Science & TechnologyS


Star

Key molecule discovered in Venus's atmosphere


ESA
Thu, 15 May 2008 15:13 UTC
Venus Express has detected the molecule hydroxyl on another planet for the first time. This detection gives scientists an important new tool to unlock the workings of Venus's dense atmosphere.

Hydroxyl, an important but difficult-to-detect molecule, is made up of a hydrogen and oxygen atom each. It has been found in the upper reaches of the Venusian atmosphere, some 100 km above the surface, by Venus Express's Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, VIRTIS.

The elusive molecule was detected by turning the spacecraft away from the planet and looking along the faintly visible layer of atmosphere surrounding the planet's disc. The instrument detected the hydroxyl molecules by measuring the amount of infrared light that they give off.

Image
©ESA/C. Carreau
Hydroxyl, an important but difficult-to-detect molecule, is made up of a hydrogen and oxygen atom each. It has been found in the upper reaches of the Venusian atmosphere, some 100 km above the surface, by Venus Express's Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, VIRTIS.
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Star

Indian scientist says Phobos will turn into a ring around Mars


RIA Novosti
Thu, 15 May 2008 14:31 UTC
Phobos, a satellite of Mars, will become a ring around the Red Planet in a few million years, an Indian scientist has calculated.

Bijay Kumar Sharma, an assistant professor at the National Institute of Technology in Bihar, said in a recent paper that contrary to previous expectations, Phobos will not fall into the surface of Mars in 50 million years but will be torn apart by the tidal forces of the planet in about 7 million years.

In his paper entitled "Theoretical formulation of the Phobos, moon of Mars, rate of altitudinal loss," Sharma said that the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 3.7 cm a year, while Phobos is moving closer to its host at a rate of 18.3 cm a year.
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Telescope

Physicists Demonstrate How Information Can Escape From Black Holes


Science Daily
Thu, 15 May 2008 13:50 UTC
Physicists at Penn State have provided a mechanism by which information can be recovered from black holes, those regions of space where gravity is so strong that, according to Einstein's theory of general relativity, not even light can escape. The team's findings pave the way toward ending a decades-long debate sparked by renowned physicist Steven Hawking.

supermassive black hole
©ESA / V. Beckmann (NASA-GSFC)
An artist's depiction of the accretion of a thick ring of dust into a supermassive black hole. The accretion produces jets of gamma rays and X-rays.
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Telescope

Baby supernova seen right in our neighborhood

Maggie Fox
News Daily
Thu, 15 May 2008 12:06 UTC
WASHINGTON - A baby supernova, just over a century old, has been found in the middle of our own Milky Way galaxy and provides an unprecedented opportunity to watch a star dying, astronomers said on Wednesday.

The supernova, known as G1.9+0.3, would have made a bright flash when it first exploded 140 years ago but was not seen because dust obscures it, David Green of Britain's University of Cambridge and colleagues reported.

"It's by far the youngest supernova identified in the galaxy," Green told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Green first identified the object in 1985 as a possible supernova, using radio readings from the U.S. National Science Foundation's Very Large Array.
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Telescope

Wandering Poles Left Scars On Jupiter's Moon Europa: Could Life Exist Beneath Icy Crust?


Science Daily
Thu, 15 May 2008 12:02 UTC
Washington, D.C.--Curved features on Jupiter's moon Europa may indicate that its poles have wandered by almost 90°, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution, Lunar and Planetary Institute, and University of California, Santa Cruz in the 15 May issue of Nature. Such an extreme shift suggests the existence of an internal liquid ocean beneath the icy crust, which could help build the case for Europa as possible habitat for extraterrestrial life.

Europa
©P. Schenk/NASA/LPI
Arc-shaped troughs (black and white arrows) extend 100s of kilometers on the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. These enigmatic features are likely fractures resulting from a shift in Europa's spin axis. Vertical scale bar (right) is 100 km.
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Target

Flashback The Destruction of Zhou Man and Hong Bao's fleets in the Southern Ocean by a Tsunami triggered by a comet

Gavin Menzies
1421.tv
Thu, 14 Jul 2005 08:57 UTC
In the book '1421', I contended that the Emperor Zhu Di had sent fleets to the Southern Ocean to determine the precise position of the star Canopus. The Chinese needed this information to establish accurate latitudes and longitudes in the southern hemisphere. (United Kingdom paperback edition, pages 161-3, and diagram 1).

Since the book was published we have received more than 100,000 e-mails and letters and millions of people have visited our website 'www.1421.tv'. These visitors from over 130 countries around the world have brought new evidence. To date the most important has been my underestimation of the scale of the undertaking. Instead of 100 ships, over 1000 set sail (800 arrived at Calicut alone). There were many great voyages - Fleets were continuously at sea from 1403 to 1432 and the scale of the losses was even more horrific - more than 900 ships never returned. This is exemplified in the Southern Oceans. The discovery of Zheng He's records shows that four separate fleets charted the Antarctic not the two I have claimed. Some got further south - deep into the Weddell Sea.

This memo describes a catastrophe which overtook the fleets which had sailed south of New Zealand down to Campbell Island and Auckland Island (pp.206-209 of United Kingdom Paperback edition). A huge comet struck the ocean less than a hundred miles from the fleets, incinerating many ships and hurling the blazing wrecks onto New Zealand South Island and the East coasts of Australia, and across the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
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Clock

Flashback Is the Truth About Masada Less Romantic?

Kim Stubbs
History News Network
Mon, 12 Jun 2006 12:00 UTC
"When we carefully examine ....... the Great Revolt and Masada, a portrait of heroism ...... is simply not provided. On the contrary. The narrative conveys the story of a doomed (and questionable) revolt, of a majestic failure and destruction of the Second Temple and of Jerusalem, of large-scale massacres of the Jews, of different factions of Jews fighting and killing each other, of collective suicide (an act not viewed favourably by the Jewish faith) by a group of terrorists and assassins whose "fighting spirit" may have been questionable."
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Magnify

Flashback Some Masada Remains Questioned by Study

Matti Friedman
Associated Press
Sat, 23 Jun 2007 06:33 UTC
An Israeli anthropologist is using modern forensics and an obscure biblical passage to challenge accepted wisdom about mysterious human remains found at Masada, the desert fortress famous as the scene of a mass suicide nearly 2,000 years ago.

A new research paper published Friday takes another look at the remains of three people found at the site and given a state burial by Israel as Jewish heroes. The remains, the study says, could actually be those of the Jews' Roman enemies.

The remains of two male skeletons and a full head of woman's hair, including two braids, were found in a bathhouse by archaeologists in the 1960s. They were long thought to belong to a family of Zealots, the fanatic Jewish rebels said to have killed themselves rather than fall into Roman slavery in A.D. 73, a story that plays an important role in Israel's national mythology.

The bathhouse remains became a key part of the site's story. Yigael Yadin, the renowned Israeli archaeologist in charge of the first dig, thought they illustrated the historical account of Zealot men killing their wives and children and then themselves before Roman legionnaires breached Masada's defenses.
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Bulb

Mouse Study: When It Comes To Living Longer, It's Better To Go Hungry Than Go Running


APS
Wed, 14 May 2008 09:05 UTC
A study investigating aging in mice has found that hormonal changes that occur when mice eat significantly less may help explain an already established phenomenon: a low calorie diet can extend the lifespan of rodents, a benefit that even regular exercise does not achieve.

"We know that being lean rather than obese is protective from many diseases, but key rodent studies tell us that being lean from eating less, as opposed to exercising more, has greater benefit for living longer. This study was designed to understand better why that is," said Derek M. Huffman, the study's lead author.

The study applies only to rodents, which are different in some key ways from humans, cautions Huffman. However, at least two studies which examined people who engage in high-volume exercise versus people who restricted their calorie intake, had a similar outcome: caloric restriction has physiological benefits that exercise alone does not. Researchers expect that clues to the physiology of longevity in mice will eventually be applied to people, Huffman said.
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Ark

Divers find Caesar bust that may date to 46 B.C.


Associated Press
Tue, 13 May 2008 22:59 UTC
Paris - Divers trained in archaeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France's Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known.

Cesar Bust
©AP photo/Culture Ministry, C. Chary/HO
A life size marble bust of Julius Cesar is seen. The bust, probably dated 46 BC, was discovered last year after underwater searches in the Rhone River near Arles, southern France.

The life-sized bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinkles and hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles - founded by Caesar.
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