|
|
|
|
Dad's Early Connection With Child 'Writes Script' For Later School InvolvementWhen a dad changes diapers and makes pediatrician's appointments, he's more likely to stay interested and involved when his child makes the transition to school, said a new study that explores the role of parent involvement on student achievement.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Early-life Experience Linked To Chronic Diseases Later In LifePeople's early-life experience sticks with them into adulthood and may render them more susceptible to many of the chronic diseases of aging, according to a new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Drug Prevents Epilepsy Following Traumatic Brain Injury In RatsAccording to one theory, severe head injury causes leaks in the blood-brain barrier that allow entry of serum albumen, which triggers epilepsy and seizures. Scientists now show that albumen interacts with the TGF-beta receptor on astrocytes, triggering a cascade of events that lead to epilepsy. In rats, TGF-beta blockers stop such changes in the brain, and may halt development of epilepsy in humans.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Controlling Kudzu With Naturally Occurring FungusKudzu, "The Vine that Ate the South," could meet its match in a naturally occurring fungus that scientists have formulated as a biologically based herbicide.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Fossilized Dung Balls Reveal Secret Ecology Of Lost WorldA new study of 30-million-year-old fossil 'mega-dung' from extinct giant South American mammals reveals evidence of complex ecological interactions and theft of dung-beetles' food stores by other animals.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Controlling The Electronic Surface Properties Of A MaterialResearchers in Switzerland have for the first time created thin films with controllable electronic properties. This discovery could have a large impact on future applications in sensors and computing.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm New Information About DNA Repair Mechanism Could Lead To Better Cancer DrugsResearchers have shed new light on a process that fixes breaks in the genetic material of the body's cells. Their findings could lead to ways of enhancing chemotherapy drugs that destroy cancer cells by damaging their DNA.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm Secrets Of A Life-giving Amino Acid RevealedSelenium is a trace element crucial to life -- too little or too much of it is fatal. Scientists now detail the molecular mechanisms that govern its metabolism in the human body.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm Cooking With Sound: Bio-Mass Burning Stove Also Converts Heat Into Sound Then ElectricityA low-cost generator with the potential to transform lives in the world's poorest communities is now being tested across the UK and in Nepal. Researchers are developing a bio-mass burning cooking stove which also converts heat into acoustic energy and then into electricity, all in one unit.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm New Mechanism Controlling Neuronal Migration DiscoveredThe molecular machinery that helps brain cells migrate to their correct place in the developing brain has been identified. Understanding how neurons migrate to their proper place during brain development will offer insights into how malfunctions in the machinery cause epilepsy and mental retardation.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm Spacewalk No. 2 scheduled for moon anniversary (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 10:51 am The Nation's weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 10:49 am Apollo 11 crew: Moon less interesting than Mars (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 10:13 am New Galileo book raises religious, science issues (Reuters)Reuters - The current struggles between religion and science in areas such as evolution and "intelligent design" are thrown into sharp relief in a new book about the Italian astronomer Galileo and his trial by the Roman Inquisition.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 10:11 am Consultation on 'UK space agency'The science minister launches a consultation on whether the UK should have its own dedicated space agency.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 20 Jul 2009 | 9:08 am Apollo astronauts call for Mars missionAmerican moon-landing heroes seek revival of US space exploration The heroes of America's moon landing last night called for the US to launch a mission to Mars and beyond, in a rare joint appearance aimed at reigniting interest in costly and risky manned space flight. Now in their late 70s, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and John Glenn recounted their exploits, describing the massive US effort to beat the Soviet Union in the space race that culminated 40 years ago today, when Armstrong and Aldrin stepped out of the Eagle moon lander on to the lunar surface. Several of the men called on Barack Obama to lead the country on a second mission, this time to Mars. But the star of the evening, Armstrong, refused to be drawn into the debate, instead describing the Apollo mission that granted him worldwide fame as a "diversion" primarily useful as a peaceful outlet for cold war competition between the US and the Soviet Union. "It did allow both sides to take the high road with the objectives of science and learning and exploration," said Armstrong, the first human on the moon. But he noted the parallel development of the space programme and the intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of mass destruction. Last night's lectures at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum were the latest in a series of speaking engagements and events intended to build excitement about space exploration among a population that was largely not born at Nasa's peak. The evening was sponsored by Boeing, the aerospace giant that would stand to win billion-dollar contracts in a newly energised space effort. Humans last set foot on the moon 37 years ago, and the American public has grown ambivalent about the space programme. Last week's launch of the space shuttle Endeavour – a craft slated for retirement next year – provoked a national shrug. Nasa hopes to return humans to the moon by 2020 and to Mars by mid-century, but the president has shown little interest in the massive investment of tax dollars needed to explore the solar system. In brief remarks, the astronauts and the Nasa mission control founder, Christopher Kraft, noted the technological advancement, spirit of national unity and position of world leadership the Apollo programme brought America. "Nasa is the best return on investment that this country has ever seen," Kraft said. "What we need is new technology; we have not had that since Apollo … I say to Mr Obama: Let's get on with it. Let's invest in the future." Aldrin urged the country to commit to a colony on Mars, using an international lunar outpost as a stepping stone. "It was a great personal honour to walk on the moon, but as Neil once observed, there are still places to go beyond belief," Aldrin said. "Isn't it time to continue our journey outward, past the moon?" Collins warned that a second effort to explore the moon would be a technological "briar patch" that would distract the nation from reaching Mars. The astronauts noted that the nation was spurred to the Apollo programme – which cost more than $1tr in 2009 dollars — by the Soviet launch in 1957 of the Sputnik satellite and the launch soon after of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit. "This was not some idle objective," said Glenn, who in 1962 became the first American to orbit the Earth, nor a "scientific stunt". America's current arch-enemy, al-Qaida, is not a competitor in the space race, and Indian, Chinese and European ambitions have not provoked the fear of a militarised space that the Soviets did. If nothing else, the evening reminded America how distant the glory days of the space programme lie. Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins were reminiscent of one's granddad – white-haired men who told exciting stories of long-ago feats of bravery and teamwork. In introductory remarks in the museum lobby, the astronauts noted that they had piloted several of the retired jets and spacecraft on display, as if acknowledging their fellow museum pieces. Pointing to the glass-encased Apollo 11 command module, Kraft joked about his personal role in preparing it for flight four decades ago. "First thing in the morning Neil made me polish it. Last thing at night, I polished it," he said. "I'm not sure it's getting that kind of care." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 20 Jul 2009 | 7:56 am Frozen tiger, bones seized in Vietnam: monitors (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 7:48 am 40 years of human ingenuityMartin Rowson reflects on four decades of human 'progress' back here on planet Earth
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 20 Jul 2009 | 7:30 am Moon astronauts urge Mars missionTwo of the astronauts who took part in the first Moon landing 40 years ago call for new efforts to send a manned mission to Mars.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 20 Jul 2009 | 6:41 am Kids' lower IQ scores linked to prenatal pollution (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 5:10 am 40 Years After Apollo 11, NASA Maps Out the Future
Forty years ago, NASA put a man on the moon. What does the next 40 years hold for the world’s premiere space agency? MORE APOLLO 11 The Lost Apollo Tapes This Day in Tech: July 20, 1969 Restored Mission Video Anniversary Events Modern Moon Missions USSR Races Apollo There are some clear trends in the NASA’s goals that seem likely to extend into the future. Manned exploration outside Earth’s orbit went away and cheaper, robotic missions gained prominence. The moon received less attention and the search for extraterrestrial life and exoplanets became concrete. Studying the Earth from orbit became a key goal, particularly with the hard-won knowledge that humans can create global change. The Bush administration tried to put manned exploration of the solar system back at the center of the agenda with the Constellation program. And despite talk that Constellation would be the program would be killed, President Barack Obama’s Human Spaceflight Plans Committee said on Friday they have no plans to curtail the program. If Constellation does proceed as planned, astronauts will be heading to the moon sometime after 2020, with Mars to follow some years afterward. David Mindell, a science and technology historian at MIT who led a team that offered NASA some suggestions for the future, noted that we’re just emerging from the 37-year era that began with the agency’s decision to build the space shuttle in 1972. “Our recommendations to the administration were basically that this is a 40-year decision, so let’s not screw it up,” he said. Mindell said that one key for NASA and the review board will be deciding why it is that we want people flying around in space. If it’s just the human experience, let’s be honest about it. “I do think the human experience matters tremendously,” he said. “It may be the only thing that matters with humans there and ultimately that’s why we are sending people. I think that’s fine. I kinda support that, but they should design a space program built around human experience, then, instead of dressing it up as ‘We can better screw the bolts in than robots can.’” Either way, humans in spaceships will comprise only a small portion of NASA’s agenda. Below, we provide a launch-by-launch timeline of our next 40 years in space. But first, here are a few missions that could prove particularly lively, or lifely, in some cases. In 2011, the Kepler telescope, launched earlier this year, could announce the discovery of Earth-like planets in Earth-like orbits in the Cygnus starfield. Later that year, the Mars Science Laboratory will land on the red planet with the tools to determine if Mars is, or ever was, inhabited. Three years later, the James Webb Space Telescope, widely considered Hubble’s replacement, will head to orbit. Constellation could land people on the moon again in 2020. In 2026, human probes will arrive at Jupiter’s moon Europa, which scientists consider the best bet for sustaining current life in the solar system. And finally, some time after 2030, humans could land on Mars. Summer 2009: The new instruments installed on Hubble earlier this year will go live. The Wide Field Camera 3 will provide a major upgrade for Hubble in the visible and infrared spectra. You know what that means? Even prettier pictures. The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph will use ultraviolet light to try to reconstruct the origins of the universe. It’s an order of magnitude better at detecting ultraviolet light than Hubble’s previous instruments.
Oct. 9, 2009: The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, which launched earlier this year, will impact near the moon’s south pole, creating a plume of debris and a crater for its mission partner, the Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, to study. Oct. 14, 2009: Solar Dynamics Observatory will launch to study space weather generated by the sun’s activity. Some people are forecasting that the sun’s activity will wreak havoc with our communication and electrical systems in the next few years, but our star’s behavior has been a little unpredictable as of late. The SDO aims to make forecasting the sun’s behavior more accurate. Nov. 2009: Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer will launch to create maps of the skies in the infrared area of the spectrum. It will also be used to survey some near-Earth objects.
Jan. 2010: The Glory mission will launch. The low-Earth orbit satellite will study the Earth’s energy balance, including the total amount of solar radiation striking the Earth and the impact of aerosols and black carbon. June 2010: The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project will launch. The joint NASA, Department of Defense and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration project will measure atmospheric and sea surface temperatures.
2010: The Aquarius satellite launches to create the first-ever global maps of salt concentrations in the ocean surface. March 18, 2011: Messenger begins its year-long orbit of Mercury. 2011: This is the earliest date that scientists using the exoplanet-hunting satellite Kepler may be able to say for sure they have found an Earth-like planet in an Earth-like orbit. 2011: The Juno spacecraft will launch for Jupiter to study the structure and evolution of our solar system’s largest planet. Fall 2011: The Mars Science Laboratory, a rover with the tools to assess whether Mars is or ever was inhabited, will launch. May 2012: The Radiation Belt Storm Probe mission consists of two spacecraft that will orbit the Earth, helping to improve our understanding of how solar storms hit the Earth’s radiation belts and atmosphere.
March 2013: Soil Moisture Active Passive project will launch. Using a radiometer and high-res radar, it will measure surface soil moisture and its freeze-thaw state. 2014: The Orion crew exploration vehicle and Ares launch vehicles are supposed to be ready to go by 2014. 2014: The James Webb Space Telescope, generally considered Hubble’s replacement, will launch. It will give astronomers a better sense of the early universe and how stars form. 2015: The Joint Dark Energy Mission launches. The project, co-funded with the Department of Energy, will make very precise measurements of the expansion rate of the universe, which could yield fundamental insights about the nature of dark matter. 2015: New Horizons reaches Pluto, nine years after its launch. Right now, it’s about halfway between Saturn and Uranus.
2015: IceSat II will launch to provide vital information about the polar ice caps and the environment that surrounds them. 2016: The European Space Agency will launch ExoMars, a rover mission to the surface of that planet. NASA is involved, however, helping provide communications via the Deep Space Network. 2016: Juno mission arrives at Jupiter. 2018: The Solar Probe Plus will launch. It will be the very first mission to visit the sun’s corona, which will provide valuable insight into the sun’s functioning. 2020: The International Space Station could be deorbited in this year, although its fate remains largely undetermined. 2020: Europa Jupiter System Mission will take off for Jupiter and two of its moons, Europa and Ganymede, to evaluate the possibility that they are habitable locations. If it confirms an ocean of liquid water on Europa, the number of possible habitable outposts in the universe will go up considerably. Not only can we hope to find life on Earth-like planets, but also on the satellites of gas giant planets. 2020: Planned date by which the new Constellation rockets and modules could provide crew transport to the lunar surface “for extended durations.” 2021: International X-Ray Observatory launches to study the high-energy universe in unprecedented detail. It could provide fundamentally new understanding of black holes and the formation of large-scale structures like galaxy clusers in the universe. 2026: The Europa Jupiter System Mission mission will arrive at the Jupiter system. 2030: Any American landing on Mars through the Constellation program would come some time after 2030. See Also:
Images: NASA WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Google Reader feed, and book site for The History of Our Future; Wired Science on Facebook.
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 20 Jul 2009 | 4:00 am HOT ISSUE: Should we deliberately move species? (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 1:08 am Space Station Toilet Troubled (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - One of two toilets on the International Space Station is apparently broken, NASA announced Sunday.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 20 Jul 2009 | 12:15 am Rise of the biological machinesThis week synthetic biologist Paul Freemont, professor of protein crystallography at Imperial College London, argues that the future lies with highly efficient biological machines capable of manufacturing chemicals and drugs or capturing carbon from the atmosphere. He describes his vision of applying the principles of engineering to create purpose-built organisms from a catalogue of standard components in a controllable and predictable way. Measured against the early progress of electronics, synthetic biologists may still be in the 1950s, but Freemont points to the recent creation of yeast that manufacture the anti-malarial artemisinin and algae that produce biofuel as hopeful signs of what might be possible. Turning our gaze heavenwards, on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 we speak to the man responsible for getting Nasa back to the moon, and perhaps beyond to Mars. Dr John Olson at Nasa headquarters in Washington DC told Andy Duckworth about the agency's ambitions. All that plus the unexpectedly swift rise of swine flu, the improbable alliance between an oil giant and a geneticist to create those biofuel algae Dr Olson mentioned; and a radical plan to break the UK's carbon habit, slashing emissions and ramping up renewables like wind and wave power. Stick your oar in ... • Mail us at science@guardian.co.uk
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 19 Jul 2009 | 11:10 pm History in the making: Guardian and Observer report Apollo 11Forty years ago we watched as one of the greatest adventures in human history unfolded before our eyes. Read archive articles from each day of the mission
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 19 Jul 2009 | 11:05 pm America remembers the moon landingSpace experts at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC marvel at the challenges of putting men on the moon 40 years ago
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 19 Jul 2009 | 11:01 pm One-way tickets to space• Nasa director says mission recalls US pioneers It is often described as "the final frontier", and not just by those who follow the adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise. The phrase, though, may take an even more literal meaning for those exploring space in the future. The next generation of astronauts may hurtle through the cosmos for years or decades on a mission to explore distant planets and stars – and never return. A senior Nasa official has told the Guardian that the world's space agencies, or the commercial firms that may eventually succeed them, could issue one-way tickets to space, with the travellers accepting that they would not come back. The prospect of spending years cooped in a spacecraft would not deter people from applying, he said. "You would find no shortage of volunteers," said John Olson, Nasa's director of exploration systems integration. "It's really no different than the pioneering spirit of many in past history, who took the one-way trip across the ocean, or the trip out west across the United States with no intention of ever returning." In May 1961, President John F Kennedy challenged the US to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and return him safely to Earth. In an effort costing an estimated $1.4tn in 2009 dollars, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon 40 years ago today. Now, Nasa hopes to reignite the public's interest in manned space flight and win support for a massive investment in new trips to space. If, as Olson predicts, humans reach Mars by the middle of this century, engineers and astronauts may then set their sights on the frozen planets, fiery moons and stars beyond. "We're going back to the moon, not for flags and footsteps but for a sustained presence," Olson said. "We're going to use the moon as a stepping stone to Mars and we're going to look at other interesting spots, like asteroids and near-Earth objects, and we're going to look at all the other exciting places to go in this solar system." Since Kennedy's speech, the US has lost 17 astronauts. Three perished in a fire during early testing for the Apollo programme and 14 died in the wreckage of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. In 1970, Nasa engineers saved three astronauts when Apollo 13 malfunctioned 200,000 miles from Earth. But no US astronaut has ever suffered the slow oxygen starvation and freeze that would doom a spacecraft lost beyond the Earth's orbit. Nasa is currently bound by Kennedy's directive to bring its astronauts home, Olson said. But the other nations rapidly developing space programmes may shed the constraint, as could the commercial companies that may supplant national efforts. "Space is no longer for power and prestige; it's truly for economic benefit," the Apollo 11 flight director Eugene Kranz said. "The technology that emerges from high-risk, high-profile, extremely difficult missions is the technology that will keep the economic engine of our nation continuing to go through the years." With currently foreseeable technology, a round trip to Mars launched from a lunar outpost would take two to three years – a journey of six to nine months each way and a year-long mission on the surface. The star nearest Earth's solar system, Alpha Centauri, is 4.37 light years away, or more than 2.5tn miles, and a round-trip spacecraft would have to carry enough fuel to brake and propel itself back to Earth. Robert Park, a physicist and prominent critic of manned space flight, said that even a one-way trip to Alpha Centauri was beyond the laws of physics. The energy required to push a spacecraft up to the speed needed to get to the star within 50 years was so great as to be barely conceivable. He described the measurement as a fantastic multiple of the energy consumed by the entire world in a year. "We don't have a warp drive," he said, referring to the interstellar engines of Star Trek fantasy. "A multigenerational space ark would doom the children raised to continue the mission never to see Earth and would decide their destiny before their birth, raising profound ethical questions." Rather than devote immeasurable resources to sending humans into space, Park said science should instead build stronger telescopes to better study distant stars and planets. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 19 Jul 2009 | 9:36 pm Toilet trouble in space station with 13 astronauts on boardThe main toilet on the International Space Station breaks down, Nasa says, with 13 astronauts on board.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Jul 2009 | 9:12 pm Fergus on fluMixed messages on swine flu advice and pregnancySource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Jul 2009 | 7:07 pm Toilet breaks down on crowded International Space StationCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station used a pair of robot arms to install a pallet of equipment on Sunday, but when break-time came they may have found long lines at the bathrooms.Source: Reuters: Science News | 19 Jul 2009 | 6:31 pm Russia still blue over moon landing 40 years later (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Jul 2009 | 6:01 pm Clone patrol - sniffer-dogs report for duty in South KoreaThe world's first cloned sniffer dogs, all called Toppy, report for duty in South Korea.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Jul 2009 | 2:51 pm Clinton in US-India climate pleaVisiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she hopes the US and India can tackle climate change together.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Jul 2009 | 2:20 pm UK set to take back Brazil wasteThe UK is working with Brazilian authorities to organise the return of more than 1,400 tonnes of British toxic waste.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Jul 2009 | 11:22 am Heavy rains batter North Korea: state media (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Jul 2009 | 10:23 am
|
Aug. 30, 2009: The 
2010: The space shuttle is slated to be retired. Maybe. Because we don’t have any viable domestic option for getting to the International Space Station, Congress could extend the fleet’s lifetime for years.
2012: Mars Science Laboratory will arrive at Mars. If all goes well, it’ll 
March 2015: The first crewed Orion/Ares mission to the International Space Station will launch.
