the magnesium oxide liquefying had to be done to predict the outcome because recreating the environment that exists inside of Jupiter for experimentation purposes isn't feasible. They have in essence shown that magnesium oxide, when exposed to such high temperatures and pressure, has high solubility, which of course means a high probability of dissolving into a liquid. In a previous study, the team also made calculations showing that the core ice would likely be dissolving as well.

The findings suggest that Jupiter's core might not be as big as it once was, though it currently weights about as much as ten Earth's (the whole planet weighs as much as 318 Earth's). This implies that the core could eventually be reduced down to nothing at all. And if that's the case, than those who study exoplanets, particularly the giant gas variety, will have to do some rethinking, because those others might not have a core at all, contrary to conventional wisdom.

Magic Wand

Scientists tickle animals to find laughter clues

Thought it was just humans that are ticklish? Think again - scientists are studying how animals respond to being tickled in a bid to shed light on how laughter evolved.


Tickling a gorilla is not for the faint-hearted. But keeper Phil Ridges is not worried at getting into the enclosure with Emmie at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent.

The gorilla, now 19, was hand-reared, and Phil has been her keeper for most of her life.

He says she has a tendency to be "a little bit frosty", but if she is in the mood, she cannot resist a chortle when she is tickled.

"I've worked with gorillas for a long time, and I've often seen gorillas tickling each other, so it is a nice feeling when they have accepted you enough and they don't mind you tickling them," he says.

But it is Emmie's response that has intrigued scientist Marina Davila-Ross from the University of Portsmouth, because the gorilla's reaction sounds a lot like human laughter.

Dr Davila-Ross says: "I was amazed about the way apes responded to being tickled - the apes seem to behave in the same way humans and children behave when they are being tickled."

Sherlock

Police trialling lie detector tests in Britain

Lie Detector
© GettyLie detector tests are being used to help officers decide whether to charge suspects in a groundbreaking scheme by a British police force
Lie detector tests are being used to help officers decide whether to charge suspects in a groundbreaking scheme by a British police force.

The devices are for the first time being used by detectives for pre-conviction testing in the UK in a trial which could pave the way for their introduction across the country.

Hertfordshire police completed a successful pilot scheme last month in which 25 sex offenders were tested using polygraphs.

The scheme led to many of the "low level" offenders being reclassified as posing a more serious risk to children than originally thought.

The force has now been given a further 12 months to experiment with the devices while senior officers across Britain are investigating ways the technology could assist in solving cases.

The Association of Chief Police Officers has established a working group to advise forces contemplating using lie detectors.

Airplane

US Civilians Are Now Helping Decide Who To Kill With Military Drones

drone
© Business Insider
President Obama's enormous expansion of the U.S. drone program may be pushing too fast for military staffing to keep up.

David S. Cloud of The Los Angeles Times reports the military is now forced to rely on a string of civilian contractors placed at all levels along the "kill chain." These are the people who analyze incoming drone video and decide when to fire Hellfire missiles.

The practice is not new.

According to Cloud, an American civilian played a "central" role in the Predator attack that accidentally killed 15 Afghans in 2010, information that "surprised" the investigating Army officer.

Manning the drone fleet is a mounting issue in the Air Force.

It takes more staff to fly a drone than an F-15, and with more drones than ever in the air, non-government employees are increasingly employed to analyze video, and keep the UAVs in the air.

Display

Stuxnet Weapon Has at Least 4 Cousins: Researchers

stuxnet graphic
© n/a
The Stuxnet virus that last year damaged Iran's nuclear program was likely one of at least five cyber weapons developed on a single platform whose roots trace back to 2007, according to new research from Russian computer security firm Kaspersky Lab.

Security experts widely believe that the United States and Israel were behind Stuxnet, though the two nations have officially declined to comment on the matter.

A Pentagon spokesman on Wednesday declined comment on Kaspersky's research, which did not address who was behind Stuxnet.

Stuxnet has already been linked to another virus, the Duqu data-stealing trojan, but Kaspersky's research suggests the cyber weapons program that targeted Iran may be far more sophisticated than previously known.

Kaspersky's director of global research & analysis, Costin Raiu, told Reuters on Wednesday that his team has gathered evidence that shows the same platform that was used to build Stuxnet and Duqu was also used to create at least three other pieces of malware.

Saturn

Detecting Light Echoes from Ancient Star Eruption

Eta Carinae and its bipolar Homunculus Nebula
© NASA/ESA/Space Telescope Science InstituteEta Carinae and its bipolar Homunculus Nebula, which was partly created during an eruption in 1843, makes the object an attractive target for astronomers.
Eta Carinae underwent an enormous eruption in the 1800's -- we are now seeing light from the event bounce off the star's nebula.

During the mid 1800's, the well known star Eta Carinae underwent an enormous eruption becoming, for a time, the second brightest star in the sky.

Although 19th Century astronomers did not yet have the technology to study one of the largest eruptions in recent history in depth, astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute recently discovered that light echoes are just now reaching us.

This discovery allows astronomers to use modern instruments to study Eta Carinae as it was between 1838 and 1858 when it underwent its Great Eruption.

Light echoes have been made famous in recent years by the dramatic example of V838 Monocerotis. While V838 Mon looks like an expanding shell of gas, what is actually depicted is light reflecting off shells of gas and dust that was thrown off earlier in the star's life.

Info

Scientists Solve Mystery That Inspired Hitchcock's The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock
© Corbis

In the summer of 1961, seabirds hurled themselves into homes across California's Monterey Bay, inspiring one of Alfred Hitchcock's least scary films.

Now, it appears scientists have solved the mystery of the real-life murder of crows behind The Birds. "I am pretty convinced that the birds were poisoned," biologist Sibel Bargu of Louisiana State University told USA Today.

Bargu and her team investigated by inspecting the stomach contents of turtles and seabirds scooped up during 1961 Monterey Bay ship surveys. The animals' tummies contained a toxic algae that causes nerve and brain damage. The scientists say the birds that kamikazi-ed Monterey Bay that year likely munched on anchovies and squid packed with the same toxin.

A similar study in 2008 came to the same conclusion, noting that leaking septic tanks from newly-built homes in the area may have fed the toxic algae bloom in the bay.

Info

Mystery of the Human Brain's Glia Cells Solved -- Key to Learning & Information Processing

Glia Cells
© Pablo Blinder/American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU)A network of neurons (in red) and glia cells (in green) grown in a petri dish. Blue dots are the cells' nuclei.
"Glia cells are like the brain's supervisors. By regulating the synapses, they control the transfer of information between neurons, affecting how the brain processes information and learns."

Maurizio De Pittà of Tel Aviv University's Schools of Physics and Astronomy and Electrical Engineering
Scientists have long puzzled over the role of Glia cells in the activities of the brain dedicated to learning and memory. In a new breakthrough, Tel Aviv University researchers say that glia cells are central to how the brain brain adapts, learns, and stores information. Glia cells do much more than hold the brain together, according to De Pitta. A mechanism within the glia cells also sorts information for learning purposes.

De Pittà's research has developed the first computer model that incorporates the influence of glia cells on synaptic information transfer. Detailed in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, the model can also be implemented in technologies based on brain networks such as microchips and computer software, Prof. Ben-Jacob says, and aid in research on brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.

The brain is constituted of two main types of cells: neurons and glia. Neurons fire off signals that dictate how we think and behave, using synapses to pass along the message from one neuron to another, explains De Pittà. Scientists theorize that memory and learning are dictated by synaptic activity because they are "plastic," with the ability to adapt to different stimuli.

Beaker

The Billion-Dollar Pest: U.S. Beetle is Developing Resistance to One of the Most Widely Used Genetically Modified Crops, Say Scientists

genetically modified Bt corn
© Associated PressFood for thought: Some rootworm beetles, right, have developed a resistance to genetically modified Bt corn, left, which has saved the U.S. farming industry billions in insecticides and lost yields
One of America's most widely planted crops - a genetically engineered corn plant that makes its own insecticide - may be losing its effectiveness because a major pest appears to be developing resistance more quickly than scientists expected.

The U.S. food supply is not in any immediate danger because the problem remains isolated. But scientists fear potentially risky farming practices could be blunting the hybrid's sophisticated weaponry.

If rootworms do become resistant to Bt corn, it 'could become the most economically damaging example of insect resistance to a genetically modified crop in the U.S.,' said Bruce Tabashnik, an entomologist at the University of Arizona. 'It's a pest of great economic significance - a billion-dollar pest.'

When it was introduced in 2003, so-called Bt corn seemed like the answer to farmers' dreams: It would allow growers to bring in bountiful harvests using fewer chemicals because the corn naturally produces a toxin that poisons western corn rootworms.