Science & TechnologyS


Star

US: 11 new streams of stars discovered in Milky Way

Astronomers claim to have found evidence of at least 11 new streams of stars in the Milky Way, a discovery which they claim could soon provide fresh forensic evidence of violence in the spiral galaxy.

Only two streams were previously known to actually exist in the area. But, a new study of the velocities of stars in Milky Way's inner halo, a bubble-like region that surrounds the galactic centre, has led to the discovery of 11 streams.

Cow Skull

New Climate record shows century-long droughts in eastern North America

A stalagmite in a West Virginia cave has yielded the most detailed geological record to date on climate cycles in eastern North America over the past 7,000 years. The new study confirms that during periods when Earth received less solar radiation, the Atlantic Ocean cooled, icebergs increased and precipitation fell, creating a series of century-long droughts.

stalagmite
©Greg Springer/Ohio University
The stalagmite, which is 7.9 inches long, was collected from a site in Buckeye Creek Cave, West Virginia. It is 7,000 years old.

Magnify

Saber-toothed cat fossils discovered in Venezuela

An ancient tar pit exposed when Venezuelan oil workers laid a pipeline has yielded a rich trove of fossils, including a type of saber-toothed cat that paleontologists had never found before in South America. Scientists say the find holds the promise of many discoveries to come.

The fossils are 1.8 million years old and include skulls and jawbones of six scimitar-toothed cats - a variety of saber-toothed cat with shorter, narrower canine teeth than other species.

saber-toothed tiger skull
©AP
In this undated photo released by Ascanio Rincon, a fossil of a type of saber-toothed cat is seen.

Info

Flashback Ancient Observatory Found



Ancient petroglyphs
©Unknown
Some petroglyphs

The eastern coast of Lake Onega has concealed another rock covered with numerous petroglyphs (rock carvings) which Russian archeologists discovered.

Telescope

Flashback Astronomical observatory on moon in 2011

Scientists believe that sooner or later the moon will be the second home of human kind. In a bid to extend human civilisation to the moon, an astronomical observatory is all set to be flown to the moon by 2011 by a private commercial venture Odyssey Moon Limited..

Fish

Underwater lab gives University of Hawaii scientists window to coastal world



Dr. Geno Pawlak
©KHNL
Dr. Geno Pawlak

Kakaako - Oahu's south shore is home to some of the best surfing conditions in Hawaii. However, it's what's below that has scientists at the University of Hawaii interested.

Off Kakaako, waves bring valuable information. Different technologies at a depth of 40 feet measure the currents and water quality. This is the Kilo Nalu Reef observatory. Dr. Geno Pawlak helped launch it in 2005.

Health

Gold-Plated Church Windows Purify Air

stain glass windows church
© stock.xchng
Medieval stained-glass windows colored in gold nanoparticles help purify air when lit by the sun, a new study finds.

"For centuries people appreciated only the beautiful works of art, and long life of the colors, but little did they realize that these works of art are also, in modern language, photocatalytic air purifier with nanostructured gold catalyst," said Zhu Huai Yong, a material scientist at the Queensland University of Technology.

Bulb

"Large Scale" Function for Endogenous Retroviruses: Intelligent Design Prediction Fulfilled While Another Darwinist Argument Bites the Dust

In his "29+ Evidences for Macroevolution" on TalkOrigins, Douglas Theobald claims that "Endogenous retroviruses provide yet another example of molecular sequence evidence for universal common descent." The presumption behind his argument is that endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are functionless stretches of "junk" DNA that persist because they are "selfish" - but they have no function for the organism. If we find the same ERVs in the same genetic loci in different species of primates, Theobald concludes they document common ancestry. But what if ERVs do perform important genetic functions? Even theistic evolutionist Francis Collins acknowledges that genetic similarity "alone does not, of course, prove a common ancestor" because a designer could have "used successful design principles over and over again." (The Language of God, pg. 134.) The force of Theobald's argument thus depends upon the premise that ERVs are selfish genetic "junk" that do not necessarily perform any useful function for their host.

People

A personal map of your genome - a £30,000 bargain

DNA sequences start to unravel the secrets of race and genetics

The most exclusive status symbol around is owned not by a super-rich playboy, but by a couple of scientists. While it should soon be possible to sequence anybody's entire genetic code for as little as £1,000, the only people who have yet had the privilege of reading every letter of their DNA are Jim Watson and Craig Venter.

Hourglass

Iceman 'was a shepherd'



iceman
©Unknown
Mass spectrometry study shows cowhide and sheepskin

Bolzano - The prehistoric mummy known as the Iceman was a shepherd and not a hunter, a new study from Germany claims.