Science & TechnologyS


Saturn

Pallas is 'Peter Pan' Space Rock

Jonathan Amos
BBC News
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:20 UTC
Pallas space rock
© B.Schmidt2 Pallas is not quite a sphere
The Hubble telescope has provided new insight on 2 Pallas, one of the largest asteroids in the Solar System.

The nearly 600km-wide rock is an example of an object that started out on the process of becoming a planet but never grew up into the real thing.

Researchers have published a 3D model of the grapefruit-shaped mini-world in Science magazine.

Hubble's data makes it possible to discern surface features, including what appears to be a big impact crater.
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Hourglass

What Is Human?

Judyth Vary Baker
JudythVaryBaker.com
Tue, 01 Aug 2006 23:10 UTC
There are many challenges and problems facing humanity today, and in the generations to come, but of them all, two factors will be paramount: the definition of what is human (implying the impact of the concept, and the full quiver of human rights thereof), and -- secondly -- the right to be (and to create) the offspring of a freely-generated and unregulated feral (naturally-occurring) human genome. In other words, the right to exist without deliberately manipulated genes. The time is approaching when it may be considered barbaric, unpatriotic or even evil to allow the propagation of certain genetic characteristics which today are considered normal, natural, and utterly human in nature.

We err if we are led to believe that humans properly analyze and regulate the ultimate outcomes regarding these two supreme issues. Financial and political pressure will have their unfortunate and historically predictable effect, perhaps for the last time, as cybernetic versions of humanity will emerge from the inevitable crises and chaos that will precede the demise of the human being as we know it, and of the human body, with all its genetically embedded frailties, in order to be engineered and designed into something more predictable, durable, pleasing and tractable.
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Sun

Sun's Plasma Balls Could Wipe Out Human Civilization - Technology is the Achilles Heel

David Gutierrez
Natural News
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:00 UTC
Natural fluctuations in the sun's atmosphere could cause it to fire a giant plasma ball at Earth, shutting down the planet's electric grids and leading to widespread social collapse, according to a report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Funded by NASA, the report draws attention to naturally occurring events known as coronal mass ejections (CME), in which a ball of plasma -- the charged, high-energy particles that comprise stars -- is fired from the sun. If such a ball strikes the Earth, it could produce rapid changes in the planet's magnetic field, leading to a surge of direct current in the long-range power lines that carry electricity through modern power grids.

Modern power grids are designed to carry electricity at extremely high voltage, making them especially susceptible to this kind of magnetic disruption. What they are not designed to do, however, is carry direct current. Transformers are particularly vulnerable, and sudden influx of direct current could cause the wiring inside the devices to melt. The NAS report estimates that within 90 seconds of a plasma ball hitting the Earth's magnetic field, power would be knocked out to 130 million people in the United States alone. The same effect is likely throughout the world.
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Info

Gloucester body 'is Goth warrior'


British Broadcasting Corporation
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:51 UTC
Image
© UnknownChemical analysis of the warrior's bones show he was mostly vegetarian
A late Roman period body unearthed in Gloucester has stunned experts after tests suggested it was a Goth warrior from eastern Europe.

The man, aged 25 to 30, who was dug up north of Kingsholm Square in 1972, had always baffled archaeologists.

His elaborate silver belt fittings, shoe buckles and inlaid knife were believed to be from an area between the Balkans and Southern Russia.
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Magnify

5000-year-old tombs under study in Kercem


timesofmalta.com
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:44 UTC
Image
Studies are underway on two tombs believed to be 5000 years old, which have been discovered in an excavation site in Kercem, Gozo.

The tombs were unearthed during extension works at the parish priest's house, which lies adjacent to the parish church. Pottery recovered so far place the origins of tombs in the Tarxien phase of Maltese prehistory, currently dated to about 3000-2500 BC. The excavations are being carried out by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage under the direction of Anthony Pace.
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Satellite

Rogue satellites to be cleared from Earth's orbit by German robots

Michael Day
The Observer
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:54 UTC
German-built robots are to be sent into Earth's orbit to repair 'dead satellites' or push them into outer space

Robots that rescue failing satellites and push "dead" ones into outer space should be ready in four years, it has emerged. Experts described the development by German scientists as a crucial step in preventing a disaster in the Earth's crowded orbit.

Last year it was reported that critical levels of debris circling the Earth were threatening astronauts' lives and the future of the multibillion-pound satellite communications industry. But senior figures at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) told the Observer they have been given the go-ahead to tackle a crisis that will come to a head in the next five to 10 years as more orbiting objects run out of fuel.

Their robots will dock with failing satellites to carry out repairs or push them into "graveyard orbits", freeing vital space in geostationary orbit. This is the narrow band 22,000 miles above the Earth in which orbiting objects appear fixed at the same point. More than 200 dead satellites litter this orbit. Within 10 years that number could increase fivefold, the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety has warned.

Klaus Landzettel, head of space robotics at DLR, said engineering advances, including the development of machines that can withstand temperatures ranging from -170C (-274F) to 200C (392F), meant that the German robots will be "ready to be used on any satellite, whether it's designed to be docked or not".

In 2007, the US Orbital Express project succeeded in refuelling an orbiting satellite. However, that satellite had been specifically designed to dock with the device.
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Blackbox

NASA puzzles over 'invisible' moon impact

Ivan Semeniuk
New Scientist
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:26 UTC
Image
© NASANothing to see here. The impact was due to occur to the left of the large crater shown in this image, but there was curiously little to see
In the final minutes of its plunge toward the moon, NASA's LCROSS spacecraft spotted the brief infrared flash of a rocket booster hitting the lunar surface just ahead of it - and it even saw heat from the crater formed by the impact. But scientists remain puzzled about why the event did not seem to generate a visible plume of debris as expected.

As hundreds of telescopes and observers watched, the highly publicised NASA mission to search for water on the moon reached its grand finale at 0431 PDT (1131 GMT) with a pair of high-speed crashes into a lunar crater named Cabeus.

During the crucial moments at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, scientists and engineers with LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) peered in silent concentration as successive images of the crater grew larger on their screens.
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Blackbox

Look into my eyes: The power of hypnosis

Nicola Jones
New Scientist
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:04 UTC
I am about to have my left leg paralysed, my arm taken over by an alien force and, quite possibly, be made blind. I confess I'm a bit nervous. But also, strangely, I hope it all works.

These insults to my body will not be inflicted with a scalpel, but instead induced using hypnosis. The effects, if they occur, will only be temporary, my hypnotist, David Oakley, reassures me.
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Radar

Scientists discover bacterium that transmutes gold, were the alchemists right?

Tima Vlasto
NY Holistic Science Spirit Examiner
Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:13 UTC
Image
© UnknownScientist Frank Reith in Australia
Gold is in the news, not only because of its record high at $1,060 an ounce according to the Globe and Mail, but also through Australian scientists' recent study of a bacterium that plays a basic role in the cycle of solid gold formation.

From prehistoric times and Egyptian goldmines; from the gifts of the Magi in the New Testament to King Midas' coins, not only were alchemists captivated by this shiny yellow metal, but once upon a time, we converted our skills and energy into this precious metal when our society's monetary system was based on the gold standard.
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Sherlock

Rune Stone from 400 AD Discovered in Southern Norway


Norway
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:00 UTC
Stone
© VGThe stone was found in Arnstein Henriksen's yard in Hogganvik, Mandal in Vest-Agder county.
Experts are now examining a unique rune stone dating back to around 400 AD, discovered in a garden in the city of Mandal in Southern Norway a week ago. The find may also contain a grave, reports Norway Post.

This is the first rune stone discovered in Norway since 1947, and the find is described as a sensation by the experts.

There are several lines of runes cut into the face of the stone, but it seems the style of writing is a bit different from earlier finds, and more difficult to desipher.

However, it is determined that one sentence begins "Ek Naudigastir" (I Naudagistr). It is believed Naugadistr is a man's name.

Under the rune stone there is also another large stone, which may cover what the experts believe to be a grave, since another grave was discovered on the same property around 20 years ago.
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