Science & TechnologyS


Meteor

New Image of Jupiter Impact in Infrared


Universe Today
Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:22 UTC
Image
© Gemini Observatory / AURA
After getting whacked unexpectedly by a small comet or asteroid, Jupiter is sporting a "bruise," which has been big news this week. In visible wavelengths, the impact site appears as a black spot. But in a new image taken in near infrared by the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, the spot shows up in spectacular glowing yellow.

"We utilized the powerful mid-infrared capabilities of the Gemini telescope to record the impact's effect on Jupiter's upper atmosphere," said Imke de Pater from the University of California, Berkeley. "At these wavelengths we receive thermal radiation (heat) from the planet's upper atmosphere. The impact site is clearly much warmer than its surroundings, as shown by our image taken at an infrared wavelength of 18 microns."

As Universe Today reported earlier, this new spot on Jupiter was first seen by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley on July 19th. This set off a flurry of activity as the large ground based observatories have imaged Jupiter in attempt to learn more about the impact and the object that struck Jupiter. Astronomers now say the object was likely a small comet or asteroid, just a few hundreds of meters in diameter. Such small bodies are nearly impossible to detect near or beyond Jupiter unless they reveal cometary activity, or, as in this case, make their presence known by impacting a giant planet.

Comment: Have you read Stephen Hawking: Space debris represents biggest natural threat to humanity?

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Info

Genes responsible for brain cancer found


Press TV
Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:32 UTC
brain
© Unknown
Scientists have discovered a network of genetic changes involved in the development and progression of glioblastoma, a severe form of brain cancer.

While previous studies had reported hundreds of gene mutations accounting for brain cancers, a new study finds seven key genes acting as the 'Achilles heel' of these tumors.

According to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the development and progression of malignant glioblastomas is related to the interaction between seven genes.
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Chalkboard

Strange! Humans Glow in Visible Light

Charles Q. Choi
LiveScience.com
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:10 UTC
The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal.

Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.

(This visible light differs from the infrared radiation - an invisible form of light - that comes from body heat.)

To learn more about this faint visible light, scientists in Japan employed extraordinarily sensitive cameras capable of detecting single photons. Five healthy male volunteers in their 20s were placed bare-chested in front of the cameras in complete darkness in light-tight rooms for 20 minutes every three hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for three days.
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Roses

Stop and smell the flowers -- the scent really can soothe stress

Michael Woods
American Chemical Society
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:45 UTC
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© Wikimedia CommonsScientists are reporting the first scientific evidence that certain fragrances can alter gene activity and blood chemistry in ways that reduce stress levels.
Feeling stressed? Then try savoring the scent of lemon, mango, lavender, or other fragrant plants. Scientists in Japan are reporting the first scientific evidence that inhaling certain fragrances alter gene activity and blood chemistry in ways that can reduce stress levels. Their study appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.
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Magnify

Australia discovered by the 'Southern Route'

Graeme Baldwin
BioMed Central
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:40 UTC
Genetic research indicates that Australian Aborigines initially arrived via south Asia. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have found telltale mutations in modern-day Indian populations that are exclusively shared by Aborigines.

Dr Raghavendra Rao worked with a team of researchers from the Anthropological Survey of India to sequence 966 complete mitochondrial DNA genomes from Indian 'relic populations'. He said, "Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother and so allows us to accurately trace ancestry. We found certain mutations in the DNA sequences of the Indian tribes we sampled that are specific to Australian Aborigines. This shared ancestry suggests that the Aborigine population migrated to Australia via the so-called 'Southern Route'".
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Ancient Humans Left Evidence from the Party that Ended 4,000 Years Ago

Kelsey Jackson
News Bureau University of Missouri
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:27 UTC
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© UnknownGourd and squash artifacts were recovered from the sunken pit and platform in the Fox Temple at the Buena Vista site in central Peru.
Columbia, Mo. - The party was over more than 4,000 years ago, but the remnants still remain in the gourds and squashes that served as dishware. For the first time, University of Missouri researchers have studied the residues from gourds and squash artifacts that date back to 2200 B.C. and recovered starch grains from manioc, potato, chili pepper, arrowroot and algarrobo. The starches provide clues about the foods consumed at feasts and document the earliest evidence of the consumption of algarrobo and arrowroot in Peru.

"Archaeological starch grain research allows us to gain a better understanding of how ancient humans used plants, the types of food they ate, and how that food was prepared," said Neil Duncan, doctoral student of anthropology in the MU College of Arts and Science and lead author of the study that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) this week. "This is the first study to analyze residue from bottle gourd or squash artifacts. Squash and bottle gourds had a variety of uses 4,000 years ago, including being used as dishes, net floats and symbolic containers. Residue analysis can help determine the specific use."
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Cyprus Digs Reveal First Settlements May Be Older Than Thought

Paul Tugwell
Bloomberg.com
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:22 UTC
Archaeologists in Cyprus found evidence that inhabitants of the Mediterranean island may have abandoned a nomadic lifestyle for agriculture-based settlements earlier than previously believed.

The excavations at the Politiko-Troullia site, near the capital Nicosia, unearthed a series of households around a communal courtyard, and proof of intensive animal husbandry and crop-processing, according to a statement today on the Web site of the Cypriot Interior Ministry's Public Information Office.
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Cell Phone

Could u txt me ur blood sample?

Colin Barras
New Scientist
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:45 UTC
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© Daniel FletcherThe cellphone microscope system
In the developed world, we take camera phones for granted as ways to record our lives - but in poorer countries they could be used to save lives, say bioengineers. The US team has designed a portable microscope that straps to a camera phone and can be used to diagnose potentially fatal diseases in blood and sputum samples.

Light microscopy is an essential healthcare tool that can help to diagnose dangerous diseases including malaria and tuberculosis. If necessary, digital images of cell samples provided by camera-equipped lab microscopes are shuttled through the internet to experts at other healthcare centres for further analysis.

But these technologies are often unavailable to those in remote regions or the developing world - although life-threatening diseases are often endemic in these places, says Daniel Fletcher at the University of California in Berkeley.
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Info

Girl with half a brain retains full vision

Ewan Callaway
New Scientist
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:39 UTC
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© Don Hammond / Design Pics Inc. / Rex FeaturesA girl born with half of her cerebral cortex missing sees perfectly
A 10-year old girl born with half of her cerebral cortex missing sees perfectly because of a massive reorganisation of the brain circuits involved in vision, a new study finds.

"It was quite a surprise to see that something like this is possible," says Lars Muckli, a neuroscientist at the University of Glasgow, UK, who was part of the team that imaged the girl's brain.

Doctors discovered that she was missing the right half at the age of three, after she began suffering from seizures.
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Powertool

Quake Fears Stall Energy Extraction Project

James Glanz
New York Times
Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:13 UTC
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© Jim Wilson/The New York TimesAltaRock Energy has a permit pending to fracture bedrock and extract energy at its drilling site near Anderson Springs, California.
Two Federal agencies are stopping a contentious California project from fracturing bedrock miles underground and extracting its geothermal energy until a scientific review determines whether the project could produce dangerous earthquakes, spokeswomen for the Energy and Interior Departments said on Monday.

The project by AltaRock Energy, a start-up company with offices in Seattle and Sausalito, Calif., had won a grant of $6.25 million from the Energy Department, and officials at the Interior Department had indicated that it was likely to issue permits allowing the company to fracture bedrock on federal land in one of the most seismically active areas of the world, Northern California.

But when contacted last month by the New York Times for an article on the project, several federal officials said that AltaRock had not disclosed that a similar project in Basel, Switzerland, was shut down when it generated earthquakes that shook the city in 2006 and 2007. AltaRock officials denied the accusation, saying they had been forthcoming about the results of the Basel project.
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