Science & TechnologyS


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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HAL9000

Russia Launches Proton Carrier Rocket After The Ban


RIA Novosti
Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:12 UTC
Russia has successfully conducted a delayed launch of a Proton carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) said Friday. The Proton K rocket, which has been on the launch pad since Monday, lifted off at 11.35 a.m. Moscow time (7.35 a.m. GMT) and put in orbit three Glonass global navigation satellites, the space agency said.

©Unknown
Glonass (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS).
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Telescope

Protecting Earth Against Asteroids

Yury Zaitsev
RIA Novosti
Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:52 UTC
Anatoly Perminov, the Russian Space Agency chief, announced at a recent news conference that there were plans to develop a space system that could protect the Earth from a potential asteroid impact by 2040. Members of the scientific community are unanimous in that the asteroid danger is real and that some measures should be taken to prevent it. The discovery of Apophis three years ago made them and the general public even more aware of that threat.

Comment: Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction! is an excellent article discussing just what we are very likely going to be up against in the not-to-distant future.

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Sheeple

Cruel experiment: Twins split by experiment reunited after 35 years


ninemsn.com.au
Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:57 UTC
Identical twins separated at birth in a social experiment have been reunited after 35 years.

And while the man behind the test has been widely criticised, Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein appear to have answered the question of what is more influential - nature or nurture.
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