PARIS (Reuters) - The French space agency is to publish its archive of UFO sightings and other phenomena online, but will keep the names of those who reported them off the site to protect them from pestering by space fanatics.
Jacques Arnould, an official at the National Space Studies Center (CNES), said the French database of around 1,600 incidents would go live in late January or mid-February.
He said the CNES had been collecting statements and documents for almost 30 years to archive and study them.
"Often they are made to the Gendarmerie, which provides an official witness statement ... and some come from airline pilots," he said by telephone.
Given the success of films about visitations from outer space like "E.T.," "Close Encounters of The Third Kind" and "Independence Day," the CNES archive is likely to prove a hit.
It consists of around 6,000 reports, many relating to the same incident, filed by the public and airline professionals. Their names would not be published to protect their privacy, Anould said.
Advances in technology over the past three decades had prompted the decision to put the archive online, he said, adding it would likely be available via the CNES website www.cnes.fr.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Full Moon Names for 2007
Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. Those tribes of a few hundred years ago kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred.
There were some variations in the Moon names, but in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names. Since the lunar ("synodic") month is roughly 29.5 days in length on average, the dates of the full Moon shift from year to year.
Here is a listing of all the full Moon names, as well as the dates and times for 2007. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern Time Zone.
Jan. 3, 8:57 a.m. EST - The Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the "Moon After Yule." In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next Moon.
Feb. 2, 12:45 a.m. EST - The Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon.
March 3, 6:17 p.m. EST - The Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. A total lunar eclipse will take place on this night; the Moon will appear to rise will totally immersed (or nearly so) in the Earth's shadow over the eastern United States. The rising Moon will be emerging from the shadow over the central United States, while over the Western U.S. the eclipse will be all but over by the time the Moon rises.
April 2, 1:15 p.m. EDT - The Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed six days later on Sunday, April 8.
May 2, 6:09 a.m. EDT - The Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.
May 31, 9:04 p.m. EDT - The Blue Moon. The second full Moon occurring within a calendar month is usually bestowed this title.
Although the name suggests that to have two Full Moons in a single month is a rather rare occurrence (happening "just once in a . . . "), it actually occurs once about every three years on average.
June 30, 9:49 a.m. EDT - The Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.
July 29, 8:48 p.m. EDT - The Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon.
Aug. 28, 6:35 a.m. EDT - The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. A total lunar eclipse will coincide with moonset for the eastern United States. The Central and Mountain Time Zones will see the Moon's emergence coincide with moonset, while the western United States will see the entire eclipse.
Sept. 26, 3:45 p.m. EDT - The Full Harvest Moon. Always the full Moon occurring nearest to the Autumnal Equinox. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice-- the chief Indian staples--are now ready for gathering.
Oct. 26, 12:52 a.m. EDT - The Full Hunter's Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals that have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest. The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 7:00 a.m., at a distance of 221,676 miles from Earth. Very high tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full Moon.
Nov. 24, 9:30 a.m. EST - The Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon.
Dec. 23, 2:51 a.m. EST - The Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also sometimes called the "Moon before Yule" (Yule is Christmas, and this time the Moon is only just before it). The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full Moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.
Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
There were some variations in the Moon names, but in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names. Since the lunar ("synodic") month is roughly 29.5 days in length on average, the dates of the full Moon shift from year to year.
Here is a listing of all the full Moon names, as well as the dates and times for 2007. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern Time Zone.
Jan. 3, 8:57 a.m. EST - The Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the "Moon After Yule." In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next Moon.
Feb. 2, 12:45 a.m. EST - The Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon.
March 3, 6:17 p.m. EST - The Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. A total lunar eclipse will take place on this night; the Moon will appear to rise will totally immersed (or nearly so) in the Earth's shadow over the eastern United States. The rising Moon will be emerging from the shadow over the central United States, while over the Western U.S. the eclipse will be all but over by the time the Moon rises.
April 2, 1:15 p.m. EDT - The Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed six days later on Sunday, April 8.
May 2, 6:09 a.m. EDT - The Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.
May 31, 9:04 p.m. EDT - The Blue Moon. The second full Moon occurring within a calendar month is usually bestowed this title.
Although the name suggests that to have two Full Moons in a single month is a rather rare occurrence (happening "just once in a . . . "), it actually occurs once about every three years on average.
June 30, 9:49 a.m. EDT - The Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.
July 29, 8:48 p.m. EDT - The Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon.
Aug. 28, 6:35 a.m. EDT - The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. A total lunar eclipse will coincide with moonset for the eastern United States. The Central and Mountain Time Zones will see the Moon's emergence coincide with moonset, while the western United States will see the entire eclipse.
Sept. 26, 3:45 p.m. EDT - The Full Harvest Moon. Always the full Moon occurring nearest to the Autumnal Equinox. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice-- the chief Indian staples--are now ready for gathering.
Oct. 26, 12:52 a.m. EDT - The Full Hunter's Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals that have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest. The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 7:00 a.m., at a distance of 221,676 miles from Earth. Very high tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full Moon.
Nov. 24, 9:30 a.m. EST - The Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon.
Dec. 23, 2:51 a.m. EST - The Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also sometimes called the "Moon before Yule" (Yule is Christmas, and this time the Moon is only just before it). The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full Moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.
Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
Friday, December 22, 2006
Space Shuttel Discovery Landing: Mission STS 116
6:10 p.m. - Capcom Ken Ham just announced to the STS-116 crew, "Discovery, your mission is done. See you back at the ranch." Commander Polanksy thanked everyone for their hard work and wished them all "Happy Holidays."
5:53 p.m. - Just about 20 minutes after touchdown at Kennedy Space Center, the crew of Discovery has been given the "go" to climb out of their orange launch and entry suits.
5:49 p.m. - Discovery received the go-ahead for APU shutdown. The external tank umbilical doors have been opened.
5:47 p.m. - Discovery has been given the "go" for GPS powerdown.
5:46 p.m. - The side hatch is safed as well.
5:42 p.m.- The Discovery crew reports that the drag chutes are safed.
5:39 p.m. - Here are some official times for this evening's landing: Main gear touchdown took place at 5:32:00 p.m. at a mission elapsed time of 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes and 24 seconds. Nose gear touchdown followed 12 seconds later at 5:32:12 p.m. at a mission elapsed time of 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes and 36 seconds. Discovery's wheels stopped on the runway at 5:32:52 p.m. at a mission elapsed time of 12 days, 20 hours, 45 minutes and 16 seconds. Discovery and the STS-116 crew traveled 5,330,000 miles during this mission and landed on the 204th orbit.
5:34 p.m. - Comm checks are being performed between Discovery and the landing support convoy at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility. Post-landing safing is under way.
This convoy consists of about 25 specifically designed vehicles or units and a team of about 150 trained personnel who assist the crew in leaving the orbiter, and who "safe" the orbiter, prepare it for towing and then tow the vehicle to the Orbiter Processing Facility. The team that recovers the orbiter is primarily composed of Kennedy Space Center personnel, whether the landing takes place at Kennedy, Edwards Air Force Base or elsewhere.
5:33 p.m. - Wheel stop. Welcome home, Discovery! "Congratulations on what was probably the most complex mission to date," Mission Control said to Commander Mark Polansky for the entire crew.
5:32 p.m. - Main gear is down and locked. ...Main gear touchdown. ...Chute deployed. ...Nose gear touchdown. Discovery is rolling out at sunset on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center after a 5.3 million mile mission to the International Space Station.
5:31 p.m. - Altitude 6,000 feet.
5:30 p.m. - Discovery reports that the landing field is in site. Altitutude 11,300 feet.
5:29 p.m. - The shuttle's trademark twin sonic booms just echoed across Kennedy Space Center as we await the return of Discovery on this 13 day mission to the International Space Station.
5:28 p.m. - Commander Mark Polansky is flying Discovery, taking the orbiter out over the water and setting up for the final approach to Runway 15.
5:26 p.m. - Discovery is 86 miles from home.
5:24 p.m. - The crew of the International Space Station is tracking the return of Discovery from a signal sent up from Houston.
5:23 p.m. - There are no issues with weather. So far it's a smooth entry for Discovery, which is now at 104,000 feet. Range to Kennedy Space Center is 120 miles.
5:22 p.m. - Discovery is 125 statute miles from Kennedy and only a little more than nine minutes until touchdown.
5:20 p.m. - During reentry and landing, the orbiter is not powered by engines but instead flies like a high-tech glider, relying first on its steering jets and aerosurfaces to control the airflow around it.
5:19 p.m. - The MILA Tracking station at Kennedy Space Center acquires Discovery about 13 minutes before landing and begins supplying controllers in Houston with voice, data and telemetry communications starting about one minute later. At 11 minutes before touchdown, the orbiter begins receiving navigation signals from the TACAN, the homing beacon and navigation signal at the Shuttle Landing Facility. As Discovery intercepts the heading alignment circle, the first video should become available from the pilot's point-of-view video camera and the orbiter will begin following the curved approach path of the microwave scanning beam landing system. As Discovery crosses directly overhead of the landing facility and out over the Atlantic Ocean, it makes a gradual right turn toward a 7-mile final approach to Runway 15.
5:18 p.m. - Having served its purpose, Discovery's reaction control system has been turned off.
5:17 p.m. - Discovery is now 190,000 feet above Louisiana. Range to Kennedy Space Center is 800 miles.
5:16 p.m. - Discovery is now traveling 11,200 miles per hour and tracking due north of Houston at an altitude of 195,000 feet.
5:15 p.m. - Discovery's atltitude is now 39 statute miles. The spacecraft is traveling 12,600 miles per hour as it crosses into Texas. It's 1,100 statute miles from home at the Kennedy Space Center.
5:12 p.m. - Twenty minutes to touchdown. Discovery will touch down right at sunset at 5:32 p.m.
5:11 p.m. - Discovery is skirting along the edge of the Baja Penninsula. It will continue on a northeasterly course across west Texas. The orbiter is expected to pass about within about 34 miles of Houston, swinging down the Gulf Coast of Mexico, heading toward Kennedy Space Center.
5:06 p.m. - Discovery is traveling 16,300 miles per hour, 25 minutes to touchdown.
5:03 p.m. - The orbiter will perform a series of roll maneuvers, banking first to the right and then to the left to help slow down its speed as it descends toward landing. The first roll is under way now, with the first roll reversal due at about 5:22 p.m.
5:00 p.m. - Discovery has reached entry interface.
4:58 p.m. - The orbiter is approaching the southern tip of the Baja Penninsula from the southwest. Discovery's altitude is 78 statute miles.
4:57 p.m. - In addition to the traditional runway edge and approach light system, the Shuttle Landing Facility has 16 xenon lights that produce 1 billion candlepower with an effective range of 6.2 miles. These are being turned on to light the way for Commander Mark Polansky as he brings Discovery in for a landing.
4:50 p.m. - Discovery is traveling over 16,500 miles per hour and approaching entry interface about nine and a half minutes from now. At entry interface, the orbiter begins to encounter the first effects of the Earth's atmosphere, usually at an altitude of roughly 400,000 feet.
Did You Know?
The first Kennedy Space Center landing was for mission 41-B on Feb. 11, 1984. + Read More
4:42 p.m. - The convey of landing support vehicles is moving to the staging point at the Shuttle Landing Facility.
4:39 p.m. - Surface winds are predicted to be a direct headwind of 16 knots peaking up to 24 knots, but wind from this direction is not considered an issue for landing. The propellant dump took approximately 60 seconds.
4:35 p.m. - The Discovery crew is now maneuvering the shuttle to the best position for landing on Runway 15 at Kennedy. We're less than an hour from touchdown.
4:30 p.m. - And Mission Control confirms a good burn of Discovery's two orbital maneuvering system engines, with no trim required. After nearly two weeks in space, Discovery and crew are headed home to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
4:26 p.m. - DEORBIT BURN! We have two good engines burning as Discovery begins its descent toward home. The burn will last for three minutes and 46 seconds.
4:20 p.m. - In Mission Control, Houston, the poll has been conducted and the Flight Team has given the go for deorbit burn.
"Believe it or not, we're going to give you the go for the deorbit burn," said Capcom Ken Ham to Mark Polansky and his crew aboard Discovery. "We have worked this one as hard as we can and we are pretty confident we are going to keep you clear of clouds and rain."
+ View Video
So after an afternoon of very dynamic weather conditions, Discovery will indeed be returning home to Kennedy Space Center. Deorbit burn will take place at 4:26 p.m. and landing is set for 5:32 p.m.
4:19 p.m. - We are standing by to hear the "go/no-go" decision for the deorbit burn. The burn is coming up at 4:26 p.m., so we should find out shortly if Discovery's crew receives the go-ahead.
4:16 p.m. - Time to deorbit burn: 10 minutes 20 seconds. Flight control is receiving one final weather report. Stay tuned.
4:12 p.m. - The flight control team is continuing to look at the radar, which reveals showers moving towards the Kennedy Space Center. The showers are dissipating as it comes closer to the landing circle, so the discussion centers on whether or not the showers will still be there in an hour and 20 minutes when Discovery would be approaching for landing.
4:10 p.m. - With under 17 minutes left to go before deorbit burn for the Kennedy Space Center, Mission Control is in constant communication with astronaut Steve Lindsey regarding the weather at "the Cape."
4:06 p.m. - The Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy has been cleared of all non-essential personnel.
4:00 p.m. - The runway of choice would be Runway 15 at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility, with an approach from the northwest and a high overhead left hand turn over the water. The landing time for this opportunity, which would come on orbit 203 for the STS-116 mission, would be 5:32 p.m.
3:54 p.m. - Capcom Ken Ham just informed the Discovery crew that they are no-go for Edwards due to winds. New coordinates will be given to the crew shortly for a possible Kennedy landing. Stay tuned.
3:50 p.m. - Pilot Bill Oefelein has been given the "go" for APU (auxiliary power unit) prestart.
3:47 p.m. - At Edwards Air Force Base in California, the landing convoy is beginning to move into position for the possible arrival of shuttle Discovery. Meanwhile, the entry team in Houston is still evaluating the weather at Edwards and at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The main issue with the Florida landing opportunity are the showers within the area, and where they will be at landing time.
3:44 p.m. - As the crew steps through the entry checklist, Mission Control just gave the go-ahead to do a gimble check of Discovery's two orbital maneuvering system engines, which will fire during the deorbit burn.
Did You Know?
If the orbiter lands anywhere other than Kennedy Space Center, it must be ferried back atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy. The mate/demate device at the facility enables the orbiter to be lifted off the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and placed on the runway.
+ Read More
3:24 p.m. - Mission Control is advising the Discovery crew of the preliminary advisory data, or "PAD," for a landing at Edwards. The update includes specific information regarding the engine burn, APU start and mission elapsed time.
3:13 p.m. - In Mission Control, Capcom Ken Ham is giving the crew a weather briefing. The winds at Edwards are becoming more favorable, so they may be able to land there after all. They've also been given the "go" for fluid loading, in which they drink large amounts of fluids to help them re-acclimate to Earth's gravity after landing. Each crew member drinks approximately 32 ounces of fluid -- about eight ounces every fifteen minutes -- and takes salt pills to help increase their fluid volume. Crew members can choose to drink chicken consomme, orange-aid or water.
3:05 p.m. - If we land at Edwards Air Force Base, a ferry flight could take place after about 7 days. A ferry flight from White Sands could result in a turnaround time of 25-45 days.
2:50 p.m. - Out at Edwards, astronaut Dom Gorie is taking off in the Shuttle Training Aircraft to guage the turbulence in the area. He will fly the aircraft, which mimics the flying quality of the space shuttle, to both ends of the runway -- but the anticipation is that the approach to Runway 04 will be the preference for today's landing due to the sun angle at that time.
2:40 p.m. - Yesterday during their final press conference from orbit, Commander Mark Polansky was asked about the possibility of landing in New Mexico. He said, "My wife cares where we land. I believe she and the other families will be going to Florida, and on a personal note it's always nice to go where the families are. And for processing, Florida is best, but besides that, we don't care. There are a lot of things they're supposed to control on the mission, but the weather is one that they can't."
Did You Know
There are six main events in the landing sequence: deorbit burn, entry interface, maximum heating, exit blackout, terminal area and approach and landing.
2:18 p.m. - Here at Kennedy Space Center, astronaut Steve Lindsey is refueling the Shuttle Training Aircraft and will be back in the air shortly, continuing to monitor the weather conditions at the spaceport.
2:04 p.m. - Ken Ham just informed the crew that we've officially waved off the first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center, and the second opportunity isn't looking much better, although they haven't ruled it out yet.
+ View Video
"We are going to stay in the deorbit prep check list at this time," Ham explained. "We will likely be setting up our TIG for Edwards," he said, referring to the deorbit burn time for the first Edwards landing opportunity. (TIG stands for "time of ignition.") Of course, this is just for planning; the "go/no-go" decision for the burn won't come for a while. Stay tuned.
2:00 p.m. - Good afternoon. Thanks for joining today's coverage, coming to you from the NASA News Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery is set to land today after a complex but successful mission to the International Space Station. There are several landing opportunities today at Kennedy, Edwards Air Force Base in California, and White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Kennedy is the preferred landing site, but weather is a major concern here this afternoon, with low cloud ceilings, high winds and possible showers threatening to prevent a Florida landing. The forecast for Edwards calls for high winds. So far, White Sands has the best outlook for today's landing. Only one other shuttle flight has landed there, and that was STS-3 on March 30, 1982.
At this time, the Mission Control team in Houston and the crew aboard Discovery are preparing for a deorbit burn at 2:49 p.m., which would bring the spacecraft home to Kennedy at 3:56 p.m., but the final "go/no-go" decision for the burn has not yet been made.
Capcom Ken Ham recently told the crew that the new word to describe the weather situation at Kennedy is "unstable." An area of showers has popped up to the south and is heading north, and could potentially be within the 30-mile landing circle.
Although the forecast is certainly not promising, "we'd like to keep the hope alive for now," Ham said, adding that the crew should hold off on fluid loading for the time being.
The following events took place prior to the start of today's landing coverage:
This afternoon at 12:30 p.m., Discovery's payload bay doors were closed and locked in preparation for landing. Mission Control gave the crew a "go" to transition to the onboard computers' software package that is used for entry and landing.
The crew members began climbing into their orange launch and entry suits at 1:14 p.m. Commander Mark Polansky and Pilot Bill Oefelein were first, followed by Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency, and Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham, Nicholas Patrick and Christer Fuglesang, also of the European Space Agency.
After getting suited up, they took their seats. + View Seating Assignments
Astronaut Steve Lindsey is flying weather reconnaissance at Kennedy in the Shuttle Training Aircraft and relaying weather information in real time to Mission Control. There are astronauts flying weather reconnaissance at the other possible landing sites as well: Dom Gorie at Edwards and Brent Jett at Northrup Strip in White Sands.
5:53 p.m. - Just about 20 minutes after touchdown at Kennedy Space Center, the crew of Discovery has been given the "go" to climb out of their orange launch and entry suits.
5:49 p.m. - Discovery received the go-ahead for APU shutdown. The external tank umbilical doors have been opened.
5:47 p.m. - Discovery has been given the "go" for GPS powerdown.
5:46 p.m. - The side hatch is safed as well.
5:42 p.m.- The Discovery crew reports that the drag chutes are safed.
5:39 p.m. - Here are some official times for this evening's landing: Main gear touchdown took place at 5:32:00 p.m. at a mission elapsed time of 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes and 24 seconds. Nose gear touchdown followed 12 seconds later at 5:32:12 p.m. at a mission elapsed time of 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes and 36 seconds. Discovery's wheels stopped on the runway at 5:32:52 p.m. at a mission elapsed time of 12 days, 20 hours, 45 minutes and 16 seconds. Discovery and the STS-116 crew traveled 5,330,000 miles during this mission and landed on the 204th orbit.
5:34 p.m. - Comm checks are being performed between Discovery and the landing support convoy at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility. Post-landing safing is under way.
This convoy consists of about 25 specifically designed vehicles or units and a team of about 150 trained personnel who assist the crew in leaving the orbiter, and who "safe" the orbiter, prepare it for towing and then tow the vehicle to the Orbiter Processing Facility. The team that recovers the orbiter is primarily composed of Kennedy Space Center personnel, whether the landing takes place at Kennedy, Edwards Air Force Base or elsewhere.
5:33 p.m. - Wheel stop. Welcome home, Discovery! "Congratulations on what was probably the most complex mission to date," Mission Control said to Commander Mark Polansky for the entire crew.
5:32 p.m. - Main gear is down and locked. ...Main gear touchdown. ...Chute deployed. ...Nose gear touchdown. Discovery is rolling out at sunset on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center after a 5.3 million mile mission to the International Space Station.
5:31 p.m. - Altitude 6,000 feet.
5:30 p.m. - Discovery reports that the landing field is in site. Altitutude 11,300 feet.
5:29 p.m. - The shuttle's trademark twin sonic booms just echoed across Kennedy Space Center as we await the return of Discovery on this 13 day mission to the International Space Station.
5:28 p.m. - Commander Mark Polansky is flying Discovery, taking the orbiter out over the water and setting up for the final approach to Runway 15.
5:26 p.m. - Discovery is 86 miles from home.
5:24 p.m. - The crew of the International Space Station is tracking the return of Discovery from a signal sent up from Houston.
5:23 p.m. - There are no issues with weather. So far it's a smooth entry for Discovery, which is now at 104,000 feet. Range to Kennedy Space Center is 120 miles.
5:22 p.m. - Discovery is 125 statute miles from Kennedy and only a little more than nine minutes until touchdown.
5:20 p.m. - During reentry and landing, the orbiter is not powered by engines but instead flies like a high-tech glider, relying first on its steering jets and aerosurfaces to control the airflow around it.
5:19 p.m. - The MILA Tracking station at Kennedy Space Center acquires Discovery about 13 minutes before landing and begins supplying controllers in Houston with voice, data and telemetry communications starting about one minute later. At 11 minutes before touchdown, the orbiter begins receiving navigation signals from the TACAN, the homing beacon and navigation signal at the Shuttle Landing Facility. As Discovery intercepts the heading alignment circle, the first video should become available from the pilot's point-of-view video camera and the orbiter will begin following the curved approach path of the microwave scanning beam landing system. As Discovery crosses directly overhead of the landing facility and out over the Atlantic Ocean, it makes a gradual right turn toward a 7-mile final approach to Runway 15.
5:18 p.m. - Having served its purpose, Discovery's reaction control system has been turned off.
5:17 p.m. - Discovery is now 190,000 feet above Louisiana. Range to Kennedy Space Center is 800 miles.
5:16 p.m. - Discovery is now traveling 11,200 miles per hour and tracking due north of Houston at an altitude of 195,000 feet.
5:15 p.m. - Discovery's atltitude is now 39 statute miles. The spacecraft is traveling 12,600 miles per hour as it crosses into Texas. It's 1,100 statute miles from home at the Kennedy Space Center.
5:12 p.m. - Twenty minutes to touchdown. Discovery will touch down right at sunset at 5:32 p.m.
5:11 p.m. - Discovery is skirting along the edge of the Baja Penninsula. It will continue on a northeasterly course across west Texas. The orbiter is expected to pass about within about 34 miles of Houston, swinging down the Gulf Coast of Mexico, heading toward Kennedy Space Center.
5:06 p.m. - Discovery is traveling 16,300 miles per hour, 25 minutes to touchdown.
5:03 p.m. - The orbiter will perform a series of roll maneuvers, banking first to the right and then to the left to help slow down its speed as it descends toward landing. The first roll is under way now, with the first roll reversal due at about 5:22 p.m.
5:00 p.m. - Discovery has reached entry interface.
4:58 p.m. - The orbiter is approaching the southern tip of the Baja Penninsula from the southwest. Discovery's altitude is 78 statute miles.
4:57 p.m. - In addition to the traditional runway edge and approach light system, the Shuttle Landing Facility has 16 xenon lights that produce 1 billion candlepower with an effective range of 6.2 miles. These are being turned on to light the way for Commander Mark Polansky as he brings Discovery in for a landing.
4:50 p.m. - Discovery is traveling over 16,500 miles per hour and approaching entry interface about nine and a half minutes from now. At entry interface, the orbiter begins to encounter the first effects of the Earth's atmosphere, usually at an altitude of roughly 400,000 feet.
Did You Know?
The first Kennedy Space Center landing was for mission 41-B on Feb. 11, 1984. + Read More
4:42 p.m. - The convey of landing support vehicles is moving to the staging point at the Shuttle Landing Facility.
4:39 p.m. - Surface winds are predicted to be a direct headwind of 16 knots peaking up to 24 knots, but wind from this direction is not considered an issue for landing. The propellant dump took approximately 60 seconds.
4:35 p.m. - The Discovery crew is now maneuvering the shuttle to the best position for landing on Runway 15 at Kennedy. We're less than an hour from touchdown.
4:30 p.m. - And Mission Control confirms a good burn of Discovery's two orbital maneuvering system engines, with no trim required. After nearly two weeks in space, Discovery and crew are headed home to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
4:26 p.m. - DEORBIT BURN! We have two good engines burning as Discovery begins its descent toward home. The burn will last for three minutes and 46 seconds.
4:20 p.m. - In Mission Control, Houston, the poll has been conducted and the Flight Team has given the go for deorbit burn.
"Believe it or not, we're going to give you the go for the deorbit burn," said Capcom Ken Ham to Mark Polansky and his crew aboard Discovery. "We have worked this one as hard as we can and we are pretty confident we are going to keep you clear of clouds and rain."
+ View Video
So after an afternoon of very dynamic weather conditions, Discovery will indeed be returning home to Kennedy Space Center. Deorbit burn will take place at 4:26 p.m. and landing is set for 5:32 p.m.
4:19 p.m. - We are standing by to hear the "go/no-go" decision for the deorbit burn. The burn is coming up at 4:26 p.m., so we should find out shortly if Discovery's crew receives the go-ahead.
4:16 p.m. - Time to deorbit burn: 10 minutes 20 seconds. Flight control is receiving one final weather report. Stay tuned.
4:12 p.m. - The flight control team is continuing to look at the radar, which reveals showers moving towards the Kennedy Space Center. The showers are dissipating as it comes closer to the landing circle, so the discussion centers on whether or not the showers will still be there in an hour and 20 minutes when Discovery would be approaching for landing.
4:10 p.m. - With under 17 minutes left to go before deorbit burn for the Kennedy Space Center, Mission Control is in constant communication with astronaut Steve Lindsey regarding the weather at "the Cape."
4:06 p.m. - The Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy has been cleared of all non-essential personnel.
4:00 p.m. - The runway of choice would be Runway 15 at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility, with an approach from the northwest and a high overhead left hand turn over the water. The landing time for this opportunity, which would come on orbit 203 for the STS-116 mission, would be 5:32 p.m.
3:54 p.m. - Capcom Ken Ham just informed the Discovery crew that they are no-go for Edwards due to winds. New coordinates will be given to the crew shortly for a possible Kennedy landing. Stay tuned.
3:50 p.m. - Pilot Bill Oefelein has been given the "go" for APU (auxiliary power unit) prestart.
3:47 p.m. - At Edwards Air Force Base in California, the landing convoy is beginning to move into position for the possible arrival of shuttle Discovery. Meanwhile, the entry team in Houston is still evaluating the weather at Edwards and at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The main issue with the Florida landing opportunity are the showers within the area, and where they will be at landing time.
3:44 p.m. - As the crew steps through the entry checklist, Mission Control just gave the go-ahead to do a gimble check of Discovery's two orbital maneuvering system engines, which will fire during the deorbit burn.
Did You Know?
If the orbiter lands anywhere other than Kennedy Space Center, it must be ferried back atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy. The mate/demate device at the facility enables the orbiter to be lifted off the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and placed on the runway.
+ Read More
3:24 p.m. - Mission Control is advising the Discovery crew of the preliminary advisory data, or "PAD," for a landing at Edwards. The update includes specific information regarding the engine burn, APU start and mission elapsed time.
3:13 p.m. - In Mission Control, Capcom Ken Ham is giving the crew a weather briefing. The winds at Edwards are becoming more favorable, so they may be able to land there after all. They've also been given the "go" for fluid loading, in which they drink large amounts of fluids to help them re-acclimate to Earth's gravity after landing. Each crew member drinks approximately 32 ounces of fluid -- about eight ounces every fifteen minutes -- and takes salt pills to help increase their fluid volume. Crew members can choose to drink chicken consomme, orange-aid or water.
3:05 p.m. - If we land at Edwards Air Force Base, a ferry flight could take place after about 7 days. A ferry flight from White Sands could result in a turnaround time of 25-45 days.
2:50 p.m. - Out at Edwards, astronaut Dom Gorie is taking off in the Shuttle Training Aircraft to guage the turbulence in the area. He will fly the aircraft, which mimics the flying quality of the space shuttle, to both ends of the runway -- but the anticipation is that the approach to Runway 04 will be the preference for today's landing due to the sun angle at that time.
2:40 p.m. - Yesterday during their final press conference from orbit, Commander Mark Polansky was asked about the possibility of landing in New Mexico. He said, "My wife cares where we land. I believe she and the other families will be going to Florida, and on a personal note it's always nice to go where the families are. And for processing, Florida is best, but besides that, we don't care. There are a lot of things they're supposed to control on the mission, but the weather is one that they can't."
Did You Know
There are six main events in the landing sequence: deorbit burn, entry interface, maximum heating, exit blackout, terminal area and approach and landing.
2:18 p.m. - Here at Kennedy Space Center, astronaut Steve Lindsey is refueling the Shuttle Training Aircraft and will be back in the air shortly, continuing to monitor the weather conditions at the spaceport.
2:04 p.m. - Ken Ham just informed the crew that we've officially waved off the first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center, and the second opportunity isn't looking much better, although they haven't ruled it out yet.
+ View Video
"We are going to stay in the deorbit prep check list at this time," Ham explained. "We will likely be setting up our TIG for Edwards," he said, referring to the deorbit burn time for the first Edwards landing opportunity. (TIG stands for "time of ignition.") Of course, this is just for planning; the "go/no-go" decision for the burn won't come for a while. Stay tuned.
2:00 p.m. - Good afternoon. Thanks for joining today's coverage, coming to you from the NASA News Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery is set to land today after a complex but successful mission to the International Space Station. There are several landing opportunities today at Kennedy, Edwards Air Force Base in California, and White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Kennedy is the preferred landing site, but weather is a major concern here this afternoon, with low cloud ceilings, high winds and possible showers threatening to prevent a Florida landing. The forecast for Edwards calls for high winds. So far, White Sands has the best outlook for today's landing. Only one other shuttle flight has landed there, and that was STS-3 on March 30, 1982.
At this time, the Mission Control team in Houston and the crew aboard Discovery are preparing for a deorbit burn at 2:49 p.m., which would bring the spacecraft home to Kennedy at 3:56 p.m., but the final "go/no-go" decision for the burn has not yet been made.
Capcom Ken Ham recently told the crew that the new word to describe the weather situation at Kennedy is "unstable." An area of showers has popped up to the south and is heading north, and could potentially be within the 30-mile landing circle.
Although the forecast is certainly not promising, "we'd like to keep the hope alive for now," Ham said, adding that the crew should hold off on fluid loading for the time being.
The following events took place prior to the start of today's landing coverage:
This afternoon at 12:30 p.m., Discovery's payload bay doors were closed and locked in preparation for landing. Mission Control gave the crew a "go" to transition to the onboard computers' software package that is used for entry and landing.
The crew members began climbing into their orange launch and entry suits at 1:14 p.m. Commander Mark Polansky and Pilot Bill Oefelein were first, followed by Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency, and Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham, Nicholas Patrick and Christer Fuglesang, also of the European Space Agency.
After getting suited up, they took their seats. + View Seating Assignments
Astronaut Steve Lindsey is flying weather reconnaissance at Kennedy in the Shuttle Training Aircraft and relaying weather information in real time to Mission Control. There are astronauts flying weather reconnaissance at the other possible landing sites as well: Dom Gorie at Edwards and Brent Jett at Northrup Strip in White Sands.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Single massive asteroid wiped out dinosaurs: study
A single, gigantic asteroid slammed into Earth 65 million years ago, dooming the dinosaurs and many other species, scientists said on Thursday in a new study rebutting theories that multiple impacts did the deed.
ADVERTISEMENT
An examination of rock sediments drilled from five sites at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean strongly supports the notion that one massive hunk of space rock caused the mass extinction, a research team led by University of Missouri-Columbia geology professor Ken MacLeod found.
"It's a completely straightforward, single-impact scenario," MacLeod, whose findings appear in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, said in an interview. "It was a haymaker that nobody saw coming. One shot, and that's all you need to explain it."
Scientists believe that an asteroid about 6 miles wide hurtled to Earth 65.5 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period, plunging into what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to carve out the Chicxulub (pronounced CHIK-shu-loob) crater measuring about 110 miles across.
To put it mildly, it was a bad day to live on Earth.
The impact triggered a worldwide environmental catastrophe, many scientists believe, expelling vast quantities of rock and dust into the sky, unleashing giant tsunamis, sparking global wildfires and leaving Earth shrouded in darkness for years.
The dinosaurs, which had ruled for 160 million years, were wiped out. So were large marine reptiles like the mosasaurs and the plesiosaurs, the flying reptiles known as pterosaurs, the tentacled ammonites that populated the seas and many species of marine plankton. The birds suffered losses but survived.
The mammals made it through as well, allowing these warm-blooded, furry little creatures to eventually dominate the land and ultimately setting the stage for the rise of human beings.
EVIDENCE IN THE ROCK
Evidence of the single-asteroid calamity, in the form of debris from the impact scattered worldwide, is contained in rocks dating back to 65 million years ago.
Scientists 26 years ago found a band of iridium -- a metal rare on Earth but common in meteorites -- dating to the end of the Cretaceous Period that suggested a big space rock had smashed into the Earth and blasted its remains around the globe. The subsequent discovery of the Chicxulub crater, dating to the same time, was hailed by many as the smoking gun.
But a group of researchers led by Princeton University's Gerta Keller has advanced a competing theory that the impact that created the Chicxulub crater actually predated the end of the dinosaurs by 300,000 years and did not cause the mass extinction.
They propose that one or more additional big hunks of space rock later hit the Earth and finished the job, but the impact craters they would have left behind have not yet been found.
MacLeod's team examined sediment drilled far below the sea surface about 2,800 miles from the Yucatan impact site, a location they believed to be ideal. Any rock samples taken too close to the crater may be altered by events that occurred immediately after the impact, like waves, earthquakes and landslides. Samples taken too far away may contain too little debris evidence from the impact.
The samples they examined boasted a telltale layer of impact-related material, but there was none on top or below -- indicating, they argued, there were no other impacts.
Keller said MacLeod's research does not settle the matter.
"Unfortunately, these claims are rather hyper-inflated and do not withstand close examination," Keller said by e-mail.
By Will Dunham
ADVERTISEMENT
An examination of rock sediments drilled from five sites at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean strongly supports the notion that one massive hunk of space rock caused the mass extinction, a research team led by University of Missouri-Columbia geology professor Ken MacLeod found.
"It's a completely straightforward, single-impact scenario," MacLeod, whose findings appear in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, said in an interview. "It was a haymaker that nobody saw coming. One shot, and that's all you need to explain it."
Scientists believe that an asteroid about 6 miles wide hurtled to Earth 65.5 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period, plunging into what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to carve out the Chicxulub (pronounced CHIK-shu-loob) crater measuring about 110 miles across.
To put it mildly, it was a bad day to live on Earth.
The impact triggered a worldwide environmental catastrophe, many scientists believe, expelling vast quantities of rock and dust into the sky, unleashing giant tsunamis, sparking global wildfires and leaving Earth shrouded in darkness for years.
The dinosaurs, which had ruled for 160 million years, were wiped out. So were large marine reptiles like the mosasaurs and the plesiosaurs, the flying reptiles known as pterosaurs, the tentacled ammonites that populated the seas and many species of marine plankton. The birds suffered losses but survived.
The mammals made it through as well, allowing these warm-blooded, furry little creatures to eventually dominate the land and ultimately setting the stage for the rise of human beings.
EVIDENCE IN THE ROCK
Evidence of the single-asteroid calamity, in the form of debris from the impact scattered worldwide, is contained in rocks dating back to 65 million years ago.
Scientists 26 years ago found a band of iridium -- a metal rare on Earth but common in meteorites -- dating to the end of the Cretaceous Period that suggested a big space rock had smashed into the Earth and blasted its remains around the globe. The subsequent discovery of the Chicxulub crater, dating to the same time, was hailed by many as the smoking gun.
But a group of researchers led by Princeton University's Gerta Keller has advanced a competing theory that the impact that created the Chicxulub crater actually predated the end of the dinosaurs by 300,000 years and did not cause the mass extinction.
They propose that one or more additional big hunks of space rock later hit the Earth and finished the job, but the impact craters they would have left behind have not yet been found.
MacLeod's team examined sediment drilled far below the sea surface about 2,800 miles from the Yucatan impact site, a location they believed to be ideal. Any rock samples taken too close to the crater may be altered by events that occurred immediately after the impact, like waves, earthquakes and landslides. Samples taken too far away may contain too little debris evidence from the impact.
The samples they examined boasted a telltale layer of impact-related material, but there was none on top or below -- indicating, they argued, there were no other impacts.
Keller said MacLeod's research does not settle the matter.
"Unfortunately, these claims are rather hyper-inflated and do not withstand close examination," Keller said by e-mail.
By Will Dunham
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Galactic Baby Boom Influenced Life on Earth
The stellar baby boom period of the Milky Way sparked a flowering and crashing of life here on Earth, a new study suggests.
Some 2.4 billion years ago when the Milky Way started upping its star production, cosmic rays--high-speed atomic particles--started pouring onto our planet, causing instability within the living. Populations of bacteria and algae repeatedly soared and crashed in the oceans.
The researchers counted the amount of carbon-13 within sedimentary rocks, the most common rocks exposed on the Earth's surface. When algae and bacteria were growing in the oceans, they took in carbon-12, so the ocean had an abundance of carbon-13.
Many sea creatures use carbon-13 to make their shells. If there is a lot of carbon-13 stored in rocks, it means life, the origin of which is still unknown, was booming. Therefore, variations in carbon-13 are a good indicator of the productivity of life on Earth.
The researchers found that the biggest fluctuation in productivity coincided with star formation, which had an affect on Earth's climate and therefore on the productivity of life on our planet.
According to one theory, when a star explodes far away in the Milky Way, cosmic rays penetrate through the Earth's atmosphere and produce ions and free electrons. The released electrons act as catalysts and accelerate the formation of small clusters of sulfuric acid and water molecules, the building blocks of clouds. Therefore, cosmic rays increase cloud cover on Earth, reflecting sunlight and keeping the planet relatively cool.
Although cold and icy times are generally considered unfriendly to life, the data reveals that biological productivity kept oscillating between very high and very low. The reason, the researchers suggest, is that stronger winds during icy epochs stirred the oceans and improved the supply of nutrients in the surface waters.
"The odds are 10,000-to-1 against this unexpected link between cosmic rays and the variable state of the biosphere being just a coincidence, and it offers a new perspective on the connection between the evolution of the Milky Way and the entire history of life over the last 4 billion years," said study author Henrik Svensmark of the Danish National Space Center.
The study was detailed in a recent issue of the journal Astronomische Nachrichten.
This article is part of SPACE.com's weekly Mystery Monday series.
The Strangest Things in Space
Cosmic Rays Linked to Global Warming
Baffled Scientists Say Less Sunlight Reaching Earth
How Life Began: New Research Suggests Simple Approach
Original Story: Galactic Baby Boom Influenced Life on Earth
Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures, Space Videos, Space Image of the Day, Hot Topics, Top 10s, Multimedia, Trivia, Voting and Amazing Images. Follow the latest developments in the search for life in our universe in our SETI: Search for Life section. Join the community, sign up for our free daily email newsletter, listen to our Podcasts, check out our RSS feeds and other Reader Favorites today!
Sara Goudarzi
Staff Writer
Some 2.4 billion years ago when the Milky Way started upping its star production, cosmic rays--high-speed atomic particles--started pouring onto our planet, causing instability within the living. Populations of bacteria and algae repeatedly soared and crashed in the oceans.
The researchers counted the amount of carbon-13 within sedimentary rocks, the most common rocks exposed on the Earth's surface. When algae and bacteria were growing in the oceans, they took in carbon-12, so the ocean had an abundance of carbon-13.
Many sea creatures use carbon-13 to make their shells. If there is a lot of carbon-13 stored in rocks, it means life, the origin of which is still unknown, was booming. Therefore, variations in carbon-13 are a good indicator of the productivity of life on Earth.
The researchers found that the biggest fluctuation in productivity coincided with star formation, which had an affect on Earth's climate and therefore on the productivity of life on our planet.
According to one theory, when a star explodes far away in the Milky Way, cosmic rays penetrate through the Earth's atmosphere and produce ions and free electrons. The released electrons act as catalysts and accelerate the formation of small clusters of sulfuric acid and water molecules, the building blocks of clouds. Therefore, cosmic rays increase cloud cover on Earth, reflecting sunlight and keeping the planet relatively cool.
Although cold and icy times are generally considered unfriendly to life, the data reveals that biological productivity kept oscillating between very high and very low. The reason, the researchers suggest, is that stronger winds during icy epochs stirred the oceans and improved the supply of nutrients in the surface waters.
"The odds are 10,000-to-1 against this unexpected link between cosmic rays and the variable state of the biosphere being just a coincidence, and it offers a new perspective on the connection between the evolution of the Milky Way and the entire history of life over the last 4 billion years," said study author Henrik Svensmark of the Danish National Space Center.
The study was detailed in a recent issue of the journal Astronomische Nachrichten.
This article is part of SPACE.com's weekly Mystery Monday series.
The Strangest Things in Space
Cosmic Rays Linked to Global Warming
Baffled Scientists Say Less Sunlight Reaching Earth
How Life Began: New Research Suggests Simple Approach
Original Story: Galactic Baby Boom Influenced Life on Earth
Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures, Space Videos, Space Image of the Day, Hot Topics, Top 10s, Multimedia, Trivia, Voting and Amazing Images. Follow the latest developments in the search for life in our universe in our SETI: Search for Life section. Join the community, sign up for our free daily email newsletter, listen to our Podcasts, check out our RSS feeds and other Reader Favorites today!
Sara Goudarzi
Staff Writer
Thursday, October 19, 2006
New image gives insight into colliding galaxies
A seemingly violent collision of two galaxies is in fact a fertile marriage that has birthed billions of new stars, and an image released on Tuesday gives astronomers their best view yet.
The new image of the Antennae galaxies allows astronomers working with the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope to distinguish between new stars and the star clusters that form them.
Most of these clusters, created in the collision of the two galaxies, will disperse within 10 million years but about 100 of the largest will grow into "globular clusters" -- large groups of stars found in many galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
The Antennae galaxies, 68 million light years from Earth, began to fuse 500 million years ago.
A light year is the distance light waves travel in one year -- about 6 trillion miles.
The image serves as a preview for the Milky Way's likely collision with the nearby Andromeda Galaxy, about 6 billion years from now.
Reuters
Friday, October 13, 2006
Nobel Prize in Literature: Turkish author Orhan Pamuk wins
Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, author of "My Name is Red", "Snow" and half-a-dozen other novels, won the Nobel Literature Prize for a body of work that probes the crossroads of Muslim and Western cultures.
The Swedish Academy said Pamuk "in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city (Istanbul) has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures."
Pamuk said he was honored to be awarded the prize.
"It's such a great honor, such a great pleasure," Pamuk told journalists at Columbia University in New York, where he studied as a visiting scholar in the 1980s. "I'm very happy about the prize."
The boyish Turkish author, who is now a fellow at Columbia, said the award was a cause for celebration not just for him, but his country and culture.
"I think that this is first of all an honour bestowed upon the Turkish language, Turkish culture, Turkey and also recognition of my labours ... my humble devotion to that great art of the novel," he said.
The 54-year-old writer is Turkey's best-known author at home and abroad, but also a political rebel whose pronouncements on his country's history have put its respect for freedom of expression under the international spotlight.
"In his home country, Pamuk has a reputation as a social commentator even though he sees himself principally a fiction writer with no political agenda," the Nobel jury noted.
Turkey's decades-old striving to become European -- characterized by clashes between Islam and secularism, tradition and modernity -- along with the painful impact of an aggressive Westernization after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, permeate Pamuk's writing.
Pamuk was the first author in the Muslim world to publicly condemn the 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and he took a stand for his Turkish colleague Yasar Kemal when the latter was put on trial in 1995.
Pamuk himself faced prosecution after telling a Swiss newspaper last year that 30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians had been killed during World War I under the Ottoman Turks.
The charges against him sparked widespread international protest, and were dropped earlier this year.
Just hours before the Swedish Academy made its announcement, the French lower house of parliament approved a bill making it a punishable offence to deny that the massacre of Armenians constituted genocide.
He declined to be drawn by reporters' questions on the issue on Thursday.
"This is a time for celebration, for enjoying this, rather than making political comments," he told journalists.
When pushed, he said: "This is a day for celebration, for being positive. I have lots of critical energy deep in me but I'm not going to express it today."
Joy at his achievement was particularly effusive in Turkey.
"It is great happiness for us all that a Turkish writer has won such a prestigious award," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters.
And French President Jacques Chirac added his voice to the congratulations, saying he was "delighted" Pamuk had won the prize and that his "reflection on society is... intelligent, strong and liberal".
Pamuk is the first Turk to win the prestigious prize, and had been rumoured as one of the frontrunners this year.
A chain-smoker, he mostly shuns the public eye, writing for long hours in an Istanbul flat overlooking the bridge over the Bosphorus linking Europe and Asia.
Born in 1952 into a prosperous, secular family, Pamuk was intent on becoming a painter in his youth. He studied architecture at Istanbul Technical University but later turned to writing and studied journalism in Istanbul.
He published his prize-winning first novel, "Cevdet Bey and His Sons", in 1982, a family chronicle in which he describes the shift from a traditional Ottoman family environment to a more Western lifestyle.
His second novel, "The House of Silence", came out in 1983, but it was his third book, "The White Castle", published two years later, that gave him an international reputation.
Structured as a historical novel set in 17th century Istanbul, it is "on a symbolic level, the European novel captured then allied with an alien culture," the Swedish Academy said.
With the 2000 book "My Name is Red" -- a love story, murder mystery and discussion on the role of individuality in art -- Pamuk explores the relationship between East and West, describing an artist's different relationship to his work in each culture.
His latest novel is the critically-acclaimed "Snow", set in Turkey's border town of Kars, once a border city between the Ottoman and Russian empires.
"The novel becomes a tale of love and poetic creativity just as it knowledgeably describes the political and religious conflicts that characterise Turkish society of our day," the Academy commented.
Pamuk will take home the prize sum of 10 million kronor (1.07 million euros, 1.37 million dollars).
He will receive the Nobel Prize, which also consists of a gold medal and a diploma, from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.
by Pia Ohlin
The Swedish Academy said Pamuk "in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city (Istanbul) has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures."
Pamuk said he was honored to be awarded the prize.
"It's such a great honor, such a great pleasure," Pamuk told journalists at Columbia University in New York, where he studied as a visiting scholar in the 1980s. "I'm very happy about the prize."
The boyish Turkish author, who is now a fellow at Columbia, said the award was a cause for celebration not just for him, but his country and culture.
"I think that this is first of all an honour bestowed upon the Turkish language, Turkish culture, Turkey and also recognition of my labours ... my humble devotion to that great art of the novel," he said.
The 54-year-old writer is Turkey's best-known author at home and abroad, but also a political rebel whose pronouncements on his country's history have put its respect for freedom of expression under the international spotlight.
"In his home country, Pamuk has a reputation as a social commentator even though he sees himself principally a fiction writer with no political agenda," the Nobel jury noted.
Turkey's decades-old striving to become European -- characterized by clashes between Islam and secularism, tradition and modernity -- along with the painful impact of an aggressive Westernization after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, permeate Pamuk's writing.
Pamuk was the first author in the Muslim world to publicly condemn the 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and he took a stand for his Turkish colleague Yasar Kemal when the latter was put on trial in 1995.
Pamuk himself faced prosecution after telling a Swiss newspaper last year that 30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians had been killed during World War I under the Ottoman Turks.
The charges against him sparked widespread international protest, and were dropped earlier this year.
Just hours before the Swedish Academy made its announcement, the French lower house of parliament approved a bill making it a punishable offence to deny that the massacre of Armenians constituted genocide.
He declined to be drawn by reporters' questions on the issue on Thursday.
"This is a time for celebration, for enjoying this, rather than making political comments," he told journalists.
When pushed, he said: "This is a day for celebration, for being positive. I have lots of critical energy deep in me but I'm not going to express it today."
Joy at his achievement was particularly effusive in Turkey.
"It is great happiness for us all that a Turkish writer has won such a prestigious award," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters.
And French President Jacques Chirac added his voice to the congratulations, saying he was "delighted" Pamuk had won the prize and that his "reflection on society is... intelligent, strong and liberal".
Pamuk is the first Turk to win the prestigious prize, and had been rumoured as one of the frontrunners this year.
A chain-smoker, he mostly shuns the public eye, writing for long hours in an Istanbul flat overlooking the bridge over the Bosphorus linking Europe and Asia.
Born in 1952 into a prosperous, secular family, Pamuk was intent on becoming a painter in his youth. He studied architecture at Istanbul Technical University but later turned to writing and studied journalism in Istanbul.
He published his prize-winning first novel, "Cevdet Bey and His Sons", in 1982, a family chronicle in which he describes the shift from a traditional Ottoman family environment to a more Western lifestyle.
His second novel, "The House of Silence", came out in 1983, but it was his third book, "The White Castle", published two years later, that gave him an international reputation.
Structured as a historical novel set in 17th century Istanbul, it is "on a symbolic level, the European novel captured then allied with an alien culture," the Swedish Academy said.
With the 2000 book "My Name is Red" -- a love story, murder mystery and discussion on the role of individuality in art -- Pamuk explores the relationship between East and West, describing an artist's different relationship to his work in each culture.
His latest novel is the critically-acclaimed "Snow", set in Turkey's border town of Kars, once a border city between the Ottoman and Russian empires.
"The novel becomes a tale of love and poetic creativity just as it knowledgeably describes the political and religious conflicts that characterise Turkish society of our day," the Academy commented.
Pamuk will take home the prize sum of 10 million kronor (1.07 million euros, 1.37 million dollars).
He will receive the Nobel Prize, which also consists of a gold medal and a diploma, from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.
by Pia Ohlin
Nobel Peace Prize: Yunus, Grameen Bank win
Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the bank he founded won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for pioneering the use of microcredit, the extension of small loans to benefit poor entrepreneurs.
Grameen Bank has been instrumental in helping millions of poor Bangladeshis, many of them women, improve their standard of living by letting them borrow tiny sums to start businesses.
Loans go toward buying items such as cows to start a dairy, chickens for an egg business, or cell phones to start businesses where villagers who have no access to phones pay a small fee to make calls.
"Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty," the Nobel Committee said.
Yunus said the award was "great news" for his homeland.
"I am so so happy," Yunus told The Associated Press when reached by telephone at his Dhaka home shortly after the prize was announced.
Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1976, after lending $27 out of his pocket to help 42 women in Bangladesh buy weaving stools.
"They got the weaving stools quickly, they started to weave quickly and they repaid him quickly," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the committee.
"Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development," the Nobel Committee said in its citation.
Today the bank claims to have 6.6 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women, and provides services in more than 70,000 villages in Bangladesh. Its model of micro-financing has inspired similar efforts around the world.
"At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable," the committee said.
Yunus and the bank will share in the $1.4 million prize as well as a gold medal and diploma.
The peace prize was the sixth and last Nobel prize announced this year. The others, for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and economics, were announced in Stockholm, Sweden.
By DOUG MELLGREN
Grameen Bank has been instrumental in helping millions of poor Bangladeshis, many of them women, improve their standard of living by letting them borrow tiny sums to start businesses.
Loans go toward buying items such as cows to start a dairy, chickens for an egg business, or cell phones to start businesses where villagers who have no access to phones pay a small fee to make calls.
"Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty," the Nobel Committee said.
Yunus said the award was "great news" for his homeland.
"I am so so happy," Yunus told The Associated Press when reached by telephone at his Dhaka home shortly after the prize was announced.
Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1976, after lending $27 out of his pocket to help 42 women in Bangladesh buy weaving stools.
"They got the weaving stools quickly, they started to weave quickly and they repaid him quickly," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the committee.
"Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development," the Nobel Committee said in its citation.
Today the bank claims to have 6.6 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women, and provides services in more than 70,000 villages in Bangladesh. Its model of micro-financing has inspired similar efforts around the world.
"At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable," the committee said.
Yunus and the bank will share in the $1.4 million prize as well as a gold medal and diploma.
The peace prize was the sixth and last Nobel prize announced this year. The others, for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and economics, were announced in Stockholm, Sweden.
By DOUG MELLGREN
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Nobel Economie Prize: Jobs and Inflation
An American economist who developed theories about unemployment that better capture how workers and companies make decisions about jobs has been named winner of the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Edmund S. Phelps, a professor at Columbia University in New York, was cited yesterday for research into the relationship between inflation and unemployment, giving governments better tools to formulate economic policy.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which announced Phelps's selection in Stockholm, said in its citation that his work ``has fundamentally altered our views on how the macroeconomy operates."
Americans have swept all the Nobels disclosed so far this year, with Phelps being the sixth named for one of the prestigious awards. The economics prize carries an award of $1.4 million.
The winner of the Nobel for literature will be unveiled Thursday, followed by the peace prize on Friday.
Phelps said he had waited for the award for a long time, but wasn't expecting it this year. ``I thought for a time I would get it in my 60s, then I thought I would get it in my 70s, and, more recently, I've been thinking that I would get it in my 80s," he said.
The Swedish academy cited research by Phelps that challenged the view that there was a predictable tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. That view held that any government wanting to reduce joblessness by stimulating the economy would have to tolerate rising prices.
Phelps argued that this view didn't take workers' or companies' decision-making into account, and his research showed that their expectations about both unemployment and inflation affected their actions.
Edmund S. Phelps
Edmund S. Phelps became the first solo winner of the economics prize since 1999.
Age: 73
Education: Bachelor's degree from Amherst College, 1955; master's degree from Yale University, 1956; and PhD from Yale, 1959.
What he does now: Director of Columbia University's Center on Capitalism and Society, now part of the Earth Institute headed by former Harvard University economics professor Jeffrey Sachs.
His theory: Phelps looked at the relationship between inflation and unemployment and showed there is a "natural" rate of unemployment, below which inflation pressures are likely to intensify.
Why his work matters: His theories led to increased vigilance against inflation at the Federal Reserve and other major central banks.
By Associated Press
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Edmund S. Phelps, a professor at Columbia University in New York, was cited yesterday for research into the relationship between inflation and unemployment, giving governments better tools to formulate economic policy.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which announced Phelps's selection in Stockholm, said in its citation that his work ``has fundamentally altered our views on how the macroeconomy operates."
Americans have swept all the Nobels disclosed so far this year, with Phelps being the sixth named for one of the prestigious awards. The economics prize carries an award of $1.4 million.
The winner of the Nobel for literature will be unveiled Thursday, followed by the peace prize on Friday.
Phelps said he had waited for the award for a long time, but wasn't expecting it this year. ``I thought for a time I would get it in my 60s, then I thought I would get it in my 70s, and, more recently, I've been thinking that I would get it in my 80s," he said.
The Swedish academy cited research by Phelps that challenged the view that there was a predictable tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. That view held that any government wanting to reduce joblessness by stimulating the economy would have to tolerate rising prices.
Phelps argued that this view didn't take workers' or companies' decision-making into account, and his research showed that their expectations about both unemployment and inflation affected their actions.
Edmund S. Phelps
Edmund S. Phelps became the first solo winner of the economics prize since 1999.
Age: 73
Education: Bachelor's degree from Amherst College, 1955; master's degree from Yale University, 1956; and PhD from Yale, 1959.
What he does now: Director of Columbia University's Center on Capitalism and Society, now part of the Earth Institute headed by former Harvard University economics professor Jeffrey Sachs.
His theory: Phelps looked at the relationship between inflation and unemployment and showed there is a "natural" rate of unemployment, below which inflation pressures are likely to intensify.
Why his work matters: His theories led to increased vigilance against inflation at the Federal Reserve and other major central banks.
By Associated Press
Saturday, October 07, 2006
"Monster" fossil found in Jurassic graveyard
Scientists have found a fossil of a "Monster" fish-like reptile in a 150 million-year-old Jurassic graveyard on an Arctic island off Norway.
The Norwegian researchers discovered remains of a total of 28 plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs -- top marine predators when dinosaurs dominated on land -- at a site on the island of Spitsbergen, about 1,300 km (800 miles) from the North Pole.
"One of them was this gigantic monster, with vertebrae the size of dinner plates and teeth the size of cucumbers," Joern Hurum, an assistant professor at the University of Oslo, told Reuters on Thursday.
"We believe the skeleton is intact and that it's about 10 meters (33 feet) long," he told Reuters of the pliosaur, a type of plesiosaur with a short neck and massive skull. The team dubbed the specimen "The Monster."
Such pliosaurs are known from remains in countries including Britain and Argentina but no complete skeleton has been found, he said. The skull of the pliosaur -- perhaps a distant relative to Scotland's mythical Loch Ness monster -- was among the biggest on record.
Scientists would return next year to try to excavate the entire fossil, buried on a hillside.
Plesiosaurs, which swam with two sets of flippers, often preyed on smaller dolphin-like ichthyosaurs. All went extinct when the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.
The scientists rated the fossil graveyard "one of the most important new sites for marine reptiles to have been discovered in the last several decades."
"It is rare to find so many fossils in the same place -- carcasses are food for other animals and usually get torn apart," Hurum said.
Hurum reckoned the reptiles had not all died at the same time in some Jurassic-era cataclysm but had died over thousands of years in the same area, then become preserved in what was apparently a deep layer of black mud on the seabed.
At that time, the area of Spitsbergen under water several hundred km (miles) further south, around the latitude of Anchorage or Oslo.
Hurum said the presence of fossils was also an interesting pointer for geologists hunting for oil and gas deposits in the Barents Sea to the east. "A skull we found even smells of petrol," he said.
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
The Norwegian researchers discovered remains of a total of 28 plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs -- top marine predators when dinosaurs dominated on land -- at a site on the island of Spitsbergen, about 1,300 km (800 miles) from the North Pole.
"One of them was this gigantic monster, with vertebrae the size of dinner plates and teeth the size of cucumbers," Joern Hurum, an assistant professor at the University of Oslo, told Reuters on Thursday.
"We believe the skeleton is intact and that it's about 10 meters (33 feet) long," he told Reuters of the pliosaur, a type of plesiosaur with a short neck and massive skull. The team dubbed the specimen "The Monster."
Such pliosaurs are known from remains in countries including Britain and Argentina but no complete skeleton has been found, he said. The skull of the pliosaur -- perhaps a distant relative to Scotland's mythical Loch Ness monster -- was among the biggest on record.
Scientists would return next year to try to excavate the entire fossil, buried on a hillside.
Plesiosaurs, which swam with two sets of flippers, often preyed on smaller dolphin-like ichthyosaurs. All went extinct when the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.
The scientists rated the fossil graveyard "one of the most important new sites for marine reptiles to have been discovered in the last several decades."
"It is rare to find so many fossils in the same place -- carcasses are food for other animals and usually get torn apart," Hurum said.
Hurum reckoned the reptiles had not all died at the same time in some Jurassic-era cataclysm but had died over thousands of years in the same area, then become preserved in what was apparently a deep layer of black mud on the seabed.
At that time, the area of Spitsbergen under water several hundred km (miles) further south, around the latitude of Anchorage or Oslo.
Hurum said the presence of fossils was also an interesting pointer for geologists hunting for oil and gas deposits in the Barents Sea to the east. "A skull we found even smells of petrol," he said.
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Mexican archeologists make major Aztec find
Mexican archeologists have made the most significant Aztec find in decades, unearthing a 15th century altar and a huge stone slab at a ruined temple in the throbbing heart of Mexico City.
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The works were uncovered last weekend at the Aztec empire's main Templo Mayor temple, near the central Zocalo square, which was used for worship and human sacrifice.
It was the most meaningful find since electricity workers stumbled upon an eight-tonne carving of an Aztec goddess at the same site in 1978.
"It is a very important discovery, the biggest we have made in 28 years. It will allow us to find out a lot more," Mexico City's mayor, Alejandro Encinas, said on Wednesday.
The altar has a frieze of the rain god Tlaloc and an agricultural deity.
Archeologists are still unearthing the 11-foot (3.5-m) monolith, which they think might be part of an entrance to an underground chamber.
At the site, excavators with pick axes and shovels hacked at the earth above the monolith while groups of archeologists, government officials and reporters waited around the deep pit.
"The importance of the monolith is what we are going to discover...It's likely that it is part of a chamber, of some offering. We won't know until we get close. First we have to get the stone out," said Alberto Diaz, a member of the archeological team.
The Aztecs, a warlike and deeply religious people who built monumental works, ruled an empire stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and encompassing much of modern-day central Mexico.
Their often bloody reign began in the 14th century and ended when they were subjugated in 1521 by the Spanish led by Hernan Cortes.
TALE OF THREE CITIES
The Aztecs began building the Templo Mayor pyramid-shaped temple in 1375. Its ruins are now only yards from downtown's choking traffic.
The temple was a center of human sacrifice. At one ceremony in 1487, historians say tens of thousands of victims were sacrificed, their hearts ripped out.
Spanish conquistadors destroyed the temple when they razed the city and used its stones to help build their own capital.
Now the site is surrounded by Spanish colonial buildings like Mexico City's cathedral and the historical National Palace as well as convenience stores and fast-food restaurants.
"Really, when we begin to excavate, we realize that we are in three different times, three different cities: You see the current city, the colonial city and the pre-Hispanic city," said Diaz.
By Gunther Hamm
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The works were uncovered last weekend at the Aztec empire's main Templo Mayor temple, near the central Zocalo square, which was used for worship and human sacrifice.
It was the most meaningful find since electricity workers stumbled upon an eight-tonne carving of an Aztec goddess at the same site in 1978.
"It is a very important discovery, the biggest we have made in 28 years. It will allow us to find out a lot more," Mexico City's mayor, Alejandro Encinas, said on Wednesday.
The altar has a frieze of the rain god Tlaloc and an agricultural deity.
Archeologists are still unearthing the 11-foot (3.5-m) monolith, which they think might be part of an entrance to an underground chamber.
At the site, excavators with pick axes and shovels hacked at the earth above the monolith while groups of archeologists, government officials and reporters waited around the deep pit.
"The importance of the monolith is what we are going to discover...It's likely that it is part of a chamber, of some offering. We won't know until we get close. First we have to get the stone out," said Alberto Diaz, a member of the archeological team.
The Aztecs, a warlike and deeply religious people who built monumental works, ruled an empire stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and encompassing much of modern-day central Mexico.
Their often bloody reign began in the 14th century and ended when they were subjugated in 1521 by the Spanish led by Hernan Cortes.
TALE OF THREE CITIES
The Aztecs began building the Templo Mayor pyramid-shaped temple in 1375. Its ruins are now only yards from downtown's choking traffic.
The temple was a center of human sacrifice. At one ceremony in 1487, historians say tens of thousands of victims were sacrificed, their hearts ripped out.
Spanish conquistadors destroyed the temple when they razed the city and used its stones to help build their own capital.
Now the site is surrounded by Spanish colonial buildings like Mexico City's cathedral and the historical National Palace as well as convenience stores and fast-food restaurants.
"Really, when we begin to excavate, we realize that we are in three different times, three different cities: You see the current city, the colonial city and the pre-Hispanic city," said Diaz.
By Gunther Hamm
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Genetic code, DNA, is copied by an Enzyme
this year's winner of the 2006 Nobel Chemistry Prize, has been immersed in research since childhood and comes from a family that lives and breathes science.
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Kornberg is not a stranger to the Nobels either. In 1959, as a wide-eyed 12-year-old, he accompanied his father Arthur to Stockholm to see him receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
At the time of his father's award, Kornberg junior was already interested in science.
"Science was part of our conversations at the dinner table and part of our afternoon and weekend activities ... and the joy of science was completely natural for me and my brothers," Kornberg once told a science journal.
Arthur Kornberg, now in his 80s, was honoured for advancing understanding on how genetic information is transferred from a mother cell to its daughters.
The younger Kornberg's achievement was to portray how the genetic code, DNA, is copied by an enzyme and the copy is then stored in the outer part of the cell, in a process called transcription.
His mother Sylvy Ruth Levy was also a biochemist of note and contributed significantly to her husband's discovery of DNA polymerase, the enzyme that assembles the building blocks into DNA.
The day after her husband was awarded the Nobel prize, she was quoted in a newspaper as saying "I was robbed".
Born in Saint-Louis in 1947, Roger D. Kornberg is the eldest of three brothers.
Thomas is a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco.
Even Kenneth, the youngest of the trio, has not entirely escaped the science bug. Although an architect, he specialises in laboratory design.
Roger Kornberg gained a degree in chemistry at Havard and earned his PhD, also in chemistry, from Stanford University.
Following postdoctoral work at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge, England, in 1978, he joined the staff there.
He later became part of the faculty in the Department of Biological Chemistry at Harvard Medical School in the United States. He returned to Stanford in 1984, where he worked as professor of structural biology until 2002.
The following year he took up his current post as professor of medicine at Stanford University Medical School in California.
Kornberg is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Kornberg is not a stranger to the Nobels either. In 1959, as a wide-eyed 12-year-old, he accompanied his father Arthur to Stockholm to see him receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
At the time of his father's award, Kornberg junior was already interested in science.
"Science was part of our conversations at the dinner table and part of our afternoon and weekend activities ... and the joy of science was completely natural for me and my brothers," Kornberg once told a science journal.
Arthur Kornberg, now in his 80s, was honoured for advancing understanding on how genetic information is transferred from a mother cell to its daughters.
The younger Kornberg's achievement was to portray how the genetic code, DNA, is copied by an enzyme and the copy is then stored in the outer part of the cell, in a process called transcription.
His mother Sylvy Ruth Levy was also a biochemist of note and contributed significantly to her husband's discovery of DNA polymerase, the enzyme that assembles the building blocks into DNA.
The day after her husband was awarded the Nobel prize, she was quoted in a newspaper as saying "I was robbed".
Born in Saint-Louis in 1947, Roger D. Kornberg is the eldest of three brothers.
Thomas is a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco.
Even Kenneth, the youngest of the trio, has not entirely escaped the science bug. Although an architect, he specialises in laboratory design.
Roger Kornberg gained a degree in chemistry at Havard and earned his PhD, also in chemistry, from Stanford University.
Following postdoctoral work at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge, England, in 1978, he joined the staff there.
He later became part of the faculty in the Department of Biological Chemistry at Harvard Medical School in the United States. He returned to Stanford in 1984, where he worked as professor of structural biology until 2002.
The following year he took up his current post as professor of medicine at Stanford University Medical School in California.
Kornberg is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Nobel Prize in Physics : The Origin of the Universe and How it grew into Galaxies
Two American astronomers who uncovered evidence about the origin of the universe and how it grew into galaxies were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics today.
The researchers, John Mather of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and George Smoot of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, will split the prize of 10 million Swedish kroners, about $1.37 million.
Dr. Mather and Dr. Smoot led a team of more than 1,000 scientists, engineers and technicians that built and launched the Cosmic Background Explorer, or Cobe, satellite in 1989 to study a haze of microwave radiation that is believed to be a remnant of the explosion that, according to the Big Bang theory, started the universe.
Cobe’s measurements of the temperature and distribution of the microwaves, including the detection of tantalizingly faint irregularities from which things like galaxies could have grown, were a resounding confirmation of the theory of a universe that was born in a terrific explosion of space and time 14 billion years ago and in which the ordinary matter that makes up stars and people is overwhelmed by some mysterious “dark matter.”
“What we have found is evidence for the birth of the universe and its evolution,” Dr. Smoot said in a press conference about the results in 1992. About a map showing the splotchy seeds of galaxy formation, he famously said, “If you are religious, it is like looking at God.”
Today’s announcement delighted astronomers who had long anticipated a Nobel for the Cobe work. In the wake of that research wake came a wave of Big Bang theorizing and a series of balloon and satellite experiments to provide increasingly detailed data on the cosmic microwaves, including NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Project, or WMAP, which is still orbiting and beaming down data contributing to the emerging picture of a preposterous universe, full of dark energy pushing it apart, as well as dark matter.
James Peebles, a Princeton cosmologist, said, “Cobe was deeply important: those two measurements set cosmology on the track to our present well-based theory of the expanding universe.”
Michael Turner, a cosmologist at the University of Chicago, said the Cobe measurements had ushered in an era of “precision cosmology” that continues to this day. “This is likely to the first of a number of prizes in cosmology in this golden age we find ourselves in.”
By DENNIS OVERBYE
The researchers, John Mather of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and George Smoot of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, will split the prize of 10 million Swedish kroners, about $1.37 million.
Dr. Mather and Dr. Smoot led a team of more than 1,000 scientists, engineers and technicians that built and launched the Cosmic Background Explorer, or Cobe, satellite in 1989 to study a haze of microwave radiation that is believed to be a remnant of the explosion that, according to the Big Bang theory, started the universe.
Cobe’s measurements of the temperature and distribution of the microwaves, including the detection of tantalizingly faint irregularities from which things like galaxies could have grown, were a resounding confirmation of the theory of a universe that was born in a terrific explosion of space and time 14 billion years ago and in which the ordinary matter that makes up stars and people is overwhelmed by some mysterious “dark matter.”
“What we have found is evidence for the birth of the universe and its evolution,” Dr. Smoot said in a press conference about the results in 1992. About a map showing the splotchy seeds of galaxy formation, he famously said, “If you are religious, it is like looking at God.”
Today’s announcement delighted astronomers who had long anticipated a Nobel for the Cobe work. In the wake of that research wake came a wave of Big Bang theorizing and a series of balloon and satellite experiments to provide increasingly detailed data on the cosmic microwaves, including NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Project, or WMAP, which is still orbiting and beaming down data contributing to the emerging picture of a preposterous universe, full of dark energy pushing it apart, as well as dark matter.
James Peebles, a Princeton cosmologist, said, “Cobe was deeply important: those two measurements set cosmology on the track to our present well-based theory of the expanding universe.”
Michael Turner, a cosmologist at the University of Chicago, said the Cobe measurements had ushered in an era of “precision cosmology” that continues to this day. “This is likely to the first of a number of prizes in cosmology in this golden age we find ourselves in.”
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Monday, October 02, 2006
Nobel Prize in physiology or Medicine: Turn off the Effect of Specific Genes
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Americans Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Monday for discovering a way to turn off the effect of specific genes.
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"RNA interference" is already being widely used in basic science as a method to study the function of genes and it is being studied as a treatment for virus infections, heart diseases, cancer and several other conditions.
Fire, of Stanford University, and Mello, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, published their seminal work in 1998.
RNA interference occurs naturally in plants, animals, and humans. The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which awarded the prize, said it is important for regulating the activity of genes and helps defend against viral infection.
"This year's Nobel laureates have discovered a fundamental mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information," the institute said.
Genes produce their effect by sending molecules called messenger RNA to the protein-making machinery of a cell. In RNA interference, certain molecules trigger the destruction of RNA from a particular gene, so that no protein is produced. Thus the gene is effectively silenced.
Fire, who conducted the research while at the Carnegie Institution, said he was honored that the work "has received such positive attention."
"Science is a group effort. Please recognize that the recent progress in the field of RNA-based gene silencing has involved original scientific inquiry from research groups around the world," he said in a statement released by the Carnegie Institution.
The announcement opened this year's series of prize announcements. It will be followed by Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics.
Last year's medicine prize went to Australians Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren for discovering that bacteria, not stress, causes ulcers.
The Nobel committees do not reveal who has been nominated for the awards, but that does not stop experts and Nobel-watchers from speculating on potential winners.
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in his will in the categories of literature, peace, medicine, physics and chemistry. The economics prize is technically not a Nobel but a 1968 creation of Sweden's central bank.
Winners receive a check of $1.4 million, handshakes with Scandinavian royalty, and a banquet on Dec. 10 — the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896. All prizes are handed out in Stockholm except for the peace prize, which is presented in Oslo.
By MATT MOORE and KARL RITTER, Associated Press Writers
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"RNA interference" is already being widely used in basic science as a method to study the function of genes and it is being studied as a treatment for virus infections, heart diseases, cancer and several other conditions.
Fire, of Stanford University, and Mello, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, published their seminal work in 1998.
RNA interference occurs naturally in plants, animals, and humans. The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which awarded the prize, said it is important for regulating the activity of genes and helps defend against viral infection.
"This year's Nobel laureates have discovered a fundamental mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information," the institute said.
Genes produce their effect by sending molecules called messenger RNA to the protein-making machinery of a cell. In RNA interference, certain molecules trigger the destruction of RNA from a particular gene, so that no protein is produced. Thus the gene is effectively silenced.
Fire, who conducted the research while at the Carnegie Institution, said he was honored that the work "has received such positive attention."
"Science is a group effort. Please recognize that the recent progress in the field of RNA-based gene silencing has involved original scientific inquiry from research groups around the world," he said in a statement released by the Carnegie Institution.
The announcement opened this year's series of prize announcements. It will be followed by Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics.
Last year's medicine prize went to Australians Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren for discovering that bacteria, not stress, causes ulcers.
The Nobel committees do not reveal who has been nominated for the awards, but that does not stop experts and Nobel-watchers from speculating on potential winners.
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in his will in the categories of literature, peace, medicine, physics and chemistry. The economics prize is technically not a Nobel but a 1968 creation of Sweden's central bank.
Winners receive a check of $1.4 million, handshakes with Scandinavian royalty, and a banquet on Dec. 10 — the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896. All prizes are handed out in Stockholm except for the peace prize, which is presented in Oslo.
By MATT MOORE and KARL RITTER, Associated Press Writers
Friday, September 22, 2006
Remains of earliest child discovered in Ethiopia
A 3.3 million-year-old skeleton of the earliest child ever found shows the ancient ancestor of modern humans walked upright but may also have climbed trees, scientists said on Wednesday.
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They found the well-preserved remains of a three-year-old girl of the species Australopithecus afarensis -- which includes the fossil skeleton known as "Lucy" -- in the Dikika area of Ethiopia, 400 kms northeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
"It represents the earliest and most complete partial skeleton of a child ever found in the history of paeleoanthropology," said Dr Zeresenay Alemseged, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
The skull, torso and upper and lower limbs, including the hand, show both human and ape-like features. The state of the ancient bones suggest she was buried in a flood which may also have caused her death.
The remains provide the first evidence of what babies of early human ancestors looked like. The nearly complete skeleton will also provide information about the child's height and structure.
"This child will help us understand a lot about the species to which it belongs," said Alemseged, leader of the international team of scientists who reported the findings in the journal Nature.
"The lower part of the body, which includes the foot, the shin bone and the thigh bone clearly shows us that this species was an upright walking creature," he told Reuters.
But some of the features from the upper part of the body, including the shoulder blade and arms are more ape-like. The fingers are long and curved which suggest she might have been able to swing through trees.
"The finding is the most complete hominid skeleton ever found in the world," Zeresenay Alemseged, who is head of the Paleoanthropological Research Team, told a news conference in Addis Ababa.
He said the fossil was older than the 3.2-million-year-old remains of "Lucy" discovered in 1974 and described by scientists as one of the world's greatest archaeological finds.
"The new bones belong to a three-year-old girl who lived 3.3 million years ago, 150,000 years before Lucy," Zeresenay said.
The fossil has been named "Selam," which means peace in Ethiopia's official Amharic language.
JUVENILE "LUCY"
Dr Simon Underdown of Oxford Brookes University in England described it as a massively exciting discovery of a juvenile "Lucy." "This tremendous fossil will make us challenge many of the ideas we have about how and why we came to walk on two feet," he said.
An analysis of the sediment in which the remains were found enabled researchers to build a picture of the type of environment in which the child lived.
It was a lush area with flowing water, forests and grassland which was also affected by volcanic eruptions. The range of habitats was suitable for hippos, crocodiles and relatives of the wildebeest.
"We can see from the sediment that the region was very much characterized by a mosaic of environment that ranged from forests and woodlands near the rivers, to seasonally flooded grasslands to a flood plain that would have supported more open vegetation," said Dr Jonathan Wynn of the University of South Florida who dated the sediments surrounding the remains.
By Patricia Reaney
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They found the well-preserved remains of a three-year-old girl of the species Australopithecus afarensis -- which includes the fossil skeleton known as "Lucy" -- in the Dikika area of Ethiopia, 400 kms northeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
"It represents the earliest and most complete partial skeleton of a child ever found in the history of paeleoanthropology," said Dr Zeresenay Alemseged, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
The skull, torso and upper and lower limbs, including the hand, show both human and ape-like features. The state of the ancient bones suggest she was buried in a flood which may also have caused her death.
The remains provide the first evidence of what babies of early human ancestors looked like. The nearly complete skeleton will also provide information about the child's height and structure.
"This child will help us understand a lot about the species to which it belongs," said Alemseged, leader of the international team of scientists who reported the findings in the journal Nature.
"The lower part of the body, which includes the foot, the shin bone and the thigh bone clearly shows us that this species was an upright walking creature," he told Reuters.
But some of the features from the upper part of the body, including the shoulder blade and arms are more ape-like. The fingers are long and curved which suggest she might have been able to swing through trees.
"The finding is the most complete hominid skeleton ever found in the world," Zeresenay Alemseged, who is head of the Paleoanthropological Research Team, told a news conference in Addis Ababa.
He said the fossil was older than the 3.2-million-year-old remains of "Lucy" discovered in 1974 and described by scientists as one of the world's greatest archaeological finds.
"The new bones belong to a three-year-old girl who lived 3.3 million years ago, 150,000 years before Lucy," Zeresenay said.
The fossil has been named "Selam," which means peace in Ethiopia's official Amharic language.
JUVENILE "LUCY"
Dr Simon Underdown of Oxford Brookes University in England described it as a massively exciting discovery of a juvenile "Lucy." "This tremendous fossil will make us challenge many of the ideas we have about how and why we came to walk on two feet," he said.
An analysis of the sediment in which the remains were found enabled researchers to build a picture of the type of environment in which the child lived.
It was a lush area with flowing water, forests and grassland which was also affected by volcanic eruptions. The range of habitats was suitable for hippos, crocodiles and relatives of the wildebeest.
"We can see from the sediment that the region was very much characterized by a mosaic of environment that ranged from forests and woodlands near the rivers, to seasonally flooded grasslands to a flood plain that would have supported more open vegetation," said Dr Jonathan Wynn of the University of South Florida who dated the sediments surrounding the remains.
By Patricia Reaney
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Timeline: 50 Years of Hard Drives
Over the past five decades, hard drives have come a long way. Travel through time with us as we chronicle 50 milestones in hard-drive development--from product firsts to new technologies, and everything in between.
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1956: IBM ships the first hard drive, the RAMAC 305, which holds 5MB of data at $10,000 a megabyte. It is as big as two refrigerators and uses 50 24-inch platters. (For the full story and interviews with key players, read "The Hard Drive Turns 50.")
1961: IBM invents heads for disk drives that "fly" on a cushion of air or on "air bearings."
1963: IBM comes up with the first removable hard drive, the 1311, which has six 14-inch platters and holds 2.6MB.
1966: IBM introduces the first drive using a wound-coil ferrite recording head.
1970: General Digital Corporation (renamed Western Digital in 1971) is founded in California.
1973: IBM announces the 3340, the first modern "Winchester" hard drive, which has a sealed assembly, lubricated spindles, and low-mass heads.
1978: First RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) technology patent is filed. (Read "How to Buy a Hard Drive: Key Features" for a description of this technology.)
1979: A group headed by Al Shugart founds disk-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology.
1979: IBM's 3370 uses seven 14-inch platters to store 571MB, the first drive to use thin-film heads.
1979: IBM's 62 PC, "Piccolo," uses six 8-inch platters to store 64MB.
1979: Seagate introduces the ST-506 drive and interface, which is then used in all early microcomputer implementations.
1980: IBM introduces the first gigabyte hard drive. It is the size of a refrigerator, weighs about 550 pounds, and costs $40,000.
1980: Seagate releases the first 5.25-inch hard disk.
1981: Shugart Associates joins NCR to develop an intelligent disk drive interface called the Shugart Associates Systems Interface (SASI), a predecessor to SCSI (Small Computer System Interface).
1982: Western Digital announces the first single-chip Winchester hard drive controller (WD1010).
1983: Rodime releases the first 3.5-inch hard drive; the RO352 includes two platters and stores 10MB.
1984: Western Digital makes the first Winchester hard drive controller card for the IBM PC/AT--and sets an industry standard.
1985: Control Data, Compaq Computer, and Western Digital collaborate to develop the 40-pin IDE interface. IDE stands for Intelligent Drive Electronics, more commonly known as Integrated Drive Electronics.
1985: Imprimis integrates the first hard drive controller into a drive.
1985: Quantum introduces the Plus Hardcard, which allows the addition of a hard drive without an available bay or a separate controller card.
1985: Western Digital produces the first ESDI (Enhanced Small Device Interface) controller board, which allows larger capacity and faster hard drives to be used in PCs.
1986: The official SCSI spec is released; Apple Computer's Mac Plus is one of the first computers to use it.
1988: Prairie Tek releases the 220, the first 2.5-inch hard drive designed for the burgeoning notebook computer market; it uses two platters to store 20MB.
1988: Connor introduces the first 1-inch-high 3.5-inch hard drive, which is still the common form factor. Before this, hard drives were either full height or half-height.
1988: Western Digital buys the disk-drive assets of Tandon Corporation with an eye to manufacturing IDE drives.
1990: Western Digital introduces its first 3.5-inch Caviar IDE hard drive.
1991: IBM introduces the 0663 Corsair, the first disk drive with thin film magnetoresistive (MR) heads. It has eight 3.5-inch platters and stores 1GB. (The MR head was first introduced on an IBM tape drive in 1984.)
1991: Integral Peripherals' 1820 Mustang uses one 1.8-inch platter to store 21MB.
1992: Seagate comes out with the first shock-sensing 2.5-inch hard drive.
1992: Seagate is first to market with a 7200-revolutions-per-minute hard drive, the 2.1GB Barracuda.
1992: Hewlett-Packard's C3013A Kitty Hawk drive uses two 1.3-inch platters to store 2.1GB.
1994: Western Digital develops Enhanced IDE, an improved hard drive interface that breaks the 528MB-throughput barrier. EIDE also allows for attachment of optical and tape drives.
1996: IBM stores 1 billion bits per square inch on a platter.
1996: Seagate introduces its Cheetah family, the first 10,000-rpm hard drives.
1997: IBM introduces the first drive using giant magneto resistive (GMR) heads, the 16.8GB Deskstar 16GP Titan, which stores 16.8GB on five 3.5-inch platters.
1998: IBM announces its Microdrive, the smallest hard drive to date. It fits 340MB on a single 1-inch platter.
2000: Maxtor buys competitor Quantum's hard drive business. At the time, Quantum is the number-two drive maker, behind Seagate; this acquisition makes Maxtor the world's largest hard drive manufacturer.
2000: Seagate produces the first 15,000-rpm hard drive, the Cheetah X15.
2002: Seagate scores another first with the Barracuda ATA V Serial ATA hard drive.
2002: A demonstration by Seagate yields a perpendicular magnetic recording areal density of 100 gigabits per square inch.
2002: Among its many 2002 technology accomplishments, Seagate successfully demos Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording. HAMR records magnetically using laser-thermal assistance and ultimately aims to increase areal density by more than 100 times over 2002 levels.
2003: IBM sells its Data Storage Division to Hitachi, thus ending its involvement in developing and marketing disk drive technology.
2003: Western Digital introduces the first 10,000-rpm SATA hard drive, the 37GB Raptor, which is designed for the enterprise, but which gamers quickly learn is a hot desktop performer in dual-drive RAID setups.
2004: The first 0.85-inch hard drive, Toshiba's MK2001MTN, debuts. It stores 2GB on a single platter.
2005: Toshiba introduces its MK4007 GAL, which stores 40GB on one 1.8-inch platter, fielding the first hard drive using perpendicular magnetic recording.
2006: Seagate completes the acquisition of Maxtor, further narrowing the field of hard drive manufacturers.
2006: Seagate's Momentus 5400.3 notebook hard drive is the first 2.5-inch model to use perpendicular magnetic recording, which boosts its capacity up to 160GB.
2006: Seagate releases the Barracuda 7200.10, at 750GB the largest hard drive to date.
2006: Western Digital launches its 10,000-rpm Raptor X SATA hard drive, boosting its capacity to 150GB and placing a flashy transparent window that allows specially designed computer cases to showcase its inner workings.
2006: Cornice and Seagate each announce a 1-inch hard drive that holds 12GB. The drives are slated to ship in the third quarter of 2006.
Rex Farrance, PC World
ADVERTISEMENT
1956: IBM ships the first hard drive, the RAMAC 305, which holds 5MB of data at $10,000 a megabyte. It is as big as two refrigerators and uses 50 24-inch platters. (For the full story and interviews with key players, read "The Hard Drive Turns 50.")
1961: IBM invents heads for disk drives that "fly" on a cushion of air or on "air bearings."
1963: IBM comes up with the first removable hard drive, the 1311, which has six 14-inch platters and holds 2.6MB.
1966: IBM introduces the first drive using a wound-coil ferrite recording head.
1970: General Digital Corporation (renamed Western Digital in 1971) is founded in California.
1973: IBM announces the 3340, the first modern "Winchester" hard drive, which has a sealed assembly, lubricated spindles, and low-mass heads.
1978: First RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) technology patent is filed. (Read "How to Buy a Hard Drive: Key Features" for a description of this technology.)
1979: A group headed by Al Shugart founds disk-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology.
1979: IBM's 3370 uses seven 14-inch platters to store 571MB, the first drive to use thin-film heads.
1979: IBM's 62 PC, "Piccolo," uses six 8-inch platters to store 64MB.
1979: Seagate introduces the ST-506 drive and interface, which is then used in all early microcomputer implementations.
1980: IBM introduces the first gigabyte hard drive. It is the size of a refrigerator, weighs about 550 pounds, and costs $40,000.
1980: Seagate releases the first 5.25-inch hard disk.
1981: Shugart Associates joins NCR to develop an intelligent disk drive interface called the Shugart Associates Systems Interface (SASI), a predecessor to SCSI (Small Computer System Interface).
1982: Western Digital announces the first single-chip Winchester hard drive controller (WD1010).
1983: Rodime releases the first 3.5-inch hard drive; the RO352 includes two platters and stores 10MB.
1984: Western Digital makes the first Winchester hard drive controller card for the IBM PC/AT--and sets an industry standard.
1985: Control Data, Compaq Computer, and Western Digital collaborate to develop the 40-pin IDE interface. IDE stands for Intelligent Drive Electronics, more commonly known as Integrated Drive Electronics.
1985: Imprimis integrates the first hard drive controller into a drive.
1985: Quantum introduces the Plus Hardcard, which allows the addition of a hard drive without an available bay or a separate controller card.
1985: Western Digital produces the first ESDI (Enhanced Small Device Interface) controller board, which allows larger capacity and faster hard drives to be used in PCs.
1986: The official SCSI spec is released; Apple Computer's Mac Plus is one of the first computers to use it.
1988: Prairie Tek releases the 220, the first 2.5-inch hard drive designed for the burgeoning notebook computer market; it uses two platters to store 20MB.
1988: Connor introduces the first 1-inch-high 3.5-inch hard drive, which is still the common form factor. Before this, hard drives were either full height or half-height.
1988: Western Digital buys the disk-drive assets of Tandon Corporation with an eye to manufacturing IDE drives.
1990: Western Digital introduces its first 3.5-inch Caviar IDE hard drive.
1991: IBM introduces the 0663 Corsair, the first disk drive with thin film magnetoresistive (MR) heads. It has eight 3.5-inch platters and stores 1GB. (The MR head was first introduced on an IBM tape drive in 1984.)
1991: Integral Peripherals' 1820 Mustang uses one 1.8-inch platter to store 21MB.
1992: Seagate comes out with the first shock-sensing 2.5-inch hard drive.
1992: Seagate is first to market with a 7200-revolutions-per-minute hard drive, the 2.1GB Barracuda.
1992: Hewlett-Packard's C3013A Kitty Hawk drive uses two 1.3-inch platters to store 2.1GB.
1994: Western Digital develops Enhanced IDE, an improved hard drive interface that breaks the 528MB-throughput barrier. EIDE also allows for attachment of optical and tape drives.
1996: IBM stores 1 billion bits per square inch on a platter.
1996: Seagate introduces its Cheetah family, the first 10,000-rpm hard drives.
1997: IBM introduces the first drive using giant magneto resistive (GMR) heads, the 16.8GB Deskstar 16GP Titan, which stores 16.8GB on five 3.5-inch platters.
1998: IBM announces its Microdrive, the smallest hard drive to date. It fits 340MB on a single 1-inch platter.
2000: Maxtor buys competitor Quantum's hard drive business. At the time, Quantum is the number-two drive maker, behind Seagate; this acquisition makes Maxtor the world's largest hard drive manufacturer.
2000: Seagate produces the first 15,000-rpm hard drive, the Cheetah X15.
2002: Seagate scores another first with the Barracuda ATA V Serial ATA hard drive.
2002: A demonstration by Seagate yields a perpendicular magnetic recording areal density of 100 gigabits per square inch.
2002: Among its many 2002 technology accomplishments, Seagate successfully demos Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording. HAMR records magnetically using laser-thermal assistance and ultimately aims to increase areal density by more than 100 times over 2002 levels.
2003: IBM sells its Data Storage Division to Hitachi, thus ending its involvement in developing and marketing disk drive technology.
2003: Western Digital introduces the first 10,000-rpm SATA hard drive, the 37GB Raptor, which is designed for the enterprise, but which gamers quickly learn is a hot desktop performer in dual-drive RAID setups.
2004: The first 0.85-inch hard drive, Toshiba's MK2001MTN, debuts. It stores 2GB on a single platter.
2005: Toshiba introduces its MK4007 GAL, which stores 40GB on one 1.8-inch platter, fielding the first hard drive using perpendicular magnetic recording.
2006: Seagate completes the acquisition of Maxtor, further narrowing the field of hard drive manufacturers.
2006: Seagate's Momentus 5400.3 notebook hard drive is the first 2.5-inch model to use perpendicular magnetic recording, which boosts its capacity up to 160GB.
2006: Seagate releases the Barracuda 7200.10, at 750GB the largest hard drive to date.
2006: Western Digital launches its 10,000-rpm Raptor X SATA hard drive, boosting its capacity to 150GB and placing a flashy transparent window that allows specially designed computer cases to showcase its inner workings.
2006: Cornice and Seagate each announce a 1-inch hard drive that holds 12GB. The drives are slated to ship in the third quarter of 2006.
Rex Farrance, PC World
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Russian refuses math's highest honor
A reclusive Russian won the math world's highest honor Tuesday for solving a problem that has stumped some of the discipline's greatest minds for a century — but he refused the award.
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Grigory Perelman, a 40-year-old native of St. Petersburg, won a Fields Medal — often described as math's equivalent of the Nobel prize — for a breakthrough in the study of shapes that experts say might help scientists figure out the shape of the universe.
John Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union, said that he had urged Perelman to accept the medal, but Perelman said he felt isolated from the mathematics community and "does not want to be seen as its figurehead." Ball offered no further details of the conversation.
Besides shunning the award for his work in topology, Perelman also seems uninterested, according to colleagues, in a separate $1 million prize he could win for proving the Poincare conjecture, a theorem about the nature of multidimensional space.
The award, given out every four years, was announced at the mathematical union's International Congress of Mathematicians. Three other mathematicians — Russian Andrei Okounkov, Frenchman Wendelin Werner and Australian Terence Tao — won Fields medals in other areas of mathematics.
They received their awards from King Juan Carlos to loud applause from delegates to the conference. But Perelman was not present.
"I regret that Dr. Perelman has declined to accept the medal," Ball said.
Perelman's work is still under review, but no one has found any serious flaw in it, the math union said in a statement.
The Fields medal was founded in 1936 and named after Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields. It come with a $13,400 stipend.
Perelman is eligible for far more money from a private foundation called The Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, Mass.
In 2000, the institute announced bounties for seven historic, unsolved math problems, including the Poincare conjecture.
If his proof stands the test of time, Perelman will win all or part of the $1 million prize money. That prize should be announced in about two years.
The Poincare conjecture essentially says that in three dimensions you cannot transform a doughnut shape into a sphere without ripping it, although any shape without a hole can be stretched or shrunk into a sphere.
Proving the conjecture — an exercise in acrobatics with mindboggling imaginary doughnuts and balls — is anything but trivial. Colleagues say Perelman's work gives mathematical descriptions of what the universe might look like and promises exciting applications in physics and other fields.
"It is very important indeed because it really gives us an insight into geometry and in particular the geometry of the space we live in," said Oxford University math professor Marcus du Sautoy. "It does not say what the shape (of the universe) is. It just says, 'look, these are the things it could be.'"
Academics have been studying Perelman's proof since he left the first of three papers on it on a math Web site in Nov. 2002. Normal procedure would have been to seek publication in a peer-approved journal.
Three separate teams have presented papers or books explaining the details of Perelman's work, which draws heavily from a technique developed by another mathematician, Richard Hamilton of Columbia University. The Clay Mathematics Institute says the two men could conceivably share the Poincare money.
Ball said he asked Perelman if he would accept that money. Perelman said that if he won, he would talk to the Clay institute.
Perelman is believed to live with his mother in St. Petersburg. Repeated calls over many days to a telephone number listed as Perelman's went unanswered. Acquaintances refused to give out his address or the number they use to contact him, saying he did not want to talk to the media.
By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press Writer
ADVERTISEMENT
Grigory Perelman, a 40-year-old native of St. Petersburg, won a Fields Medal — often described as math's equivalent of the Nobel prize — for a breakthrough in the study of shapes that experts say might help scientists figure out the shape of the universe.
John Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union, said that he had urged Perelman to accept the medal, but Perelman said he felt isolated from the mathematics community and "does not want to be seen as its figurehead." Ball offered no further details of the conversation.
Besides shunning the award for his work in topology, Perelman also seems uninterested, according to colleagues, in a separate $1 million prize he could win for proving the Poincare conjecture, a theorem about the nature of multidimensional space.
The award, given out every four years, was announced at the mathematical union's International Congress of Mathematicians. Three other mathematicians — Russian Andrei Okounkov, Frenchman Wendelin Werner and Australian Terence Tao — won Fields medals in other areas of mathematics.
They received their awards from King Juan Carlos to loud applause from delegates to the conference. But Perelman was not present.
"I regret that Dr. Perelman has declined to accept the medal," Ball said.
Perelman's work is still under review, but no one has found any serious flaw in it, the math union said in a statement.
The Fields medal was founded in 1936 and named after Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields. It come with a $13,400 stipend.
Perelman is eligible for far more money from a private foundation called The Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, Mass.
In 2000, the institute announced bounties for seven historic, unsolved math problems, including the Poincare conjecture.
If his proof stands the test of time, Perelman will win all or part of the $1 million prize money. That prize should be announced in about two years.
The Poincare conjecture essentially says that in three dimensions you cannot transform a doughnut shape into a sphere without ripping it, although any shape without a hole can be stretched or shrunk into a sphere.
Proving the conjecture — an exercise in acrobatics with mindboggling imaginary doughnuts and balls — is anything but trivial. Colleagues say Perelman's work gives mathematical descriptions of what the universe might look like and promises exciting applications in physics and other fields.
"It is very important indeed because it really gives us an insight into geometry and in particular the geometry of the space we live in," said Oxford University math professor Marcus du Sautoy. "It does not say what the shape (of the universe) is. It just says, 'look, these are the things it could be.'"
Academics have been studying Perelman's proof since he left the first of three papers on it on a math Web site in Nov. 2002. Normal procedure would have been to seek publication in a peer-approved journal.
Three separate teams have presented papers or books explaining the details of Perelman's work, which draws heavily from a technique developed by another mathematician, Richard Hamilton of Columbia University. The Clay Mathematics Institute says the two men could conceivably share the Poincare money.
Ball said he asked Perelman if he would accept that money. Perelman said that if he won, he would talk to the Clay institute.
Perelman is believed to live with his mother in St. Petersburg. Repeated calls over many days to a telephone number listed as Perelman's went unanswered. Acquaintances refused to give out his address or the number they use to contact him, saying he did not want to talk to the media.
By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Happy 25th Birthday to the PC
August 12, 1981. If you were ready to plunk down about $1,600, you could have owned a piece of history: The original IBM 5150 PC, generally considered to be the "first" PC.
At 25 years old, it's fun to look back on how far we've come. At 21 pounds (without drives), the 5150 wasn't much fatter than the PCs of today. Under the hood, things looked a bit different: 40KB of read-only memory and 16KB of RAM (upgradable to 256KB). You could configure the machine with one or two 160KB floppy drives, but a jack for a cassette player was included. Users certainly loved the "power-on automatic self-test of system components" and "built-in speaker for musical programming." And the keyboard (included) weighed six pounds. The 11.5-inch monochrome monitor, capable of displaying 25 lines of text, weighed in at 17 lbs. and supported both upper- and lowercase characters. Whoa.
Mock it if you must, but remember that the 5150 was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. The Apple II, released a few years earlier, came close, but it was more of a hacker toy and game-playing machine than something that would be at home in a business. The 5150 had built-in BASIC and Pascal support for writing programs, and it included a ton of business software: VisiCalc, Peachtree accounting software, and the EasyWriter word processor. And yes, Microsoft Adventure, a text-based adventure game, was available for diversions.
So that was 25 years ago. Looking ahead 25 years is almost impossible (and the further we get from the birth of the PC, the harder and harder it gets), but let's imagine. Magnetic storage will still be around, and your average hard drive will hold something in the vicinity of 30 terabytes (30,000GB) and cost $50 or less. CPU architecture will be vastly different. If we're still using silicon wafers, you could have a 32-core CPU with dedicated encryption and graphics components. In 25 years, graphics will have evolved to the point where Toy Story will seem quaint. You'll be able to compose a production like that in real time, and it'll look perfect on your wall-sized display. And dare we dream of something in true 3-D? Memo to Silicon Valley: Better get busy!
For another walk down memory lane (or rather, a walk down a lane filled with computers that predate the PC most of which you have probably never heard of), check out this page of personal computer milestones, dating back to 1950. And let's hear your memories of the early days of the personal computer. What was your first machine, and how did it change your life? The comments are open!
By Christopher Null
At 25 years old, it's fun to look back on how far we've come. At 21 pounds (without drives), the 5150 wasn't much fatter than the PCs of today. Under the hood, things looked a bit different: 40KB of read-only memory and 16KB of RAM (upgradable to 256KB). You could configure the machine with one or two 160KB floppy drives, but a jack for a cassette player was included. Users certainly loved the "power-on automatic self-test of system components" and "built-in speaker for musical programming." And the keyboard (included) weighed six pounds. The 11.5-inch monochrome monitor, capable of displaying 25 lines of text, weighed in at 17 lbs. and supported both upper- and lowercase characters. Whoa.
Mock it if you must, but remember that the 5150 was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. The Apple II, released a few years earlier, came close, but it was more of a hacker toy and game-playing machine than something that would be at home in a business. The 5150 had built-in BASIC and Pascal support for writing programs, and it included a ton of business software: VisiCalc, Peachtree accounting software, and the EasyWriter word processor. And yes, Microsoft Adventure, a text-based adventure game, was available for diversions.
So that was 25 years ago. Looking ahead 25 years is almost impossible (and the further we get from the birth of the PC, the harder and harder it gets), but let's imagine. Magnetic storage will still be around, and your average hard drive will hold something in the vicinity of 30 terabytes (30,000GB) and cost $50 or less. CPU architecture will be vastly different. If we're still using silicon wafers, you could have a 32-core CPU with dedicated encryption and graphics components. In 25 years, graphics will have evolved to the point where Toy Story will seem quaint. You'll be able to compose a production like that in real time, and it'll look perfect on your wall-sized display. And dare we dream of something in true 3-D? Memo to Silicon Valley: Better get busy!
For another walk down memory lane (or rather, a walk down a lane filled with computers that predate the PC most of which you have probably never heard of), check out this page of personal computer milestones, dating back to 1950. And let's hear your memories of the early days of the personal computer. What was your first machine, and how did it change your life? The comments are open!
By Christopher Null
Monday, August 07, 2006
Beams reveal Archimedes' hidden writings
Previously hidden writings of the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes are being uncovered with powerful X-ray beams nearly 800 years after a Christian monk scrubbed off the text and wrote over it with prayers.
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Over the past week, researchers at Stanford University's Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park have been using X-rays to decipher a fragile 10th century manuscript that contains the only copies of some of Archimedes' most important works.
The X-rays, generated by a particle accelerator, cause tiny amounts of iron left by the original ink to glow without harming the delicate goatskin parchment.
"We are gaining new insights into one of the founding fathers of western science," said William Noel, curator of manuscripts at Baltimore's Walters Art Museum, which organized the effort. "It is the most difficult imaging challenge on any medieval document because the book is in such terrible condition."
Following a successful trial run last year, Stanford researchers invited X-ray scientists, rare document collectors and classics scholars to take part in the 11-day project.
It takes about 12 hours to scan one page using an X-ray beam about the size of a human hair, and researchers expect to decipher up to 15 pages that resisted modern imaging techniques. After each new page is decoded, it is posted online for the public to see.
On Friday, members of the public watched the decoding process via a live Web cast arranged by the San Francisco Exploratorium.
"We are focusing on the most difficult pages where the scholars haven't been able to read the texts," said Uwe Bergmann, the Stanford physicist heading the project.
Born in the 3rd century B.C., Archimedes is considered one of ancient Greece's greatest mathematicians, perhaps best known for discovering the principle of buoyancy while taking a bath.
The 174-page manuscript, known as the Archimedes Palimpsest, contains the only copies of treatises on flotation, gravity and mathematics. Scholars believe a scribe copied them onto the goatskin parchment from the original Greek scrolls.
Three centuries later, a monk scrubbed off the Archimedes text and used the parchment to write prayers at a time when the Greek mathematician's work was less appreciated. In the early 20th century, forgers tried to boost the manuscript's value by painting religious imagery on some of the pages.
In 1998, an anonymous private collector paid $2 million for the manuscript at an auction, then loaned it to the Walter Arts Museum for safekeeping and study.
Over the past eight years, researchers have used ultraviolet and infrared filters, as well as digital cameras and processing techniques, to reveal most of the buried text, but some pages were still unreadable.
"We will never recover all of it," Noel said. "We are just getting as much as we can, and we are going to the ends of the earth to get it."
By TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press Writer
ADVERTISEMENT
Over the past week, researchers at Stanford University's Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park have been using X-rays to decipher a fragile 10th century manuscript that contains the only copies of some of Archimedes' most important works.
The X-rays, generated by a particle accelerator, cause tiny amounts of iron left by the original ink to glow without harming the delicate goatskin parchment.
"We are gaining new insights into one of the founding fathers of western science," said William Noel, curator of manuscripts at Baltimore's Walters Art Museum, which organized the effort. "It is the most difficult imaging challenge on any medieval document because the book is in such terrible condition."
Following a successful trial run last year, Stanford researchers invited X-ray scientists, rare document collectors and classics scholars to take part in the 11-day project.
It takes about 12 hours to scan one page using an X-ray beam about the size of a human hair, and researchers expect to decipher up to 15 pages that resisted modern imaging techniques. After each new page is decoded, it is posted online for the public to see.
On Friday, members of the public watched the decoding process via a live Web cast arranged by the San Francisco Exploratorium.
"We are focusing on the most difficult pages where the scholars haven't been able to read the texts," said Uwe Bergmann, the Stanford physicist heading the project.
Born in the 3rd century B.C., Archimedes is considered one of ancient Greece's greatest mathematicians, perhaps best known for discovering the principle of buoyancy while taking a bath.
The 174-page manuscript, known as the Archimedes Palimpsest, contains the only copies of treatises on flotation, gravity and mathematics. Scholars believe a scribe copied them onto the goatskin parchment from the original Greek scrolls.
Three centuries later, a monk scrubbed off the Archimedes text and used the parchment to write prayers at a time when the Greek mathematician's work was less appreciated. In the early 20th century, forgers tried to boost the manuscript's value by painting religious imagery on some of the pages.
In 1998, an anonymous private collector paid $2 million for the manuscript at an auction, then loaned it to the Walter Arts Museum for safekeeping and study.
Over the past eight years, researchers have used ultraviolet and infrared filters, as well as digital cameras and processing techniques, to reveal most of the buried text, but some pages were still unreadable.
"We will never recover all of it," Noel said. "We are just getting as much as we can, and we are going to the ends of the earth to get it."
By TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
The Duke Lemur Center: New Name, New Goals
Duke University's 40-year-old home for primates is getting a makeover -- and a new name to match.
"Our new name, the Duke Lemur Center, reflects a refocusing of our scientific goals and overall mission," said Anne D. Yoder (http://dukenews.duke.edu/2006/04/yoderbio.html), the center's director since Jan. 1.
Although the center houses several types of prosimians, a suborder of primates, lemurs are the stars. "It makes sense to rename the center," Yoder said. "Its unique value lies with its collection of lemurs, which is the largest outside of their native Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. We want to leverage this resource to benefit science."
The center will officially unveil its new name and scientific agenda on Saturday, April 29, at a celebration beginning at 5 p.m. at the center http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/04/lemurfacts.html.
To support the center's reinvigoration, Duke is allocating roughly $8 million to improve and expand its facilities. Three new buildings and associated habitats will provide the lemurs with even more natural living conditions and open new opportunities for scientists to study them.
Provost Peter Lange, the university's chief academic officer, said the new name and planned investment reflect "a new direction and sense of excitement for what already is one of the treasures of Duke University. People across North Carolina and beyond know the center as a wonderful place to visit and learn about lemurs. But it also is a unique learning resource for Duke students and others who work with the animals and get involved in research projects. Simultaneously, scientists working at the center have been broadening their agenda and pursuing a wide range of exciting research questions."
For years, scientists at the center focused primarily on understanding basic lemur biology and sorting out relationships among the various species. "Our new emphasis positions lemurs as models of primate biology and evolution," Yoder said. "Lemurs are complex creatures, and their unique biology, combined with their similarities to other primates, makes them an ideal model."
Lemurs are the closest living representatives of the kinds of animals from which humans evolved, Yoder said. "Humans are evolution's experiment on lemurs," she joked, adding that "by better understanding lemurs, we better understand ourselves."
In an important research direction, the center is partnering with the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (http://www.genomics.duke.edu/) to establish a Duke Lemur Genome Initiative. According to the institute's director, Huntington F. Willard, (http://mgm.duke.edu/faculty/willard/) one goal of the joint effort is to develop a toolkit of genome markers, distinctive segments of DNA that serve as landmarks for specific genes. To date, geneticists working on lemurs have used different markers, making it difficult to determine how different species are related to each other.
"With a standardized toolkit of genome markers, researchers should be able to greatly speed up efforts in working out the evolutionary trees of these animals," Willard said. "This will greatly assist lemur conservation efforts, as well as enhance understanding of our own evolution."
"This partnership with the Duke Lemur Center is consistent with our institute's broad efforts to explore the Genome Revolution and its consequences for life, health and society at large," he said.
Center biologists also will be able to use the genetic tools to develop active breeding programs to increase the total number of lemurs that call the center home, and to determine whether and how individual lemurs within a given population are related to each other. In the same way that DNA analysis is used to settle paternity suits, so can it be used to determine familial relationships with great accuracy. Such analyses, according to the scientists, are essential to avoid the effects of inbreeding and so maintain the genetic health of a species' population.
Across all of their research efforts, center scientists take care to ensure the animals are treated properly and studies are as noninvasive as possible. "The mantra of noninvasive research is 'do no harm," Yoder said. "For example, we take blood samples only as part of routine medical examinations." If the genome project needs blood for routine sampling, it will be stocked and used as needed. For animals without blood samples, DNA for genome analysis will be obtained using simple, safe cheek swabs.
"We must be sure to conduct our research carefully, but at the same time it is important that we study these animals," Yoder said. "They have a fascinating biology that can teach us a great deal."
For example, the genomes of brown lemurs will have different numbers of chromosomes, the structures that contain genes, with one animal having more or fewer genes than another. For brown lemurs, this trait has no harmful effects, resulting only in slight color variations. But in humans, many such chromosomal changes are highly deleterious. Center scientists hope that studying lemurs may provide insight into these conditions in humans.
Among other projects, cognitive behaviorist Elizabeth Brannon has been using lemurs to probe the connection between linguistic ability and conceptualizing numbers, running experiments in which lemurs interact with computer touch screens. The animals are not forced to participate. "They actually like to do these tasks," Yoder said. "One lemur, 'The Genius,' can't wait to start every day. He just loves it. Brannon's findings run counter to the dogma that lemurs are less intelligent than other primates. Everyone's surprised by these results."
Biologist Peter Klopfer and Andrew Krystal, director of the Duke Sleep Disorders Clinic, are studying hibernation in dwarf lemurs, which are the only primates to exhibit this trait. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is among the groups that may be interested in the results. The agency wants to learn whether it is possible to use hibernation mechanisms to prolong human sleep during long space flights.
The center also plans to strengthen its international connections. In one current partnership, its scientists are working with Jim Vaupel of the Max Planck Institute, based in Germany. "We're looking at male versus female morbidity and mortality in lemurs," Yoder said. "Among humans, males are healthier but have shorter life spans, whereas females are just the opposite. We want to know if this relates to social structures, such as the fact that most human societies are run by dominant males. Lemur society is matriarchal, with dominant females running things. So lemurs can provide a natural experiment for comparing with humans."
The scientists also are building on activities that were established during the center's previous incarnation, by choosing carefully among projects showing the greatest promise. At one time, the center supported efforts to reintroduce endangered lemurs to Madagascar, but Yoder said this approach now is considered a costly last resort. The scientists don't rule out future efforts, she said, but they are re-evaluating the overall value of the approach.
Instead, the center is directing considerable energies to building local conservation capacity in Madagascar, by training Malagasy scientists and conservation biologists. Among their efforts, center scientists are working with institutions such as Parc Ivoloina, a regional environmental education and training facility, to train foresters and students in lemur conservation and animal rescue. "This will give the people of Madagascar the tools they need to manage and mitigate their own environmental challenges," Yoder said. Center scientists also are working with a new veterinary school in Madagascar. The Duke scientists plan to bring in specialist scholars to train Malagasy in advanced techniques, and their ultimate goal is to establish an exchange program.
The genetic toolkit to be built as part of the Duke Lemur Genome Initiative is one of the resources the center will be providing to support conservation efforts. Using the markers, scientists in various areas will be able to make genetic comparisons of different wild populations and their genomes. Such comparisons, according to center scientists, are essential for guiding conservation priorities, given the dwindling numbers of wild lemurs.
The center's planned new facilities will be instrumental in bringing to fruition the various projects under way or being planned, Yoder said.
Because the center now lacks optimal winter quarters, animals are enclosed half the year, so there is only a six-month window for studying natural behavior. Future buildings will be integrated into the surrounding forest habitat so researchers can study natural behavior year-round. During the day, animals will range freely across multi-acre enclosures of woodland, while the new buildings within the enclosures will offer animals refuge at night. As many as three species will be housed together in a single enclosure to mirror the natural situation in Madagascar.
At least one of the new buildings to be constructed will be devoted to large social groups in which animals can reproduce freely. (Many animals are now on contraception.) The substantial space and the numbers of animals will allow authentic social interactions. The building will house ring-tailed lemurs and red-ruffed lemurs, as well as another prosimian species called sifaka.
The facility is expected to be a great draw for researchers and graduate and undergraduate students. "I want them to have my experience," Yoder said. "I want others to share my excitement and inspiration." Her scientific career, she noted, was kindled by a student tour of the former primate center when she was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Such experiences can spark interest in biology and conservation, and create opportunities to introduce the science behind evolutionary biology," she said.
Another new building will provide homes to pairs of lemurs and small groups of up to four animals. It will be especially useful for scientists studying cognition and behavior, housing experiments that use minimally manipulative techniques, such as treadmills, food choice trials and simple physiological assessments. Center scientists aim to design experiments that provide the animals with enriched environments, which are healthier physically and psychologically.
To complement its research activities, the center also will get a new building geared to public outreach efforts. "Even without a lot of publicity, we had 13,000 visitors last year," Yoder said. "Now we want to do even more to educate the general public on the importance of biodiversity and evolutionary biology. The idea is to capture the imagination of the young."
Toward this aim, Heather Thomas, the center's tour coordinator, plans to develop a new exhibit featuring a replica of a Malagasy field researcher's hut. "The planned exhibit will be a reconstruction of a field station down to the tiniest detail -- excluding the mosquitoes," Yoder said. The hut will have a sleeping bag, food canteen, headlamp, field notebooks and assorted technical gear. "We expect the exhibit to help children make a connection," Yoder said. "They will be able to imagine themselves there. They'll think 'I want to do that.' "
An online "baby lemur gallery" of images and audio information about animals at the Duke Lemur Center animals is available at http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/flash/lemurbabies.html. A high-resolution image of red ruffed lemur twins, by David Haring, can also be accessed at http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/hires/redruffedtwins.jpg Also available in high resolution are images of: Primate Center director Anne Yoder by Duke University Photography (http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/hires/yoderandlemur.jpg); and Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy director Huntington Willard by Butch Usery (http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/hires/willard_hunt.jpg).
- - - -
CONTACT: Monte Basgall, Duke University Office of News & Communications, 919-681-8057, monte.basgall@duke.edu
NOTE TO BROADCAST EDITORS: Duke provides an on-campus satellite uplink facility for live or pre-recorded television interviews. We are also equipped with ISDN connectivity for radio interviews. Broadcast reporters should contact the Office of Radio-TV Services at 919-681-8067 to arrange an interview.
"Our new name, the Duke Lemur Center, reflects a refocusing of our scientific goals and overall mission," said Anne D. Yoder (http://dukenews.duke.edu/2006/04/yoderbio.html), the center's director since Jan. 1.
Although the center houses several types of prosimians, a suborder of primates, lemurs are the stars. "It makes sense to rename the center," Yoder said. "Its unique value lies with its collection of lemurs, which is the largest outside of their native Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. We want to leverage this resource to benefit science."
The center will officially unveil its new name and scientific agenda on Saturday, April 29, at a celebration beginning at 5 p.m. at the center http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/04/lemurfacts.html.
To support the center's reinvigoration, Duke is allocating roughly $8 million to improve and expand its facilities. Three new buildings and associated habitats will provide the lemurs with even more natural living conditions and open new opportunities for scientists to study them.
Provost Peter Lange, the university's chief academic officer, said the new name and planned investment reflect "a new direction and sense of excitement for what already is one of the treasures of Duke University. People across North Carolina and beyond know the center as a wonderful place to visit and learn about lemurs. But it also is a unique learning resource for Duke students and others who work with the animals and get involved in research projects. Simultaneously, scientists working at the center have been broadening their agenda and pursuing a wide range of exciting research questions."
For years, scientists at the center focused primarily on understanding basic lemur biology and sorting out relationships among the various species. "Our new emphasis positions lemurs as models of primate biology and evolution," Yoder said. "Lemurs are complex creatures, and their unique biology, combined with their similarities to other primates, makes them an ideal model."
Lemurs are the closest living representatives of the kinds of animals from which humans evolved, Yoder said. "Humans are evolution's experiment on lemurs," she joked, adding that "by better understanding lemurs, we better understand ourselves."
In an important research direction, the center is partnering with the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (http://www.genomics.duke.edu/) to establish a Duke Lemur Genome Initiative. According to the institute's director, Huntington F. Willard, (http://mgm.duke.edu/faculty/willard/) one goal of the joint effort is to develop a toolkit of genome markers, distinctive segments of DNA that serve as landmarks for specific genes. To date, geneticists working on lemurs have used different markers, making it difficult to determine how different species are related to each other.
"With a standardized toolkit of genome markers, researchers should be able to greatly speed up efforts in working out the evolutionary trees of these animals," Willard said. "This will greatly assist lemur conservation efforts, as well as enhance understanding of our own evolution."
"This partnership with the Duke Lemur Center is consistent with our institute's broad efforts to explore the Genome Revolution and its consequences for life, health and society at large," he said.
Center biologists also will be able to use the genetic tools to develop active breeding programs to increase the total number of lemurs that call the center home, and to determine whether and how individual lemurs within a given population are related to each other. In the same way that DNA analysis is used to settle paternity suits, so can it be used to determine familial relationships with great accuracy. Such analyses, according to the scientists, are essential to avoid the effects of inbreeding and so maintain the genetic health of a species' population.
Across all of their research efforts, center scientists take care to ensure the animals are treated properly and studies are as noninvasive as possible. "The mantra of noninvasive research is 'do no harm," Yoder said. "For example, we take blood samples only as part of routine medical examinations." If the genome project needs blood for routine sampling, it will be stocked and used as needed. For animals without blood samples, DNA for genome analysis will be obtained using simple, safe cheek swabs.
"We must be sure to conduct our research carefully, but at the same time it is important that we study these animals," Yoder said. "They have a fascinating biology that can teach us a great deal."
For example, the genomes of brown lemurs will have different numbers of chromosomes, the structures that contain genes, with one animal having more or fewer genes than another. For brown lemurs, this trait has no harmful effects, resulting only in slight color variations. But in humans, many such chromosomal changes are highly deleterious. Center scientists hope that studying lemurs may provide insight into these conditions in humans.
Among other projects, cognitive behaviorist Elizabeth Brannon has been using lemurs to probe the connection between linguistic ability and conceptualizing numbers, running experiments in which lemurs interact with computer touch screens. The animals are not forced to participate. "They actually like to do these tasks," Yoder said. "One lemur, 'The Genius,' can't wait to start every day. He just loves it. Brannon's findings run counter to the dogma that lemurs are less intelligent than other primates. Everyone's surprised by these results."
Biologist Peter Klopfer and Andrew Krystal, director of the Duke Sleep Disorders Clinic, are studying hibernation in dwarf lemurs, which are the only primates to exhibit this trait. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is among the groups that may be interested in the results. The agency wants to learn whether it is possible to use hibernation mechanisms to prolong human sleep during long space flights.
The center also plans to strengthen its international connections. In one current partnership, its scientists are working with Jim Vaupel of the Max Planck Institute, based in Germany. "We're looking at male versus female morbidity and mortality in lemurs," Yoder said. "Among humans, males are healthier but have shorter life spans, whereas females are just the opposite. We want to know if this relates to social structures, such as the fact that most human societies are run by dominant males. Lemur society is matriarchal, with dominant females running things. So lemurs can provide a natural experiment for comparing with humans."
The scientists also are building on activities that were established during the center's previous incarnation, by choosing carefully among projects showing the greatest promise. At one time, the center supported efforts to reintroduce endangered lemurs to Madagascar, but Yoder said this approach now is considered a costly last resort. The scientists don't rule out future efforts, she said, but they are re-evaluating the overall value of the approach.
Instead, the center is directing considerable energies to building local conservation capacity in Madagascar, by training Malagasy scientists and conservation biologists. Among their efforts, center scientists are working with institutions such as Parc Ivoloina, a regional environmental education and training facility, to train foresters and students in lemur conservation and animal rescue. "This will give the people of Madagascar the tools they need to manage and mitigate their own environmental challenges," Yoder said. Center scientists also are working with a new veterinary school in Madagascar. The Duke scientists plan to bring in specialist scholars to train Malagasy in advanced techniques, and their ultimate goal is to establish an exchange program.
The genetic toolkit to be built as part of the Duke Lemur Genome Initiative is one of the resources the center will be providing to support conservation efforts. Using the markers, scientists in various areas will be able to make genetic comparisons of different wild populations and their genomes. Such comparisons, according to center scientists, are essential for guiding conservation priorities, given the dwindling numbers of wild lemurs.
The center's planned new facilities will be instrumental in bringing to fruition the various projects under way or being planned, Yoder said.
Because the center now lacks optimal winter quarters, animals are enclosed half the year, so there is only a six-month window for studying natural behavior. Future buildings will be integrated into the surrounding forest habitat so researchers can study natural behavior year-round. During the day, animals will range freely across multi-acre enclosures of woodland, while the new buildings within the enclosures will offer animals refuge at night. As many as three species will be housed together in a single enclosure to mirror the natural situation in Madagascar.
At least one of the new buildings to be constructed will be devoted to large social groups in which animals can reproduce freely. (Many animals are now on contraception.) The substantial space and the numbers of animals will allow authentic social interactions. The building will house ring-tailed lemurs and red-ruffed lemurs, as well as another prosimian species called sifaka.
The facility is expected to be a great draw for researchers and graduate and undergraduate students. "I want them to have my experience," Yoder said. "I want others to share my excitement and inspiration." Her scientific career, she noted, was kindled by a student tour of the former primate center when she was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Such experiences can spark interest in biology and conservation, and create opportunities to introduce the science behind evolutionary biology," she said.
Another new building will provide homes to pairs of lemurs and small groups of up to four animals. It will be especially useful for scientists studying cognition and behavior, housing experiments that use minimally manipulative techniques, such as treadmills, food choice trials and simple physiological assessments. Center scientists aim to design experiments that provide the animals with enriched environments, which are healthier physically and psychologically.
To complement its research activities, the center also will get a new building geared to public outreach efforts. "Even without a lot of publicity, we had 13,000 visitors last year," Yoder said. "Now we want to do even more to educate the general public on the importance of biodiversity and evolutionary biology. The idea is to capture the imagination of the young."
Toward this aim, Heather Thomas, the center's tour coordinator, plans to develop a new exhibit featuring a replica of a Malagasy field researcher's hut. "The planned exhibit will be a reconstruction of a field station down to the tiniest detail -- excluding the mosquitoes," Yoder said. The hut will have a sleeping bag, food canteen, headlamp, field notebooks and assorted technical gear. "We expect the exhibit to help children make a connection," Yoder said. "They will be able to imagine themselves there. They'll think 'I want to do that.' "
An online "baby lemur gallery" of images and audio information about animals at the Duke Lemur Center animals is available at http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/flash/lemurbabies.html. A high-resolution image of red ruffed lemur twins, by David Haring, can also be accessed at http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/hires/redruffedtwins.jpg Also available in high resolution are images of: Primate Center director Anne Yoder by Duke University Photography (http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/hires/yoderandlemur.jpg); and Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy director Huntington Willard by Butch Usery (http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/hires/willard_hunt.jpg).
- - - -
CONTACT: Monte Basgall, Duke University Office of News & Communications, 919-681-8057, monte.basgall@duke.edu
NOTE TO BROADCAST EDITORS: Duke provides an on-campus satellite uplink facility for live or pre-recorded television interviews. We are also equipped with ISDN connectivity for radio interviews. Broadcast reporters should contact the Office of Radio-TV Services at 919-681-8067 to arrange an interview.
Friday, February 10, 2006
New Analysis Shows Three Human Migrations Out Of Africa
A, Ph.D, of Washington University in St Louis, shows three distinct major waves of human migration out of Africa instead of just two, and statistically refutes — strongly — the 'Out of Africa' replacement theory.
That theory holds that populations of Homo sapiens left Africa 100,000 years ago and wiped out existing populations of humans. Templeton has shown that the African populations interbred with the Eurasian populations — thus, making love, not war.
"The 'Out of Africa' replacement theory has always been a big controversy," Templeton said. "I set up a null hypothesis and the program rejected that hypothesis using the new data with a probability level of 10 to the minus 17th. In science, you don't get any more conclusive than that. It says that the hypothesis of no interbreeding is so grossly incompatible with the data, that you can reject it."
Templeton's analysis is considered to be the only definitive statistical test to refute the theory, dominant in human evolution science for more than two decades.
"Not only does the new analysis reject the theory, it demolishes it," Templeton said.
Templeton published his results in the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 2005.
A trellis, not a tree
He used a computer program called GEODIS, which he created in 1995 and later modified with the help of David Posada, Ph.D., and Keith Crandall, Ph.D. at Brigham Young University, to determine genetic relationships among and within populations based on an examination of specific haplotypes, clusters of genes that are inherited as a unit.
In 2002, Templeton analyzed ten different haplotype trees and performed phylogeographic analyses that reconstructed the history of the species through space and time.
Three years later, he had 25 regions to analyze and the data provided molecular evidence of a third migration, this one the oldest, back to 1.9 million years ago.
"This time frame corresponds extremely well with the fossil record, which shows Homo erectus expanding out of Africa then," Templeton said.
Another novel find is that populations of Homo erectus in Eurasia had recurrent genetic interchange with African populations 1.5 million years ago, much earlier than previously thought, and that these populations persisted instead of going extinct, which some human evolution researchers thought had occurred.
The new data confirm an expansion out of Africa to 700,000 years ago that was detected in the 2002 analysis.
"Both (the 1.9 million and 700,000 year) expansions coincide with recent paleoclimatic data that indicate periods of very high rainfall in eastern Africa, making what is now the Sahara Desert a savannah," Templeton said. "That makes the timing very amenable for movements of large populations through the area."
Templeton said that the fossil record indicates a significant change in brain size for modern humans at 700,000 years ago as well as the adaptation and expansion of a new stone tool culture first found in Africa and later at 700,000 years expanded throughout Eurasia.
"By the time you're done with this phase you can be 99 percent confident that there was recurrent genetic interchange between African and Eurasian populations," he said. "So the idea of pure, distinct races in humans does not exist. We humans don't have a tree relationship, rather a trellis. We're intertwined."
That theory holds that populations of Homo sapiens left Africa 100,000 years ago and wiped out existing populations of humans. Templeton has shown that the African populations interbred with the Eurasian populations — thus, making love, not war.
"The 'Out of Africa' replacement theory has always been a big controversy," Templeton said. "I set up a null hypothesis and the program rejected that hypothesis using the new data with a probability level of 10 to the minus 17th. In science, you don't get any more conclusive than that. It says that the hypothesis of no interbreeding is so grossly incompatible with the data, that you can reject it."
Templeton's analysis is considered to be the only definitive statistical test to refute the theory, dominant in human evolution science for more than two decades.
"Not only does the new analysis reject the theory, it demolishes it," Templeton said.
Templeton published his results in the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 2005.
A trellis, not a tree
He used a computer program called GEODIS, which he created in 1995 and later modified with the help of David Posada, Ph.D., and Keith Crandall, Ph.D. at Brigham Young University, to determine genetic relationships among and within populations based on an examination of specific haplotypes, clusters of genes that are inherited as a unit.
In 2002, Templeton analyzed ten different haplotype trees and performed phylogeographic analyses that reconstructed the history of the species through space and time.
Three years later, he had 25 regions to analyze and the data provided molecular evidence of a third migration, this one the oldest, back to 1.9 million years ago.
"This time frame corresponds extremely well with the fossil record, which shows Homo erectus expanding out of Africa then," Templeton said.
Another novel find is that populations of Homo erectus in Eurasia had recurrent genetic interchange with African populations 1.5 million years ago, much earlier than previously thought, and that these populations persisted instead of going extinct, which some human evolution researchers thought had occurred.
The new data confirm an expansion out of Africa to 700,000 years ago that was detected in the 2002 analysis.
"Both (the 1.9 million and 700,000 year) expansions coincide with recent paleoclimatic data that indicate periods of very high rainfall in eastern Africa, making what is now the Sahara Desert a savannah," Templeton said. "That makes the timing very amenable for movements of large populations through the area."
Templeton said that the fossil record indicates a significant change in brain size for modern humans at 700,000 years ago as well as the adaptation and expansion of a new stone tool culture first found in Africa and later at 700,000 years expanded throughout Eurasia.
"By the time you're done with this phase you can be 99 percent confident that there was recurrent genetic interchange between African and Eurasian populations," he said. "So the idea of pure, distinct races in humans does not exist. We humans don't have a tree relationship, rather a trellis. We're intertwined."
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