There's a growing chorus of calls to send astronauts to Mars rather than the moon, but critics point out that such trips would be long and gruelling, taking about six months to reach the Red Planet. But now, researchers are testing a powerful new ion engine that could one day shorten the journey to just 39 days.
Science & Technology
© Travis A. Rector/U of Alaska Anchorage/Heidi Schweiker/NOAO
The "Cygnus Bubble" nebula may actually be a cylinder that is being seen from one of its ends. This image was taken with the Kitt Peak Mayall 4-metre telescope in Arizona.
The "Cygnus Bubble" nebula may actually be a cylinder that is being seen from one of its ends. This image was taken with the Kitt Peak Mayall 4-metre telescope in Arizona.
Planetary nebulae, which got their name after being misidentified by early astronomers, are formed when an aging star weighing up to eight times the mass of the sun ejects its outer layers as clouds of luminous gas (see Why stars go out in a blaze of glory). Most are elliptical, double-lobed or cigar-shaped, evolving after stars eject gas from each pole (see a gallery of the nebulae).
Dave Jurasevich of the Mount Wilson Observatory in California spotted the "Cygnus Bubble" while recording images of the region on 6 July 2008. A few days later, amateur astronomers Mel Helm and Keith Quattrocchi also found it.
The bubble, which was officially named PN G75.5+1.7 last week, has been there a while. A closer look at images from the second Palomar Sky Survey revealed it had the same size and brightness 16 years ago. Jurasevich thinks it was overlooked because it is very faint.
© Gabriel Pérez Díaz, Servicio MultiMedia, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain
Artist’s impression of the protoplanetary disk (right) during the dawn of our Solar System. A nearby dying star (on the left) sheds material into space (reddish gas).
Artist’s impression of the protoplanetary disk (right) during the dawn of our Solar System. A nearby dying star (on the left) sheds material into space (reddish gas).
The findings challenge the theory that radioactive isotopes trapped in meteorites from the dawn of our Solar System originated in a supernova. They also shed light on the origins of water on Earth, says a study in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science, and may help astronomers predict how common water is on other planets.
"In the past, most people have been convinced that the radioactive isotopes present in the young Solar System must have come from a supernova," said co-author Maria Lugaro, an astrophysicist from Monash University in Melbourne.
Hong Kong- Chinese researchers have managed to create powerful stem cells from mouse skin and used these to generate fertile live mouse pups.
They used induced pluripotent skin cells, or iPS cells -- cells that have been reprogrammed to look and act like embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, taken from days-old embryos, have the power to morph into any cell type and, in mice, can be implanted into a mother's womb to create living mouse pups.
Their experiment, published in Nature, means that it is theoretically possible to clone someone using ordinary connective tissue cells found on the person's skin, but the experts were quick to distance themselves from such controversy.
They used induced pluripotent skin cells, or iPS cells -- cells that have been reprogrammed to look and act like embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, taken from days-old embryos, have the power to morph into any cell type and, in mice, can be implanted into a mother's womb to create living mouse pups.
Their experiment, published in Nature, means that it is theoretically possible to clone someone using ordinary connective tissue cells found on the person's skin, but the experts were quick to distance themselves from such controversy.
© AP Photo/Carlos Moreno
The Gran Telescopio Canarias, a euro130 million ($185 million) telescope featuring a 34-foot (10.4-meter) reflecting mirror, sits atop an extinct volcano. Its location above cloud cover takes advantage of the pristine skies in the Atlantic Ocean.
Planning for the telescope began in 1987 and has involved more than 1,000 people from 100 companies. It was inaugurated Friday by King Juan Carlos. The observatory is located at 2,400 meters (7,870 feet) above sea-level where prevailing winds keep the atmosphere stable and transparent, the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute said.
Researchers in Taiwan have discovered what they believe is the island's oldest civilization, dating back about 20,000 years and belonging to a pygmy-like people that came from China, Southeast Asia or beyond, the team leader said on Friday.
Taiwan's government-run Academia Sinica, which found more than 200 stone tools at the Ba Hsien Cave excavation site on the island's east coast, will return next year to seek clues on who was living there, leader Tsang Chen-hua said.
The civilization was probably a dark-skinned people similar to Negritos, a term that covers several ethnic groups of short stature in isolated parts of Southeast Asia, Tsang said. Their exact origin and migration route in Asia remain a mystery.
Taiwan's government-run Academia Sinica, which found more than 200 stone tools at the Ba Hsien Cave excavation site on the island's east coast, will return next year to seek clues on who was living there, leader Tsang Chen-hua said.
The civilization was probably a dark-skinned people similar to Negritos, a term that covers several ethnic groups of short stature in isolated parts of Southeast Asia, Tsang said. Their exact origin and migration route in Asia remain a mystery.
© Reuters
Researchers studied mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down the female line
Researchers studied mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down the female line
The research, lead by Dr Raghavendra Rao from the Anthropological Survey of India, is published in the current edition of BMC Evolutionary Biology.
One theory is that modern humans arrived in Australia via an inland route through central Asia but Rao says most scientists believe modern humans arrived via the coast of South Asia.
But he says there has never been any evidence to confirm a stop-off in India until now.
© Adam Sanford Aerial-Cam 2009
Shrine to a Mysterious God
This 1.5-ton, four-foot high carved stone relic shows a god-like figure standing on the back of a bull, with a thunderbolt in one hand and a battle axe in the other. It is a representation of the Anatolian god Juppiter of Doliche, which was believed to be a favorite deity among Roman soldiers, although there is no literary reference of the god.
Shrine to a Mysterious God
This 1.5-ton, four-foot high carved stone relic shows a god-like figure standing on the back of a bull, with a thunderbolt in one hand and a battle axe in the other. It is a representation of the Anatolian god Juppiter of Doliche, which was believed to be a favorite deity among Roman soldiers, although there is no literary reference of the god.
Weighing 1.5 tons, the four-foot high ornately carved stone relic, was unearthed at the Roman fort of Vindolanda, which was built by order of the Emperor Hadrian between 122-30 A.D.
The Romans built the defensive wall across the north of Britain from Carlisle to Newcastle-on-Tyne, to keep out invading armies from what is now Scotland.
© Unknown
An engineer works on closing up LHC sectors
An engineer works on closing up LHC sectors
The world's largest particle collider is now unlikely to restart before mid-November, according to a Cern press statement. The project had been expected to start again in October.
To repair the leaks, which are from the helium circuit into the insulating vacuum, sectors 8-1 and 2-3 will have to be warmed from 80K to room temperature. Adjacent sub-sectors will act as 'floats', while the remainder of the surrounding sectors will be kept at 80K, Cern said in the statement. The repair work will not have an impact on the vacuum in the beam pipe.
Newly analyzed remains suggest that a modern human killed a Neanderthal man in what is now Iraq between 50,000 and 75,000 years ago. The finding is scant but tantalizing evidence for a theory that modern humans helped to kill off the Neanderthals.
The probable weapon of choice: A thrown spear.
The evidence: A lethal wound on the remains of a Neanderthal skeleton.
The victim: A 40- to 50-year-old male, now called Shanidar 3, with signs of arthritis and a sharp, deep slice in his left ninth rib.
The probable weapon of choice: A thrown spear.
The evidence: A lethal wound on the remains of a Neanderthal skeleton.
The victim: A 40- to 50-year-old male, now called Shanidar 3, with signs of arthritis and a sharp, deep slice in his left ninth rib.
