Science & Technology
PASADENA, Calif. - New observations by a spacecraft suggest Saturn's second-largest moon may be surrounded by rings. If confirmed, it would the first time a ring system has been found around a moon.
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| ©Unknown |
| The flag of Wales |
The mystery of the origins of the red dragon symbol, now on the flag of Wales, has perplexed many historians, writers and romanticists, and the archaeological community generally has refrained from commenting on this most unusual emblem, claiming it does not concern them. In the ancient Welsh language it is known as 'Draig Goch' - 'red dragon', and in "Y Geiriadur Cymraeg Prifysgol Cymru", the "University of Wales Welsh Dictionary", (Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1967, p. 1082) there are translations for the various uses of the Welsh word 'draig'. Amongst them are common uses of the word, which is today taken just to mean a 'dragon', but in times past it has also been used to refer to 'Mellt Distaw' - (sheet lightning), and also 'Mellt Didaranau' - (lightning unaccompanied by thunder).
A micro-aircraft with feathered, morphing wings showed off its stuff yesterday when the bird-like craft lifted off for its first flight. And its landing was just as dramatic: the RoboSwift crashed into a tree.
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| ©Wageningen University/Guy Ackermans |
| RoboSwift, a micro-aircraft inspired by the common swift bird, made its first flight in the Netherlands. |
Could a comet hitting the Earth 1,500 years ago have triggered a global disaster in which millions of people lost their lives?
A metallic asteroid may have coincided with the fall of Rome
In the early fifth century, rampaging Goths swept through Italy. Inviolate for 1,100 years, Rome was sacked by the hordes in 410 AD. St Augustine's apologia, the City of God, set the tone for Christians for the next 16 centuries.
In the early fifth century, rampaging Goths swept through Italy. Inviolate for 1,100 years, Rome was sacked by the hordes in 410 AD. St Augustine's apologia, the City of God, set the tone for Christians for the next 16 centuries.
A comet or asteroid smashed into modern-day Germany some 2,200 years ago, unleashing energy equivalent to thousands of atomic bombs, scientists reported on Friday.
© Chiemgau Impact Research Team
The largest crater in the Chiemgau field in Bavaria is water-filled Tuttensee, located near the village of Marwang. At the water surface, Tüttensee measures 1,200 feet across. but the original crater may have been twice as large. Photo credit: Chiemgau Impact Research Team.
The largest crater in the Chiemgau field in Bavaria is water-filled Tuttensee, located near the village of Marwang. At the water surface, Tüttensee measures 1,200 feet across. but the original crater may have been twice as large. Photo credit: Chiemgau Impact Research Team.
As Jorge Calvo strode along the dusty banks of this Patagonian lake, he scanned the reddish dirt, pointing to the remains of a dinosaur in the desert sun.
Continuing on, he scampered down into an eight-foot pit and waved to Marcela Milani, a technician working with a thick nail and a hammer. She was chipping away at a rock looking for a missing hip bone believed to be part of Mr. Calvo's most famous discovery, Futalognkosaurus, a new genus of plant-eating dinosaur more than 100 feet long from tail to nose. It is one of the three biggest dinosaurs ever found.
Continuing on, he scampered down into an eight-foot pit and waved to Marcela Milani, a technician working with a thick nail and a hammer. She was chipping away at a rock looking for a missing hip bone believed to be part of Mr. Calvo's most famous discovery, Futalognkosaurus, a new genus of plant-eating dinosaur more than 100 feet long from tail to nose. It is one of the three biggest dinosaurs ever found.
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| ©Joao Pina for The New York Times |
| Museums like El Chocón have sprung up in the past two decades around Neuquén, Argentina. |
Coming upon the Grand Canyon long ago, an old prospector is supposed to have said in amazement, "Something awful happened here."
The something appears to have started happening some 17 million years ago, geologists concluded in a study reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science. If correct, that is at least 11 million years earlier than previous estimates.
The something appears to have started happening some 17 million years ago, geologists concluded in a study reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science. If correct, that is at least 11 million years earlier than previous estimates.
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| ©Victor Polyak |
| Marble Canyon at Vasey's Paradise in the eastern Grand Canyon. |
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| ©NASA/WMAP Science Team |
| WMAP measures the composition of the universe by observing the cosmic microwave background, radiation that was emitted just 380,000 years after the big bang. Dark matter and atoms have become less dense as the volume of the universe has increased over time. Photons and neutrino particles also lose energy as the universe expands, but dark energy now dominates the universe even though it was a tiny contributor 13.7 billion years ago. |
