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Post by nodstar on Oct 4, 2009 10:06:03 GMT 4
Hey Stan ... Great to hear from you ..and good to see the Team posting again Here's something I found on my cybertravels .. Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High[/size] science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29sep_cosmicrays.htmSeptember 29, 2009: Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high. "In 2009, cosmic ray intensities have increased 19% beyond anything we've seen in the past 50 years," says Richard Mewaldt of Caltech. "The increase is significant, and it could mean we need to re-think how much radiation shielding astronauts take with them on deep-space missions." Above: Energetic iron nuclei counted by the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer on NASA's ACE spacecraft reveal that cosmic ray levels have jumped 19% above the previous Space Age high. [larger image] The cause of the surge is solar minimum, a deep lull in solar activity that began around 2007 and continues today. Researchers have long known that cosmic rays go up when solar activity goes down. Right now solar activity is as weak as it has been in modern times, setting the stage for what Mewaldt calls "a perfect storm of cosmic rays." "We're experiencing the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center, "so it is no surprise that cosmic rays are at record levels for the Space Age." Galactic cosmic rays come from outside the solar system. They are subatomic particles--mainly protons but also some heavy nuclei--accelerated to almost light speed by distant supernova explosions. Cosmic rays cause "air showers" of secondary particles when they hit Earth's atmosphere; they pose a health hazard to astronauts; and a single cosmic ray can disable a satellite if it hits an unlucky integrated circuit. The sun's magnetic field is our first line of defense against these highly-charged, energetic particles. The entire solar system from Mercury to Pluto and beyond is surrounded by a bubble of magnetism called "the heliosphere." It springs from the sun's inner magnetic dynamo and is inflated to gargantuan proportions by the solar wind. When a cosmic ray tries to enter the solar system, it must fight through the heliosphere's outer layers; and if it makes it inside, there is a thicket of magnetic fields waiting to scatter and deflect the intruder. An artist's concept of the heliosphere, a magnetic bubble that partially protects the solar system from cosmic rays. "At times of low solar activity, this natural shielding is weakened, and more cosmic rays are able to reach the inner solar system," explains Pesnell. Mewaldt lists three aspects of the current solar minimum that are combining to create the perfect storm: 1. The sun's magnetic field is weak. "There has been a sharp decline in the sun's interplanetary magnetic field down to 4 nT (nanoTesla) from typical values of 6 to 8 nT," he says. "This record-low interplanetary magnetic field undoubtedly contributes to the record-high cosmic ray fluxes." [data] 2. The solar wind is flagging. "Measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft show that solar wind pressure is at a 50-year low," he continues, "so the magnetic bubble that protects the solar system is not being inflated as much as usual." A smaller bubble gives cosmic rays a shorter-shot into the solar system. Once a cosmic ray enters the solar system, it must "swim upstream" against the solar wind. Solar wind speeds have dropped to very low levels in 2008 and 2009, making it easier than usual for a cosmic ray to proceed. [data] 3. The current sheet is flattening. Imagine the sun wearing a ballerina's skirt as wide as the entire solar system with an electrical current flowing along its wavy folds. It's real, and it's called the "heliospheric current sheet," a vast transition zone where the polarity of the sun's magnetic field changes from plus to minus. The current sheet is important because cosmic rays are guided by its folds. Lately, the current sheet has been flattening itself out, allowing cosmic rays more direct access to the inner solar system. The heliospheric current sheet is shaped like a ballerina's skirt. Image credit: J. R. Jokipii and B. Thomas, Astrophysical Journal 243, 1115, 1981. "If the flattening continues, we could see cosmic ray fluxes jump all the way to 30% above previous Space Age highs," predicts Mewaldt. [data] Earth is in no great peril. Our planet's atmosphere and magnetic field provide some defense against the extra cosmic rays. Indeed, we've experienced much worse in the past. Hundreds of years ago, cosmic ray fluxes were at least 200% to 300% higher than anything measured during the Space Age. Researchers know this because when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere, they produce an isotope of beryllium, 10Be, which is preserved in polar ice. By examining ice cores, it is possible to estimate cosmic ray fluxes more than a thousand years into the past. Even with the recent surge, cosmic rays today are much weaker than they have been at times in the past millennium. [data] "The space era has so far experienced a time of relatively low cosmic ray activity," says Mewaldt. "We may now be returning to levels typical of past centuries." NASA spacecraft will continue to monitor the situation as solar minimum unfolds. Stay tuned for updates. Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Oct 9, 2009 2:29:40 GMT 4
NASA to slam spacecraft into moon Friday, October 09, 2009 » 03:45am
NASA's planning to slam a spacecraft into the moon's surface in the name of scientific discovery.
NASA's planning to slam a used up spacecraft into the moon's surface but it's all for the sake of scientific discovery.
It will crash the spacecraft into the moon's south pole to kick up a massive plume of lunar dirt and then scour it to see if there's any water or ice spraying up.
NASA aims to confirm the theory that water a key resource if people are going to go back to the moon is hidden below the barren moonscape.
The crashing spaceship was launched in June along with an orbiter that's now mapping the lunar surface.
The collision's due to happen at 10.31pm (AEDT) it will be on NASA's website for viewing.
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Post by emeraldsun on Oct 9, 2009 9:34:06 GMT 4
NASA to slam spacecraft into moon Friday, October 09, 2009 » 03:45am
NASA's planning to slam a spacecraft into the moon's surface in the name of scientific discovery.
NASA's planning to slam a used up spacecraft into the moon's surface but it's all for the sake of scientific discovery.
It will crash the spacecraft into the moon's south pole to kick up a massive plume of lunar dirt and then scour it to see if there's any water or ice spraying up.
NASA aims to confirm the theory that water a key resource if people are going to go back to the moon is hidden below the barren moonscape.
The crashing spaceship was launched in June along with an orbiter that's now mapping the lunar surface.
The collision's due to happen at 10.31pm (AEDT) it will be on NASA's website for viewing. Here's some additional info: Live coverage of the LCROSS impacts begins at 3:15 a.m. PDT on Oct. 9. www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.htmlAre they trying to find water or wipe someone/someplace out? Will this act be the unraveling of disclosure, lifting of quarantine, or just idiocy...just ramblin emeraldsun
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Post by emeraldsun on Oct 9, 2009 9:45:30 GMT 4
Maybe someone can ask Richard Hoagland if he recalls the mention of an "operation against the moon," not just once but twice, by General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a news briefing with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld on August 7, 2002. Was it a joke, or a slip of the tongue, or making a coded reference, or was Myers just using an interesting analogy? Rumsfeld mentioned it a few times again during a news briefing on August 20, 2002. (See links below.) snip) DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers Wednesday, August 07, 2002 - 2 p.m. EDT (snip) Myers: I'm just -- I'm just saying that if -- I mean the way things are portrayed in these articles simply haven't occurred in front of me, okay? And I can't talk about our operational plans or what our advice is, and so forth. But you can imagine if we were planning an operation against the moon, that we would have a lot of discussion about how best to do that and so forth. So there's obviously going to be discussion about how we go against the moon -- (snip) Thirteen days later, on Aug. 20, 2002, Rumsfeld jokingly reminded reporters of what General Myers said about the moon a few days earlier, and then proceeded to mention "acting against the moon" three more times. However, this time Rumsfeld made clear this was an analogy about Iraq. Link here; www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3578found at rumormillnews.com
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Post by nodstar on Oct 10, 2009 9:57:29 GMT 4
Nasa team scours Moon crash data[/SIZE] By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF CRASH[/SIZE] news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8299118.stmThe moment the Nasa spacecraft crashed into the Moon Nasa scientists have been outlining their preliminary results after crashing two unmanned spacecraft into the Moon in a bid to detect water-ice. A rocket stage slammed into the Moon's south pole at 1231 BST (0731 EDT). Another craft followed just behind, looking for signs of water in debris kicked up by the first collision. Instruments on the second spacecraft identified a flash from the initial impact as well as a crater, but the expected debris cloud was not evident. The $79m (£49m; 53m euro) US space agency mission is known as LCROSS (the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite). We have the data we need to address the questions we set out to address Dr Anthony Colaprete, Nasa Ames Research Center The first collision was expected to throw some 350 tonnes of debris up to altitudes of 10km (6.2 miles) or more. No such dust plume was apparent in images sent back by the spacecraft however, proving a disappointment to some members of the public expecting a space spectacular. "We need to go back and carefully look at the data to see what it says," Dr Anthony Colaprete, principal investigator on the LCROSS mission told journalists at a post-impact news conference. "Exploration has surprises. I'm glad we built our mission plan around all aspects of the impact… what's streamed on the video is not at the same fidelity as what we get fresh off the spacecraft. We need to look more closely before we conclude anything about an ejecta cloud, or not." Wait for water Dr Colaprete, from Nasa's Ames Research Center in California, added: "I see something in the spectrometer data - the spectrometers are more sensitive than the cameras. But I can't say anything more than that." The team was also able to determine the temperature of the crater punched in the lunar surface. Thus, questions about the persistence of water-ice on the Moon will have to wait. But Dr Colaprete said: "We saw the impact, we saw the crater. We got good spectroscopic measurements which is what we needed of the impact event." "We have the data we need to address the questions we set out to address." The identification of water-ice in the impact plume would be a major discovery, not least because a supply of water on the Moon would be a vital resource for future human exploration. LCROSS was to have helped pave the way for US astronauts to return to the Moon by 2020. But these plans have been under scrutiny since President Barack Obama ordered a sweeping review of Nasa's manned spaceflight programme. The LCROSS mission consisted of an empty Centaur rocket upper stage and a "shepherding spacecraft". The shepherding spacecraft was designed to guide the rocket to its target at the Moon's south pole, a shaded 100km-wide depression called Cabeus crater. The Centaur hit the lunar surface first, at roughly twice the speed of a bullet. With an energy equivalent to one-and-a-half tonnes of TNT, the collision was expected to carve out another crater inside Cabeus measuring some 20m (66ft) wide and about 4m (13ft) deep. The shepherding spacecraft ploughed in behind, hitting the Moon four minutes later. Its onboard spectrometers were designed to look for signs of water in the debris kicked up by the Centaur collision. It was looking for hydroxyl compounds (OH), salts, clays, hydrated minerals and organic molecules in the plume. The impacts were watched by countless professional and amateur astronomers on the ground. They were also observed by Earth-orbiting satellites, including the Hubble Space Observatory and Odin, a Swedish-led astronomy and aeronomy mission. But the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which was launched on the same rocket as LCROSS in June, has been playing a key supporting role. Dr Jennifer Heldmann, who co-ordinated the LCROSS observation campaign, commented: "LRO has been taking observations during the impact - we have heard that this went well. They are also doing follow-up observations; they are in a great position to collect data that is complementary to that collected by the LCROSS shepherding spacecraft." Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
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Post by nodstar on Oct 10, 2009 9:59:55 GMT 4
Virus Is Found in Many With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome[/SIZE] www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/health/research/09virus.html?_r=1Article Tools Sponsored By By DENISE GRADY Published: October 8, 2009 Many people with chronic fatigue syndrome are infected with a little known virus that may cause or at least contribute to their illness, researchers are reporting. The syndrome, which causes prolonged and severe fatigue, body aches and other symptoms, has long been a mystery ailment, and patients have sometimes been suspected of malingering or having psychiatric problems rather than genuine physical ones. Worldwide, 17 million people have the syndrome, including at least one million Americans. An article published online Thursday in the journal Science reports that 68 of 101 patients with the syndrome, or 67 percent, were infected with an infectious virus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV. By contrast, only 3.7 percent of 218 healthy people were infected. Continuing work after the paper was published has found the virus in nearly 98 percent of about 300 patients with the syndrome, said Dr. Judy A. Mikovits, the lead author of the paper. XMRV is a retrovirus, a member of the same family of viruses as the AIDS virus. These viruses carry their genetic information in RNA rather than DNA, and they insert themselves into their hosts’ genetic material and stay for life. Dr. Mikovits and other scientists cautioned that they had not yet proved that the virus causes the syndrome. In theory, people with the syndrome may have some other, underlying health problem that makes them prone to being infected by the virus, which could be just a bystander. More studies are needed to explain the connection. But Dr. Mikovits said she thought the virus would turn out to be the cause, not just of chronic fatigue, but of other illnesses as well. Previous studies have found it in cells taken from prostate cancers. “I think this establishes what had always been considered a psychiatric disease as an infectious disease,” said Dr. Mikovits, who is research director at the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Reno, a nonprofit center created by the parents of a woman who has a severe case of the syndrome. Her co-authors include scientists from the National Cancer Institute and the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Mikovits said she and her colleagues were drawing up plans to test antiretroviral drugs — some of the same ones used to treat HIV infection — to see whether they could help patients with chronic fatigue. If the drugs work, that will help prove that the virus is causing the illness. She said patients and doctors should wait for the studies to be finished before trying the drugs. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, said the discovery was exciting and made sense. “My first reaction is, ‘At last,’ ” Dr. Schaffner said. “In interacting with patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, you get the distinct impression that there’s got to be something there.” He said the illness is intensely frustrating to doctors because it is not understood, there is no effective treatment and many patients are sick for a long time. He added, “This is going to create an avalanche of subsequent studies.”
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Post by nodstar on Oct 10, 2009 10:51:22 GMT 4
Encrypting Messages In Our "How-to-Make-a-Human" DNA Instruction Manual[/size] The Daily Galaxy October 07, 2009 www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/10/is-our-how-to-make-you-dna-instruction-manual-a-constant-throughout-the-universe.htmlDNA isn't just a code, it's the ultimate information - the data without which the ability to perceive data wouldn't exist. We now have the ability to write our own messages into this biological blueprint, but there are important factors to consider before you start scribbling cellular graffiti. The human genome contains about three quarters of a gigabyte of data, and it's pretty unflattering to find out that the "How to make YOU" instruction manual is less than a quarter of the size of an "X-Men: Wolverine" DVD. (But don't worry - the real "you" in your head is, even by the simplest estimate, at least seventy terabytes). Scientists have so far inserted the equation of relativity, their own names and even Latin poetry into the "junk" DNA of bacteria and plants. Which is an extremely dangerous sentence: the idea of "junk" DNA is an extremely popular misconception which leaps from "we don't know what it does" to "it doesn't do anything." Research teams are continually discovering regions of "junk" which turned out to do something vital after all, almost as if it was unlikely we'd be saddled with 97% of our genomes doing nothing. We can confirm that regions of it don't seem to code for proteins or instructions, but until someone builds an organism without all the extra code we'll have to assume it's doing something. Or even better, try using the "extra" storage space for something else and let us know what happens. The idea of encoding information in DNA is so spectacularly sci-fi that people can't help but come up with crazy applications - which is awesome. That's exactly what science should do! People want to record evolutionary archives of our innovations, coding thingyroaches to carry our knowledge past any future catastrophes, while others only want to trademark their genetic innovations (an unsettling and unfortunately far more likely outcome), but the fact remains that DNA is still a terrible place to put information - if only because any species which could extract it knows at least as much as we do anyway. Some say we should search our own selves for messages from extra-terrestrials, encoded messages from the alien creators of the human race. But the facts are: 1) Beware any idea that was actually used as a Star Trek plot once 2) The "aliens made us" theory is better suited to late-night radio talk shows 3) It could still be true, but if it is we'll find any such messages in the course of regular, real research into the code instead of hunting for a message In fact, it's essential we don't start searching for scrawls inside our cells, because with seven hundred and fifty megabytes of data there'll be such a fantastic Nostradamus factor (finding messages in random garbage once you've already decided to) that anything identified will be an artifact of the observer. A real application of genetic information is the idea of genetic computation - the idea of encoding a problem in DNA and evolving a solution. Obviously there's an immense amount of work in setting up such a computation (not only encoding the information, but designing a situation in which solving the problem is beneficial to the organism), but that's okay because it's only intended for use in otherwise "insoluble" problems - quandaries where the analytic methods fail and the computation time is longer than the expected endurance of the sun. Evolution, after all, came up with things butterflies, pilot fish and duck-billed platypii - if anyone can come up with unexpected answers, it's nature. The great unkown is: will DNA and the ability to encrypt communication prove to be a constant throughout the Universe? Luke McKinney Messages in DNA
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Post by nodstar on Oct 10, 2009 10:58:43 GMT 4
Unsolved Mystery of Science: Mars' Medusae Fossae Formations[/size] The Daily Galaxy October 07, 2009 www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/10/during-its-flybys-the-radar-system-on-the-european-space-agencys-express-orbiter-uncovered-new-details-about-some-of-the-mos.htmlDuring its flybys, the radar system on the European Space Agency's Express orbiter uncovered new details about some of the most enigmatic deposits on Mars-the Medusae Fossae Formation. The Medusae Fossae Formation consists of enigmatic deposits found near the Martian equator along a divide between highlands and lowlands called the ‘highland-lowland dichotomy boundary’ between the Tharsis and Elysium centres of volcanic activity. This dichotomy boundary is a narrow region separating the cratered highlands, located mostly in the southern hemisphere of Mars, from the northern hemisphere's lowland plains. It is believed to be some of the youngest deposits on the surface of the planet due to a lack of impact craters dotting these deposits, unlike on older terrain. Studying this region could yield information about Mars' more recent geological history, including whether or not liquid water played any role in the creation of Medusae Fossae. The processes that created and modified the dichotomy boundary remain among the major unanswered issues in science. The radar observations found the formation to be massive deposits more than 2.5 kilometers (1.4 miles) thick in places. The instrument reveals the depth based on the time it takes for the radar beam to pass through the layers and bounce off the plains material underneath. The deposits intrigue scientists because they are associated with regions that absorb certain wavelengths of Earth-based radar. This had led to them being called "stealth" regions, because they give no radar echo. However, the radar instrument on Express uses longer wavelengths than Earth-based radar experiments. At these wavelengths, the radar waves mostly pass through the deposits, creating subsurface echoes when the radar signal reflects off the plains material beneath. ESA scientists believe that the formations could be volcanic ash deposits from now-buried vents or nearby volcanoes, or they could be deposits of wind-blown materials eroded from Martian rocks, or ice-rich deposits, somewhat similar to the layered ice deposits at the poles of the planet, but formed when the spin axis of tilts over, making the equatorial region colder. The Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding was funded by NASA and the Italian Space Agency and developed by the University of Rome in partnership with JPL. Posted by Casey Kazan. Adapted from an NASA release. Related Galaxy posts: Movie of NASA's Sites on for Future Landings & Search for Ancient Life Exploration: Secrets of the Soil Is There Life on Mars? NASA Goes Underground to Find Out New Phoenix Mission Technology to Search for Life Is there an Interplanetary Mars-Earth Microbe Shuttle? Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos Revisited -NASA's Phoenix Probe & the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Story Links: www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMSSZRMD6E_0.htmlwww.physorg.com/news113157116.htmlwww.astrobio.net/news/article2513.html
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Post by nodstar on Oct 10, 2009 11:19:37 GMT 4
Apophis Nixes Earth's One-Million-Year Asteroid-Impact Cycle: NASA Says "Close, But No Impact"[/size] The Daily Galaxy October 09, 2009 www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/10/apophis-close-but-no-impact-with-earth.htmlApophis1 “The threat of the Earth being hit by an asteroid is increasingly being accepted as the single greatest natural disaster hazard faced by humanity.” Nick Bailey of the University of Southampton's School of Engineering Sciences team Using updated information, NASA scientists have recalculated the path of the Apophis asteroid -approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields. The refined path indicates a significantly reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter with Earth in 2036.. "Apophis has been one of those celestial bodies that has captured the public's interest since it was discovered in 2004," said near-Earth object scientist Steve Chesley at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036, for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million." Stephen Hawking believes that one of the major factors in the possible scarcity of intelligent life in our galaxy is the high probability of an asteroid or comet colliding with inhabited planets. We have observed, Hawking points out in Life in the Universe, the collision of a comet, Schumacher-Levi, with Jupiter (below), which produced a series of enormous fireballs, plumes many thousands of kilometers high, hot "bubbles" of gas in the atmosphere, and large dark "scars" on the atmosphere which had lifetimes on the order of weeks. It is thought the collision of a rather smaller body with the Earth, about 70 million years ago, was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. A few small early mammals survived, but anything as large as a human, would have almost certainly been wiped out. Through Earth's history such collisions occur, on the average every one million year. If this figure is correct, it would mean that intelligent life on Earth has developed only because of the lucky chance that there have been no major collisions in the last 70 million years. Other planets in the galaxy, Hawking believes, on which life has developed, may not have had a long enough collision free period to evolve intelligent beings. “The threat of the Earth being hit by an asteroid is increasingly being accepted as the single greatest natural disaster hazard faced by humanity,” according to Nick Bailey of the University of Southampton's School of Engineering Sciences team, who has developed a threat identifying program.[ Image: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collision with Jupiter] The team used raw data from multiple impact simulations to rank each country based on the number of times and how severely they would be affected by each impact. The software, called NEOimpactor (from NASA's "NEO" or Near Earth Object program), has been specifically developed for measuring the impact of 'small' asteroids under one kilometer in diameter. Early results indicate that in terms of population lost, China, Indonesia, India, Japan and the United States face the greatest overall threat; while the United States, China, Sweden, Canada and Japan face the most severe economic effects due to the infrastructure destroyed. The top ten countries most at risk are China, Indonesia, India, Japan, the United States, the Philippines, Italy, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Nigeria. “The consequences for human populations and infrastructure as a result of an impact are enormous,” says Bailey. “Nearly one hundred years ago a remote region near the Tunguska River witnessed the largest asteroid impact event in living memory when a relatively small object (approximately 50 meters in diameter) exploded in mid-air. While it only flattened unpopulated forest, had it exploded over London it could have devastated everything within the M25. Our results highlight those countries that face the greatest risk from this most global of natural hazards and thus indicate which nations need to be involved in mitigating the threat.” What would happen to the human species and life on Earth in general if an asteroid the size of the one that created the famous K/T Event of 65 million years ago at the end of the Mesozoic Era that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs impacted our planet. As Stephen Hawking says, the general consensus is that any comet or asteroid greater than 20 kilometers in diameter that strikes the Earth will result in the complete annihilation of complex life - animals and higher plants. (The asteroid Vesta, for example, one of the destinations of the Dawn Mission, is the size of Arizona). How many times in our galaxy alone has life finally evolved to the equivalent of our planets and animals on some far distant planet, only to be utterly destroyed by an impact? Galactic history suggests it might be a common occurrence. The first this to understand about the KT event is that is was absolutely enormous: an asteroid (or comet) six to 10 miles in diameter streaked through the Earth's atmosphere at 25,000 miles an hour and struck the Yucatan region of Mexico with the force of 100 megatons -the equivalent of one Hiroshima bomb for every person alive on Earth today. Not a pretty scenario! Recent calculations show that our planet would go into another "Snowball Earth" event like the one that occurred 600 million years ago, when it is believed the oceans froze over (although some scientists dispute this hypothesis -see link below). While microbial bacteria might readily survive such calamitous impacts, our new understanding from the record of the Earth's mass extinctions clearly shows that plants and animals are very susceptible to extinction in the wake of an impact. Impact rates depend on how many comets and asteroids exist in a particular planetary system. In general there is one major impact every million years -a mere blink of the eye in geological time. It also depends on how often those objects are perturbed from safe orbits that parallel the Earth's orbit to new, Earth-crossing orbits that might, sooner or later, result in a catastrophic K/T or Permian-type mass extinction. Vredefort-20dome-20-20good_colour-satellite20SMALL The asteroid that hit Vredefort located in the Free State Province of South Africa is one of the largest to ever impact Earth, estimated at over 10 km (6 miles) wide, although it is believed by many that the original size of the impact structure could have been 250 km in diameter, or possibly larger(though the Wilkes Land crater in Antarctica, if confirmed to have been the result of an impact event, is even larger at 500 kilometers across). The town of Vredefort is situated in the crater (image). Dating back 2,023 million years, it is the oldest astrobleme found on earth so far, with a radius of 190km, it is also the most deeply eroded. Vredefort Dome Vredefort bears witness to the world’s greatest known single energy release event, which caused devastating global change, including, according to many scientists, major evolutionary changes. What has kept the Earth "safe" at least the past 65 million years, other than blind luck is the massive gravitational field of Jupiter, our cosmic guardian, with its stable circular orbit far from the sun, which assures a low number of impacts resulting in mass extinctions by sweeping up and scatters away most of the dangerous Earth-orbit-crossing comets and asteroids Posted by Casey Kazan with Rebecca Sato For more information about asteroids and near-Earth objects, visit: www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatchNote: Portions of this post was adapted from a news release issued by University of Southampton. Source: www.rationalvedanta.net/node/131Related Galaxy Posts: The Dawn Mission -NASA's Journey to the Beginning of the Solar System The End of the World -A Video (the most terrifying short film ever!) Past as Prelude -Asteroids & the Origin of LIfe (Includes "Impact Map of the World") A Future KT Impact Event -Would the Human Species Survive Dr Strangelove Two? -Cambridge Astrophysicts gives Earthlings a 50/50 Chance of Survival by End of Century
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Oct 14, 2009 10:21:23 GMT 4
Chocolate blunts pain - studyWednesday, October 14, 2009 » 11:50am A new study suggests why it's so hard to put chocolate down showing it blunts pain. The University of Chicago study gave rats a chocolate chip to eat as they lit a lightbulb underneath their cages. The heat from the bulb normally caused the rodents to lift their paws but when they ate chocolate they didn't. Researcher Peggy Mason says eating blunts pain and may have helped animals in the wild avoid distraction while eating scarce food particularly energy-dense, high-fat, high-calorie food. SO TUCK INTO YOUR CHOCOLATE GUYS Mmm.....! ;D ;D ;D
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Post by emeraldsun on Oct 14, 2009 19:25:05 GMT 4
Chocolate blunts pain - studyWednesday, October 14, 2009 » 11:50am A new study suggests why it's so hard to put chocolate down showing it blunts pain. The University of Chicago study gave rats a chocolate chip to eat as they lit a lightbulb underneath their cages. The heat from the bulb normally caused the rodents to lift their paws but when they ate chocolate they didn't. Researcher Peggy Mason says eating blunts pain and may have helped animals in the wild avoid distraction while eating scarce food particularly energy-dense, high-fat, high-calorie food. SO TUCK INTO YOUR CHOCOLATE GUYS Mmm.....! ;D ;D ;D Heck I'm gonna wrap my next vicoden in chocolate!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Post by emeraldsun on Oct 15, 2009 0:37:39 GMT 4
Chocolate blunts pain - studyWednesday, October 14, 2009 » 11:50am A new study suggests why it's so hard to put chocolate down showing it blunts pain. The University of Chicago study gave rats a chocolate chip to eat as they lit a lightbulb underneath their cages. The heat from the bulb normally caused the rodents to lift their paws but when they ate chocolate they didn't. Researcher Peggy Mason says eating blunts pain and may have helped animals in the wild avoid distraction while eating scarce food particularly energy-dense, high-fat, high-calorie food. SO TUCK INTO YOUR CHOCOLATE GUYS Mmm.....! ;D ;D ;D Heck I'm gonna wrap my next vicoden in chocolate!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D Or better yet chocolate blunts...
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Post by nodstar on Oct 15, 2009 2:24:03 GMT 4
Ear probe could diagnose depression[/size] 14 October 2009 | 06:56:38 PM | Source: SBS click here for full story[/size] www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1111051/Ear-probe-could-diagnose-depression#A Melbourne scientist has developed an ear probe which he believes could diagnose depression and bipolar disorder within an hour. The technology measures electrical patterns in the brain to detect mental illnesses. What used to take years of therapy, could one day happen in a matter of minutes. Schizophrenia patient David Kenyon told SBS this tool could save time and anguish - and show that mental illnesses are similar to physical health problems.
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Post by nodstar on Oct 15, 2009 2:30:08 GMT 4
Could the Large Hadron Collider be held back by its own future?[/size] Telegraph Media Group www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6318034/Could-the-Large-Hadron-Collider-be-held-back-by-its-own-future.html2009-10-14 The much-delayed and maligned Large Hadron Collider has been hit by its most outlandish claim to date - it is being sabotaged by its own future. Forget the far-fetched belief that it will create a black hole, two distinguished physicists have gone even further claiming nature itself is stopping the troubled £4.4billion project from getting off the ground. In a theory reminiscent of the time travelling film Back to the Future, the theoretical physicists Holger Nielsen, from Denmark, and Masao Ninomiya, from Japan, have concluded that its discoveries could be so "abhorrent to nature" that they are coming back to stop their own creation. They have outlined their thoughts in a series of papers with titles like “Test of Effect From Future in Large Hadron Collider: a Proposal” and “Search for Future Influence From LHC.” The pair's hypothesis centres around the Higgs Boson, a mysterious tiny particle and building block of life that it is hoped the LHC will discover. They have come up with a theory that it will "ripple backward through time" and stop the collider before it could make one, like a time traveler who goes back in time to kill his grandfather. "It must be our prediction that all Higgs producing machines shall have bad luck,” Dr. Nielsen said. He said that his theories may even provide a "model for God" who "rather hates Higgs particles, and attempts to avoid them”. The world's biggest and most complex experiment to date, the LHC has taken 10,000 researchers more than 15 years to build. Eventually it is hoped that by firing particles around a 17-mile underground tunnel near Geneva, it can recreate conditions that existed fractions of a second after the Big Bang. At the same scientists hope to locate a mysterious particle known as the Higgs Boson or God Particle which gives everything its mass. But the whole project has been beset by controversy and technical failures. First scientists claimed it would create a black hole that would devour the world and then in September 2008 circuits in one of the magnets overheated causing damage and leading to a helium leak. Now just as it is about to be switched on again, the theoretical physicists have thrown time travel into the mix.
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Post by nodstar on Oct 15, 2009 2:32:03 GMT 4
Lack of Sleep Could be Deadly[/size] US News & World Report www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/10/10/lack-of-sleep-could-be-deadly.html?s_cid=rss:lack-of-sleep-could-be-deadly2009-10-13 For many people, days just don’t seem long enough. In order to cram everything into one 24-hour period, something has to give. Judging by many surveys of Americans, it’s sleep. Sleep is regarded by some as unproductive, wasteful downtime. People who would rather hit the hay than the dance floor are told that only losers snooze and that they can sleep when they’re dead. But new data about sleep’s benefits suggest that losing sleep might speed up death’s arrival. Recent research also shows that people who don’t snooze enough face a higher risk of losing their health than those who regularly get a good night’s sleep. “What is certain is that we can’t do without sleep,” says Peter Meerlo, a neuroscientist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Some of the consequences of lost sleep are immediate, obvious and unpleasant, such as a toddler’s crabbiness after missing a nap. Older children and adults get irritable when tired, too. Sleepy students don’t learn or perform as well as their well-rested peers. And nodding off at work probably won’t help anyone get a promotion. Other penalties for staying up too late can be far more serious, even deadly. Studies have linked chronic sleep loss to obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and shorter lives (SN: 2/8/03, p. 85) in people and laboratory animals. And now, a new study links sleep loss in mice to Alzheimer’s disease plaques (SN: 10/24/09, p. 11). And some evidence suggests that stinting on sleep night after night may cause long-term — maybe even permanent — changes in the brain, some of which may predispose people to mental disorders such as depression. Just one night of short sleep has been shown to increase levels of inflammatory chemicals in the blood (SN: 10/11/08,p. 14) and increase hunger-promoting hormones. A week of getting just two hours less sleep per night than usual changed the way people in one study responded to glucose, mirroring a change seen in people who develop diabetes. And lack of sleep can also have immediate injurious or fatal consequences: The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates that drowsy-driving crashes result in about 40,000 nonfatal injuries and 1,550 deaths each year, probably a conservative estimate. Now, scientists are trying to understand not only how sleep deprivation affects driving performance, but also why one sleepy person might drive fine while another becomes a road menace. Too tired to function Nodding off behind the wheel is a common occurrence in David Dinges’ lab at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Dinges and his colleagues limit volunteers’ time in bed to four hours a night for five nights, then let the volunteers sleep up to 10 hours for two days. The aim of the experiments is to learn more about how the brain responds to the kind of chronic sleep deprivation people experience in real life, and to find out how much sleep is needed to repay the debt.
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