SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: October 2005
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| Major dust storm on Mars visible
with backyard telescopes |
Oct 31, 2005 |
| Space designs from ants and squirrels |
Oct 30, 2005 |
| New image reveals Tadpole Galaxy's
halo |
Oct 29, 2005 |
| Big bangs theory blames lava
fields for mass extinctions |
Oct 28, 2005 |
| Vast array of tiny antennas could
talk to spacecraft |
Oct 27, 2005 |
| Elephants may pay homage to dead
relatives |
Oct 26, 2005 |
| When sleep's an alien experience |
Oct 26, 2005 |
| Space elevators stuck on the
first floor |
Oct 25, 2005 |
| Doubt cast on Archimedes' killer
mirrors |
Oct 24, 2005 |
| Crash site of Mars probe 'disappears' |
Oct 24, 2005 |
| Clear skies
for Virgin spaceliner |
Oct 23, 2005 |
| Cracks or
cryovolcanoes make clouds on Titan |
Oct 21, 2005 |
| Goodbye, Titan |
Oct 20, 2005 |
| Plesiosaur
bottom-feeding shown |
Oct 20, 2005 |
| Ravenous black
hole enjoys star-studded banquet |
Oct 19, 2005 |
| Sweden discovers
'zombie worms' |
Oct 19, 2005 |
| Weightless
space travel may suppress immune system |
Oct 17, 2005 |
| China spacecraft
returns to Earth |
Oct 16, 2005 |
| Bacterial
genes could put plants on Mars |
Oct 16, 2005 |
| Team widens
search for 'Hobbits' |
Oct 14, 2005 |
| China astronauts
blast into space |
Oct 12, 2005 |
| Japan tests
supersonic jet model |
Oct 10, 2005 |
| Titan's bright
spot revealed by Cassini |
Oct 8, 2005 |
| Europe ice
mission lost in ocean |
Oct 8, 2005 |
| Asteroid probe
runs into trouble |
Oct 7, 2005 |
| SpaceShipOne
goes on show in US |
Oct 6, 2005 |
| Physicists
say universe evolution favored three and seven dimensions |
Oct 5, 2005 |
| X-Prize man
launches rocket race |
Oct 4, 2005 |
| Unusual meteorite
unlocks treasure trove of secrets |
Oct 4, 2005 |
| Moon discovered
orbiting solar system's 10th planet |
Oct 3, 2005 |
| Cosmic expansion
is not to blame for expanding waistlines |
Oct 2, 2005 |
Major dust storm on Mars visible with
backyard telescopes
(Oct 31, 2005)
A major dust storm has just broken out on Mars and the event will
be visible this weekend with good-sized backyard telescopes. The timing
is incredible. Amateur skywatchers around the world are planning to
gaze at Mars Saturday night because it will be closer to Earth than
anytime until the year 2018. The dust storm was no more than a small
bright dot Thursday yet it was large and obvious Friday, as seen in
images taken by Clay Sherrod at the Arkansas Sky Observatories. NASA
took note and is monitoring signals from its Mars rovers, one of which
has detected signs of the storm.
Read
more. Source: space.com |
Space designs from ants and squirrels
(Oct 30, 2005)
Ideas that could further exploration in space are coming from a surprising
source – animals such as ants, fish and squirrels. The future
of space exploration could lie in biomimetics, where engineering meets
biology. In effect, it steals nature's evolutionary tricks to create
revolutionary applications. Engineers like Dr Alex Ellery, head of
the Robotics Research Group at the University of Surrey, are trying
to find out how natural systems might inspire human-made technology
in space.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
New image reveals Tadpole Galaxy's halo
(Oct 29, 2005)
A new image from the Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera
allows astronomers to see through the dust normally obscuring part
of the Tadpole galaxy. The view reveals a ring of nascent stars surrounding
the head of the galaxy like a halo. The galaxy recently collided with
another, distorting its spiral arm and creating a long tadpole tail
of gas and stars. The ring of new stars indicates the geometry of
the collision the galaxies underwent – it was an almost head-on
hit.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Big bangs theory blames lava fields for
mass extinctions
(Oct 28, 2005)
Vast sheets of prehistoric lava that oozed across the land millions
of years ago were probably caused by meteorites slamming into the
Earth's crust, scientists say. The lava sheets, 10 of which have been
discovered around the world, coincide with mass extinctions, suggesting
the huge volumes of magma caused global changes in climate that made
Earth inhospitable to all but the hardiest species. The largest lies
in Siberia, is roughly the size of Thailand and dates back 252 million
years. "We think lava poured on to Siberia for between 100,000 and
one million years, leaving the surface covered with four million cubic
kilometres of lava," said Linda Elkins-Tanton, a geologist at Brown
University, Rhode Island.
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
Vast array of tiny antennas could talk
to spacecraft
(Oct 27, 2005)
The same technology found in Bluetooth headset or wireless LAN could
be used to build a cheap, powerful transmitter for communicating with
deep space probes. It could even illuminate planets and asteroids
for radar astronomy. The proposal is to build an array of millions
of small antennas printed on circuit boards, just like the antennas
in consumer electronics such as wireless headsets and GPS receivers.
By controlling the phase of all of the antennas individually, a computer
will be able to aim a powerful beam of radiation at a target, with
no moving parts required.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Elephants may pay homage to dead relatives
(Oct 26, 2005)
Elephants may pay homage to the bones of dead relatives in their home
ranges, a study of the creatures’ responses to skulls and ivory suggests.
Humans apart, only a few animals show any interest in their own dead.
Chimpanzees show prolonged and complex behaviours towards a dead social
partner – but abandon them once the carcass starts decomposing. But
lions, for example, might sniff or lick a dead member of its own species
before proceeding to devour the body. African elephants have been
observed to become highly agitated when they come across the bodies
of their own, and they have been seen to pay great attention to the
skull and ivory of long-dead elephants. However, this interest had
not been tested experimentally.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
When sleep's an alien experience
(Oct 26, 2005)
Strange encounters of the alien kind have more to do with sleep disorders
than little green men with a penchant for kidnapping, according to
a study. A survey of people who believed they had had contact with
aliens showed they were much more likely to experience sleep paralysis,
a state where people are temporarily stuck between sleep and wakefulness
and unable to move. "When a person is in that state, they can see
things and hear things and be convinced they're real," said Chris
French, head of Anomalistic Psychology Research at Goldsmith's College,
London. He added that often people will see bright lights and menacing
figures and given the choice between truth and madness, many decide
the experience was real.
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
Space elevators stuck on the first floor
(Oct 25, 2005)
A NASA competition designed to lay the groundwork for futuristic space
elevators has ended with no one scooping the two $50,000 top prizes.
But officials say the contest is just the first step in developing
the technologies needed to use robots to lift objects into space on
long, thin super-strong tethers. Ten teams competed in the challenge,
which was held over the weekend at NASA's Ames Research Center in
Mountain View, California, US. The event was split into two competitions
to test either robot climbing or tether strength. Seven teams entered
the "Beam Power Challenge", where participants built robots that scaled
as far as possible up a 61-metre cable.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Doubt cast on Archimedes' killer mirrors
(Oct 24, 2005)
A re-enactment of the ancient siege of Syracuse suggests that Archimedes,
the Greek mathematician, was better at working out why boats float
than dreaming up weapons of war to make them sink. According to sketchy
historical accounts, Archimedes torched a fleet of invading Roman
ships by harnessing the power of the sun as they sought to capture
the Sicilian city in 213 BC. Using large mirrors made of bronze or
glass, the mathematician and erstwhile military adviser to King Hiero
focused the sun's rays on the ships and, according to ancient writings,
reduced them to cinders. On Saturday, researchers from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona set off for
San Francisco bay to test if Archimedes' death ray could have been
anything but a myth.
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
Crash site of Mars probe 'disappears'
(Oct 24, 2005)
A sharp image of a suspected crash site for the Mars Polar Lander
has turned out to contain only natural features of the Martian landscape.
NASA’s Mars Polar Lander was lost during its entry through the Red
Planet’s atmosphere in December 1999. An investigation determined
that the lander’s legs had deployed before touching down, which may
have sent a false signal that the craft had landed, causing the engines
to shut down prematurely. The lander may then have plummeted 40 metres
to the surface. For two months after the accident, the orbiting Mars
Global Surveyor spacecraft tried to spot its remains. Researchers
looked for a bright parachute within a kilometre of a darkened area
that would indicate dirt kicked up by an engine blast.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
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