Archive for the 'Science' Category
Global warming? It’s the coldest winter in decades…
• April, 2009Global warming? It’s the coldest winter in decades By Tony Bonnici NEW evidence has cast doubt on claims that the world’s ice-caps are melting, it emerged last night. Satellite data shows that concerns over the levels of sea ice may have been premature. It was feared that the polar caps were vanishing because of the effects of global warming. But figures from the respected US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that almost all the “lost” ice has come back. Ice levels which had shrunk…
Children forced into cell-like school seclusion rooms
• March, 2009Children forced into cell-like school seclusion rooms MURRAYVILLE, Georgia (CNN) December 17, 2008 A few weeks before 13-year-old Jonathan King killed himself, he told his parents that his teachers had put him in “time-out.” “We thought that meant go sit in the corner and be quiet for a few minutes,” Tina King said, tears washing her face as she remembered the child she called “our baby … a good kid.” But time-out in the boy’s north Georgia special education school was spent in something akin…
Macropinna microstoma: A deep-sea fish
• March, 2009Macropinna microstoma: A deep-sea fish with a transparent head and tubular eyes Wiki:: Macropinna microstoma is the only species of fish in the genus Macropinna, belonging to Opisthoproctidae, the barreleye family. It is recognized for a highly unusual transparent, fluid-filled dome on its head, through which the lenses of its eyes can be seen. The eyes have a barrel shape and can be rotated to point either forward or straight up, looking through the fish’s transparent dome. M. microstoma has a tiny mouth and most…
Solar power plant goes hybrid
• March, 2009Solar power plant goes hybrid An Israeli company wants to prove it doesn’t need constant sunshine for a solar power plant to make non-stop electricity to power off-grid communities.
Earth’s Cracks May Contribute to Global Warming
• March, 2009Earth’s Cracks May Contribute to Global Warming Michael Reilly, Discovery News Whether devastating faults, dank caves or mud cracks on a drying desert plain, Earth’s surface is riddled with fractures. Now a new study had found that the cracks exhale large quantities of gas, perhaps enough to affect global warming. Noam Weisbrod of Ben Gurion University of the Negev and a team of researchers monitored a crack about 2 meters long (6.5 feet) and 1 meter (3.3 feet) deep for two years in the Negev…
Satellite debris watched closely
• March, 2009Satellite debris watched closely Marcia Dunn ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday, February 12, 2009 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists are keeping a close eye on orbital debris created when two communications satellites — one American, the other Russian — smashed into each other hundreds of miles above the Earth. NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the unprecedented crash and whether any other satellites or even the Hubble Space Telescope are threatened. The collision, which occurred nearly 500 miles over Siberia…
New Biomaterial Helps Bones Heal
• March, 2009New Biomaterial Helps Bones Heal Wendy Zukerman A synthetic biomaterial that encourages the body to create bone could be the answer to successful bone grafts and treating bone disease, say Australian researchers. Cameron Lutton of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) said the biomaterial activates the initial stages of bone healing. “The biomaterial interacts with blood and mimics early bone healing events,” said Lutton. After a bone is broken, there is a fast inflammatory response where blood clots and specialized cells are quickly attracted to the…
Cloaking device may make cell phone static vanish
• March, 2009Cloaking device may make cell phone static vanish By Julie Steenhuysen A new light-bending material has brought scientists one step closer to creating a cloaking device that could hide objects from sight. Beyond possible military applications, it also might have a very practical use by making mobile communications clearer, they said on Thursday. “Cloaking technology could be used to make obstacles that impede communications signals ‘disappear,’” said David Smith of Duke University in North Carolina, who worked on the study published in the journal Science.…
Odd Planet Reaches Searing 1,200 Degrees
• February, 2009Odd Planet Reaches Searing 1,200 Degrees Seth Borenstein, Associated Press Astronomers have found a planet with a galactic case of hot flashes. In just six hours, this planet four times the size of Jupiter heats up by more than 1,200 degrees, according to a study published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. “It’s the first observation of changing weather” on a planet outside our solar system, said study author Gregory Laughlin, an astronomy professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He used…
30 Mummies Found in 2,600-Year-Old Tomb
• February, 200930 Mummies Found in 2,600-Year-Old Tomb By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer Feb. 9, 2009 A storeroom housing about two dozen ancient Egyptian mummies has been unearthed inside a 2,600-year-old tomb during the latest round of excavations at the vast necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo, archaeologists said Monday. The tomb was located at the bottom of a 36-foot deep shaft, said Egypt’s top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass . Twenty-two mummies were found in niches along the tomb’s walls, he said. Eight sarcophagi were also found…
HIV Mutates to Death With New Drug
• February, 2009HIV Mutates to Death With New Drug Eric Bland, Discovery News Feb 9 2009 HIV is notorious for its ability to mutate and evade drugs designed to destroy it. Now scientists are testing a new drug that actually speeds up that rate of change in the hope that the deadly virus will mutate itself to death. “The HIV virus is so dependent on mutation that it really lives on the edge of existence,” said John Reno, Chief Operating Officer for Koronis Pharmaceuticals, the company developing…
Toyota to launch pure electric car in U.S. by 2012
• February, 2009Toyota to launch pure electric car in U.S. by 2012 By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent DETROIT (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said it would launch an all-electric car for city commuting by 2012 in the United States as part of its plan to speed up the introduction of green cars as its global sales falter. The FT-EV concept made its debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Sunday, where the world’s top automaker is also unveiling two new gasoline-electric hybrid…
Google Earth dives under the sea
• February, 2009Google Earth “Beneath the Surface” BBC Google has lifted the lid on its first major upgrade to its global mapping software, Google Earth. Google Ocean expands this map to include large swathes of the ocean floor and abyssal plain. Users can dive beneath a dynamic water surface to explore the 3D sea floor terrain. The map also includes 20 content layers, containing information from the world’s leading scientists, researchers, and ocean explorers. Al Gore was at the launch event in San Francisco which, Google hopes,…