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Four years of observations from the European Space Agency's Integral (INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) satellite may have cleared up one of the most vexing mysteries in our Milky Way: the origin of a giant cloud of antimatter surrounding the galactic center.
Two old stars may be undergoing a second episode of planet formation, long after their initial window of opportunity.
A Bay Area startup is planning to build data centers on cargo container ships, according to Kenneth Jamaca at Silverback Migration Solutions. Jamaca said the company, known as IDS (International Data Security), is planning to build up to 50 data centers on de-commissioned cargo ships, including 22 in North America.
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| ©NASA/JPL |
| This artist rendering uses an arrow to show the predicted path of the asteroid on Jan. 30, 2008, and the orange swath indicates the area it is expected to pass through. Mars may or may not be in its path. |
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| ©HO/AFP/Getty Images |
"Mysteries are due to secrecy."
-Francis Bacon
On December 24, 2007, the website Space.com published a report entitled, "The Enduring Mysteries of Comets." The premise is intriguing, since it is rare for science media to acknowledge that "mysteries" of any real significance exist for conventional theories. Unfortunately, the report mentions few of the recent discoveries that have thrown the popular "dirty snowball" model of comets into disarray.
"We have now had four close encounters with comets, and every one of them has thrown astronomers onto their back foot." -Stuart Clark, New Scientist, September 09, 2005.
-Francis Bacon
On December 24, 2007, the website Space.com published a report entitled, "The Enduring Mysteries of Comets." The premise is intriguing, since it is rare for science media to acknowledge that "mysteries" of any real significance exist for conventional theories. Unfortunately, the report mentions few of the recent discoveries that have thrown the popular "dirty snowball" model of comets into disarray.
"We have now had four close encounters with comets, and every one of them has thrown astronomers onto their back foot." -Stuart Clark, New Scientist, September 09, 2005.
The US has slashed funding for the International Linear Collider (ILC) by 75 % as the budget for 2008 has been finally agreed between the Republican Bush Administration and Democratic Congress. The new budget legislation, which US president George W Bush is expected to sign by 31 December, will see up to 200 scientists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) lose their jobs. Funding for the international ITER fusion experiment, which is about to be built in France, has also been cut.
As we kick off the year 2008, Comet Tuttle is putting on a nice show for backyard skywatchers. It had not been seen since 1994, but you'll have an excellent opportunity to pick it up with binoculars or small telescopes during the next two weeks.
Tuttle can even be glimpsed by sharp-eyed observers under pristine skies without any optical aids, for it is one of the brightest of the short-period comets, those that orbit the sun often enough to be seen again and again from Earth and identified as such.
Tuttle can even be glimpsed by sharp-eyed observers under pristine skies without any optical aids, for it is one of the brightest of the short-period comets, those that orbit the sun often enough to be seen again and again from Earth and identified as such.
A group of scientists in Princeton's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has uncovered a new biological mechanism that could provide a clearer window into a cell's inner workings.
What's more, this mechanism could represent an "epigenetic" pathway -- a route that bypasses an organism's normal DNA genetic program -- for so-called Lamarckian evolution, enabling an organism to pass on to its offspring characteristics acquired during its lifetime to improve their chances for survival. Lamarckian evolution is the notion, for example, that the giraffe's long neck evolved by its continually stretching higher and higher in order to munch on the more plentiful top tree leaves and gain a better shot at surviving.
What's more, this mechanism could represent an "epigenetic" pathway -- a route that bypasses an organism's normal DNA genetic program -- for so-called Lamarckian evolution, enabling an organism to pass on to its offspring characteristics acquired during its lifetime to improve their chances for survival. Lamarckian evolution is the notion, for example, that the giraffe's long neck evolved by its continually stretching higher and higher in order to munch on the more plentiful top tree leaves and gain a better shot at surviving.
A ninety minute daytime nap helps speed up the process of long term memory consolidation, a recent study conducted by Prof. Avi Karni and Dr. Maria Korman of the Center for Brain and Behavior Research at the University of Haifa found. "We still don't know the exact mechanism of the memory process that occurs during sleep, but the results of this research suggest the possibility that it is possible to speed up memory consolidation, and in the future, we may be able to do it artificially," said Prof. Karni.
Comment: This is rather interesting, especially in light of the recent UFO sighting in UK where a strange object was photographed hovering over two cargo ships.