Science & Technology
Despite law protecting Wind River Range, state engineer launches cloud seeding in federal reserve.
The 40-year hunt for the holy grail of physics - the elusive "God particle" that is supposed to give matter its mass - is almost over, according to the leading scientist who first came up with the theory.
Peter Higgs, whose work gave his name to the elusive Higgs boson particle, said that he was more than 90 per cent certain it would be found within the next few years.
Peter Higgs, whose work gave his name to the elusive Higgs boson particle, said that he was more than 90 per cent certain it would be found within the next few years.
A regional nuclear war would not only be devastating to the countries involved, it would cause havoc worldwide for at least a decade, according to a new analysis.
The massive fires resulting from even a limited conflict would blast enough soot into the atmosphere to create an ozone hole over heavily populated areas, researchers warned in a paper in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The massive fires resulting from even a limited conflict would blast enough soot into the atmosphere to create an ozone hole over heavily populated areas, researchers warned in a paper in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The first excavation at Stonehenge in over 44 years started this week. Professors Geoff Wainwright and Tim Darvill lead the excavation. They aim to shed light on two important questions about Stonehenge. When was it built and why?
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in southeast England, near the city of Salisbury. It is a globally famous, UNESCO World Heritage Site.
For both professors this is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity. Said Darvill, of the University of Bournemouth: "It is an incredibly exciting moment and a great privilege to be able to excavate inside Stonehenge."
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in southeast England, near the city of Salisbury. It is a globally famous, UNESCO World Heritage Site.
For both professors this is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity. Said Darvill, of the University of Bournemouth: "It is an incredibly exciting moment and a great privilege to be able to excavate inside Stonehenge."
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| ©Frederic Vincent |
The charged and complex debate over how to slow down global warming has become a lot more complicated.
Most of the focus in the last few years has centered on imposing caps on greenhouse gas emissions to prod energy users to conserve or switch to nonpolluting technologies.
Most of the focus in the last few years has centered on imposing caps on greenhouse gas emissions to prod energy users to conserve or switch to nonpolluting technologies.
A $205 million upgrade will allow a laser-wielding observatory to monitor tens of thousands of galaxies for mysterious gravitational waves.
Leading investigators are confident that the Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatories) Project will be able for the first time to detect gravitational waves from neutron stars and black holes, as predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Leading investigators are confident that the Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatories) Project will be able for the first time to detect gravitational waves from neutron stars and black holes, as predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.
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| ©LIGO Laboratory |
| An aerial view of the Hanford, Washington interferometer, part of the LIGO observatory that is receiving an upgrade. |
A new £10 million research institute dedicated to studying the fundamental science behind shock waves, high velocity collisions and extremes of pressure and heat is announced today by Imperial College London.
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| ©Unknown |
| The new Insitute for Shock Physics will shed new light on the conditions under which tsunamis are formed |
Geologists in eastern Turkmenistan have discovered more than one hundred fossilized dinosaur footprints, believed to be some 145 million years old, national media said on Wednesday.
A whole 'field' of three-toed footprints, possibly made by plant-eating dinosaurs, was found at a height of 800 meters (2,600 feet) in the country's mountainous Gaurdak region.
A whole 'field' of three-toed footprints, possibly made by plant-eating dinosaurs, was found at a height of 800 meters (2,600 feet) in the country's mountainous Gaurdak region.
The reason why you cannot reach a specific web site at any given time can be very simple. Server and hosting issues, maintenance or the plain fact that a site has been discontinued are the most likely explanations why a site just won't load. But there is another, more mysterious possibility: Black holes. A team at the University of Washington (UW) has begun mapping scenarios where information packets on the Internet simply disappear.
"There's an assumption that if you have a working Internet connection then you have access to all of the Internet," said Ethan Katz-Bassett, a UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering. "We found that's not the case."
Katz-Bassett has been working on a project called Hubble, a system that apparently is able to track what he refers to as information black holes. These are situations where a path between two computers does exist, but messages - a request to visit a Web site or an outgoing e-mail - get lost along the way. Katz-Bassett has published a Hubble map that enables users to monitor such black holes worldwide or simply type in a network address to check its status.
"There's an assumption that if you have a working Internet connection then you have access to all of the Internet," said Ethan Katz-Bassett, a UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering. "We found that's not the case."
Katz-Bassett has been working on a project called Hubble, a system that apparently is able to track what he refers to as information black holes. These are situations where a path between two computers does exist, but messages - a request to visit a Web site or an outgoing e-mail - get lost along the way. Katz-Bassett has published a Hubble map that enables users to monitor such black holes worldwide or simply type in a network address to check its status.
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| ©Unknown |
The US government is to shut thousands of points from which outsiders can access federal computer networks to about 50, Homeland security chief Michael Chertoff revealed today (Tuesday).
In a keynote at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, Chertoff outlined the government's plans to protect itself from cyber attack. he even compared this to a digital "Manhattan Project" in terms of impact and importance. So no lack of ambition there.
Five years after the birth of President Bush's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the time's is ripe for a "quantum leap forward", according to Chertoff.
In a keynote at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, Chertoff outlined the government's plans to protect itself from cyber attack. he even compared this to a digital "Manhattan Project" in terms of impact and importance. So no lack of ambition there.
Five years after the birth of President Bush's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the time's is ripe for a "quantum leap forward", according to Chertoff.
Comment: Let's review: The U.S. and Western powers are screaming that greenhouse gas emissions must be curtailed, and point their fingers at the developing countries as being the worst or potentially-going-to-be worst producers of greenhouse gasses. When China proposes that 0.5 percent of every country's GDP be used to develop new, cleaner technologies, the U.S. balks. And then we have the World Bank subsidizing the creation of HUGE coal-burning plants.
All the while, the models used to predict the effects of greenhouse gasses, specifically CO2, is falling woefully short of reality. See "Lord Lawson claims climate change hysteria heralds a 'new age of unreason'".
Could this be nothing more than a scam to control up-and-coming economic powerhouses?