| December 24, 2002 |
| Scientists catch
their first elusive dark gamma-ray burst: For the first
time, scientists - racing the clock - have snapped a photo of an unusual
type of gamma-ray-burst event one minute after the explosion. |
| World Trade Center
dust analysis offers good news for New Yorkers: The rubble
has been cleared from the World Trade Center site, but questions still
loom about the long-term health effects on people who survived the
terrorist attacks. A new study of dust samples taken from around Manhattan
in the days following Sept. 11, 2001, could offer some much-needed
good news. |
| Scientists devise
tiny liquid crystal devices for telecommunications: Scientists
have built tiny liquid crystal devices on the tips of optical fibers
- the plastic or glass cables used to carry high-speed signals from
television, computer, telephone and radar - to correct signal distortions
in high-speed optical communications. |
| Dryden Flight Research
Center - A Year of Discovery: During 2002, the NASA Dryden
Flight Research Center helped pave the invisible highway for remotely
piloted aircraft to safely operate in the national airspace shared
with piloted planes, advanced the technology of clean fuel cell systems
that could have wide terrestrial as well as aerial uses, and developed
a better way for industry and government to keep tabs on hazardous
materials for safe storage and disposal. |
| NASA's year of
challenges, changes and accomplishments: NASA completed
a monumental and comprehensive shift in management philosophy and structure
during a busy and exciting year. |
| Seven foot living
dinosaur lurks in Oregon: What's seven feet long, 250
million years old, and currently lurking in the depths of Oregon's
Rogue River? |
December 23, 2002 |
| NASA tests future
of flight vehicle concepts: A hybrid rocket carrying futuristic
space vehicle concepts completed its first flight Dec. 18 from the
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops
Island, Va. Launched at 6:15 a.m. EST, the rocket's bright plume was
seen more than 200 miles away in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. |
| Challenging year
ahead for International Space Station: The coming year
will be the most challenging ever for construction of the International
Space Station. Already more than two-thirds of the way through the
assembly of its core structure, international crews face a full and
busy construction schedule. |
| Which Ringed Planet...!?: VLT
obtains unusual view of well-known solar system object. |
| Kennedy Space Center
reflects on 2002, prepares for 2003: As 2002 draws to
a close, NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is in an ongoing celebration
of its 40th year as America's premier gateway to the stars. Designated
the Launch Operations Center on July 1, 1962, the year saw the accomplishment
of ten successful launches in addition to the unveiling of a new Master
Plan for the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. |
| International Space
Station Status Report #54: After almost a month on the
International Space Station, crewmembers were literally bouncing off
the walls of the orbiting laboratory on Monday. They wound up the week
with extensive and successful robotic arm operations on Thursday and
on Friday worked with setup of the High Rate Communications Outage
Recorder (HCOR). |
December 20, 2002 |
| Archaeological
dig resumes in Egypt -- and online: Armchair archaeologists
can witness a dig at an ancient Egyptian temple from the comfort of
their home computers. |
| Diamonds found to
contain evidense of ancient atmosphere: A team of scientists
from the University of Maryland and the University of California campuses
at San Diego and Los Angeles has discovered that diamonds can be natural
time capsules, preserving information about the cycling of sulfur between
the Earth's crust, atmosphere, and mantle some three billion years
ago. |
| Kyoto agreement will
have little effect on global warming: Life expectancy
and prosperity will continue to rise and food production should keep
up with population growth, but the Kyoto agreement will have little
effect on global warming. |
| International Space
Station Expedition Five Science Operations Status Report: The
Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG) experiment got off to a successful start
this week aboard the International Space Station. |
| No evidence for
the existence of the Mummy's curse: There is no evidence
for the existence of the mummy’s curse, reputedly associated
with the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt, between February
1923 and November 1926. |
December 19, 2002 |
| A drop of ocean
water tells a story: Scientists are still learning what's
in a drop of ocean water, according to this week's Nature Magazine.
And the answers have implications for the whole planet, says co-author
Craig Carlson, an oceanographer at the University of California, Santa
Barbara. |
| Young star cluster
found aglow with mysterious cloud: Astronomers using NASA's
Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered a mysterious cloud of high-energy
electrons enveloping a young cluster of stars. The extremely high-energy
particles could cause dramatic changes in the chemistry of the disks
that will eventually form planets around stars in the cluster. |
| Stem cells put to
the test, findings may provide clues to therapeutic potential: More
than 3,000 scientific reports are being presented at the American Society
of Cell Biology's annual meeting, Dec. 13-18, and one is a landmark
study demonstrating - for the first time - that genetically altered
adult liver stem cells cloned from a male rat can turn into functional
adult bone marrow cells in female mice. |
| NASA testing K9 rover
in new Marscape for future missions: NASA scientists and
engineers are testing new technologies using a K9 rover in a newly
built Marscape test facility in preparation for future missions to
Mars. |
December 18, 2002 |
| Discovery of giant
X-ray disk sheds light on elliptical galaxies: Astronomers
have discovered the largest disk of hot, X-ray emitting gas ever observed
in the universe: At 90,000 light years in diameter, it's about 100,000
times the size of any comparable object. |
| Galileo Millennium
Mission Status: NASA's Galileo spacecraft has begun transmitting
high-priority scientific information that was collected and stored
on its tape recorder during the orbiter's early-November dash by Jupiter,
which brought it closer to the planet than ever before. |
| Integral's first
look at the gamma-ray Universe: ESA's gamma-ray satellite,
Integral, is fully operational. Today Integral's first ground-breaking
images of the high-energy Universe were presented in Paris, France.
Astronomers call such initial observations 'first-light' images. |
| Creepy crawlers
may unravel web of planetary mysteries: Researchers at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., created a
micro robot reminiscent of the childhood character Charlotte from Charlotte's
Web. Dubbed spider-bot for its spider-like appearance, this itsy-bitsy,
high-tech critter may one day chart the terrain on other planets and
explore smaller bodies, such as comets, asteroids or the Moon. |
| Researchers find
possible precursors to early life on earth in meteorite: (Corrected) In
a study published today in the "International Journal of Astrobiology",
researchers state that a meteorite that fell to Earth over northwestern
Canada in January 2000 contains a previously unseen type of primitive
organic material that was formed long before our own solar system came
into being. |
| NASA Marshall Center's
Chandra X-Ray Observatory reveals pileup on cosmic speedway: (Corrected) Lobes
of unexpectedly hot gas speeding away from a black hole in our galaxy
have been discovered by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The high
temperature and the distance of the lobes from the black hole indicate
that violent collisions are occurring between clumps of gas expelled
from the vicinity of the black hole. |
December 17, 2002 |
| Microorganism isolated
in space: How far up into the sky does the biosphere extend?
Do microorganisms exist at heights of 40 km and in what quantity? To
answer these questions several research institutes in India collaborated
on a path-breaking project to send balloon-borne sterile cryosamplers
into the stratosphere. |
| Intelligent flight
control mission resume: Researchers at NASA's Dryden Flight
Research Center, Edwards, Calif., and Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif., have begun a series of validation flights for a revolutionary
flight control system that could enable future aircraft suffering major
system failures or combat damage to be flown to a safe, controlled
landing. |
| Smart polymers provide
light-activated switch to turn enzymes on and off: Researchers
at the University of Washington have applied research in how proteins
bind with different molecules to create a molecular switch that enables
them to turn an enzyme on and off. The innovation holds promise for
a wide range of laboratory processes, including highly targeted drug
therapies. |
| Innovative instrument
on board MSG-1 delivers key information about the Earth's climate: The
GERB instrument onboard the MSG-1 (Meteosat Second Generation) satellite
took its first measurements on Thursday 12 December. The results of
such measurements are pictured in images that identify the likely areas
where there is a net gain or loss of energy in the Earth's climate
system. |
| Without water, the
body will shut down its need to ingest food: A new study
identifies sensors in the gastrointestinal tract that signals the body
that food ingestion is no longer required. |
December 16, 2002 |
| Transforming Ebola
virus from killer to healer: By redesigning the shell
of Ebola, Purdue University researchers have transformed the feared
virus into a benevolent workhorse for gene therapy – and as one
of the first gene bearers that can be inhaled rather than injected,
it might prove valuable in the fight against lung disease. |
| Technologies on the
road to Mars: The hatch to the airlock opens, revealing
a human figure encased in a white pressure suit. After a brief glance
at the strange surroundings through his bowl-shaped visor, the ambassador
from Earth gingerly steps outside and begins to descend the ladder. |
| International Space
Station Status Report #53: Nearing the end of their third
week on orbit, the crewmembers of the sixth expedition to the International
Space Station have dug in to the agenda of scientific research laid
out for their four-month tour of duty. |
| Neural stem cells
carry cancer-fighting protein to track and destroy brain tumor cells: Researchers
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute
in Los Angeles have combined a special protein that targets cancer
cells with neural stem cells (NSC) to track and attack malignant brain
tumor cells. |
| International Space
Station Expedition Five Science Operations Status Report: The
Space Station crew this week began preparations for the first Zeolite
Crystal Growth (ZCG) experiments of Expedition Six. |
December 13, 2002 |
| Researchers developing
new arsenal in war against cancer: In the battle against
cancer, Virginia Tech researchers have developed a potential warhead
to better kill cancer cells, a new missile to deliver the warhead more
efficiently to the diseased areas, and a new detonation device once
the warhead is in place. |
| Scientists use south
pole telescope to produce the most detailed images of the early universe: Using
a powerful new instrument at the South Pole, a team of cosmologists
has produced the most detailed images of the early Universe ever recorded. |
| Cheaper, faster
method for removing arsenic from water: Arsenic in drinking
water is a problem just about anywhere in the world, particularly in
developing parts of Asia. In an effort to ensure safer drinking water
worldwide, researchers at the UW-Madison have developed an adsorbent
that can remove arsenic from water faster and more cheaply than current
methods. |
| Observing proteins
and cells in the wild: Imagine if molecular and cell biologists
could watch proteins and cells at work in their natural habitat in
the same way that wildlife biologists observe animals in the wild.
Quantum Dots may allow researchers to track proteins and cells in their
natural environments. |
| Arianespace releases
initial information on Flight 157: During a press conference
today in Kourou, French Guiana, Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall provided
initial information on the failure of Flight 157. He also announced
the establishment of an independent inquiry board. |
| Too much grape juice
could cause iron deficiency: The same antioxidant compounds
in dark grape juice that are noted for their health benefits in fighting
heart disease may have a downside, according to new research in the
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. In cell studies, scientists
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Cornell University found
that polyphenols in purple (also called red) grape juice can inhibit
the uptake of iron, which could increase the risk of iron-deficiency
anemia. |
December 12, 2002 |
| Researchers find
possible precursors to early life on earth in meteorite: (Corrected) In
a study published today in the "International Journal of Astrobiology",
researchers state that a meteorite that fell to Earth over northwestern
Canada in January 2000 contains a previously unseen type of primitive
organic material that was formed long before our own solar system came
into being. |
| NASA Marshall Center's
Chandra X-Ray Observatory reveals pileup on cosmic speedway: (Corrected) Lobes
of unexpectedly hot gas speeding away from a black hole in our galaxy
have been discovered by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The high
temperature and the distance of the lobes from the black hole indicate
that violent collisions are occurring between clumps of gas expelled
from the vicinity of the black hole. |
| Researchers find
genetic link to bulimia nervosa: A team of researchers
at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center have linked an area of chromosome 10p to families with
a history of bulimia nervosa, providing strong evidence that genes
play a determining role in who is susceptible to developing the eating
disorder. |
| Forest stress linked
to climate phenomenon: Forest dieback in the northeastern
United States and neighboring areas in Canada has been more frequent,
more persistent, and more severe during recent decades, research has
shown. Now scientists have found springtime temperature swings have
intensified in that region during the same period. |
| New design process
for future spacecraft: Engineers at NASA Ames Research
Center in California's Silicon Valley, in collaboration with astronauts
from NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, are using the Virtual Flight
Rapid Integration Test Environment (VF-RITE) to develop and evaluate
vehicle designs that may eventually ferry astronauts to and from the
International Space Station. |
December 11, 2002 |
| Circuit points to
future of nanoscale electronics: Using clusters of gold
atoms and a microscopic lever, University of Toronto chemists have
created a tiny circuit critical to the future of electronic engineering. |
| Deepest Infrared
View of the Universe: An international team of astronomers
has made the deepest-ever near-infrared image of the sky with the ISAAC
instrument on the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope. They reveal extremely distant
galaxies, which appear at infrared wavelengths, but are barely detected
in the deepest optical Hubble images. |
| Tree-ring study reveals
long history of El Ni“o: El Niño is not a new weather
phenomenon, according to a recent NASA study that looks 750 years into
the past using tree-ring records. |
| Twin Rovers plan
Martian ramble: NASA's Mars Rover science team will preview
mission goals and potential landing sites at a special session of the
American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. NASA's unique
twin Mars Exploration Rovers will head for the mysterious Red Planet
in just over one year. |
December 10, 2002 |
| Identification
of genes causing defects in vitamin B12 metabolism: Investigators
have identified genes that underlie two severe diseases of vitamin
B12 metabolism. The two diseases, known as the cblA and cblB forms
of methylmalonic aciduria, may produce brain damage, mental retardation
and even death if not detected in infancy or early childhood. |
| More Sun-like stars
may have planetary systems than currently thought: If
David Weintraub and Jeff Bary are right, there may be a lot more planets
circling stars like the Sun than current models of star and planet
formation predict. |
| GENESIS' first year
a success: As scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory
begin analysis of first-year data from the solar wind probe GENESIS
they have determined the spacecraft is working so well that they are
considering possibilities for research beyond the planned 2004 mission
completion date. |
| Featherweight Jupiter
moon is likely a jumble of pieces: NASA's Galileo spacecraft
continues to deliver surprises. Galileo's seven-year run continued
with the discovery that Jupiter's potato-shaped inner moon, named Amalthea,
appears to have a very low density, indicating it is full of holes. |
| Bacterium that may
cause cancer is identified: University of Sheffield scientist
has isolated a bacterium that may cause cancers in those with a genetic
pre-disposition to the disease. |
| NASA's revealing
Odyssey: The latest observations from NASA's Mars Odyssey
spacecraft, highlighting water ice distribution and infrared images
of the Red Planet's surface, are being released this week at the annual
meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. |
December 9, 2002 |
| Mass extinction
may be unavoidable: Worldwide efforts to protect plant
and animal species may not be enough to avoid a mass extinction in
the face of unexpected climate changes and global warming, says a University
of Arizona geoscientist. |
| Sun is ok, says latest
neutrino experiment: The sun is healthy and strong, but
physicists will have to change some of the basic assumptions they have
made about how the universe works. |
| NASA devising method
to remotely monitor ocean evironment: Low-flying airplanes
could scan seas to efficiently determine coral reef health, according
to a NASA scientist who will discuss her research Dec. 8 during the
fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. |
| Will global change
temper El Nino's tantrums?: The broad-scale warming expected
from increased greenhouse gases may actually sap the strength of a
typical El Nino, according to researchers at the National Center for
Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. In contrast, the
average El Nino during the last ice age may have packed more punch
than today's. |
| NASA selects four
Mars scout mission concepts for study: In the first step
of a two-step process, NASA selected four proposals for detailed study
as candidates for the 2007 Scout mission in the agency's Mars Exploration
Program. |
| Scientists discover
gene signature for tumor's tendency to spread: Researchers
at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Whitehead Institute have discovered
a pattern of genetic activity in several types of primary tumors that
appears to predict the likelihood that they will spread, or metastasize,
to other parts of the body. |
| Current
Shuttle Mission - Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-113 Status Report: Endeavour
descended to a flawless landing at the Kennedy Space Center Saturday
afternoon, ending four days of landing attempts thwarted by bad weather
and returning home an International Space Station crew that spent 185
days in space. |
December 6, 2002
|
| New theory unravels
magnetic instability: Reconnection, the merging of magnetic
field lines of opposite polarity near the surface of the sun, Earth
and some black holes, is believed to be the root cause of many spectacular
astronomical events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections,
but the reason for this is not well understood. |
| Global pollution
hot spots identified: Researchers at the National Center
for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and other institutions have pinpointed
the locations of high concentrations of air pollutants around the world
by combining data from four satellite imaging systems. |
| Scientists find earliest
'New World' writings in Mexico: Scientists have uncovered
evidence of what is believed to be the earliest form of writing ever
found in the New World. The discovery was based on glyphs carved on
a cylindrical seal used to make imprints, and on greenstone plaque
fragments found near La Venta in Tabasco, Mexico in the Gulf Coast
region. The writings were produced during the Olmec era, a pre-Mayan
civilization, and are estimated to date from 650 B.C. |
| Final major Space
Station segments head to launch site: The final pieces
of what will become the longest structure in space, the International
Space Station's football-field-long backbone, are being shipped to
Florida next week. |
| A first experiment
with the new Free-Electron Laser: An international group
of scientists has published first experiments carried out using the
new soft X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) at the research center DESY.
Using small clusters of noble gas atoms, for the first time, researchers
studied the interaction of matter with intense X-ray radiation from
an FEL on extremely short time scales. |
December 5, 2002
|
| Scientists say ancient
asteroids, comets may have caused Mars rain: Scientists
from NASA and the University of Colorado suggest the bombardment of
comets and asteroids on early Mars caused cycles of rain that led to
global flooding and the formation of Mars' river valleys and other
water-sculpted landscapes. |
| Building blocks of
the future - structure and properties of carbon nanostructures: The
discovery in 1985 of fullerenes, tiny carbon balls of nanometer dimensions,
ushered in a new era in international science. Only a few years later
(1991) scientific interest also started to focus on so-called carbon
nanotubes. |
| Advanced communications
satellite soars into night sky: NASA's third Tracking
and Data Relay Satellite-J, TDRS-J, lifted off from Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, Fla. at 9:42 p.m. EST aboard an Atlas IIA rocket. |
| International Space
Station Expedition Five Science Operations Status Report: Elements
of the Microgravity Science Glovebox were packed aboard Space Shuttle
Endeavour for return to Earth for repairs this week after extensive
troubleshooting efforts by the crew of the International Space Station. |
December 4, 2002 |
| Revolutionary new
theory for origins of life on Earth: A totally new and
highly controversial theory on the origin of life on earth, is set
to cause a storm in the science world and has implications for the
existence of life on other planets. |
| Extremely large astronomical
telescopes a step closer: On 13th December, at a meeting
hosted by the Royal Astronomical Society in London, astronomers will
discuss the latest progress towards building telescopes of a phenomenal
size so they can explore the universe to a level of detail previous
generations of astronomers would never have dreamt possible. |
| Global analysis finds
nearly half the Earth is still wilderness: According to
the most comprehensive global analysis ever conducted, wilderness areas
still cover close to half the Earth's land, but contain only a tiny
percentage of the world's population. |
| Climate change will
affect carbon sequestration in oceans: The direct injection
of unwanted carbon dioxide deep into the ocean is one suggested strategy
to help control rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and mitigate
the effects of global warming. |
December 3, 2002 |
| Jupiter-like planets
formed in hundreds - not millions - of years, study shows: An
accepted assumption in astrophysics holds that it takes more than 1
million years for gas giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn to form
from the cosmic debris circling a young star. But new research suggests
such planets form in a dramatically shorter period, as little as a
few hundred years. |
| Satellite images
predict hantaviral transmission risk: Researchers report
that satellite imagery could be used to determine areas at high-risk
for exposure to Sin Nombre virus (SNV), a rodent-born disease that
causes the often fatal hantaviral pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in humans. |
| Fractals add new
dimension to study of tiny electronics: When it comes
to miniature electronics, scientists have seen the shape of things
to come -- and that shape is a fractal. |
December 2, 2002 |
| The discovery of the
Sirente Crater Field - first impact crater found in Italy: The
first crater due to a meteoritic impact has been discovered in Italy.
The crater lies in a high mountain plain of Abruzzo, a region in the
central part of the Italian peninsula. The Sirente crater is well preserved
and it will provide a rare and valuable example of an impact into a
soft target. |
| No shortage of mysteries
on Venus: What kind of mysteries and scientific intrigue
await the European Space Agency's Venus Express once it has left Earth
for its nearest planetary neighbour in 2005? A closer inspection promises
to reveal a planet that is hugely different from our own despite a
few similarities. |
| The arctic perennial
sea ice could be gone by end of the century: A NASA study
finds that perennial sea ice in the Arctic is melting faster than previously
thought--at a rate of 9 percent per decade. If these melting rates
continue for a few more decades, the perennial sea ice will likely
disappear entirely within this century. |
| Ready to dig the
dirt on Mars: The University of Leicester has successfully
completed construction and test of the flight Model PAW, the ''eyes
and hand'' of the Beagle 2 Mars lander. |
| Advanced communication
satellite to speed up space-based data: NASA is ready
to launch the third advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, named
TDRS-J, which will have the ability to transfer data 5,000 times faster
than a computer's 56K modem, transmit near real-time audio and high-resolution
digital video from Earth-orbiting spacecraft and provide tracking services
for expendable launch vehicles. |
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