Science & TechnologyS


Nuke

Russian nuclear power websites attacked amid accident rumors


RIA Novosti
Fri, 23 May 2008 17:32 UTC
Hackers attacked Russian nuclear power websites that allow users to check radiation background amid false rumors of a nuclear accident in northwest Russia, a nuclear industry official said on Friday.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, several Internet forums carried reports of radioactive emissions from the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant near St. Petersburg, and of a planned evacuation of local residents.

A spokesman for the Rosatom state nuclear corporation said the cyber attacks had been planned and coincided with the release of the reports.

"People who stand to lose out from the Russian nuclear power industry's development have an incentive to spread false rumors of an accident at the nuclear plant," he said.
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Telescope

Yellowstone-like Hot Spring Deposits on Mars


Science Daily
Fri, 23 May 2008 17:10 UTC
Deposits of nearly pure silica discovered by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in Gusev Crater formed when volcanic steam or hot water (or maybe both) percolated through the ground. Such deposits are found around hydrothermal vents like those in Yellowstone National Park. That's the conclusion of planetary scientists working with data collected by the rover's Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES), developed at Arizona State University.

Mars Eastern Valley
©NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
The silica-rich deposits occur in the Eastern Valley, flanking Home Plate in the inner basin of the Columbia Hills. The rover spent its second Martian winter parked on Low Ridge. Site A near Tyrone is where Mini-TES spotted the first silica-rich outcrop, and sites B and C are other silica-rich areas; the Gertrude Weise trench site lies at D. This perspective view, made with a digital elevation model and frame PSP_001777_1655_red from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, looks southwest.
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Cloud Lightning

Jupiter: Turbulent Storms May Be Sign Of Global Climate Change


Science Daily
Fri, 23 May 2008 08:21 UTC
The first images of Jupiter since it came out from behind the sun show that the turbulence and storms that have plagued the planet for the past two years continue. Whether or not this is a sign of global warming, the turbulence does seem to be spawning new spots. As Red Spot Jr. and the Great Red Spot approach a June conjunction, a new third spot may merge with the GRS in August.

Jupter Climate Change
©M. Wong and I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley)
In what's beginning to look like a case of planetary measles, a third red spot has appeared alongside its cousins - the Great Red Spot and Red Spot Jr. - in the turbulent Jovian atmosphere. This third red spot, which is a fraction of the size of the two other features, lies to the west of the Great Red Spot in the same latitude band of clouds. The new red spot was previously a white oval-shaped storm. The change to a red color indicates its swirling storm clouds are rising to heights like the clouds of the Great Red Spot. One possible explanation is that the red storm is so powerful it dredges material from deep beneath Jupiter's cloud tops and lifts it to higher altitudes where solar ultraviolet radiation - via some unknown chemical reaction - produces the familiar brick color.
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Better Earth

Sound 'cause of shadow spectacle'


BBC News
Wed, 21 May 2008 00:16 UTC
Mysterious bands of shadow which sometimes pass across the ground during an eclipse might be produced by sound pulses, according to a new theory.

Eclipse
©NASA
The bands appear before and after eclipse "totality"

"Shadow bands" have been observed travelling across the ground before and after totality - when the Moon completely covers the Sun.

Many attribute these regular light and dark bands to atmospheric turbulence.

But astrophysicist Dr Stuart Eves thinks the phenomenon could be down to something called infrasound.
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Hourglass

California quake scientists detail impact of 'Big One'


Associated Press
Thu, 22 May 2008 20:56 UTC
LOS ANGELES - The "Big One," as earthquake scientists imagine it in a detailed, first-of-its-kind script, unzips California's mighty San Andreas Fault north of the Mexican border. In less than two minutes, Los Angeles and its sprawling suburbs are shaking like a bowl of jelly.

The jolt from the 7.8-magnitude temblor lasts for three minutes - 15 times longer than the disastrous 1994 Northridge quake.
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Light Saber

Leading Scientists Are Pushing for Politics to Be Removed From Research

Jo Hartley
NaturalNews
Tue, 20 May 2008 16:30 UTC
Leading U.S. scientists have called on Congress to prevent the next elected president from doing what they say the George W. Bush Administration has done. That would be censoring, suppressing and falsifying key environmental and health research. Serious consequences result when drug safety decisions are not based on the finest and most accurate scientific advice available from experts.
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Question

Manson ranch scientific dig called off with no remains found


Associated Press
Thu, 22 May 2008 00:47 UTC
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - A dig for clandestine graves at Charles Manson's last hideout was called to an end Wednesday after yielding no bodies and leaving scientists puzzled over the clues that had enticed them to come this far.
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Health

Stem-cell therapy is no miracle cure


The Times Online
Wed, 21 May 2008 21:25 UTC
Scientists from around the world express a note of caution on stem-cell therapy

Sir, We are convinced that stem-cell research is a highly promising area of science offering potential for new methods of treating many serious diseases. We welcome legal acceptance, public and private funding, and international co-operation for a range of stem-cell research.
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Bulb

A missing link settles debate over the origin of frogs and salamanders


University of Calgary
Wed, 21 May 2008 15:39 UTC
The description of an ancient amphibian that millions of years ago swam in quiet pools and caught mayflies on the surrounding land in Texas has set to rest one of the greatest current controversies in vertebrate evolution. The discovery was made by a research team led by scientists at the University of Calgary.

The examination and detailed description of the fossil, Gerobatrachus hottoni (meaning Hotton's elder frog), proves the previously disputed fact that some modern amphibians, frogs and salamanders evolved from one ancient amphibian group called temnospondyls.

The discovery is described for the first time in the prestigious international research journal Nature.

"The dispute arose because of a lack of transitional forms. This fossil seals the gap," says Jason Anderson, assistant professor, University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and lead scientist in the study.

Image
©Michael Skrepnick
An Early Permian landscape, with Gerobatrachus hottoni lunging at the mayfly Protoreisma between stands of Calamites and under a fallen Walchia conifer.
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Phoenix

Mars, the Great Galactic Ghoul, devours spacecrafts: Will the next probe survive?

Steve Curtis
The Independent
Wed, 21 May 2008 15:35 UTC
For decades, space scientists have tried (and often failed) to design probes that can land safely on the surface of the Red Planet. Will they get it right this time?
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