Large Hadron Collider Stopped until 2009

The World's Biggest Physics experiment will be on hold until April next year. Officials at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced this on Tuesday, after unexpected helium leak into sector 3-4 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) because of a faulty electrical connection.

Now experts will inspect the sector by bringing it to room temperature and opening up the magnets. This will take about three to four weeks. Then, CERN’s obligatory winter maintenance period will force it to restart in early spring of 2009. Till, then no show in LHC!

Earlier this month CERN had successful tested the LHC by sending a beam of protons clockwise through a 17 mile ring making up the system. The next steps in the experiment were to send the proton beam counter-clockwise through the LHC, and then eventually send beams in both directions having them collide in an attempt to study new forms of matter that could not be studied in any other existing machine.

read more “Large Hadron Collider Stopped until 2009”

Chandrayaan-1 : India's First Moon Mission

On Thursday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) unveiled India’s first mission to the Moon Chandrayaan-1. The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared(NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions.


The Chandrayaan-1 is a 590-kg spacecraft and it will be launched by a India's own Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The spacecraft will carry 11 scientific payloads from six different countries - India, UK, USA, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria. The launch window is between October 19 and October 28. And according to some news sources October 19 is the probable date of liftoff.

During it's two year mission, Chandrayaan-1 will send back digital elevation maps of the moon and will try to find the traces of atomic elements such as radon, uranium and thorium in the surface of Moon. It will also look into the possibility of finding water on the moon with the help of pictures taken from high resolution cameras.

read more “Chandrayaan-1 : India's First Moon Mission”

NASA announces MAVEN Mission

NASA has announced it's next Mars mission as a part of the Mars Scout Program. Out of 20 mission investigation proposals, NASA has selected the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, which will provide information about the Mars' atmosphere, climate history and potential habitability in more detail than ever before.

The MAVEN mission will cost $485 million and is scheduled for launch in late 2013. The spacecraft will arrive at the red planet in the fall of 2014, when will use it's propulsion system to enter an elliptical orbit ranging 90 to 3,870 miles above the planet. MAVEN will carry eight scientific instruments that will perform various tests and measurements during a full Earth year mission. The spacecraft is also expected to collect samples of Mars' upper atmosphere by going down to an altitude of 80 miles above the surface of the planet.

"This mission will provide the first direct measurements ever taken to address key scientific questions about Mars' evolution," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA

read more “NASA announces MAVEN Mission”

Water Bears : First Animal to Survive in Space

The findings of a new study published in a US science journal says that tardigrades or water bears can survive in space. It was for the first time, an animal has been tested for survival in space without any protection. And the water bears proved that they are the toughest animals on the planet by becoming the first animals to survive in space, without protection. The study was supported by the European Space Agency, was headed by Dr Ingemar Jonsson, of the University of Kristianstad, Sweden.

Tardigrades or water bears are very small eight-legged invertebrate creatures that are commonly found on wet lichens and moss. They are just 0.1 to 1.5 mm long and exists in nearly all ecosystems of the world. They are resistant to drying out, heat, cold and radiation, and can be brought back to life after years of dryness.

One year ago, about 3000 water bears were dried and taken into space to test if they could handle the cosmic rays, a near vacuum and freezing cold of the space. They were kept in a chamber of the FOTON-M3 spacecraft as it orbited 270km above the Earth 270km. And after 10 days, scientists found that some of them survived. They even survived the exposure to extreme solar UV radiation that is more than 1,000 times higher than UV radiation on the Earth's surface.

read more “Water Bears : First Animal to Survive in Space”

Armoured Mistfrog discovered in Australia

Take a look at the frog in the picture above. It is a Armoured Mistfrog, a tiny frog species that had not been seen since 1991 and thought to have been wiped out by a fungus. But, this July, a doctoral student at James Cook University in Townsville came across several Armoured Mistfrogs in a Queensland creek.

The student was actually conducting research on another frog species in Queensland and the rediscovery of Armoured Mistfrogs was unexpected. DNA tests of the tissue samples from the frogs confirmed that they were elusive Armoured Mistfrogs.

The 1.5 inch-long, light brown frogs, with dark brown spots, congregate in areas with fast-flowing water. Earlier, chytrid fungus was blamed for decimating frog populations worldwide. Now, professor Ross Alford, head of a research team on threatened frogs at the James Cook University and his team plans to study the creatures to try and determine how the Armoured Mistfrogs managed to coexist with the fungus.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/

read more “Armoured Mistfrog discovered in Australia”

Large Hadron Collider's First Test

On Wednesday the World's Largest Particle Collider successfully completed its first major test, by firing a beam of protons all the way around the 27 kilometer long tunnel at the Swiss-French border. This test will help scientists in understating the origins and evolution of the universe.

The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN1 was successfully steered around the full 27 km of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator at 10h28 of 10th September, 2008. The collider was designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, at a rate of 11,000 times a second around the tunnel. This historic event marks a key moment in the transition from over two decades of preparation to a new era of scientific discovery.


CERN, French acronym for the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.

read more “Large Hadron Collider's First Test”

Chewing Gum reduces Stress and Helps Memory

Chewing gum are good for your memory and performance! This is not my view, but the results of a new study conducted in Australia. The results of the study reveals that chewing gum can reduce stress, anxiety and can even improve your memory. That's really a good news for chewing gum eaters.

The Australian study was led by Dr. Andrew Scholey, the professor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University in Melbourne and was presented on August 30, 2008, at the 10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine Rissho University in Tokyo. Dr. Andrew claimed that chewing gum can reduce anxiety and stress level, improve alertness and also enhance the concentration level for any individual while performing multitasking activities.

The researchers conducted the test on Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation (DISS), a multi-tasking platform that measures the stress and performance level while at continuously rising stress level during performing multitasking work on a group of 40 persons between the average age group of 22 years. They divided the group of people into two parts - chewing gum eaters and non-chewing gum eaters and performed the tests. After end of the test, the researchers observed that the chewing gum eaters showed a reduction in anxiety at 17% during mild stress and 10% during moderate stress, and measured 19% greater alertness during mild stress and 8% during moderate stress in as compared to non-gum chewers.

The best thing that had been observed from this study is the noticeable enhancement in overall performance on multitasking activities. So, next time when you are busy in some work, don't forget to chew some gum!

read more “Chewing Gum reduces Stress and Helps Memory”

New Insect Species discovered on eBay

A scientist in UK has discovered a new species of insect on eBay! How? Dr Richard Harrington of UK's Royal Entomological Society spotted a sample of fossilised insect encased in amber on eBay. Out of curiosity he ordered it by paying £20 to the Lithuanian seller and found that the fossilised insect is actually a long, extinct and previously unknown species of aphid.

The 3-4 mm long insect is encased in a 40-50 million year old piece of amber, about the size of a small pill. For proper identification, Dr Harrington sent it to fossil aphid expert Professor Ole Heie in Denmark. Heie confirmed that it was from a previously unknown species and named it Mindarus harringtoni after the name of Dr Harrington.

read more “New Insect Species discovered on eBay”

Mystery of Northern Lights Solved?

Scientists at NASA have uncovered the mystery behind the spectacular northern lights or aurora borealis. It is the magnetic explosions about one-third of the way to the moon that powers geomagnetic storms and causes the northern lights. Five THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) satellites of NASA have uncovered this secret.

How the scientists confirmed this theory? The five small THEMIS satellites observed the beginning of a geomagnetic storm in February and the ground observatories in Canada and Alaska recorded the brightening of the northern lights. The storm was triggered by a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection at about 80,000 miles from Earth. The southern lights or aurora australis also brightened and darted across the sky at the same time.


What is magnetic reconnection? Earth's magnetic field lines are regularly stretched like rubber bands by the solar energy. But, suddenly these lines snaps and thrown back to Earth and it reconnects. This sudden change creates a short circuit and causes a burst of light and movement near the northern and southern poles. That's why we see the spectacular shapes and colors, that dances across the sky.

Scientists hopes that these findings will help in further research of the geomagnetic storms that can harm astronauts in orbit and disrupt power and communications on Earth. Well, want to see the northern lights? Take a look at this time lapse video of northern lights recorded in British Columbia, Canada..

read more “Mystery of Northern Lights Solved?”

Water found in Moon Samples

A group of researchers led by Brown University geologist Alberto Saal has discovered water inside ancient moon samples brought back to earth by astronauts of Apollo missions in 1960s and 1970s. The discovery strongly suggests that water has been a part of the Moon since its early existence. And this discovery could change the way we think about the past of moon.

The lunar water was found inside volcanic glass beads brought by Apollo astronauts. The glass beads range in color from green to yellow-brown to red and were formed from droplets of molten lava that spewed from fire fountains reaching down deep within the primitive lunar interior. Researchers found up to 46 ppm of water within the glass beads.

Then they used modeling to estimate how much water originally existed in the magma within the moon's interior and estimated that the glass beads may contain upto 745 ppm of water. This value is similar to solidified lava that came up from the Earth's upper mantle through undersea vents. What does it means? It means, either the moon got water from Earth during its violent creation, or else water gathered from elsewhere within 100 million years of the impact as the moon solidified. Only further research will clearify these assumtions.

read more “Water found in Moon Samples”

Phoenix Lander struggles for Mars Soil

On Monday, NASA scientists struggled to process the soil that the Phoenix Mars Lander scooped out from the surface of planet Mars. Last week the Phoenix's robotic arm scraped its first, cup-sized sample from the planet's surface. But ever since scientists have been unable to get any of the clotted soil through a screen into the Phoenix Lander's Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA). According to them, Martian dirt was too clumpy to sift into the spacecraft's laboratory.


NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is on a mission to search signs of water or signs of favorable conditions for life on Mars. This is an important mission for the humankind. So, the next step of NASA scientists would be to try again with a second scoop of soil, this time sprinkling a small amount onto the screen.

The Phoenix mission of NASA is led by Peter Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions for the mission come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. NASA

read more “Phoenix Lander struggles for Mars Soil”

Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) that lies under the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. It is 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) long and housed in a pipe-like structure 100 meters below ground. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things.


As part of the experiment, two beams of subatomic particles, called 'hadrons,' will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator, gaining energy with every lap. Physicists will use the LHC to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, by colliding the two beams head-on at very high energy.


Physicists will use the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), one of the two large detectors on the LHC, to investigate a wide range of physics, including the search for the elusive Higgs boson, extra dimensions, and particles that could make up dark matter. Winding the solenoid coil of the CMS took five years to complete. When it is fully operational, it will generate a magnetic field 100,000 times stronger than the one produced by the Earth.


The LHC is in the final stages of construction and commissioning, with some sections already being cooled down to their final operating temperature of approximately 2K. The first beams are due for injection on mid June 2008 and the first collisions is planned to take place 2 months later. The LHC will become the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. The LHC is being funded and built in collaboration with over 2000 physicists from 34 countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories. CERN

read more “Large Hadron Collider”

Climate change is altering the Earth

The climate change is altering the whole systems of Earth! A new study led by NASA, have found that climatic changes induced by humans have affected the the world with increasing temperature, at a much faster pace than previously thought. The climatic change affected both the flora & fauna and the physical environment of the world.

The study was based on a database of more than 29,000 data series coming from about 80 studies, with at least 20 years of records between 1970 and 2004. Scientists noticed that due to change in climate and global warming, there are many changes in biological systems such as leaves unfolding and flowers blooming at a faster pace, birds migrating earlier and plant and animal species moving towards the Earth's poles and higher altitudes.

In addition to global effects, the study also linked climate changes caused by humans with effects on individual continents like North America, Europe and Asia.

read more “Climate change is altering the Earth”

Youngest Supernova of Milky Way

Astronomers have discovered the most recent supernova in our Milky Way. A research paper published in the January 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters, reported this discovery. Named as G1.9+0.3, the supernova in the constellation Sagitarius is some 140 years old and was detected through radio and X-ray telescopes.

The original, dazzling explosion of this supernova was hidden from view by a dense field of gas and dust near the galaxy center. Based on the rate of expansion of the supernova remains, astronomers have found that it is about 200 years younger than Cassiopeia A, the last known Milky Way supernova that exploded around 1680.

Stephen Reynolds of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, who led the study, said the new supernova was first noticed by astronomers more than 20 years ago, when the original explosion was estimated to have happened 400-1,000 years ago. Its more recent origin became apparent, when images of the object taken in 2007 through NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory were compared with the 1985 images of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array.

Supernovae occur when stars run out of nuclear fuel and explode, providing crucial information about the universe's history. They heat and redistribute large amounts of gas, and pump heavy elements out into their surroundings and can trigger the formation of new stars as part of a cycle of stellar death and rebirth. Supernovae are estimated to happen about three times per century in the Milky Way. NASA

read more “Youngest Supernova of Milky Way”

Sahara desert formed slowly

A new research is based on deposits from a unique desert lake in remote northern Chad suggests that Sahara, the biggests desert in the World, gradually transformed into desert from a green savannah. This study contradicts past research that suggested the region dried up within a few hundred years.

Lake Yoa, sustained by prehistoric groundwater, has survived for millennia despite constant drought and searing heat. The body of water contains an unbroken climate record going back at least 6,000 years, said study lead author Stefan Kröpelin of the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Cologne in Germany. Ancient pollen, insects, algae, and other fossil clues preserved in the lake's sediments point to a gradual transformation to a desert environment.

The pollen samples revealed that the decrease in tropical trees accelerated after 4,800 years ago, while desert plants took root between 3,900 and 3,100 years ago. The study supports previous archaeological findings that human populations in the Sahara moved south over several millennia, following the monsoon rains.

read more “Sahara desert formed slowly”

Wave pattern or Oscillation in Saturn

After many years of research, scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in planet Saturn's atmosphere. This wave pattern is only visible from Earth every 15 years. The pattern ripples back and forth like a wave within Saturn's upper atmosphere. In this region, temperatures switch from one altitude to the next in a candy cane-like, striped, hot-cold pattern.

The new discovery of the wave pattern is the result of a 22-year campaign observing Saturn from Earth (the longest study of temperature outside Earth ever recorded), and the Cassini spacecraft's observations of temperature changes in the giant planet's atmosphere over time.

The Cassini infrared results indicates that Saturn's wave pattern is similar to a pattern found in Earth's upper atmosphere. The earthly oscillation takes about two years. A similar pattern on Jupiter takes more than four Earth years. The new Saturn findings add a common link to the three planets. NASA

read more “Wave pattern or Oscillation in Saturn”

Quicker way to make Antibodies

Researchers from Emory University School of Medicine and Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation have developed a new, faster way to create human monoclonal antibodies against infectious disease by tapping the immune system at the peak of its powers. They generated the antibodies against influenza virus.

To make human antibodies against influenza, the researchers isolated antibody-secreting cells (plasma cells) from volunteers' blood a week after vaccination and cloned the antibody genes from these antibody-secreting cells.

"This method could find broad application towards almost any infectious disease," says Rafi Ahmed, PhD, director of the Emory Vaccine Center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

For example, doctors could quickly generate human antibodies against a pandemic flu strain as a stop-gap therapy or to protect people from infection.

read more “Quicker way to make Antibodies”

Life Forming Gas found on Distant Planet

Scientists has discovered a possible 'Sign of Life' on a Distant Planet! Wait! It is not actually a sign of life, but methane, a carbon-containing compound that can play a key role in life formation.

The organic compound methane was found in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet known as HD 189733, borbiting a star some 63 light years away. Methane, made up of carbon and hydrogen, is the simplest possible organic compound and under certain circumstances, it can play a key role in the chemical reactions necessary to form life. This is for the first time a organic compound has been detected on a planet outside our Solar System.

Dr Giovanna Tinetti from University College, London, and co-authors Mark Swain and Gautam Vasisht, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, found the signature of methane in the planet's atmosphere using the Hubble Space Telescope. The researchers also confirmed a previous discovery - made by Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope - that the atmosphere of planet HD 189733b contains water vapour.

Scientists thinks that the discovery, unveiled in the journal Nature, is an important step towards exploring new worlds. In HD 189733b, temperatures reach 900 degrees C, about the melting point of silver. So, scientists says that the planet is far too hot to support life formation.

Dr Giovanna Tinetti said: "The methane here, although we can call it an organic constituent, is not produced by life - it is way too hot there for life." Link

read more “Life Forming Gas found on Distant Planet”

Japan's Space Lab Installed

On Friday, astronauts have successfully installed the Japanese lab on the International Space Station. The Japanese logistics module (JLP) is the first component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory that will be operating as part of the ISS. Now, marking the beginning of Japan's scientific work aboard the station, ISS Commander Peggy Whitson and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi opened the module at 9:23 pm Friday (0123 GMT Saturday) and began transferring supplies and equipment into the new laboratory from the space shuttle Endeavour.

Engineers have also restored power to a Canadian-made robot Dextre. Dextre is the third and final component of the Canadarm Remote Manipulator System, the robotic arm that is Canada's vital contribution to the International Space Station. As Dextre was delivered to the space station in nine separate pieces, the astronauts will now use three of the Endeavour mission's five spacewalks to get it up and running. Link

read more “Japan's Space Lab Installed”

Endeavour docked with ISS

On Wednesday, US space shuttle Endeavour is successfully docked with the International Space Station. Right after docking, Endeavour's astronauts got to work unloading the parts they will need to build a giant Canadian robot, named Dextre. On late Thursday night, astronaut Richard Linnehan and Garrett Reisman will begin assembling the Dextre, during the first space walk of Endeavour's 16-day mission.


Dextre is designed to assist spacewalking astronauts and to take over some of their dangerous outdoor work. It will be equipped with lights, video equipment, a tool platform and four tool holders.

In addition to the Dextre, Endeavour also delivered the first piece of Japan's new space station lab, Kibo. The storage compartment will be attached to the International Space Station on Friday. AP

read more “Endeavour docked with ISS”