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First Detection Of Magnetic Field In Distant Galaxy Surprises Astronomers


Science Daily
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:16 UTC
Using a powerful radio telescope to peer into the early universe, a team of California astronomers has obtained the first direct measurement of a nascent galaxy's magnetic field as it appeared 6.5 billion years ago.
steerable radio telescope
© NRAO/AUI
The astronomers used the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope, which stands 485 feet tall -- taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Astronomers believe the magnetic fields within our own Milky Way and other nearby galaxies - which control the rate of star formation and the dynamics of interstellar gas--arose from a slow "dynamo effect." In this process, slowly rotating galaxies are thought to have generated magnetic fields that grew very gradually as they evolved over 5 billion to 10 billion years to their current levels.

But in the October 2 issue of Nature, the astronomers report that the magnetic field they measured in this distant "protogalaxy" is at least 10 times greater than the average value in the Milky Way.
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Satellite

Galileo satellite knocked offline

Jonathan Amos and Paul Rincon
BBC News
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:59 UTC
Giove-B Galileo demonstrator satellite
© BBC News
The Giove-B demonstrator was launched earlier this year
A test spacecraft for Europe's future satellite-navigation system has been rocked by a surge of space radiation.

The incident forced the Giove-B satellite to adopt a "safe mode" for two weeks in which only essential power systems were kept running.

European Space Agency (Esa) engineers have brought the satellite back up and are now studying what happened.
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Cloud Lightning

Cloud Radar: Predicting The Weather More Accurately


Science Daily
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:23 UTC
The weather. It's the one topic of conversation that unites Britain - umbrella or sun cream? Now scientists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council have developed a system that measures the individual layers of cloud above us which will make answering the all-important weather questions much easier in future.
Cloud radar
© Science and Technology Facilities Council
Cloud radar deployed at Field Station.

The Cloud Radar will not only allow forecasters to predict the weather more precisely, the information gathered will also enable aircraft pilots to judge more accurately whether it is safe to take off and land in diverse weather conditions, offering a powerful safety capability for civil airports and military air bases.

Developed over 10 years by researchers and engineers at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, in collaboration with the Met Office, the Cloud Radar can take a complete and accurate profile of cloud or fog up to 5 miles overhead. Operating at 94 GHz, 50 times higher in frequency than most mobile phones, the radar measures the cloud base height, its thickness, density and internal structure as well as providing similar information on cloud layers at higher altitudes.
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Telescope

Mars: Ancient And Ongoing Processes That Shape Planet Surface


Science Daily
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:47 UTC
The unprecedented image quality of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) carried by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is helping scientists make leaps forward in understanding both the ongoing and ancient processes that shaped the surface of Mars.

Mars 3D view of a few scallops
© NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
3D view of a few scallops. The ridges are asymmetrical with a steeper, shorter, scarp-facing-slope and form steps on the scallop floor (HiRISE image PSP_001938_2265 overlaid on a HiRISE DEM).
Professor Alfred McEwen, HiRISE's Principal Investigator, highlighted some of the most recent results at the European Planetary Science Congress in Münster on September 24th.

A study of the nature and distribution of ancient megabreccia, led by McEwen at the University of Arizona, suggests that this bedrock was formed during the late heavy bombardment period. Megabreccia consists of angular, randomly-orientated blocks that formed suddenly in energetic events such as meteorite impacts. It is thought to contain fragments of the oldest and deepest bedrock exposed on the surface of Mars.

"We think that the megabreccia was formed during a period of heightened meteorite activity about 3.9 billion years ago. This is around the time life appears to have begun on Earth, but we have very little record of that era in our terrestrial geology because ancient rocks are heavily metamorphosed. Mars preserves a much better record of the heavy bombardment and, unlike the dry lunar surface, it shows the environmental effects in a water-rich crust," said McEwen.
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Meteor

Mass Extinctions And The Evolution Of Dinosaurs


Science Daily
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:27 UTC
Dinosaurs survived two mass extinctions and 50 million years before taking over the world and dominating ecosystems, according to new research published this week.

Tyrannosaurus Rex, chasing two Parasaurolophuses
© iStockphoto/Allan Tooley
Illustration of a Tarbosaurus, a cousin of Tyrannosaurus Rex, chasing two Parasaurolophuses.
Reporting in Biology Letters, Steve Brusatte, Professor Michael Benton, and colleagues at the University of Bristol show that dinosaurs did not proliferate immediately after they originated, but that their rise was a slow and complicated event, and driven by two mass extinctions.

"The sheer size of dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus makes us think there was something special about these animals that preordained them for success right from the beginning," Brusatte said. "However, our research shows that the rise of dinosaurs was a prolonged and complicated process. It isn't clear from the data that they would go on to dominate the world until at least 30 million years after they originated."

Importantly, the new research also shows that dinosaurs evolved into all their classic lifestyles - big predators, long-necked herbivores, etc. - long before they became abundant or diversified into the many different species we know today.
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Bulb

The 'thinking cap' that could unlock your inner genius and boost creativity

Fiona Macrae
Daily Mail
Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:17 UTC
There is a theory that the spark of genius lurks hidden within all of us. Now scientists are developing a 'thinking cap' that could turn that theory into practice and unlock the amazing potential of the human brain. The device uses tiny magnetic pulses to change the way the brain works and has produced remarkable results in tests.
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Bulb

Smooth awakening: The 'sunrise' pillow that wakes you up gently


Daily Mail
Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:10 UTC
A pillow that doubles as an alarm clock has been invented by a pair of university students. The Glo Pillow has in-built LEDs that brighten gradually over the space of 40 minutes. This pulls you slowly from a deep sleep and leaves you feeling wide awake. It proves an alternative to a traditional alarm clock, which gives the body a sudden shock and can interrupt any stage of the sleep cycle.
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Cell Phone

With GPS getting lost is no bind for the blind

Asher Moses
The Sydney Morning Herald
Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:26 UTC
Bart Bunting with GPS phone

Liberated ... Bart Bunting hits the pavement with his trusty mobile phone GPS device.
Most people buy a GPS navigation system to avoid getting lost but, for Bart Bunting, blind since birth, the technology has allowed him to enjoy losing his way for the first time.

No more than a few months ago Bunting was forced to ask for detailed, turn-by-turn directions whenever he wanted to go anywhere new and then memorise every step he took to ensure he could make it home.

But today, armed with a mobile phone containing GPS software purpose-built for visually impaired people, Bunting is liberated and can go wherever he likes, safe in the knowledge that home is only the push of a button away.
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Info

New Birdlike Dinosaur Found in Argentina

José Orozco
National Geographic News
Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:07 UTC
Birdlike dinosaur
© Illustration by Todd Marshall, copyright 2008 National Geographic Society
The newfound Aerosteon riocoloradensis had both lungs (in red) and air sacs (in other colors), much like modern-day birds.
The 33-foot (10-meter) long dinosaur—described in a September 2008 study—has given scientists new insight into the evolution of bird lungs.
A new predatory dinosaur with a birdlike breathing system found in Argentina may help scientists better understand the evolution of birds' lung systems.

The elephant-size dinosaur Aerosteon riocoloradensis lived 85 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.

The fossil provides the first evidence of dinosaur air sacs, which pump air into the lungs and are used by modern-day birds, said Paul Sereno, the project's lead researcher and a National Geographic explorer-in-residence.
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Frog

Second chance for extinct tortoise?


Press Trust of India
Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:56 UTC
Melbourne - One of Charles Darwin's extinct giant Galapagos tortoises could soon be bred back to life - thanks to scientists who claim to have discovered a living species that shares its DNA.

An international team, led by Macquarie University, has found that a species on Volcano Wolf on Isabela island actually contains the DNA of an extinct one from the island of Floreana.

According to lead scientist Dr Luciano Beheregaray, if more of these mixed individuals are found, a captive breeding programme could help in restoring the species, Geochelone elephantosis, back to life.
      Read More...
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