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NASA Experts Claim Evidence of Life on Mars

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:33:33 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: The team has also been studying two other Martian meteorites — Nakhla, which landed in Egypt in 1911, and Yamato 593, which was found by a Japanese expedition to Antarctica. In research due to be published shortly, the scientists claim that both of these fossils also show evidence of microbial life.

Bill Clinton, then the US President, said of the research in 1997: “It speaks of the possibility of life. If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our Universe that science has ever uncovered. Its implications are as far-reaching and awe-inspiring as can be imagined.”

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Nasa scientists have produced the most compelling evidence yet that bacterial life exists on Mars.

It showed that microscopic worm-like structures found in a Martian meteorite that hit the Earth 13,000 years ago are almost certainly fossilised bacteria. The so-called bio-morphs are embedded beneath the surface layers of the rock, suggesting that they were already present when the meteorite arrived, rather than being the result of subsequent contamination by Earthly bacteria.

“This is very strong evidence of life on Mars,” said David Mackay, a senior scientist at the Nasa Johnson Space Centre , who was part of the team of scientists that originally investigated the meteorite when it was discovered in 1984.

The new analyses, the product of high resolution electron microscopy, make a strong case for the Allan Hills 84001 Meteorite having carried Martian life to Earth.

We feel vindicated

leading us back to our original position that these structures are formed by bacteria on Mars

Looking at Breasts Daily Prolongs Man's Life by 5 Years

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:14:47 GMT

clipped by: infidel70

Clip Source: www.wholefitness.com

According to German research published in New England Journal of Medicine, men staring at women's breasts in fact prolong their lives with years.

"Just 10 minutes of looking at the charms of a well-endowed females is equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics work-out," said author Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist.

The team led by Weatherby was made up of researchers at three hospitals in Frankfurt, Germany, and found this results after monitoring for 5 years the health of 200 male subjects, half of whom were asked to look at busty females daily, while the other half had to abstain from doing so.

For five years, the breasts oglers presented a lower blood pressure, slower resting pulse rates and decreased risk of coronary artery disease.

Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. There's no question: Gazing at large breasts makes men healthier

Well, men, look at breasts, then:

Pavlopetri, the world’s oldest known submerged town

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:01:27 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.noc.soton.ac.uk

The world’s oldest known submerged town has been revealed through the discovery of late Neolithic pottery. The finds were made during an archaeological survey of Pavlopetri, off the southern Laconia coast of Greece.

The underwater city was discovered in 1967 by Flemming

no further work has been done over the last 40 years. The site was so remote that its isolation protected it from human interference, while a submerged ridge of rock protected it from erosion.

Their initial findings, and especially the discovery of Neolithic ceramics, mean that the submerged city was occupied at least 5,000 years ago, 1,200 years earlier than previously believed,

And it is uniquely complete. We have almost the complete town plan, the main streets and all of the domestic buildings. We can study how it was used as a port, where ships came in and how trade was managed

Flemming is running the studies of sea-level change and tectonics at the site,

The total town area is about 100,000 square metres

One rung at a time

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:36:16 GMT

clipped by: Solar Child

Clip Source: spaceflightnow.com

Astronomers find organic molecules around gas planet

"It's the second planet outside our solar system in which water, methane and carbon dioxide have been found, which are potentially important for biological processes in habitable planets," said researcher Mark Swain of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Detecting organic compounds in two exoplanets now raises the possibility that it will become commonplace to find planets with molecules that may be tied to life."

"These objects are too far away to send probes to, so the only way we're ever going to learn anything about them is to point telescopes at them. Spectroscopy provides a powerful tool to determine their chemistry and dynamics."

Rocky worlds are expected to be found by NASA's Kepler mission, which launched earlier this year, but astronomers believe we are a decade or so away from being able to detect any chemical signs of life on such a body.

Tags: life, exoplanet, methane, water vapor, carbon dioxide, kepler, hubble

A new way to look at mental disorders

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:18:28 GMT

clipped by: Solar Child

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Timewarp: How your brain creates the fourth dimension

Metropolis @ Debut Art) " />

Understanding the brain's timekeeping mechanism could help understand symptoms of schizophrenia (Image: Metropolis @ Debut Art)

Perception is a sequence of 'on' and 'off' periods. We collect information through discrete snapshots

If you speed up someone's subjective time, they really do seem to be able to process more information

Delusions on demand

If poor time-processing really does underlie many psychotic delusions, it could point to a single culprit in the brain: the cerebellum. For decades, the cerebellum has been seen as a centre for timing the movement of muscles, but some neuroscientists now reckon that it might coordinate thoughts and the processing of sensory perceptions too.

By upsetting the brain's clock, you can recreate some of the delusions seen in schizophrenia

Life

Tags: time, brain, perception, mental health, douglas fox, newscientist

"The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" Turns 30 (And Astronomers Find '42' -the Answer to the Ultima

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:17:11 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Bit like a watch turning into an aeroplane. Very coincidental.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

It has now been thirty years since October 12, 1979 when The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novelization of a popular British radio series, first saw print. Douglas Adams, our icon of humorous geek literature, would write four sequels to it, and would, tragically die of a heart attack at the age of 49

But WTF, Douglas Adams really did nail it! Once again, art anticipates science: after pondering the weighty question of the mass of the Milky Way galaxy, astronomers have come up with an answer: 42! Our galaxy weighs three times 10 to the power of 42 kilograms - a number written as 3 followed by 42 zeroes

It seems esoteric but knowing the weight of the galaxy - the amount of matter it contains - is key to solving the nature of so-called dark matter. Unlike the "ordinary matter" of stars and planets, scientists have only hunches about the nature of the invisible material that, along with "dark energy", they estimate makes up 90-99 per cent of the universe.

Tags: space

Fungus feasted on mass extinction

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:28:07 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Monday, 5 October 2009 Michael Reilly
Discovery News

The world's worst mass extinction 250 million years ago was the trigger for a fungus explosion, according to a new study.

The finding puts to rest the idea that an asteroid impact may have had a hand in the massive destruction (Source: iStockphoto)

All across the supercontinent Pangea, what were once lush forests lay in ruins: the corpses of trees poking like matchsticks into the poisoned air.

In their place fungus ruled the land, feasting on defunct wood, spreading across the planet in an orgy of decay.

The finding, published in the journal Geology, offers evidence against an alternative theory that rampant algae fed off the dead forests and puts to rest an old idea that an asteroid impact may have had a hand in the massive destruction.

70% Desertification By 2025

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:44:23 GMT

clipped by: mcsmithblack
clipper's remarks: Mercy, mercy, mercy. We are talking about 16 years from now.
Time to wake up!

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

UN Warns of 70 Percent Desertification by 2025

BUENOS AIRES - Drought could parch close to 70 percent of the planet's soil by 2025 unless countries implement policies to slow desertification, a senior United Nations official has warned.

A partial view of the lenga's forest taken from the base of Perito Moreno glacier in 2008 in Patagonia, Argentina. Argentina has lost nearly 70 percent of its forests in a century, the Environmental Secretariat said at a UN conference on desertification. (AFP/File/Daniel Garcia)

Drought currently affects at least 41 percent of the planet and environmental degradation has caused it to spike by 15 to 25 percent since 1990, according to a global climate report.

"There will not be global security without food security" in dry regions, Gnacadja said at the start of the ninth UN conference on the convention in the Argentine capital.

"A green deal is necessary" for developing countries working to combat drought, he stressed.

Amazing Landscapes by Photographer Mike Shaw

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:22:57 GMT

clipped by: perellicippo

Clip Source: gallery.xemanhdep.com

Amazing Landscapes by Photographer Mike Shaw

It,s worth a though

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:39:27 GMT

clipped by: Solar Child

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Home |Environment |Life | In-Depth Articles

Post-human Earth: How the planet will recover from us

30 September 2009 by Bob Holmes
Magazine issue 2728. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.
For similar stories, visit the Endangered Species and Climate Change Topic Guides

WHEN Nobel prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen coined the word Anthropocene around 10 years ago, he gave birth to a powerful idea: that human activity is now affecting the Earth so profoundly that we are entering a new geological epoch.

Could a post-human Earth resemble the barren mud pools of Iceland perhaps? (Image: Andy Taylor Smith/Corbis)

Whether our species would survive is hard to predict, but what of the fate of the Earth itself? It is often said that when we talk about "saving the planet" we are really talking about saving ourselves: the planet will be just fine without us. But would it? Or would an end-Anthropocene cataclysm damage it so badly that it becomes a sterile wasteland?

Tags: earth, life, nature, global warming, mass extinction

Cosmic dawn

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:10:45 GMT

clipped by: Solar Child

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Probe gets clearest glimpse yet of cosmic dawn

The Planck spacecraft has obtained its first peek at the afterglow of the big bang, revealing it in unprecedented detail. Its first map of the entire sky is set to be complete in about six months.

The European Space Agency spacecraft was launched into space on 14 May. It is observing the glow of hot gas from just 380,000 years after the big bang – about 13.73 billion years ago – called the cosmic microwave background.

The detailed properties of this background may contain hints of hidden extra dimensions or multiple universes, as well as providing clues to what caused a brief, early period of incredibly rapid cosmic expansion.

Planck is expected to provide the most detailed all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background yet, improving on the best current map, obtained by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which launched in 2001.

Tags: planck, probe, afterglow, dimensions, universe, variation, wmap

A drink any one? :)

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:04:57 GMT

clipped by: Solar Child

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Bashed your head? You needed a stiff drink

Crazy as it sounds, alcohol may one day be given to people with brain injuries to help them recover.

The idea has arisen from a study of 38,000 people with head injuries, which found that those with alcohol in their blood were more likely to survive. For every 100 people who died when stone-cold sober, only 88 died with ethanol – the kind of alcohol in drinks – in their veins.

"The finding raises the intriguing possibility that administering ethanol to patients with brain injuries may improve outcome," conclude the investigators.

Lead researcher Ali Salim of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles said he hoped a trial could be mounted, but more information is needed first. "We need a better understanding of the exact mechanism, the appropriate dose and specific timing of treatment before we can embark on clinical trials," he told New Scientist.

A what if scenario !!

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:54:03 GMT

clipped by: Solar Child
clipper's remarks: Maybe it,s time we put some thought into it.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test

The exercise, which took place in December 2008, exposed the chilling dangers asteroids pose. Not only is there no plan for what to do when an asteroid hits, but our early-warning systems - which could make the difference between life and death - are woefully inadequate. The meeting provided just the wake-up call organiser Peter Garreston had hoped to create. He has long been concerned about the threat of an impact. "As a taxpayer, I would appreciate my air force taking a look at something that would be certainly as bad as nuclear terrorism in a city, and potentially a civilisation-ending event," he says.

Realistically, though, the nuclear option would not be on the table in the first place: the nuclear-tipped missiles sitting patiently in silos around the world are not designed to track and home in on an asteroid or even survive for more than a few minutes in space. Instead, we would simply have to brace ourselves for the impact.

Tags: asteroid, meteor, earth, mass destruction, warning

JNature can always surprise us!!! :)

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:53:01 GMT

clipped by: Solar Child

Clip Source: spaceflightnow.com

Cassini finds new ring quirks during Saturn equinox

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA scientists are marveling over the extent of ruffles and dust clouds revealed in the rings of Saturn during the planet's equinox last month. Scientists once thought the rings were almost completely flat, but new images reveal the heights of some newly discovered bumps in the rings are as high as the Rocky Mountains. NASA released the images Monday.

The bright streaks visible in these Cassini images taken during Saturn's August 2009 equinox are exciting evidence of a constant rain of interplanetary projectiles onto the planet's rings. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
See larger image here

The Cassini spacecraft has been observing Saturn, its moons and rings since it entered the planet's orbit in 2004. The spacecraft's instruments have discovered new rings and moons and have improved our understanding of Saturn's ring system.

‘Nazca Lines’ discovered in Kazakhstan

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:11:46 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: www.allnewsweb.com

Media outlets as well as the official government website in Kazakhstan are reporting the surprise discovery of local geoglyphs or ‘Nazca Lines’. Geoglyphs are drawings created on the ground by arranging stones or removing the top layers of earth. These designs typically cover large areas. The most famous geoglyphs are those found in the Nazca desert in Peru. These show hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, llamas, and lizards.

The Kazakhstan Geoglyphs (photo above, thanks to photojournalist N. Dorogov) appear to depict a humanoid figure wedged between two unusual structures. The drawings are located in the remote Karatau Mountains in South Kazakhstan.

Kazhakstan is an area of intense UFO sightings and activity. Recently the Kazakhstan Government toyed with the idea of creating a UFO landing field and an alien embassy.