The most detailed three-dimensional seismic images yet of the Chicxulub crater, a mostly submerged and buried impact crater on the Mexico coast, may modify a theory explaining the extinction of 70 percent of life on Earth 65 million years ago.
The Chicxulub crater was formed when an asteroid struck on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Most scientists agree the impact played a major role in the "KT Extinction Event" that caused the extinction of most life on Earth, including the dinosaurs.
Science & Technology
LOWER HUTT, New Zealand -- A New Zealand study suggests meteor impacts with the Earth can produce effects of a more subtle and insidious kind than just catastrophic extinction.
Researchers at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, said the shattering impact of meteors on rocks can produce increased groundwater-rock surface interaction, affecting the quality of groundwater that percolates through the fractured, melted rocks of the impact structure.
Researchers at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, said the shattering impact of meteors on rocks can produce increased groundwater-rock surface interaction, affecting the quality of groundwater that percolates through the fractured, melted rocks of the impact structure.
An almost complete human skull fossil that could date back 100,000 years was unearthed in Henan last month, Chinese archaeologists announced Tuesday.
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| ©China Daily |
| Pieces of the ancient human skull fossil are seen in this picture provided by State Administration of Cultural Heritage. |
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| ©Unknown |
| Potentially cancer-causing chemicals used as flame retardants have been found in the bodies of Tasmanian devils, suggesting a possible role in a disease that threatens to wipe them out, a report said Tuesday. |
Scientists have for years been unable to explain why the animals -- the world's largest marsupial carnivore -- have been afflicted with the disease, which causes facial tumours.
A study in which fat was taken from 16 of the animals, including some with the disease, found high levels of retardant chemicals commonly used in computers and foam in bedding and furniture, The Australian newspaper said.
A U.S.-British-led international consortium has announced the "1000 Genomes Project" to produce the most detailed map of human genetic variation to date.
The project will involve the sequencing of the genomes of at least 1,000 people from around the world to create the most medically useful human genetics picture ever produced.
The project will involve the sequencing of the genomes of at least 1,000 people from around the world to create the most medically useful human genetics picture ever produced.
If you've ever wanted to be the Bionic Woman or a Terminator, new research may at least let you see with their eyes. Scientists have taken the first step toward creating digital contact lenses that can zoom in on distant objects and display useful facts.
For the first time, engineers have installed an electronic circuit and lights on a regular contact lens.
For the first time, engineers have installed an electronic circuit and lights on a regular contact lens.
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| ©University of Washington |
| Contact lenses with metal connectors for electronic circuits were safely worn by rabbits in lab tests. |
The deadly Ebola virus, an emerging public health concern in Africa and a potential biological weapon, ranks among the most feared of exotic pathogens.
Due to its virulent nature, and because no vaccines or treatments are available, scientists studying the agent have had to work under the most stringent biocontainment protocols, limiting research to a few highly specialized labs and hampering the ability of scientists to develop countermeasures.
Now, however, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has figured out a way to genetically disarm the virus, effectively confining it to a set of specialized cells and making the agent safe to study under conditions far less stringent than those currently imposed.
"We wanted to make biologically contained Ebola virus," explains Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and the senior author of a paper describing the system for containing the virus published today (Jan. 21, 2008) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This is a great system."
Due to its virulent nature, and because no vaccines or treatments are available, scientists studying the agent have had to work under the most stringent biocontainment protocols, limiting research to a few highly specialized labs and hampering the ability of scientists to develop countermeasures.
Now, however, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has figured out a way to genetically disarm the virus, effectively confining it to a set of specialized cells and making the agent safe to study under conditions far less stringent than those currently imposed.
"We wanted to make biologically contained Ebola virus," explains Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and the senior author of a paper describing the system for containing the virus published today (Jan. 21, 2008) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This is a great system."
Beyond its role as the elixir of all life, water is a very unusual substance: Scientists have long marveled over counter-intuitive properties that set water apart from other solids and liquids commonly found in nature. The simple fact that water expands when it freezes -- an effect known to anyone whose plumbing has burst in winter -- is just the beginning of a long list of special characteristics. (Most liquids contract when they freeze.)
That is why chemical engineer Pablo Debenedetti and collaborators at three other institutions were surprised to find a highly simplified model molecule that behaves in much the same way as water, a discovery that upends long-held beliefs about what makes water so special.
That is why chemical engineer Pablo Debenedetti and collaborators at three other institutions were surprised to find a highly simplified model molecule that behaves in much the same way as water, a discovery that upends long-held beliefs about what makes water so special.
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| ©Unknown |
Cosmic strings are predicted by high energy physics theories, including superstring theory. This is based on the idea that particles are not just little points, but tiny vibrating bits of string Cosmic strings are predicted to have extraordinary amounts of mass - perhaps as much as the mass of the Sun - packed into each metre of a tube whose width is less a billion billionth of the size of an atom.
Lead researcher Dr Mark Hindmarsh, Reader in Physics at the University of Sussex, said: "This is an exciting result for physicists. Cosmic strings are relics of the very early Universe and signposts that would help construct a theory of all forces and particles."
Lead researcher Dr Mark Hindmarsh, Reader in Physics at the University of Sussex, said: "This is an exciting result for physicists. Cosmic strings are relics of the very early Universe and signposts that would help construct a theory of all forces and particles."
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| ©Unknown |
| Dr Hindmarsh said that better data is required before the existence of cosmic strings can be confirmed. |
Like many of us, neutron stars sometimes pack on more pounds than they should. We all know how humans get fat: by eating too much and exercising too little. But nobody knows how a handful of neutron stars end up heavier than the rest. So the apparent discovery of two new examples left astronomers scratching their heads at last week's meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas.
