Science and Education
Remote observatory aims to solve Earth's magnetic mystery
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Until November, Tristan da Cunha was home only to 271 people, a small flightless bird, and a piece of land named Inaccessible Island. Now the world's most remote inhabited archipelago is host to a Danish Observatory designed to help improve our understanding the Earth’s weakening magnetic field and the way this affects satellites.
Historic pics show worlds beyond our solar system
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In two separate scientific show-stoppers, unprecedented direct images of planets outside of our own solar system have been captured by NASA's Hubble space telescope and terrestrial observatories in Hawaii. Over the past two decades astronomers have detected around 300 exoplanets and are rapidly finding more, but these have mostly been observed by methods such as monitoring the gravitational effects of a planet on its parent star rather than seen as a direct optical image. We now have the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star from the Hubble, and the first-ever direct images of an exoplanetary system from the massive 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea. Read More
New early warning system to minimize tsunami impact
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A new tsunami warning system called the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) has just been implemented in Indonesia. Unlike previous tsunami warning systems, it uses new scientific procedures and technologies which are more suited to the specific geological conditions of the region. Read More
Last call: Mars Phoenix lander mission winds down
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The approaching Martian winter has spelled an end to the pioneering Phoenix Mars Lander mission. More than five months after reaching the red planet, the lander sent what is expected to be its final transmission back to Earth on November 2, exceeding its planned operational life-span by two months. Increased cloud, dust and the onset of colder temperatures mean that the robot is no longer receiving enough sunlight to charge its batteries and although engineers will keep the airwaves open, further communication with the lander is not expected. Read More
Looking further into space than ever before
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November 9, 2008 Comedians are astute social observers and their perspective is often refreshing and enlightening. In an interview with the Guardian recently, actor/comedian Jim Carey said, “it's such arrogance that human beings think we're the point. I always thought we were just a speck - you see those pictures from the Mars Rover and you go: 'Speck!' There are ants on my property that think they own it, that they have the deeds. In support of Jim’s hypothesis is this image – the deepest ultraviolet image of the Universe ever taken - one billion times fainter than can be seen by the unaided eye. At these depths, the sky is almost completely covered by galaxies, each one, like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, home of hundreds of billions of stars. Like Jim said, “speck” … Read More
Distributed network of laptop accelerometers used as seismic detector
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We're often surprised by the unforeseen applications that emerge when lateral thinking is applied to new technology - and this is certainly one of them. The Quake-Catcher Network aims to create the world’s largest earthquake monitoring system by linking internet-connected computers. The key to the system is its ability to take advantage of Sudden Motion Sensors or Active Protection Systems that are already found in many recently manufactured laptop computers. Day-to-day, these sensors are designed to protect the computer's hard disk from vibration, but by running specially designed networking software they become a far-reaching, low-cost solution for a seismic detection and early earthquake warning system. Read More
SMART multitouch table offers hands-on group learning
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Over the past two decades the role of computers in classrooms has evolved from one of curious optional-extra to core learning tool, and it's not a trend that is about to slow down. One relatively new technology that has great potential within educational environments is the multi-touch interface and this underpins SMART Technologies latest product - the SMART Table interactive learning centre. Looking a little like a retro-arcade game, this brightly colored 29" (73 cm) wide x 25" (65 cm) high table incorporates a 27" (69-cm) screen which can simultaneously receive input from a "virtually unlimited" number of fingers or pen tools. The table is designed to encourage group problem solving and collaboration and its intuitive interface makes it suitable for children in the 4 to 11 age group while teacher input is facilitated by the company's complementary interactive whiteboard products. Read More
A purple tomato a day keeps the oncologist away
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It seems purple might just be your new favorite color if you’re interested in staving off cancer. British scientists are reporting in the journal Nature Biotechnology that they have genetically engineered a purple tomato that significantly extended the life of cancer-prone mice. The purple coloring is due to a class of pigments called anthocyanins, which are found in high concentrations in blackberries and blueberries and and have been associated with protection against a broad range of human diseases. Read More
NASA testing next-gen lunar rover in Arizona
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NASA’s 12-wheeled Small Pressurized Rover raced (by lunar rover standards) across the moon-like Arizona outback at 6mph this week as part of the 11th annual Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS). While the buggies on the Apollo missions only provided a 6 mile range, the presence of two or more SPRs on a lunar landing will provide a range of over 150 miles. Read More
The world's most advanced electron microscope
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Microscopes have been an integral tool for scientists for hundreds of years, opening up the world that surrounds us and providing countless scientific breakthroughs. Now the most advanced and powerful electron microscope on the planet—capable of unprecedented resolution—has been installed in the new Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy at McMaster University in Ontario. Read More
Turning old houses into green homes
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Building environmentally friendly houses from the ground up is all well and good, but what about the existing energy inefficient houses most of us still live in? In 1930’s England three million semi-detached houses, or duplexes, were built and are still a major part the current housing stock. Now a three-year research project is about to start at The University of Nottingham that will help people living in these properties meet the Government’s ambitions to reduce CO2 emissions from homes. The joint project with the energy firm E.ON aims to learn energy efficiency lessons for the future from the failings of houses in the past. Read More
Mining the moon: the Scarab lunar prospecting robot
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Plans are afoot to have humans back on the moon by 2020, but if we want to make it more than just a brief visit and truly begin to colonize the solar system, the challenge will be to find ways to extract and exploit local resources that can help sustain a lunar outpost. That's where the Scarab comes in. The four-wheel, 880-pound lunar prospecting robot designed by Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, and soon to be field tested by NASA on the slopes of a dormant volcano in Hawaii, is equipped to drill and collect three-foot samples of soil and rock while operating in one of the harshest environments imaginable - the moon's southern pole. The rover will act as a terrestrial testbed for the development of technologies that it's hoped can be used to find hydrogen, oxygen and possibly even water, that could be mined from beneath the moon's surface. Read More
The Internet updateable SmartGlobe
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This update to the original interactive SmartGlobe from Oregon Scientific makes sure your geographic knowledge is up to date via downloadable weekly information updates. Read More
HiPER nuclear fusion project underway
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Nuclear fusion has long been the holy grail of energy production. It is the process going on inside the sun, it is clean, and it has the potential to provide practically limitless power. Up until now nuclear fusion reactions have only been replicated inside hydrogen bombs due to the huge amount of power needed to start the reaction and keep it running, but scientists in Britain are hoping to change all that. Britain’s Telegraph newspaper is reporting that British scientists believe they are on the verge of achieving controlled fusion in a laboratory for the first time and will begin work this week to create a nuclear fusion reactor. Read More
MAVEN: NASA's post-Phoenix Mars probe
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After the Phoenix lander has finished scraping away at Martian soil, the MAVEN spacecraft will examine the atmosphere of the red planet. The US$485 million Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN program is the second stage of NASA’s Mars Scout program, following the successful Phoenix mission. The MAVEN craft will study the planet’s atmospheric gases, upper atmosphere, solar wind, ionosphere, planetary corona, solar EUV and SEPS, and investigate past climate change. Read More
Scientists lay foundations for exascale computing
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Having crashed through the petaflop barrier of a thousand trillion calculations per second back in June, scientists are continuing work into achieving the next benchmark in supercomputer performance - exascale computing. Georgia Institute of Technology's Professor Karsten Schwan is one of two scientists working in the field to receive a 2008 HP Labs Innovation Research Award to further research into solving the problems thrown-up by computing on this scale. Read More
Durham Uni Smartdesk envisages the classroom of the future
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September 18, 2008 A century ago, most school children sat on the floor, with tables and chairs following and eventually giving way to rudimentary desks. A century from now, one wonders how far we’ll have progressed in creating an environment most conducive to nurturing the minds of our most precious resource. Researchers at the Technology-Enhanced Learning Research Group (TEL) at Durham University in the United Kingdom are designing new learning environments using interactive multi-touch desks that look and act like a large version of an Apple iPhone. Read More
First images from NASA's Gamma-ray telescope
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After two months of calibration and testing, NASA’s Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope has started to deliver the goods, providing scientists with an all-sky image of the Milky Way. The all-sky image combines 95 hours of “first light” observations from the Large Area Telescope, which is 30 times more sensitive than any previous space-based gamma-ray instrument. Read More
Robots reinvigorate computer science classrooms
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Education has long been based around the three R's, but now for computer science students throughout the U.S., a fourth R is making ground - Robotics. A program that began in 2006 through the Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE) using robots as the circuit breaker in introductory computer science courses is being expanded to 28 more high schools and universities. Gizmag spoke to Dr. Tucker Balch, director of IPRE, to learn more. Read More
The ORION PLUS helium ion microscope
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Carl Zeiss SMT has introduced an improved version of its helium ion microscope at the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2008 exhibition: the ORION PLUS. By focusing helium ions into a beam, instead of electrons, the microscope can offer higher focus with lower sample damage. Read More
New insight into Martian environment
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NASA’s $720 million Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has provided groundbreaking insight into the environmental makeup of the planet during its earliest geological age. Images from the MRO reveal that the Red Planet was originally a muddy brown, with vast lakes and flowing rivers covering a predominantly clay surface. Read More
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility succesfully analyzes zeolites
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June 27, 2008 In a world first, scientists at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility have determined the distribution of aluminum in zeolites, an important step towards understanding the versatile volcanic material used in water purification, nuclear waste removal, and the spin cycle of your washing machine. Read More
SkyScout Personal Planetarium for $299.99 at Amazon
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June 11, 2008 There are few things that reinforce the unfathomable wonder of our existence as much as pointing a telescope at the night sky and that goes double if you happen to be using a Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium. As we have written before, SkyScout technology uses GPS to provide information and history on what you are looking at through the viewfinder – an invaluable educational tool your child, available for $299.99 (51% off) for the next 22 hours at Amazon
Touchdown! Phoenix spacecraft lands on Mars
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May 26, 2008 NASA has announced the successful touchdown of the Phoenix spacecraft on arctic plains in the north of the Red Planet. The completion of the 10 month journey was confirmed with the detection of a radio signal from Phoenix (a signal which takes more than 15 minutes to reach Earth) indicating that it had reached the Martian surface. The spacecraft reached speeds of approximately 12,000 mph before entering the top of the planet's atmosphere and beginning its decent towards a soft touchdown on its three-legs made possible by parachute deployment and finally, the use of controlled thrusters. Launched on August 4, 2007, Phoenix is the sixth lander to touch down on Mars with only five of the 11 previous international attempts having succeeded including the first successful landing of the Viking program in 1976. Read More
Space engineers to explore next gen lunar rovers
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May 1, 2008 The development of a new generation of lunar rovers has been given a boost thanks to funding for an exchange program between the Surrey Space Centre and the University of Beijing. The exchange will pave the way for future moon projects such as the UK‘s proposed Moonraker lander mission and the second phase of China's Chang'e programme. Read More
FIRST crowns science and tech champions
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April 22, 2008 FIRST, an organization inspiring kids to engage in science and technology, has crowned this year’s champions at its annual science showdown. The 2008 FIRST Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta recognized winners across three categories: Robotics Competition, Tech Challenge, and LEGO League. Read More
The world's most powerful laser
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April 17, 2008 A team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin has demonstrated the highest powered laser in the world. With greater than one quadrillion watts of laser power, the level of output achieved on March 31 by the Texas Petawatt laser is equivalent to more than 2,000 times the output of all power plants in the United States and brighter than the Sun's surface, according team leader and physicist at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr.Todd Ditmire. Read More
Laser Triggers Electrical Activity in Thunderstorm
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April 14, 2008 A team of European scientists has deliberately triggered electrical activity in thunderclouds for the first time, according to a new paper in the latest issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society’s (OSA) open-access journal. They did this by aiming high-power pulses of laser light into a thunderstorm. The laser beams were supplied by the Teramobile - a nine-ton portable terawatt and femtosecond laser which fits inside a standard six-meter freight container. Its pulses have an instantaneous power of 5 terawatts (5TW = 5 x 1012W or the power equivalent of a thousand nuclear reactors) and a duration of approximately 100 femtoseconds (1013 s.). Read More
The Fukang Pallasite for sale
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April 9, 2008 Meteorite enthusiasts the world over know of the Fukang Meteorite. Discovered in the Gobi desert (near Fukang) in China eight years ago, the extremely rare and beautiful Pallasite meteorite is thought to have originated at the mantle-core boundary of very large differentiated asteroids that were destroyed during the early formation of the solar system over 4.5 billion years ago, give or take a hundred millennia or so. Fukang’s unique crystalline structures formed as the metal matrix cooled, with no gravitational influence, at a rate of only a few degrees per million-year period. Now the “main mass” of the meteorite, a distinction considered highly desirable by meteorite collectors, is to be sold at auction by international fine art auctioneers Bonhams on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at its salerooms in New York. Read More
Mathematica Player Pro - new Application Delivery System for Mathematica
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April 2, 2008 Wolfram has a new runtime environment for Mathematica applications named Mathematica Player Pro. Player Pro gives access to any Mathematica-6-based files, allowing full interaction with Mathematica's capabilities such as performing adaptive visualization, controlling dynamic interface elements and connecting to real-time data. Developers can now build applications in Mathematica and deploy them cost-effectively via Player Pro. Until now, developing with Mathematica has almost always meant deploying with Mathematica but using the free Player and Player Pro, it’s now possible to deploy to almost anyone. Read More
Researchers develop health-screening nanodevice
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March 28, 2008 Arizona State University researcher Wayne Frasch has designed a method of DNA detection that is faster and more portable than any other current model. The result is a biosensing nanodevice that could transform security screening and health testing.
Hubble breakthrough boosts search for life outside our solar system
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March 26, 2008 In another first for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), an organic molecule has been detected in the In another first for atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a star 63 light-years (or somewhere in the vicinity of 370 trillion miles) away. Given that the molecule found was methane, a key chemical player in the "primeval soup" from which life was formed on this planet, the discovery represents a significant breakthrough in the search for life outside our solar system. Read More
The largest explosion ever seen
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March 22, 2008 Gamma-Ray Bursts are the most powerful explosive events in the Universe. They thankfully occur in far-off galaxies and hence are usually faint, but on the morning of March 19, 2008 the Swift satellite found a burst which was so bright it could be seen without binoculars or a telescope even though it was seven thousand times further away than the Andromeda galaxy. Put simply, it could be seen with the naked eye from a distance of over twenty billion light years from Earth. It turned out to be a great day for GRB hunters. The Swift satellite typically finds only two GRBs a week, but for the first time found five bursts within 24 hours. The second burst of the day was the new record holder. The enormous energy released in the explosion – brighter than the light from all of the stars in five million Milky Way Galaxies – was caused by the death of a massive star which collapsed to form a black hole. Read More
NASA may support UK in ground-breaking MoonLITE mission
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February 20, 2008 A new report has outlined the possibility of US support for the planned UK-led MoonLITE mission, a project that aims to use a solar-powered spacecraft to fire four suitcase-sized “penetrators” at the surface of the moon at speeds of 300m/s. The penetrators would be deployed to the far side of the Moon, and one of the poles, where they would sink to depths of up to two metres beneath the moon’s surface, and analyse “Moonquakes”, study heat flows, and determine the chemical and physical structure of the Moon’s interior.
Hubble detects galaxy from the infancy of the universe
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February 18, 2008 The Hubble telescope’s Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer has detected an infant galaxy from the “dark ages” of the universe. Named A1689-zD1, the galaxy originated just 700 million years after the Big Bang, and is believed to be one of the galaxies responsible for reheating the cold clouds of hydrogen that formed as a result of the rapid expansion of the universe. Read More
