SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: April 2004
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Astronomy study reveals ancient places
of healing
(Apr 6, 2004)
Mysterious T-shaped monuments scattered around the Mediterranean island
of Menorca were most probably places of healing, says an archaeoastronomer
who has studied the orientation of the Bronze Age monuments. Each
"taula" – named after the Catalan word for table – is
formed by two massive stone blocks arranged in the shape of an upright
"T". The taulas face an opening in a surrounding ring of stones, and
all but one of the 30 structures on Menorca face roughly south.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Lunar base options divide experts
(Apr 5, 2004)
Scientists are divided about the use of the Moon as a base to develop
ways to travel to Mars, according to reports given to the US government.
Some have said the possibility of water-ice existing at the lunar
poles would allow a moonbase to use the ice as rocket fuel for a Mars
mission. Others contend that it would be too difficult to extract.
And there is disagreement about whether the moon is a good alternative
to space as a base for advanced telescopes. In January, President
Bush redirected the US space effort sending astronauts back to the
Moon and then onto Mars.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Satellite to test Einstein predictions
(Apr 5, 2004)
A satellite designed to test two fundamental predictions made by Albert
Einstein about the universe is ready for launch, 45 years after it
was first proposed, NASA and Stanford University officials said Friday.
Since 1959, Gravity Probe B has overcome a half-dozen attempts at
cancellation, countless technical hurdles and several delayed launches.
The NASA-funded, university-developed spacecraft is now scheduled
to begin its mission following an April 17 liftoff from Vandenberg
Air Force Base, California. The unmanned, Earth-orbiting satellite
is designed to test two of Einstein's predictions about the nature
of space and time, and how the Earth and other bodies warp and twist
the fabric that combines the two.
Source: CNN /AP |
Strange sound is heard again by space
station crew
(Apr 4, 2004)
The two men aboard the international space station heard a strange
metallic sound again Friday, four months after being startled by it
the first time. Cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri was talking to flight controllers
in Moscow when he heard a loud drumlike noise coming from the instrument
panel of the station's Russian-built living quarters. Kaleri and astronaut
Michael Foale first heard the mystery noise described as a flapping
sheet of metal back in late November. Neither the crewmen nor flight
controllers were ever able to identify the sound, although engineers
suspected space junk may have damaged something on the exterior.
Source: ABC News/AP |
Ancient builders followed stars
(Apr 3, 2004)
Many Bronze Age monuments in Europe and Africa were erected with the
Sun and other stars in mind, says Dr Michael Hoskin, a UK historian
of astronomy. In one survey of 2,000 tombs he has shown how many were
built to face the rising Sun – a symbol of the afterlife. A
second study of stone structures in Menorca reveals they were set
up to view the constellation of Centaurus. The Cambridge University
researcher has discussed his work at the 2004 National Astronomy Meeting
in Milton Keyes.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Fossil arm holds evolutionary secrets
(Apr 3, 2004)
A 365-million-year-old arm bone fossil found in Pennsylvania came
from one of the first creatures able to do push-ups, an evolutionary
step that was necessary for animals to move from the sea to dry land.
When the animal lived, there were no vertebrates on dry land, and
the oceans were a place of fierce, toothy meat eaters living a predatory
life of eat or be eaten. It was into this hostile environment that
a two-foot-long animal that was more than a fish and less than a true
amphibian made its brief appearance in the fossil record, said researcher
Neil Shubin.
Source: CNN/AP |
Spirit finds multi-layer hints of past
water at Gusev site
(Apr 2, 2004)
Clues from a wind-scalloped volcanic rock on Mars investigated by
NASA's Spirit rover suggest repeated possible exposures to water inside
Gusev Crater, scientists said Thursday. Gusev is halfway around the
planet from the Meridiani region where Spirit's twin, Opportunity,
recently found evidence that water used to flow across the surface.
"This is not water that sloshed around on the surface like what appears
to have happened at Meridiani. We're talking about small amounts of
water, perhaps underground," said Dr. Hap McSween, a rover science
team member from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Read
more. Source: Space Daily |
Double whammy link to extinctions
(Apr 1, 2004)
The chances that asteroid impacts and huge bouts of volcanism coincide
randomly to cause mass extinctions may be greater than previously
imagined. UK researchers conducted statistical tests to determine
the probability of such catastrophic events happening at the same
time in Earth history. They found massive releases of lava and space
collisions should have overlapped three times in the last 300 million
years. Details will be published in a future issue of the geological
journal Lithos.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
'Fifty planets' could have life
(Apr 1, 2004)
Astronomers estimate there could be about 50 Earth-like planets with
the potential to harbour life orbiting in other solar systems. They
say that space telescopes will be capable of observing these planets
and investigating them to see if they support life in about 15 years'
time. Astronomers have recently discovered more than 100 planets orbiting
stars other than our Sun. But they are all giant planets like Jupiter
that cannot support life. Planets more like the Earth should, in theory,
exist too. But they are too small to be seen using current technology.
Professor Barrie Jones, of the UK's Open University, says about half
the 100 or so planetary systems so far discovered could contain worlds
with liquid water and possibly life.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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