Cassini Tracks Raging Saturn Storm

April 29, 2008 (Source: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)
PASADENA, Calif. – As a powerful electrical storm rages on Saturn with lightning bolts 10,000 times more powerful than those found on Earth, the Cassini spacecraft continues its five-month watch over the dramatic events.

Saturn's electrical storms resemble terrestrial thunderstorms, but on a much larger scale. Storms on Saturn have diameters of several thousand kilometers (thousands of miles), and radio signals produced by their lightning are thousands of times more powerful than those produced by terrestrial thunderstorms. FUll story HERE.

Remote sensing of emotions

ScienceDaily (Apr. 29, 2008) — Scientists at the department of Applied Physics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered a method for remote sensing of the physiological and emotional state of human beings.

The key is in the surprising shape of human sweat ducts. Professors Yuri Feldman and Aharon Agranat together with Dr. Alexander Puzenko, Dr. Andreas Caduff and PhD student Paul Ben-Ishai have discovered that the human skin is structured as an array of minute antennas that operate in the “Sub Terahertz” frequency range. Full story HERE.

New Discoveries in the Cerrado Region of Brazil

4/29/2008

Arlington, VA – Researchers discovered a legless lizard and a tiny woodpecker along with 12 other suspected new species in Brazil’s Cerrado, one of the world’s 34 biodiversity conservation hotspots.

The Cerrado’s wooded grassland once covered an area half the size of Europe, but is now being converted to cropland and ranchland at twice the rate of the neighboring Amazon rainforest, resulting in the loss of native vegetation and unique species.

An expedition comprising scientists from Conservation International (CI) and Brazilian universities found 14 species believed new to science – eight fish, three reptiles, one amphibian, one mammal, and one bird – in and around the Serra Geral do Tocantins Ecological Station, a 716,000-hectare (1,769,274-acre) protected area that is the Cerrado’s second largest. Full story HERE. Gallery of photos HERE.

History's Most Overlooked Mysteries

#10: Rongorongo
Considered the other "Easter Island mystery," Rongorongo is the hieroglyphic script used by the region's early inhabitants. While no other neighboring oceanic people possessed a written language, Rongorongo appeared mysteriously in the 1700s. However, the language was lost--along with the best hopes for deciphering it--after early European colonizers banned it because of ties to the islanders' pagan roots.

More HERE.

Mars Photos Appear to Show Dry Hot Springs

By Marc Kaufman Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 28, 2008; Page A08

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The long and frustrating search for signs of past or present life on Mars took a hopeful turn this month when scientists said they had spotted what they believe are remains of two hot springs -- the kind of warm, protected environments where many scientists think primitive life can thrive.

The researchers said water is not flowing now at the sites, but photographs suggest that it may well have bubbled out of the ground in the relatively recent past -- in planetary terms -- meaning tens of millions, rather than billions, of years ago.

"This is the first time that features that are so close in all of their shapes and details to springs on Earth have been reported and identified on Mars," said Carlton Allen of NASA's Johnson Space Center, who is studying the planet to find interesting landing places for future missions. "This puts the story of water on the Martian surface in a totally different context." Full story HERE.

Leonardo da Vinci parachute works perfectly

Sat Apr 26, 4:29 PM ET

PAYERNE, Switzerland (AFP) - A 36-year-old Swiss amateur parachutist made a successful 650-metre (2,130-foot) drop Saturday using a replica of a parachute designed more than 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci.

"I came down... smack in the middle of the tarmac at Payerne military airport," said Olivier Vietti-Teppa. "A perfect jump."

Vietti-Teppa is the first person to have made it safely to the ground with the Leonardo model.

In 2000, Britain's Adrian Nicholas tried it but had to pull the ripcord on a modern backup parachute to complete his descent safely.

Vietti-Teppa jumped from a hovering helicopter and the Leonardo parachute opened at 600 metres, he reported.

The parachute he used was made using modern fabric along lines designed by the Renaissance genius. The specifications were found in a text dating from 1485.

The parachute consists of four equilateral triangles, seven metres on each side, made of parachute fabric, Vietti-Teppa explained.

The base of the pyramid is a square of mosquito net, which enables the parachute to open. A wooden frame originally conceived by da Vinci was not used on the model in action on Saturday.

One drawback: it is impossible to manoeuvre or steer the Leonardo parachute. "You come down at the whim of the wind," said Vietti-Teppa, who carried out advance tests using a scale dummy model launched from a remote-controlled model helicopter.

Got food?

LA JOLLA, CA — A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies think they know how many-if not most-living organisms answer this question. They recently showed that when food supplies dwindle, mammals, fruitflies, or frogs probably activate the same ancient cell signaling pathway in order to conserve energy.

"This paper provides the first direct biochemical explanation for how cell growth is inhibited under conditions when nutrients are low," reports Shaw. "This very simple bio-circuit is literally the bare bones signal that most organisms use to say, 'We've got food!' " Full story HERE.

Definition: Parsec

The parsec (symbol pc) is a unit of length used in astronomy. The length of the parsec is based on the method of trigonometric parallax, one of the oldest methods for measuring the distances to stars.

The name parsec stands for "parallax of one second of arc", and one parsec is defined to be the distance from the Earth to a star that has a parallax of 1 arcsecond. The actual length of a parsec is approximately 3.086×10¹⁶ m, 3.262 light-years or 19,176,075,967,324.937 miles.

Full article HERE. Full definition of 'light year' HERE.

Genetic Sequencing of Protein from T. rex Bone Confirms Dinosaurs' Link to Birds

Molecular analysis, or genetic sequencing, of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein from the dinosaur's femur confirms that T. rex shares a common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators.

The dinosaur protein was wrested from a fossil T. rex femur discovered in 2003 by paleontologist John Horner of the Museum of the Rockies; the bone was found in a fossil-rich stretch of land in Wyoming and Montana. Full story HERE.

Organic Light Emitting Diode Made To Last Longer

ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — Researchers have developed an improved organic light emitting diode (OLED) sealing process to reduce moisture intrusion and improve device lifetime.

OLEDs are promising for the next generation of displays and solid state lighting because they use less power and can be more efficiently manufactured than current technology. However, the intrusion of moisture into the displays can damage or destroy an OLED's organic material.

"OLEDs have better color and flexibility and the capability of larger displays, but companies still need an inexpensive encapsulation method that can be used to mass produce organic electronics that don't allow moisture in," said Wusheng Tong, a senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Full story HERE.

Heart-Derived Stem Cells Develop Into Heart Muscle

ScienceDaily (Apr. 23, 2008) — Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells. A breakthrough in stem cell research. Until now, it was necessary to use embryonic stem cells to make this happen.

The stem cells are derived from material left over from open-heart operations. Researchers at UMC Utrecht used a simple method to isolate the stem cells from this material and reproduce them in the laboratory, which they then allowed to develop. The cells grew into fully developed heart muscle cells that contract rhythmically, respond to electrical activity, and react to adrenaline.

Full story HERE.

Nanotubes grown straight in large numbers

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University chemists have found a way to grow long, straight cylinders only a few atoms thick in very large numbers, removing a major roadblock in the pursuit of nano-scale electronics. These single-walled carbon nanotubes also follow parallel paths as they grow so they don't cross each other to potentially impede electronic performance, said Duke associate chemistry professor Jie Liu, who leads the research. Carbon nanotubes can act as semiconductors and could thus further scale-down circuitry to features measuring only billionths of a meter. Liu's team directed swarms of nanotubes to extend in the same direction by using the crystal structure of a quartz surface as a template. The availability of forests of identical nanotubes would allow future nanoengineers to bundle them onto multiple ultra-tiny chips that could operate with enough power and speed for nanoprocessing. Full story HERE.

Chemotherapy's Damage To The Brain Detailed

ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2008) — A commonly used chemotherapy drug causes healthy brain cells to die off long after treatment has ended and may be one of the underlying biological causes of the cognitive side effects -- or "chemo brain" -- that many cancer patients experience. That is the conclusion of a study published today in the Journal of Biology. A team of researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Harvard Medical School have linked the widely used chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) to a progressing collapse of populations of stem cells and their progeny in the central nervous system. Full story HERE. A related story is HERE.

Aptera - Electric Car Test Drive

Gastric Bypass Cures Diabetes

World map of metabolism finds blood pressure clues

WASHINGTON, Apr. 20, 2008 (Reuters) — Researchers creating a map of human metabolism around the world have found compounds in urine that point to some surprising differences affecting blood pressure, based not on genes but on what people eat and their gut bacteria. They hope their findings, published in the journal Nature on Sunday, can help lead to the development of new drugs to fight high blood pressure or perhaps even non-drug therapy. Full story HERE.

Kaguya Captures Earthrise/Earthset

Kaguya, the japanese lunar orbiter (also known as SELENE), has captured stunning HD video of Earthrise and Earthset. The HD video can be seen HERE.

You can read more about the event HERE. The official site of the expedition is HERE.

Definition: Hexactinellid

Hexactinellid sponges are sponges with a skeleton made of four- and/or six-pointed silaceous spicules, often referred to as glass sponges.

They are usually classified in the Class Hexactinellida along with other sponges in the phylum Porifera, but some researchers consider them sufficiently distinct to deserve their own phylum, Symplasma.

The design of Venus' Flower Basket (at right) contains major construction strategies that are used in civil and mechanical engineering, but at the 1,000 times smaller scale. (In this image, its structure is compared with the Swiss Tower in London, Hotel De Las Artes in Barcelona and a structural detail of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.)

Excellent articles can be found HERE and HERE. There is a VIDEO story HERE.

Lakes Of Meltwater Can Crack Greenland's Ice

ScienceDaily (Apr. 18, 2008) — Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Washington (UW) have for the first time documented the sudden and complete drainage of a lake of meltwater from the top of the Greenland ice sheet to its base.

From those observations, scientists have uncovered a plumbing system for the ice sheet, where meltwater can penetrate thick, cold ice and accelerate some of the large-scale summer movements of the ice sheet.

Lizards Undergo Rapid Evolution In New Home

ScienceDaily (Apr. 18, 2008)
“Striking differences in head size and shape, increased bite strength and the development of new structures in the lizard’s digestive tracts were noted after only 36 years, which is an extremely short time scale,” says Duncan Irschick, a professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “These physical changes have occurred side-by-side with dramatic changes in population density and social structure.” Read the FULL STORY.

Invention: 'WindBelt' Maximizes Wind Power

Sean Frayne’s device, which he calls a Windbelt, is a taut membrane fitted with a pair of magnets that oscillate between metal coils. Prototypes have generated 40 milliwatts in 10-mph slivers of wind, making his device 10 to 30 times as efficient as the best microturbines. Frayne envisions the Windbelt costing a few dollars and replacing kerosene lamps in Haitian homes. Read the FULL STORY. Learn more at Frayne's corporate web site, Humdinger.

TeraHertz Computing

University of Utah engineers took an early step toward building superfast computers that run on far-infrared light instead of electricity: They made the equivalent of wires that carried and bent this form of light, also known as terahertz radiation, which is the last unexploited portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
“We have taken a first step to making circuits that can harness or guide terahertz radiation,” says Ajay Nahata, study leader and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Eventually – in a minimum of 10 years – this will allow the development of superfast circuits, computers and communications.”
Read the FULL STORY.

Fantastic Voyage Inside A Cell

Medical animator David Bolinsky presents 9 minutes of stunning animation that show the bustling life inside a cell. Built by his company, XVIVO, to teach Harvard medical students, the clip features sweeping cinematic values and even a little drama. It communicates not only the facts of life, but life's truth and beauty. Watch the video HERE. You can see more of Bolinsky's videos at XVIVO.

'Alien' Jaws Help Moray Eels Feed

ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2007)
Moray eels have a unique way of feeding reminiscent of a science fiction thriller, researchers at UC Davis have discovered. After seizing prey in its jaws, a second set of jaws located in the moray's throat reaches forward into the mouth, grabs the food and carries it back to the esophagus for swallowing. Read FULL STORY.

Phobos Mapped

'Doomed' Mars moon imaged in stunning detail
22:29 09 April 2008
Mars's little potato-shaped moon Phobos takes centre stage in stunning new false-colour and 3D images snapped by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The moon, which some say would make an ideal destination for human space exploration, will one day be destroyed by the Red Planet. Read the FULL STORY.

Definition: Graphene

Graphene is a single planar sheet of sp²-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. It can also be viewed as an atomic-scale chicken wire made of carbon atoms and their bonds. Full article HERE.

Related articles can be found HERE, HERE and HERE. Electronics applications are discussed HERE and HERE.

Robot Evolution Includes Deceit

01.14.2008
Robots Evolve And Learn How to Lie
Robots can evolve to communicate with each other, to help, and even to deceive each other, according to Dario Floreano of the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Read the FULL STORY.

Video Animations of U.S. Carbon Dioxide Pollution

Where Global Warming Begins

4.8.2008 7:42 AM

The precise sources of carbon dioxide emissions have now been mapped, with 100 times more detail than was previously available, by Vulcan project researchers at Purdue University. The high-resolution, interactive maps combine carbon dioxide emissions data from power plants, factories and vehicles. The maps and movies compare the relative contribution of pollution from various parts of the country on an hourly basis. Read the FULL STORY.

Lungless Frog

Frogs With No Lungs Discovered in Borneo

16:44 07 April 2008

An unassuming little frog from Borneo has been found to have an exceedingly rare anatomical feature – introducing Barbourula kalimantanensis, the only known frog with no lungs. The Bornean flat-headed frog gets all of its oxygen through its skin. Read the FULL STORY.

Organic Material at Saturn's Geyser Moon

Cassini Tastes Organic Material at Enceladus
March 26, 2008
NASA's Cassini spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion from Saturn's moon Enceladus during a close flyby on March 12. Scientists are amazed that this tiny moon is so active, "hot" and brimming with water vapor and organic chemicals. Read the FULL STORY.

Poop Fossil Pushes Back Date for Earliest Americans

What better way to start a blog than with a POOP story?

April 3, 2008 -- New evidence shows humans lived in North America more than 14,000 years ago, 1,000 years earlier than had previously been known. Read the FULL STORY.