Outburst of V838 Mon

A beautiful galactic outburst! For some unkonown reasons, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. V838 Mon lies about 20,000 light years away toward the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros). Then, just as suddenly, it faded. What caused this outburst of V838 Mon?

A stellar flash like this has never been seen before -- supernovas and novas expel matter out into space. Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash. In a light echo, light from the flash is reflected by successively more distant rings in the complex array of ambient interstellar dust that already surrounded the star. The light echo above spans about six light years in diameter. NASA

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Underwater Olympics in China!

Want to try some of your sports skills? What about trying it underwater? A Chinese aquarium is staging an unique underwater olympics, to mark the Chinese New Year. The event, at Underwater World in Qingdao city, will feature sports including fencing, shooting, cycling and gymnastics, reports Qingdao Morning Post.

According to the organisers, all of the competitors will all be qualified divers and the sports have been adapted to take account of the 'conditions'. Underwater World says the games will last almost two weeks, till the end of the Chinese Spring Festival, around February 12.

For the fencing contest, participants will fight while blanced on a steel cable with the one falling off first being declared the loser. And for the shooting, competitors will use specially made harpoon-style guns to pop balloons fastened to a board.

"All the participants are professional divers. We want to promote Qingdao city as the host of the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics," said a spokesman for the aquarium.

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Singing Ringing Tree Sculpture

Take a look at the picture above. This is 'Singing Ringing Tree', a unique musical sculpture, situated at a high point in the town of Burnley, East Lancashire. Constructed from pipes of galvanised steel, the sculpture takes the form of a tree. When wind blows, it produces a low, tuneful song. That's why it is named as the "Singing Ringing Tree". Watch the video on 'Singing Ringing Tree'.

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Failed record attempt by Croatian Smurfs

A total of 395 Croatian people painted themselves blue and put on silly hats to beat a World Record for the most Smurfs in one place. But, it was too late for them! When they contacted Guinness officials to register their world record, they were told "sorry - too late". They had been beaten by an English group in Warwick.

A spokesman for the event organisers said: "We read on the internet that the record was 290 people held by a group of Americans, and decided to beat it, and we had TV, radio and print media report our success."

The current record for most Smurfs in one place, according to Guinness World Records, is 451 people set by Warwick University Students' Union last year.

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Messenger captures stunning images of Mercury

The pictures of planet Mercury sent by NASA's Messenger spacecraft surprised scientists. Why? Because these pictures revealed some of the most stunning geological formation on Mercury. Messenger spacecraft sped past Mercury on January 14 and sent back those pictures.

Researchers are amazed by the wealth of images and data that show a unique world in planet Mercury, with a diversity of geological processes and a very different magnetosphere from the one discovered and sampled more than 30 years ago.

The pictures shows a central depression with more than 100 narrow troughs radiating out from it. Researchers named it as "The Spider". Scientists were also surprised by evidence of ancient volcanoes on many parts of the planet's surface. These volcanoes are different, compared to those on Moon.

The cameras and other sophisticated, high-technology instruments on Messenger, collected more than 1,200 images and made other science observations. Data included the first up-close measurements of Mercury since the Mariner 10 spacecraft's third and final flyby on March. Link

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Concept Car : Cadillac Provoq

Is the new Cadillac Provoq concept a hint at the styling of an SRX replacement? Is it a preview of a future compact car-based SUV to compete with the BMW X3, Audi Q5 and the recently unveiled Mercedes-Benz GLK? Unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, the Cadillac Provoq houses the latest generation of GM's fuel cell technology. Watch the video.

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The Blind Wildlife Photographer

Alison Bartlett is a highly-acclaimed wildlife photographer, even though she is completely blind. We know that it is strange to hear! Take a look at the photograph, taken by Alison. The 51-year-old "sees" with her ears and listens out for the rustling in trees and grass to snap wildlife. Now her animal pictures will be exhibited in a New Milton exhibition, next month.

Alison was a horse riding instructor. She began to lose her sight in 1979 due to diabetes and it went completely in 1992. But she retained her passion for photography and wildlife. Alison is also helped out by a friend who accompanies her on shoots and points her towards the creatures using clock directions, such as "bird at two o'clock".


She has developed such an acute sense of hearing and can pick up the sound of a bird's wings flapping or a squirrel nibbling before homing in on them with her camera. Link

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Man arrested for selling historic items on eBay

A New York state employee who had access to US government-owned archives has been arrested on suspicion of stealing hundreds of historic documents and selling many of them on eBay. Daniel Lorello, 54, of Rensselaer, New York, was charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property and fraud.

Lorello pleaded innocent in Albany City Court on Monday. But, previously he had admitted in a written statement to stealing documents and artifacts since 2002. The attorney general's office released a copy of his statement.

Among the missing documents were an 1823 letter by U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun and copies of the Davy Crockett Almanacs, pamphlets written by the frontiersman who died at the Alamo in Texas. He was found out by an alert history buff who saw the items posted on the online auction site and alerted authorities, the state attorney general's office said in a statement.

In 2007 alone, Lorello stated he took 300 to 400 items, including the four-page Calhoun letter, which drew bids of more than $1,700 while investigators were monitoring the sale.

Officials recovered some 400 items from his upstate New York home, which Lorello estimated was 90 percent of everything he had taken, but they have yet to determine how many items were sold online. Link

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Eclipse of the Sun by Jupiter

Take a look at the picture above. It is an eclipse of the Sun by Jupiter, as viewed from Galileo spacecraft. Small dust particles high in Jupiter's atmosphere, as well as the dust particles that compose the rings, can be seen by reflected sunlight.

Ever wonder why does planet Jupiter have rings? Jupiter's rings were discovered in 1979 by the passing Voyager 1 spacecraft, but their origin was a mystery. Data from the Galileo spacecraft that orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003 later confirmed that these rings were created by meteoroid impacts on small nearby moons. As a small meteoroid strikes tiny Adrastea, for example, it will bore into the moon, vaporize, and explode dirt and dust off into a Jovian orbit. NASA

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Spy satellite to hit the Earth

A big US spy satellite has gone out of control and is expected to hit Earth some time in late February or March. The satellite weighs about 20,000 pounds (9,072kg) and is the size of a small bus. The satellite contains the rocket fuel hydrazine, a colourless liquid with an ammonia-like odour. It is a toxic chemical and can cause harm to anyone who comes in contact with it.

The White House said that it was monitoring the situation. Spy satellites typically are disposed of through a controlled re-entry into the ocean so that no one else can access the spacecraft. But , this satellite had lost power and propulsion. So it is a big question, how US will handle this!

"We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause," said Gordon Johndroe, who speaks for the US National Security Council. Link

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