Science & TechnologyS


Stormtrooper

Super-strong nanotube body armour in sight

Paul Rincon
BBC News
Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:38 UTC
A new type of carbon fibre, developed at the University of Cambridge, could be woven into super-strong body armour for the military and law enforcement.

©Sgt Lorie Jewell (US Army)
Future fibers come of age - soldier concept by US Army.

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HAL9000

Google in talks with Verizon Wireless


Reuters
Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:51 UTC
Google Inc is in active talks with number-two U.S. mobile carrier Verizon Wireless about putting Google applications on phones it offers, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

"There are good useful talks going on and they could result in a deal," one of the sources said.
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Telescope

Massive Black Hole Smashes Record


NASA
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:34 UTC
Using two NASA satellites, astronomers have discovered the heftiest known black hole to orbit a star. The new black hole, with a mass 24 to 33 times that of our Sun, is more massive than scientists expected for a black hole that formed from a dying star.

©Aurore Simonnet/Sonoma State University/NASA
In this artist's portrayal of the IC 10 X-1 system, the black hole lies at the upper left and its companion star is on the right. The two objects orbit around a center of gravity once every 34.4 hours. The stellar companion is a type known as a Wolf-Rayet star. Such stars are highly evolved and destined to explode as supernovae. The black hole companion is shedding its outer envelope in a powerful wind, and some of this gas is captured by the black hole's powerful gravity.
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Telescope

Hubble sees the graceful dance of 2 interacting galaxies


ESA/Hubble Information Centre
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:29 UTC
A pair of galaxies, known collectively as Arp 87, is one of hundreds of interacting and merging galaxies known in our nearby Universe. Arp 87 was originally discovered and catalogued by astronomer Halton Arp in the 1970s. Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies is a compilation of astronomical photographs using the Palomar 200-inch Hale and the 48-inch Samuel Oschin telescopes.

The resolution in the Hubble image shows exquisite detail and fine structure that was not observable when Arp 87 was first discovered in the 1970's.
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Bulb

Evidence of "Memory" Seen in Cells & Molecules


Georgia Institute of Technology
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:46 UTC
Research reported October 29 in the online version of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides evidence that some molecular interactions on cell surfaces may have a "memory" that affects their future interactions. The report could lead to a re-examination of results from certain single-molecule research.
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Telescope

Mars Caves Forged by Volcanoes and Meteors

Larry O'Hanlon
Discovery News
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:05 UTC
If Mars looks like a primordial Earth-on-ice, the similarity ends just below the surface where Martian caves are borne not of slow dripping processes but from brief, intensely violent times, say researchers.

©NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/USGS
This image from the Mars Odyssey orbiter, shows a patch of Martian ground, centered on a possible cave skylight informally called "Annie," which has a diameter about double the length of a football field.
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Info

Human-generated ozone will damage crops, according to MIT study

Nancy Stauffer
MIT News
Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:20 UTC


©n/a
MIT research has shown that increases in ozone will have a detrimental effect on crops, pastures and forests, severely affecting the world's economy.

A novel MIT study concludes that increasing levels of ozone due to the growing use of fossil fuels will damage global vegetation, resulting in serious costs to the world's economy.
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Bulb

Study Reveals that Nitrogen Fertilizers Deplete Soil Organic Carbon

Saeed Khan
University of Illinois, College of ACES
Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:04 UTC
The common practice of adding nitrogen fertilizer is believed to benefit the soil by building organic carbon, but four University of Illinois soil scientists dispute this view based on analyses of soil samples from the Morrow Plots that date back to before the current practice began.
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Star

EXPLODING COMET: 17P-Holmes is now larger than Jupiter.


Spaceweather.com
Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:48 UTC
Astronomer Eric Allen of Quebec's Observatoire du Cégep de Trois-Rivières combined images he captured on three consecutive nights (Oct. 25, 26 and 27) and placed them beside a picture of Jupiter scaled to the same distance as the comet:

Click on above photo for animation.
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Magnify

Major archaeological find in Puerto Rico

Laura N. Perez Sanchez
Associated Press
Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:28 UTC
SAN JUAN - U.S. and Puerto Rican archaeologists say they have found the best-preserved pre-Columbian site in the Caribbean, which could shed light on virtually every aspect of Indian life in the region, from sacred rituals to eating habits.

The archaeologists believe the site in southern Puerto Rico may have belonged to the Taino or pre-Taino people that inhabited the island before European colonization, although other tribes are a possibility. It contains stones etched with ancient petroglyphs that form a large plaza measuring some 130 feet by 160 feet, which could have been used for ball games or ceremonial rites, said Aida Belen Rivera, director of the Puerto Rican Historic Conservation office.
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