Science & TechnologyS


Telescope

Double Engine for a Nebula


PhysOrg
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:09 UTC
Double Engine
© ESO/F. Millour et alThis image, centerd on the B[e] star HD 87643, beautifully shows the extended nebula of gas and dust that reflects the light from the star.
The new image, showing a very rich field of stars towards the Carina arm of the Milky Way, is centred on the star HD 87643, a member of the exotic class of B[e] stars [1]. It is part of a set of observations that provide astronomers with the best ever picture of a B[e] star.

The image was obtained with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the 2400-metre-high La Silla Observatory in Chile. The image shows beautifully the extended nebula of gas and dust that reflects the light from the star. The central star's wind appears to have shaped the nebula, leaving bright, ragged tendrils of gas and dust. A careful investigation of these features seems to indicate that there are regular ejections of matter from the star every 15 to 50 years.

A team of astronomers, led by Florentin Millour, has studied the star HD 87643 in great detail, using several of ESO's telescopes. Apart from the WFI, the team also used ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal.
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Magnify

Computers tackle Akrotiri fresco puzzles

Margarita Pournara
ekathimerini.com
Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:09 UTC
Akrotiri Frescoes 1
Some are using the invaluable experience of the trained eye, while others are working with pixels and algorithms.

The goal, however, is common and sacred: the restoration of the frescoes at Akrotiri on the Cycladic island of Santorini has brought together Greek archaeologists and computer scientists from Princeton University, in a scientific program under the name "Grifos" (Riddle).

The collaboration between Akrotiri archaeologists and restorers and Princeton University, as well as University College London, goes beyond the realm of digital assistance. A recent gathering at the island's excavation site united students, young archaeology researchers and computer scientists from five different countries and seven universities (Athens, Thessaly, Ioannina, Liverpool, London, New York and Princeton).
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Blackbox

Flashback Ye gods! Ancient volcano could have blasted Atlantis myth

Dan Vergano
USA Today
Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:00 UTC
Santorini Volcanoe Map
Schematic geological section of Santorini
Little wonder the ancients believed in lightning-bolt-throwing gods and smoking monsters emerging from the underworld. As a new marine geology survey of an ancient volcano in the Aegean Sea reveals, they may have been justifiably cowed.

Not much is left of the Santorini Islands, among Greece's prettiest tourist sites. They encircle a massive volcanic crater, where more than 3,500 years ago one of the largest eruptions in recorded history took place.

The blast entombed an ancient town, Akrotiri, and seemingly altered the course of world history.

And now the survey indicates that the eruption was even more powerful than once believed.
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Camera

Pakal's Tomb: Journey From The Underworld To The Internet


Artdaily.org
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:05 UTC
Pakal's tomb
© INAHPakal's tomb
Closed to visit since 2004 to guarantee its good conservation state, Pakal's Tomb, in Palenque Archaeological Zone, Chiapas, can be visited virtually through Internet since August 2009.

Access to the funerary chamber of Maya ruler K'inich Janaab Pakal is at National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and through INAH official web page.
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Info

Plastics that convert light to electricity could have a big impact

Vince Stricherz
University of Washington
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:11 UTC
Image
© Mary Levin/University of WashingtonDavid Ginger, a University of Washington associate professor of chemistry, displays the tiny probe for a conductive atomic force microscope, used to record photocurrents on scales of millionths of an inch in carbon-based solar cells.
Researchers the world over are striving to develop organic solar cells that can be produced easily and inexpensively as thin films that could be widely used to generate electricity.

But a major obstacle is coaxing these carbon-based materials to reliably form the proper structure at the nanoscale (tinier than 2-millionths of an inch) to be highly efficient in converting light to electricity. The goal is to develop cells made from low-cost plastics that will transform at least 10 percent of the sunlight that they absorb into usable electricity and can be easily manufactured.
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Hourglass

Paradigm Shift: Humans And Flores Hobbits Existed Together

David Mark
ABC News
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:23 UTC
Flores Hobbit
© Reuters'Very, very primitive': Debbie Argue compared bone fragments from the hobbits to other hominids
They were just one metre tall with very long arms, no chins, wrist bones like gorillas and extremely long feet.

In 2003, archaeologists excavating in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores made a discovery that forced scientists to completely rethink conventional theories of human evolution.

They reported the discovery of a new species of human, one that lived as recently as 12,000 years ago, at the same time as modern humans.
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Sherlock

Archaeologists Discover Tomb of Bulgarian Princess


Thaindian News
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:23 UTC
A team of archaeologists has discovered the tomb of a Bulgarian princess in the northern Bulgarian town of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria's medieval capital.

According to a report in The Sofia Echo, archaeologists Nikolai Ovcharov and Hitko Vachev have excavated on August 2 what has been described as the grave of a Bulgarian princess, buried in the courtyard of the St. Peter and Pavel church in Veliko Tarnovo.

The two archaeologists have concluded that the grave dates back to the 14th century or earlier, sometime after the reign of Tsar Ivan Assen II.
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Telescope

Surveillance sandpit tests future Mars rover

Jessica Griggs
New Scientist
Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:55 UTC
The area being used to test the rover is built from sand, gravel and rocks.
© European Space AgencyThe area being used to test the rover is built from sand, gravel and rocks.
In preparation for the European Space Agency's ExoMars mission to the Red Planet in 2018, the agency's engineers are playing in a large sandpit in Noordwijk in the Netherlands. But they aren't using plastic buckets and spades.

The 90-square-metre playpen, known as the Planetary Utilisation Testbed is filled with sand, soil, gravel and rocks designed to recreate the look and feel of the Mars surface.

The ESA engineers are using the area to test the sense of direction of a prototype of the six-wheeled ExoMars rover. The final version will have to travel across the surface without the aid of a map, as well as to drill 2 metres beneath the Martian surface in search of life. Ensuring the rover can look after itself is vital to the mission's success.
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Magnify

Brains of psychopaths are different, British researchers find

Mark Henderson
The Times
Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:38 UTC
A difference between the brains of psychopaths and ordinary people has been identified in a study that could promise new approaches to diagnosing and treating the disorder.

Research by British scientists using advanced brain-scanning techniques has revealed that a critical connection between two regions of the brain appears to be abnormal in psychopaths.

The findings are preliminary and do not show that brain anatomy causes psychopathy but they suggest a plausible biological explanation for the antisocial and amoral behaviour that characterises the condition.
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Magnify

Fossils In Spain Are Treasure-Trove For Scientists

Jerome Socolovsky
National Public Radio
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:58 UTC
Image
© Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Workers excavate a section of the Sierra de Atapuerca mountains in northern Spain in June.
Human fossils have been found from the Ethiopian highlands to the Indonesian island of Java. However, the single site with the biggest deposits is located in northern Spain.

About 150 miles north of Madrid, a jeep pulls up to a clump of trees in the Sierra de Atapuerca, a collection of hills that are rich with caves.

A man with a helmet and a miner's headlamp gets out. He looks more like a mountain guide than a scientist. He's Juan Luis Arsuaga, Spain's best-known paleontologist.

He walks into a large cave, which is marked by a pirate flag. "This is the entrance to the site that has produced the most human fossils in history," Arsuaga says. "What better way to mark it?"
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