Life As We Know It May Have Just Been Redefined
by Damon Martin
Remember the name GFAJ-1 because it may be the organism that changes how we perceive and define life on Earth and eventually in space.
Today, NASA held a press conference announcing the findings of a team led by Felisa Wolfe-Simon, an astrobiologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. The researchers discovered a bacteria originally found at Mono Lake, CA that is able to sustain, grow and reproduce using the element arsenic.
The reason for the scientists’ excitement is because up until now we thought all life was based on the building block elements of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur. In cells, phosphorus is considered essential for life. Arsenic on the other hand has always been considered poisonous. Its make-up is similar that of phosphorus, but it was thought to be universally toxic when it takes the place of the element in biomolecules.
However, researchers took bacteria discovered at the arsenic-laden Mono Lake and experimented by replacing their phosphorus rich diet with an arsenic rich one instead. Over time, they eventually replaced phosphorus completely with arsenic, and the cells continued to grow and reproduce. This finding could potentially change the way scientists view chemistry and life forever.
“The definition of life has just expanded,” said Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. “As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it.”
Four years ago, Wolfe-Simon had proposed that some organisms may be able to survive or even thrive off of an arsenic rich diet, and now she has proven her theory. Along with several other scientists, Wolfe-Simon used mass spectroscopy, radioactive labeling, and X-ray fluorescence to prove and confirm that the bacteria was indeed using arsenic at the biomolecular level instead of phosphorus to grow and reproduce.
Scientists had previously seen microorganisms breathe arsenic, but this is the first discovery of an organism that can actually reproduce using the chemical. The findings could lead scientists down entirely new avenues never before explored as to how life can be created and sustained on this planet and others throughout the universe.
“We know that some microbes can breathe arsenic, but what we’ve found is a microbe doing something new. Building parts of itself out of arsenic,” said Wolfe-Simon. “If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what else can life do that we haven’t seen yet?”
Of course there are scientists that are skeptical about the newly discovered. Some scientists argue that while in the lab a microorganism may be able to survive with little phosphorus, the complete replacement of the element with arsenic is still under question. They’ve also brought up the issue of the survivability of the bacteria outside of the controlled conditions of the science lab.
Still, the discovery was intriguing enough to prompt NASA to hold a much-anticipated press conference this morning. And the government body stands behind Wolfe-Simon and her team. Indeed, science may have just been turned on its theoretical head.
“If this result is true, we’ve got to go back and rewrite a lot of chemistry,” said Steven Brenner, an astrobiologist at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution.
NASA believes the findings announced today could be crucial in future scientific exploration into how Earth evolved, biochemistry, organic chemistry and yes, even life on other planets.
Science Digest #2
Greetings Earthlings and welcome to our second science digest. Science has been advancing at the rate of Moores Law and theres so much good stuff since we last talked about JPLs open house and zombified Texas fire ants.
Space Odysseys 2009
I was glued to NASA TV last month as the Hubble was repaired. I was impressed with the way everyone worked together and the dialog between the astronauts and ground control (our politicians could learn more than science from these guys -- who said geeks had poor communication skills?). I was doubly impressed with the clear quality of the sound and video image all from space! I was looking forward to watching the next mission, which was scheduled to blast off this week, but its been delayed until July. In the meantime, Ill ponder NASA's plan to fly a rocket booster into the moon, with the hope that the resulting 6 mile high explosion will confirm the presence of water (which they hope to use as fuel and sustenance for the planned 2018 return of man to the moon). When we were at JPL last month, one scientist remarked that ours will be the last generation to look up to the moon and not see lights (unless Obama makes good on his threat to cut funding for a Lunar base). If that doesn't boggle your mind, consider a very serious plan to build an inflatable tower which would serve as a way to get into space at a vastly deflated cost.
While we are pondering the stars, Id like to remind you of one of my favorite astronomy sites: The Astronomy Picture of the Day. I like this one in particular because it reminds me of one of my favorite songs, "Under the Milky Way Tonight," which is unfortunately something that, living in Los Angeles, you don't get a sense of very often.
Seeing Is Not Always Believing
Research about our brain has exploded in the recent past. fMRI technology makes it relatively easy to study the brain while we do things. Were beyond merely learning about our biological wiring; were learning what the electrical blips and bleeps might mean. Im fascinated with perception and how our brains take sensory data and make a world of it. Did you know that your eyes perceives the world upside down? Its our brains that turn the image of it right side up.
What profession loves to take advantage of our mis-attention and misperceptions? Put on your white gloves and get our your black hat. Its Magic! A few months ago, Science News had a cover story about scientists who are picking up a few Neurological tricks from professional magicians. Using eye tracking technology, magician and neuroscientist Gustav Kuhn tested participants as they watched him throw and palm a ball. The eyes watched the ball even when it was palmed. It was the brain that tricked the participant into believing differently. Wired covered the same topic with Teller from the duo Penn and Teller the same month. These stories reminded me of the amazing color changing card trick, that got me a few years ago. Watch the video below and try it yourself (and share what you see in the comments section).
I wanted to learn more about perception and cognition, but I hate standardized tests so I thought MITs OpenCourseware (OCW) would be a perfect way to feed my curiosity. OCW classes are free publications and lectures culled from many of the courses taught at MIT. UC Berkeley also has similar online content and other university lectures are available here. (Thanks to @Communicatrix for the tip.) It can be cheap to feed your mind, but sadly, none of these courses count for credit.
Intelligence, Evolution
Transcendent Man, is the new movie about the life and concepts of Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity is Near and The Age of Spiritual Machines (see trailer below). Considered either a crackpot or the rightful heir to Thomas Edison (and, by some, both), Kurzweil is one of the most innovative and forward thinking individuals alive today.
Recently Kurzweil came under fire in this Newsweek article, which asserted that many of his past predictions have been proven incorrect. I couldnt help but be impressed with Kurweils respectful response to the author, who it appeared wrote a rather sensationalist story. (The news rag also trashed Oprah recently, which means they must be desperate to boost circulation.) However, regardless of where you stand on Kurzweil, this kind of dialog is rarely seen today and was refreshing to read.
Red Skies At Night, Gas Guzzlers Delight
If youre looking for crazy sensational science concepts, look no further than this article from TheAtlantic.com, which reports on an idea to use blimps to spray sulphur gas into the atmosphere as budget method to combat global warming. Yes, its for real!
"It is not even like fighting obesity with liposuction: its like fighting obesity with a corset, and a diet of lard and doughnuts."
As a side effect of the process, our skies would turn red. I guess red might just turn out to be the new blue. The sulphur spraying could potentially be so cheap and effective that our current half-hearted attempts to get nations to go green could be moot. Indeed the Kyoto Protocol itself could become redundant; An international agreement would be unnecessary, since it'd only take one nation to get jiggy with the red stuff to chill the whole planet out. Of course once you can regulate the planet at the touch of a gas-powered thermostat, we might need to agree what the ambient temperature should be. My boyfriend and I argue about the A/C in our car -- imagine that on an international level (this could get ugly).
Heavy Shit
On the lighter side (or the heavier one, depending on how you look at it), the periodic table is getting a new element. Element 112, temporarily named "ununbium," was first discovered over a decade ago by a team of German scientists led by Sigurd Hoffman. It's pretty hard to make, requiring a particle accelerator and a lot of patience, hence it took a while for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to officially welcome the new element into its fold. Hoffman has already revealed the existence of more elements with atomic numbers 107-111 and his team are in the game to cook up even heavier ones.
Vampires
In the science-meets-genre video sector, I recently picked up a collection of short documentary films by French scientist Jean Painlevé called Science is Fiction. Imagine old documentaries with a French interpretation (yes, there was the mention of a ménage a trois). Heres a glimpse of one featuring octopi mating (see below).
And this liquid crystal footage from Painlevé is just asking to be mashed up for club eye candy.
Finally, if you ever wanted to see a real live vampire bat forced to feed, well, let me point you to another of Painlevé's many gems (see below).
Note: this video is a good taster of Painlevé's films (with nice accompanying music), but youll have to go to 3:02 to get to the vampire bat and the real action starts at 5:54. I dont know about you, but I dont think that vampire bat looks too happy in there. OK, I admit, I had to turn away when he started his thing with the guinea pig. I dont think theyll let you make films like this anymore. Extra points if you get to the FIN.
Heathervescent is a writer, technology consultant and agent of
cacophony. You can read more of her adventures at www.heathervescent.com and follow her @heathervescent.
Science Digest 1.0
Welcome to the first monthly recap of Science and Technology news, which weve imaginatively called Science Digest 1.0.
With Arthur C. Clarke's quote in mind, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," PhysOrg.com reports that a team led by Berkeley University's Chancellor's Professor, Xiang Zhang, has come up with a Harry Potter-style cloak of invisibility. Though the nanostructured silicon cloak itself can still be seen, when it's place over an object the reflective patterns rendered by the cloak make the bulge it conceals invisible. Zhang's team ultimately hope to develop a truly invisible cloak worthy of the magicians at Hogwarts. "We have come up with a new solution to the problem of invisibility based on the use of dielectric (nonconducting) materials," says Xiang Zhang. "Our optical cloak not only suggests that true invisibility materials are within reach, it also represents a major step towards transformation optics, opening the door to manipulating light at will for the creation of powerful new microscopes and faster computers." Sweet. It'll be really useful for shoplifters too!
Talking of other-worldly technology, SuicideGirls attended the NASA / Jet Propulsion Labs Open House the other weekend at their California Institue of Technology site in Pasadena. Members of the public were able to roam around the space flight operations and assembly facilities, and watch JPL's boffins play with very expensive remote control toys like their Mars and lunar rovers. While the Deep Space Network control room was suitably ground control to Major Tom, it was amazing how much of the research and gadgets on show relied on duct tape and tin foil.
Encouraged by the "Ask A Scientist A Question" badges on offer, SuicideGirls also ascertained that the prototype Mars rover JPL had built at great expense currently relied on wheels bought from the local bike store to get around. (Their giant spider-like ATHLETE rover, intended for use on NASA's 2020 moon mission, was far more impressive however.) When a fellow bystander asked about Virgin Galactic and Richard Branson's plans for space tourism, a JPL boffin was rather dismissive of the endeavor, saying he couldn't understand why folks would want to pay a small fortune for the flights which will only allow time for 15 minutes of weightlessness, during which time approximately 50% of the tourists would get space sick (apparently the resulting vomit would then float in globules around the fellow passengers in the craft). We helpfully explained that it was all about shags in space (Branson's always marketed his ventures using sex) -- and that some people will be willing to pay almost anything to join the 60-Mile High Club. We feel that all parties came away enlightened from this scientific encounter.
We also learned that NASA uses Twitter to update the planet on news of several of their missions. It was @MarsPhoenix that made the first public announcement of water on Mars. If you want to follow an astronaut we suggest @Astro Mike.
Meanwhile, instead of heading out into space, scientists at Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility (NIF) near San Francisco are working on bringing the stars a little closer to home. Using 192 lasers, and some amplifiers and filters a little larger than the ones you might find in your car dashboard, they hope to create tiny stars right here on earth in the hopes that the energy created could put Sarah Palin and the Middle East out of the oil businees for good. Our buddy Dave Bullock took some rather cool photographs (for Wired.com) of the star making machine (here's hoping it doesn't explode like American Idol).
A little further south on the West Coast, researchers at the University of California in Riverside are having fun with what they call "undertaker ants." Seems these six-legged morticians can sniff out dead ants with the help of a few chemical markers. Intriguingly, there's also a "not dead yet" marker for undead ants. Furthermore, researchers from the University of Texas and Texas A&M's AgriLife Extension Service have found that the parasitic maggots of the phorid fly eat the brains of pesky fire ants turning their hosts into zombies that wander around aimlessly "for about two weeks." Turns out that Night of The Living Dead is for real down in the ant hill.
Finally, not everyone can be a Nobel Prize winner (or a zombie ant specialist or rocket scientist for that matter). Most of us won't be invited to the Nobel Prize Award Banquet either -- nor would we necessarily want to sit through the lengthy, speech laden affair. Here's the next best thing: a high speed video of the set-up and party. Experience the whole thing in under 3 minutes!
Heathervescent is a writer, technology consultant and agent of
cacophony. She's more worried about the attack squirrels that apparently plague JPL than zombie ants, which she just thinks are plain cool. You can read more of her adventures at www.heathervescent.com and follow her @heathervescent.
Why is the Hubble Telescope So Hard to Fix?
Some of you might have read or heard in the news that the Hubble Telescope is in need of repair again. NASA has capped spending on other projects or eliminated projects entirely in order to go through with these repairs.
This will be the fourth mission to repair the Hubble. It was originally planned for October of this year, but unfortunately due to some equipment failing, it has been pushed back to 2009 so that the equipment that failed can also be replaced.
This got my interest piqued about why it is so difficult to actually perform repairs to the Hubble Telescope. So being the geek that I am, I started asking questions and reading as much as I could.
The first person I asked was my Physics professor. His answer to me was, "It launched in 1990, think about it." I did think about it. It didn't make any sense until I actually started reading about it.
It launched in 1990. That means that systems were being built prior to 1990.
The Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster. When finally launched in 1990.....
The Hubble was basically built in the late 1970's through the 1980's. To the non-geek, this probably still doesn't mean anything, but to a true tech/computer geek, this means a lot.
The Hubble, at this current moment, is running an Intel 486 Microprocessor.
NASA is cautiously optimistic that Hubble will soon be back in action following a boot-up of the space telescope's venerable 486 back-up system.
Still doesn't make sense? Maybe this will help:
That right there is state of the art 1990 technology at it's finest.
Still not making any sense? Intel 486 Technology is pre-Pentium technology. If you are reading this on a computer that runs Windows XP, your computer has a bigger chip in it than the Hubble does. I have personally worked on computers that utilize Windows 95/98 and have a bigger processor than the Hubble.
So when that sleazy computer salesman says, "This is better than what NASA has," he really isn't lying in a sense.
Okay. Still not making sense? This should definitely clear it up:
While Hubble's dated hardware probably couldn't run World of Warcraft, Hendrix says that the telescope's computer systems do exactly what they need to do. "It's really reliable," she said. "There really is no need to upgrade it."
The Hubble can't even play WoW? What has the world come to?
So why does this matter? Mostly because the engineers, technicians and scientists aren't trained on 25 to 30-year-old technology. The people that initially designed the systems are either, well, dead, or long retired from NASA. Computers and microchips have come a long way in that time, so NASA workers basically have to be backwards trained in order to work on the Hubble.
The age of the equipment is not a problem that just plagues the Hubble, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions have similar issues as well.
That turns off some scientists from working on the mission, he said, but it draws in others who are excited about the opportunity to work with the vintage computing systems that operate two of the most famous space missions in history.
The Hubble techs are trained in an area of NASA known as the Vehicle Electrical System Test (VEST) clean room.
The Vehicle Electrical System Test, located at Goddard's headquarters inside the world's largest "clean room," is a full duplicate of Hubble's computers. Astronauts planning to service the telescope train on this equipment, and any equipment that they will carry to the telescope must be tested on VEST to make sure it can communicate and work with Hubble's existing systems.
Not only do the techs that maintain the system have to be trained, the astronauts that physically service it have to be trained also. They have to be trained for the rigors of space travel, high gravity, weightlessness, muscle atrophy, eating in space, and how to work on your grandmother's computer.
The life expectancy of the Hubble was 15 years; NASA is now headed into the 19th year. It has worked well beyond what the designers thought it would, and it's worth repairing, as the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) project has been delayed to 2013 due to budget constraints and engineering difficulty.The next administration may cut the funding entirely due to the economy.
The Hubble has helped scientists understand the universe more than any other tool that NASA has developed. Understanding those simple things, like the age of the universe, quasars, dark energy and sending back the deepest telescopic views of the universe ever seen before.
The Hubble is hard to fix, basically because it's old-school technology and it wasn't initially meant to last this long. Colleges and universities don't have classes on 486 processors anymore, not in the age of quad-core processor, or the eight core Sony Cell processor your Playstation 3 has, or the three-core Xenon processor your Xbox has. NASA needs to train its employees on how to work on equipment this old. Training takes time, and costs money.
With our economy the way it is, many other projects have been delayed or canceled in order to ensure the Hubble gets the attention it needs. While some argue that the Hubble is not worth it, I am pretty impressed with the mileage and the information we have received from the Hubble.
You can see most of the pictures yourself HERE.
NASA's budget has been cut repeatedly over the years, many projects have been mothballed, and some candidates talk about freezing "unnecessary" spending altogether, which includes NASA's budget. The effects of this would be devastating to the ongoing projects they have at the moment. The missions that require constant funding would become useless overnight. Billions of dollars, manhours and major discoveries would be lost in one fell swoop.
Space missions aren't considered special anymore, and are constantly overlooked with everything else going on. I remember the days when we stopped class to watch a shuttle launch. These days, people barely know the shuttles even exist. I don't think NASA gets the recognition it deserves and I hope it doesn't become lost with the next administration, as it has with the current one.
DevilsReject wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.
Could YOU Be an Astronaut?
As most space geeks know, the space shuttle Endeavour is currently on a 16-day mission to assemble a giant, non-killer robot named "Dextre." Dextre is a Canadian robot (hence why it is not a killer species) that will aid astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Recently, I found out some things I didn't know about being an astronaut.
First off, astronauts are allowed to carry iPods aboard the Space Shuttle.
For the last few years astronauts have been allowed to fly with iPods, a great space saver over CD players. The iPods had to be modified to fly in space; the lithium batteries were taken out and replaced with alkaline double As that are certified to fly on the shuttle.
Wouldn't that stink? You take hours to get your music collection together, get your space suit on, get strapped into your seat and finally fly into space, only to find that your iPod cleared itself and the playlist was deleted.
When floating around in space, there are many things you don't think about that we take having here on Earth for granted. Things like pizza.
NASA can put a man on the moon but there is no way to get pizza on a space station or space shuttle mission. It just doesn't hold up. You can't freeze-dry pizza or dehydrate it very successfully and regular pizza delivery is probably a few decades off from becoming reality.
No pizza? What do they eat after they get loaded and get the munchies?
There is also no ice cream in space. No freezer.
OK, maybe I don't want to be an astronaut after all. My iPod deleted its playlist and I can't even eat like crap to keep myself entertained.
So, since I am forced to eat my disgusting, powdered and freeze-dried broccoli, I can at least get clean silverware with my meal, right?
Each space shuttle crew gets one set of silverware per mission. They can't do dishes in space so they have to wipe their forks and knives down with disinfectant wipes after every meal.
Well, clean enough. This is more than I have seen some restaurants do. I won't lie either, there have been times I've picked a dirty spoon out of the sink, wiped it off with a paper towel and used it. It's not just a space thing.
On a good note, 16 days in space would mean I don't have to do laundry!
Astronauts never worry about doing laundry -- there is simply no way to wash clothes in space; water and resources are too scarce. So for 12 days, or however long the mission runs, they wear the same clothes over and over. Their T-shirts, socks and underwear have a special silver thread lining that absorbs odor and keeps items wearable longer. NASA recycles the astronauts' clothes for other missions, including the underwear.
Unfortunately I have met non-astronauts that live this lifestyle. Now that I know this, I may have been mistaken in believing they were just lazy. Maybe they're doing tests for NASA. Maybe not, but it's a good excuse. "I didn't do laundry this week, I decided to help NASA with some research."
On the subject of cleanliness (or lack thereof), we move onto garbage. When I travel in my truck, it's easy just to pitch that empty coffee cup or candy wrapper in the back seat to be cleaned out at a later date (which is never). Garbage in space, on the other hand, is very serious business.
The astronauts don't just toss the garbage overboard. The mandate is clean your plate and drink all the coffee in your drink bag because all the trash created on orbit has to fit in a container the size of a large kitchen garbage can. The trick is to wrap it up as small as you can when you are done eating and then compress it even more and tape it shut.
Too much work. I have no pizza, no ice cream, my iPod is useless and now I have to fiddle with my garbage before I can throw it away.
Actually, I am happy to hear they don't just jettison garbage off into space. NASA actually has a pretty good recycling program.
This last bit leads me to believe I am the perfect applicant as an astronaut.
Money has no value in space.
Since I have none, they should send me up.
When seven astronauts are living together in a cramped atmosphere the psychology of small isolated groups kicks in. Whoever has squirreled away the most M&Ms, tortillas or coffee has the most bargaining power.
Sounds like Oz in space. Trading M&Ms for the needs of a man just loses some of the toughness, though. But since your usual prison currency (cigarettes) isn't allowed in space, I guess M&M's will have to do.
It makes me a little sad that launching a space shuttle seems to have lost the appeal it used to have. I can remember when TV stations used to interrupt shows to broadcast a space shuttle takeoff or landing. Now those things are lucky to get a 15-second bit on the evening news. In my personal opinion, astronauts are the unsung heroes that hardly anyone pays attention to anymore. They put their personal lives at great risk for the technological and scientific gain of humanity. And I, for one, salute them.
You can check out NASA's past, present, and future missions here.
DevilsReject looks forward to future public flights into space.
NASA Reflects on Past, Looks to Future
As you are reading this, innumerable satellites are orbiting the Earth, the rovers on Mars are still roving, and an international team of scientists is living in a tin can in the sky.
While placing things into space has become almost commonplace, it has never been routine. Sometimes things go wrong, and millions of dollars are lost. Other times, things turn tragic and human lives are lost.
NASA is commemorating three such tragedies, which have all eerily occurred around the end of the month of January.
On Jan. 27, 1967, three of the first group of NASA astronauts - Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee - died during a routine ground test of the Apollo capsule, later named Apollo 1.
[
]
The highly anticipated Jan. 28, 1986, launch of Space Shuttle Challenger, which carried the first teacher-astronaut, Christa McAuliffe, was watched live by many around the nation, including school children. But 73 seconds after takeoff, the shuttle erupted in a fireball that killed the entire crew.
[
]
On Feb. 1, 2003, following a 16-day science mission, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart upon re-entry, killing the entire crew: U.S. astronauts Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon.
While it is important to reflect upon the painful memories of mistakes past, it is equally important to continue moving forward despite the inherent risks of manned space flight.
"The spirit of exploration is truly what it is to be human," astronaut Stephen Robinson said in an August 2005 audio message on flight STS-114, which directly followed the Columbia disaster.
"[W]e hope if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program," Grissom said just a few weeks before he died, the NASA History Web site said. "The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
Space shuttle Atlantis is on schedule for a February 7th launch that will deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station, and sometime in the late fall of this year, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbier (LRO) will be sent to gather information in preparation for man's return to the moon.
Here's hoping for nothing but smooth sailing in all future missions.
The Sky is Falling Naw, Its Just a Spy Satellite
If I were you, Id be wearing my helmet out of doors until April. A defunct U.S. spy satellite will careen into the Earth some time between late February and March, according to an anonymous government official.
The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret.
"Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials. "Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause."
That makes me feel comfortable. How long did our government plan to keep the fact that a 20,000 pound satellite the size of a school bus was going to plummet from the skies? At least it will produce less debris than the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003.
Its OK though, they have other things to worry about:
Such an uncontrolled re-entry could risk exposure of U.S. secrets, said John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert. Spy satellites typically are disposed of through a controlled re-entry into the ocean so that no one else can access the spacecraft, he said.
Slashdot guesses that it might be a KH-11 class digital reconnaissance satellite, launched between 1976 and 1990. According to Wikipedia, the only remaining KH-11s in orbit are KH11-6 and KH11-8 through -10, the rest having reached their decay date some 20 years ago.
This begs the question: what possible state secrets could be aboard these floating piles of 80s memorabilia? I dont think we used them to stash the name of JFKs killer, or the secrets of Area-51. You might assume that someone would have downloaded the contents of these ancient behemoths at least a couple of times over in the past decade.
NASA estimates that there are almost 25,000 satellites circling the Earth, 8681 currently in orbit, and over 16,000 objects in a state of decay.
Bigger things have fallen out of the sky:
The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.
With nine countries currently able to launch satellites into orbit without outside help, and roughly thirty countries launching satellites with assistance from other countries, thats a lot of junk up there.
Were going to need a bigger helmet.
punk is having trouble deciding between a bicycle helmet and a WWII M1.
One Ring of Dark Matter To Rule Us All
The term "dark matter," as applied to astronomy, is used to describe -- and I am going to use extremely technical terms here, so please try to follow along -- a kind of stuff in outer space that doesn't emit enough of its own light or radiation to be seen like stars, but that must be there nonetheless because it causes other stuff in space to move and disperse and gravitate in ways they wouldn't without some outside influence. Dark matter is a hypothetical substance and cannot be seen directly... well, that is to say, until right now when astronomers published a report in which they found a massive ring of dark matter with the Hubble Telescope and took a picture of it and now everyone is going to have to restructure the definition of "dark matter" and rethink the whole thus-far inherent "hypothetical" part.
In a paper published today, astronomers report the finding of a huge ring of dark matter using the Hubble Space Telescope in the cluster ZwCl0024+1652, the largest to date. Their results will be published in the June 1 issue of Astrophysical Journal.
"This is the first time we have detected dark matter as having a unique structure that is different from the gas and galaxies in the cluster," said M. James Jee, an astronomer from Johns Hopkins University, in a statement.
How big is this ring of dark matter, exactly? 2.6 million light years from end to end. In other words, really incredibly huge. More football fields across than you could count in a lifetime.
NASA held a press conference pretty much immediately, where a more in depth analysis was given and Dr. Jee had a very poetic explanation for how to interpret the space bulls-eye we see in the photograph.
They describe the ring as sort of a circular ripple in the light coming from the cluster. The ripple is rather like the visual distortion seen in a pond when a stone is thrown in and contorts the view of pebbles on the bottom.
"Dark matter is the crystal clear water and the pebbles are the structures in the background."
Apparently the ring is very similar to the Bullet Cluster that was reported and given some attention last year, but whereas the Cluster is seen from a less clear side view and still relied mostly on speculation. In contrast, this one is on display in undeniable glory.
It's very useful to now have a second view from a 90° different perspective, says astronomer Dr Richard Massey of the California Institute of Technology.
"It's really exciting if it's right," he says.
For one thing, having a clear case showing where dark matter is separated from what we consider ordinary matter may make it possible to study dark matter by itself, which might lead to important clues to what exactly the enigmatic stuff is.
Researchers are now clamoring to investigate further, but the Advanced Camera For Surveys, which is this camera on the Hubble Telescope which I'm told is very advanced and used for surveys, is broken. Curses! Hopefully, they say, a future space mission will repair it ASAP. If not, there may be future satellite observatories which will serve just as well. I hope they get on it soon, because there's a lot of research photography out there to do. It's a big universe. Let's go exploring!
Bush Being Investigated For Bitch Slapping Scientists
Inspectors in the Commerce Department and NASA are investigating the Bush administration in a coordinated effort over allegations that the White House attempted to stop scientists from speaking their mind about global warming. When it is finished, hopefully the report will be titled, No Shit. Democrats are hoping the investigation will expose widespread misconduct.
The White House responded to the accusations.
"We have in place the most transparent system of science reporting, and claims that the administration interfered with scientists are false. Our focus is on taking action and making real progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The nearly $2 billion worth of climate science we publish annually leads the world and speaks for itself."
Totally. The administration has moved a lightening speed when responding to the threat of global warming. That is why people have come to know them as The beltway green boys. Its also why they black out and even rewrite government reports about global warming.
Earlier this year, it was revealed a Bush appointee at the NASA changed reports on global warming and the Big Bang. Yes, the Big Bang. Wouldnt want that secret to get out. He forced a Web designer to use the word theory whenever there was a mention of the Big Bang. The public affairs officer also tried to keep reporters from speaking to a NASA climate scientist, because the best way to take action on global warming is to muzzle the people who study it.
Meanwhile, over at the Commerce Departments National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, administrators were blocking a report that linked the surge in hurricane strength to the greenhouse effect. Its much easier to tackle the subject of the environment when you just read that one book about Jesus.
Face On Mars Isn't a Face After All
Ever since the Viking 1 probe sent back blurry photos of the Cydonia region of Mars in 1976, a bunch of , uh, Martian mystery enthusiasts have maintained that the image is of a giant humanoid face, and proof of an ancient civilization on the red planet. Many of these same people have numerous books, films, and wall hangings supporting their theories in their Y2K bunkers, and if you ask nicely, they may even let you take a look -- provided no black helicopters fly over when you drop in for a visit.
But make sure you drop in soon, because a series of images have come back from the planet recently, and they appear to conclusively support the longstanding theory that the "face on Mars" image was just an optical illusion.
The best images ever taken of the much-discussed "face on Mars" have conclusively established that it is an unusual formation of mountains, valleys and landslides.
Cameras on the European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite cut through the atmospheric dust and haze in July to provide clear images of the "face" in the planet's Cydonia region. Project scientist Agustin Chicarro said the photos "not only provide a completely fresh and detailed view of an area famous to fans of space myths worldwide but also provide an impressive close-up of an area of great interest for planetary geologists."
Sometimes, an unusual formation of mountains, valleys and landslides is just an unusual formation of mountains, valleys and landslides, but the True Believers will read this story, look at the pictures, and immediately discard them as further evidence of the conspiracy to suppress the truth about Cydonia. I attempted to contact the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and a Moderate Republican for comment about the face on Mars, but calls were not returned at press time.
Luckily for us, however, today's Astronomy Picture of the Day features the image in question, sent from the Mars Express, which you can look at and judge for yourself.
Mars Recon Orbiter in Science Orbit
There's something magical about Mars. It has inspired countless science fiction stores, from The War of the Worlds to Total Recall, and draws the attention of geeks of all levels. Not too long ago, a functionally retarded Vice President, stated "Mars is essentially in the same orbit . . . Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe." He then suggested we offer a Potatoe to the Martians, and introduce them to trickle down economics when we finally land on their planet in the mysterious future.
As one of our closest planetary neighbors, and with significantly less poisonous gas in its atmosphere than Venus, it's also been a subject of scientific research for decades. When the Martians shot down[1] the Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars Polar Lander, and Deep Space 2, NASA and JPL continued to send probes to the red planet, including the hugely successful Mars Global Surveyor, and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.
On Monday, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was launched just one year ago, completed its final breaking maneuvers, and entered orbit above the planet.
NASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has completed the challenging half-year task of shaping its orbit to the nearly circular, low-altitude pattern from which it will scrutinize the planet.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its six intermediate-size thrusters for 12.5 minutes Monday afternoon, Sept. 11, shifting the low point of its orbit to stay near the Martian south pole and the high point to stay near the north pole.The altitude of the orbit ranges from 250 kilometers (155 miles) to 316 kilometers (196 miles) above the surface.
There are still plenty of opportunities for the spacecraft to fail, though, so don't go changing your holdings in the Spacecraft Dead Pool anytime soon.
Challenging activities remain ahead this month, such as deploying an antenna 10 meters (33 feet) long and removing a lens cap from a crucial instrument. The main science investigations will begin in November. During its two-year science phase, the mission will return more data about Mars than all previous Mars missions combined.
According to NASA, the MRO will search for water, and provide the highest resolution photographs of the planet to date, and I can't wait to see what the face on Mars whackos have to say about that.
[1] No evidence actually exists that there are Martians, or that they have a death ray and are in cahoots with the Illuminati and the Free Masons.
Martian Rover Opportunity Ready to Examine Victoria Crater
After two years driving around the Martian surface, the rover Opportunity is set to examine its intended destination, the Victoria Crater.
[E]xamination of the rocks exposed in the walls of Victoria crater will greatly increase the understanding of past conditions on Mars and the role of water.
"In particular, we are very interested in whether the rocks continue to show evidence for having been formed in shallow lakes," [NASA Smarty pants guy Ray] Arvidson stated.
Scientists and ground controllers are "ready to hit Victoria with everything we've got," added Byron Jones, a rover mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.
Though Opportunity and its twin Spirit have scoured the Martian surface and returned useful data and jokes about evil robot twins for years, this particular mission-within-a-mission is very exciting for JPL scientists, who weren't even sure if Opportunity would be able to make the drive up to Victoria Crater.
Opportunity has been traversing an annulus of dark material around Victoria, said William Farrand, a research scientist here at the Space Science Institute. He is also a member of the Mars Exploration Rover science team.
"There had been some fears that this might be loose, tough to drive on soils, but it has turned out to be fairly well compacted and a good driving surface. We are planning on taking one more look at outcrop material before driving to the rim of Victoria crater," Farrand told SPACE.com.
In the works is a strategy to study Victoria.
High on the priority list, Farrand said, is finding a good vantage point for taking what should be a stunning color panorama of the crater. In the robot's drive around the rim of Victoria, a decision is forthcoming about wheeling Opportunity in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, from an orbital perspective, he added.
"I think everyone on the team is pretty psyched to get to the rim of the crater and to get a rover's eye view of what's inside," Farrand said.
JPL scientists also noted that Spirit and Opportunity are very old -- approximately 174* in Martian Rover Years -- and are beginning to show signs of aging.
For instance, a joint in Opportunity's robot arm stalled last week as it was trying to start measurements on a trench it dug.
"We can't say how long the rovers will last," [John Callas, JPL rover project manager] said, "but we will push to get the best possible science out of these national treasures as long as they keep operating. Victoria could very well be the most productive and exciting science of the entire mission."
Meanwhile, at Spirit's exploration site within Gusev Crater, the rover recently experienced a software reset. Cause of the problem was thought to be an overworked central processing unit.
Pushed for more details by a tough reporter, Callas also admitted that Spirit has been driving with its left blinker on for days at a time, while Opportunity mistook the gas for the break, and plowed through a Martian Farmer's Market two weeks ago.
*This number was entirely made up by me, but the fact remains that they're old. Really old. And it's actually really, really cool that they're still able to do more than fill their Depends with coredumps of bad memory at this advanced age.
NASA Names Newest Spacecraft
NASA has been working on a new spacecraft to take humans back to the Moon, and eventually to Mars. Until recently, the vehicle has had the super secret codename: Wil Wheaton Is Totally Awesome[1] but an astronaut on the International Space Station inadvertently disclosed the name of the vehicle when talking to mission control on an unencrypted space-to-ground radio.
US space agency Nasa has named its new manned exploration craft Orion.
[. . .]
It is hoped the name Orion could eventually mean as much for manned space exploration as Apollo did in the 1960s and 1970s.
Orion is named after the constellation, which is one of the brightest and most easily identified in the sky. Orion sits on the Celestial Equator, too, so it can be seen from just about anywhere on the planet.
The vehicle (and the entire program) is really cool, and a fantastic replacement for the retiring space shuttle: two rockets will launch, one carrying the crew (the Crew Exploration Vehicle or CEV) and the other carrying the equipment for the landing. The two vehicles will enter orbit around Earth, where the crew will hook up with the lander and its attached "departure module" which gives the crew a boost to get to the Moon. Once there, they climb into the lander, do their thing on the Moon, then hook up with the CEV (which remains in computer-controlled orbit around the Moon) for the trip back to Earth.
The vehicle can also be modified slightly to service the ISS, and each CEV has ten uses before NASA sends it upstate to live on a farm.
The first scheduled flight will be to the ISS sometime before 2014, and its first flight to the Moon will happen before 2020.
[1] That's not true. It's actually called "Wil Wheaton Kicks Ass" or WWKA (pronounced wuh-wuh-kah!"[2]
[2] Also not true.
Scientists Confirm Existence of Dark Matter
For years, scientists have theorized that Dark Matter and Dark Energy play a fundamental role in the construction of our universe, but they've had a really hard time actually proving they exist.
That all changed when scientists studying the result of an ancient galactic collision discovered evidence which appears to confirm the existence of Dark Matter.
While the scientists are not sure exactly what dark matter is, since they have yet to identify it in a laboratory, they said the workings of the universe cannot be explained without it.
The finding will have potentially great impact on an active debate among physicists and cosmologists about not only dark matter, but the workings of gravity. Indeed, the theory of dark matter evolved largely to explain the finding several decades ago that there was not enough visible matter in the universe to produce and account for the gravity needed to keep galaxies from flying apart.
``A universe that's dominated by dark stuff seems preposterous, so we wanted to test whether there were any basic flaws in our thinking," said Doug Clowe of the University of Arizona in Tucson, leader of the NASA-Harvard University study. ``These results are direct proof that dark matter exists."
The discovery was made using the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Scientists said a collision between the enormous ``bullet" cluster of galaxies more than 3 billion light years away and another smaller galaxy cluster proved the existence of dark matter by, in effect, stripping the dark matter away from visible matter.
Once stripped, dark matter was clearly identified by the strong gravitational pull that it exerted.
``We now have direct evidence" of dark matter, said Sean Carroll, a cosmologist in the Physics Department of the University of Chicago, who did not participate in the study. ``There is no way to explain the observations without dark matter."
Not everyone is convinced, however, including Stacy McGaugh, an astrophysicist at the University of Maryland, who is an outspoken Dark Matter skeptic.
``I've been aware of this result some time, and I agree that it is interesting, and may make more sense in terms of dark matter than alternative gravity," he said. ``However, it is premature to say so."
He said a definitive detection of dark matter particles would mean ``grabbing them in the laboratory, not just inferring that their effects can be the only possible explanation for an observation before the alternatives have actually been checked."
Mr. McGaugh then declared "Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny don't exist, either, and that chick in The Crying Game is actually a dude."
NASA scientists said that their next step is to confirm Dark Matter's existence in a lab, and Mr. McGaugh can shut up his big stupid face.
Shuttle Safely in Orbit And Set to Dock With ISS on Thursday
The space shuttle Discovery safely reached orbit shortly after lift off yesterday afternoon, and is on its way to dock with the international space station on Thursday, presumably to see the effects of weightlessness on tiny screws.[1]
This was NASA's second flight since the Columbia disaster over Texas in 2003, when the orbiter disintegrated during reentry, as a result of damage incurred during liftoff. Today, shuttle astronauts spent some time examining the orbiter's exterior, especially areas that were hit with falling foam similar to that which lead to the Columbia disaster, and returned with the cosmic signal for everything's okay, by waving a sombrero at a passing communications satellite.
Early inspections revealed no major damage to the space shuttle Discovery, NASA said Wednesday after a day of checking out the spacecraft with on-board cameras. That means that when the shuttle meets up with the international space station Thursday morning it likely won't need emergency repairs while hooked up with the orbital outpost -- unlike last year's daring spacewalk fixes.
NASA says that the damage and issues which impacted (sorry) Columbia are not cause for concern on Discovery.
Wednesday's inspection by the astronauts uncovered a thermal tile filler poking about a half-inch out of the belly of Discovery. [Deputy shuttle program manager John] Shannon said better data should be available Thursday but for now, engineers do not believe the dangling fabric will pose a danger for re-entry or require spacewalking repairs, as it did last summer when two similar strips had to be removed in orbit.
This so-called gap filler dates back to 1982 and is in an area where the thermal tiles are fairly thick, Shannon said. Additional gap fillers might be loose as well and may be spotted by the space station crew when the shuttle closes in for docking, he said.
So why, if the shuttle is so seemingly vulnerable to chunks of deadly foam and at the mercy of unreliable gap filler, is NASA still flying them? According the the Christian Science Monitor, you go into space with the vehicles you've got, not the vehicles you want -- especially where the international space station is concerned.
When the space shuttle Discovery docks with the International Space Station Thursday, some of the loudest cheers will be overseas.
That's because the shuttle is the only vehicle able to deliver key components of the station over the next four years. Its success will determine whether the station becomes a fully functional international laboratory - or a useless, partially built curiosity circling Earth. It may also determine whether the United States remains a player in future international efforts in manned spaceflight.
Though the shuttle remains the most advanced spacecraft at the moment, the program is so incredibly expensive that NASA is considering grounding the fleet and replacing the shuttle orbiters with vehicles much similar to the "capsule atop the giant rocket" that the space agency originally used with the Gemini and Apollo missions.
It won't happen any time soon, though. The ISS is specifically designed to work with the shuttle, and at least seventeen more missions are needed to complete the space station. And if the ISS isn't completed, we may never know the effects of weightlessness on tiny screws.
[1] Actually, it's to deliver about 2.5 tons of freight, but I couldn't find any Simpsons references that incorporated the space shuttle and 2.5 tons of freight.