Monday, December 27, 2010

Queen's Brian May Rocks Out To Physics, Photography

I just listened to a repeat of a Fresh Air show, on NPR, where Terry Gross interviews Brian May.
I went to NPR's website to read this article Queen's Brian May Rocks Out To Physics, Photography.
I was glad to hear that Brian May finished his Ph.D. and became the chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.

I went to LJMU's website to read this article Brian May - musician, songwriter and astronomer - was installed as the fourth Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
According to this article, Dr. Brian May co-authored the book, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe, with Sir Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott.

Rocket with Indian satellite explodes after launch

I went to USA Today's website to read this article, Rocket with Indian satellite explodes after launch.
According to this article, a GSAT 5P satellite was lost when the rocket caring it exploded after liftoff on Saturday 25 December 2010 from the Sriharikota Space Center.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Monthly Meeting

Our regular monthly meeting is Sunday, December 26, at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone with an interest in sci-fi is welcome!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Japanese spacecraft misses its rendezvous with Venus

I am reading this story, Japanese spacecraft misses its rendezvous with Venus by Dennis Normile, at The Washington Post's website.
According to this article the Akatsuki spacecraft missed its planned orbit around Venus, however there may be another chance coming six years from now.
I went to this website to get some more information on JAXA

PBS NOVA episode Hunting the Hidden Dimension

I enjoyed the PBS NOVA episode Hunting the Hidden Dimension.
I am reading the transcript of this show at NOVA's website.

NOVA Episode Absolute Zero

I enjoyed the PBS show NOVA episode Absolute Zero.
I was interested in how researchers were able to cool a substance to the point that it becomes a Bose-Einstein condensate.
I am reading the transcript for this show at NOVA's website.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Expedition 25 Returns Home

I am reading this article, Expedition 25 Returns Home, on NASA's website.
According to this article, Doug Wheelock, Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin landed safely in Kazakhstan on 25 November 2010.
They arrived in a Soyuz spacecraft from the International Space Station.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Reversal of Government Policy on Gene Patents -- A Whiff of Sanity?

The Department of Justice has declared that human and other genes should not be eligible for patent protection because they are products of nature. This is a reversal of decades of government policy and what I have been saying for years. Maybe now we will be able to break the stranglehold the University of Wisconsin has on gene research.

The Justice department said: "We acknowledge that this conclusion is contrary to the long-standing practice...."

Thursday, December 2, 2010

NASA 's Announcement of Different Type of Life Form

Today NASA announced the discovery of a type of bacteria that substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in its DNA. This is an important discover for the study of life in the universe. What I find very telling is the fact that the news commentator for the Fox News channel found the NASA presentation "boring" the moment chemistry was mentioned, and the news commentator for CNN implied that the scientist giving the presenation was odd because she was excited about the discovery of her team. For me, these reactions speak volumes about why so few young American students are interested in studying science or math -- our society at large views science as "boring" and people who are excited about science as odd. Until this attitude changes, it will be difficult to entice young people to embark on a career in science.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Monthly Meeting

Our regular monthly meeting will be held this coming Sunday at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone with an interest in Sci-fi is welcome!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Global Search for Extraterrestrial Life

This past weekend observatories in 13 nations on five continents trained their telescopes on several promising star systems in the search for extraterrestrial life. This coordinated effort is the first of its kind. It indicates just how far the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI, has come. The participating observatories were in Italy, India, Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Sweden, the Netherlands, and several in the United States and Japan. With 500 exoplanets identified and 700 more awaiting confirmation the observations can be more directed and ambitious that in the past.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

2 Sequels of "Avatar"

It was announced last week that James Cameron will work on two sequels to the movie Avatar.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

2010 Scream Awards

The 2010 Scream Awards program was broadcast Tuesday night. Inception won the best sci-fi film award -- Christopher Nolan again.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Monthly Meeting

This coming Sunday we have our regular monthly meeting at the Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone with an interest in Sci-fi is welcome!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

SR-71 Forum

Al, Mike, Nik, and I enjoyed our annual pilgrimage to the SR-71 Forum at the Virginia Aviation Museum last Saturday. The weather was really great -- a nice day to be out and about. I learn something every year. This year I learned that one of the SR-71 test pilots later joined the astronaut program and eventually piloted three Shuttle missions.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Review Finds No Lightning damage to Discovery, Pad

I went to NASA's website to read this article, Review Finds No Lightning damage to Discovery, Pad.
According to this article, there is a launch of Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station scheduled for 1 November 2010.
This is the last flight of this shuttle of the fleet.
There were five lightning strikes near the launch pad Tuesday.
But no damage to the ground support equipment or the space shuttle systems at Launch Pad 39A was found.

Expedition 25 Crew at Work, Waiting for Three New Members

I went to NASA's website to read this article, Expedition 25 Crew at Work, Waiting for Three New Members.
According to this article Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin, Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineer Shannon Walker are aboard the International Space Station.
A Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft is scheduled to carry Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka to the ISS by 9 October 2010 after a 7 October 2010 launch.

For Returning Space Flyers, a Fur Chair and an Apple

I went to Space.com to read this article,
For Returning Space Flyers, a Fur Chair and an Apple By Mike Wall (SPACE.com Senior Writer).
According to this article, a Soyuz spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan on 25 September 2010. The spacecraft carried Tracy Caldwell,
Mikhail Kornienko
and Alexander Skvortsov from the International Space Station back to Earth.
After a long stay in weightlessness, astronauts are discouraged from standing and walking right away after returning in a Soyuz spacecraft. Traditionally recovery crews lift the crew members from the spacecraft and place them in furry chairs and give them each an apple.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Emergency Water Restrictions

I suppose the biggest news around here would be the emergency water restrictions recently put in place because of the drought. We are no longer allowed to water our lawns, gardens, or scrubs. I have a rhododendron -- a "true" rhododendron -- that I planted early this spring that probably isn't going to make it. Oh, well....

Monday, September 20, 2010

AAAS Formed on 20 September 1847

I was listening to The Writer's Almanac this morning on WCVE 88.9 FM and Garrison Keillor mentioned that the American Association for the Advancement of Science was formed in 1847 on September 20 in Philadelphia.
Happy 162nd anniversary AAAS!

Monthly Meeting

Our regular monthly meeting is this coming Sunday at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone with an interest in Sci-fi is welcome!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Asteroids to Pass Close to the Earth Today

Apparently, two asteroids will pass within the distance of the Moon by the Earth today: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/sep/HQ_M10-128_Asteroids_Pass_By.html. They were discovered September 5 -- not much warning, huh?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Star HD 10180 in Southern Constellation Hydrus

I am reading this article, Rich exoplanet system discovered By Victoria Gill, at the BBC News UK website.
According to this article astronomers have discovered at least five planets orbiting a star called HD 10180 in the constellation Hydrus.

I am reading this article, Richest Planetary System Discovered Up to seven planets orbiting a Sun-like star at the European Southern Observatory website.
According to this article, astronomers who made this discovery used the HARPS spectrograph, connected to ESO's 3.6-meter telescope at La Silla, during a study of star HD 10180 for six years.
Star HD 10180 is 127 light-years away from Earth.

Friday, August 27, 2010

"Flashforward" Cancelled

I understand that the TV show "Flashforward" has been cancelled. I'm sorry to hear this. I like Robert J. Sawyer, and I enjoyed the show.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Starship Earth?

The American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry have developed sister websites designed to help chemists and the general public learn more about key challenges related to sustainability of water, food, energy, and other resources. The web sites are: www.acs.org/acsrscalliance and www.rsc.org/scienceandtechnology/roadmap/acsrsc.asp.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Marquise Du Chatelet

I am presently reading La Dame d'Esprit: A Biography of the Marquise Du Chatelet by Judith P. Zinsser. Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise Du Chatelet (1706-1749), was the patron, mistress, and intellectual companion of Voltaire. In the first decades of the French Enlightment, although barred from even the most informal gathering of learned men because of her sex, she wrote on the nature of fire, light, and the cosmos. Her translation of Isaac Newton's Principia remains the authoritative French version to this day. Incredible! Her mastery of the new calculus was a skill shared by only a dozen or so others in 1740's Europe. Judith P. Zinsser is an exceptional historian.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Monthly Meeting

Our regular monthly meeting is this coming Sunday at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone with an interest in sci-fi is welcome!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Neil Armstrong

I went to The Ohio Historical Society Armstrong Air & Space Museum's website,
http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/nw01/index.shtml
I saw these lines from history there:
"Eagle...you're go for a landing"

"Roger...picking up some dust...big shadow...contact light...O.K., engine stopped...


Tranquility Base here.
The Eagle has landed."


--- NASA Mission Control & Neil Armstrong,
July 20, 1969

Happy Birthday, Neil Armstrong!

Monday, August 2, 2010

NASA Needs More Basic Science Research

An interim report by th National Research Council concluded that NASA must elevate its support of life and physical sciences on the International Space Station. The findings are a part of a NASA-requested decadal survey of its life and physical sciences activities in microgravity. The final report is expected in 2011.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Anitbodies Aid Nerve Repair

Antibodies are essential for successful regeneration after nerve damage reports a team from Stanford University School of Medicine. This finding may explain why nerve damage in the central nervous system, which lacks antibodies, isn't naturally repaired -- circulating antibodies can gain access to and help repair damage in the peripheral nervous system. Apparently, antibodies may be necessary to clear away the myelin insulation that coats the axon of nerve cells -- degenerating myelin is strongly inhibitory to regenerating axons.

Seems to me that this research could possibly lead to a treatment for central nervous system damage -- stroke and spinal-cord trauma.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Senate plan puts off space shuttle retirement

I went to NewsDaily's website to read a Reuters article, Senate plan puts off space shuttle retirement.
According to this article The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed a three-year NASA plan that adds one more space shuttle mission to the International Space Station and supports President Obama's request to end the Constellation program involving the Moon.
NASA already has two space shuttle missions to the ISS planned before the space shuttle program is retired.




Multifunctional Nanoparticle Enables New Type of Biological Imaging

I went to ScienceDaily's website to read this article Multifunctional Nanoparticle Enables New Type of Biological Imaging.
According to this article, University of Washington researchers have developed a nanoparticle that allows a more precise form of medical imaging by combining magnetic properties and photoacoustic imaging to eliminate background noise.


University of Washington (2010, July 28). Multifunctional nanoparticle enables new type of biological imaging. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 28, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100727112831.htm

Monday, July 26, 2010

Comic-Con 21010

The San Diego Comic-Con was this past weekend: http://www.comic-con.org/.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Monthly Meeting

Our regular monthly meeting is this coming Sunday at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM. Everyone with an interest in sci-fi is welcome!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Linus Pauling Bio

Here's a nice, short bio of Linua Pauling I like: http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/linuspauling.html.

Cometary Planet?

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a planet that is so close to its star that its atmosphere has become super-heated and its out-gassing is creating a comet-like tail it is being described as a cometary planet: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jul/HQ_10-167_Hubble_Finds_Planet.html.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Comets in Our Solar Sytem Not Originally from our Solar System?

Here's an interesting article about a new theory that many, if not most, of the comets in in our solar system originally came from other star systems: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1187535.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Creating Pluripotent Stem Cells from Somatic Cells

Here's an interesting interview with Michael West about induced pluripotent cells. These cells are created from somatic (body) cells and can be equivalent to embryonic stem stem cells if the length of the telomeres is completely reset -- this is explained in the article. Dr West is a Bioengineering Professor at UC Berkely: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/jun2010_Immortal-Stem-Cells-for-Anti-Aging-Therapies_01.htm.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Monday, June 21, 2010

Monthly Meeting

Next Sunday we have our regular monthly meeting at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone is welcome!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Stargate: Universe Season Finale

Al and I watched the season finale ( I believe it's may be called the first half-season now.) of "Stagate:Universe" Saturday. It was pretty intense and left a few cliff-hangers. It will be interesting to see who survives when the series picks up in the fall.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Forensic Science

My first introduction to forensic science were Sherlock Homes movies and Jacob "Jack" Klugmen's television character Quincy, M.E.
I remember Style Weekly published an article on Patricia Cornwell with a photo of her and a VW Beatle with a personalized license plate.
The license plate had as much of the name Scarpettia as she could get on the plate.
I remember a family member suggesting one of her books, Cruel and Unusual, after meeting her while he worked a limousine job.
I read it and a few more of her Scarpetta series.
I went to some of her book signings.
I was there when the Commonwealth of Virginia Chief M.E. and Cornwell introduced a new section of exhibits, at the Science Museum of Virginia, based on biology.
I remember seeing her fly in by helicopter and land on the museum lawn that day.
She slipped off to a local book store to sign copies of her latest book and returned to the museum.
She also signed copies of her latest book at the museum the same day.
After she was done at the museum, she flew off in the helicopter.
I attended one or two events at the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science & Medicine, including her lecture on her book Portrait of a Killer.

I would like to wish Patricia Cornwell a very Happy Birthday!

SpaceX shows it has the right stuff

I am reading this article, SpaceX shows it has the right stuff, at www.chicagotribune.com.
According to this article, a Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral on 4 June 2010 at 1145 Pacific time.
The Falcon 9 reached orbit nine minutes later.
The first stage of the rocket, that carried the rocket to an altitude of over 50 miles, used engines that generated more than 1 million pounds of thrust.
The second stage carried the rocket into orbit.
Elon Musk's business Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies Corporation developed the Falcon 9 rocket.
NASA has invested over $200 million in seed money to help SpaxeX develop and build the Falcon 9 rocket.
NASA has awarded SpaceX $1.6 billion in contracts to transport cargo to the International Space Station as early as next year.
NASA's Space Shuttle program is scheduled for retirement later this year.
The average shuttle mission costs $1 billion.
Elon Musk says he can launch cargo to the ISS and only charge $50 million.
SpaceX's rockets are made in a facility that once contained a production line for Boeing's 747 jumbo jet.
SpaceX employs over 1,000 people.







STS-132 Crew Return Home

I am reading this article Atlantis, STS-132 Crew Return Home, on NASA's website.
According to this article the Space Shuttle Atlantis and crew landed safely on Wednesday 26 May 2010 at 0848 EDT.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Mars500 Mission Begins Today

I am reading this article, Mars500 Mission Begins Today, on www.redorbit.com.
According to this article on 3 June 2010, a crew of six men were sealed in a capsule at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems for 520 days.
This is to simulate a round-trip from Earth to Mars and back, with a 30-day stay on Mars, without the weightlessness of space flight or the lower gravity of Mars.

I am reading this article, First stage of Mars-500 experiment over, on Russia Today's website.
According to this article, a crew of six men spent 105 days in a capsule in the IBMP in 2009. The crew members were: Sergey Ryazansky, Oliver Knickel, Cyrille Fournier, Aleksey Baranov, Oleg Artemyev and Aleksey Shpakov. Communications with the outside world simulated a delay of the distance between the Earth and Mars during the mission.
This was the first leg of the experiment.

Professor Lou-Chuang Lee on Taiwan Outlook

I watched Professor Lou-Chuang Lee Minister Academician of Academia Sinica, Taiwan on Taiwan Outlook television show today.
He discussed several science topics including these:
National Research Programs
Building High-Quality R & D Environment
National Applied Research Laboratories
National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
Science Parks Development
Hsinchu Science Park
Development of Biotechnology in Taiwan

From what I am reading on the Internet, Professor Lou-Chuang Lee has a long list of distinguished accomplishments in the areas of space science and plasma physics.
According to this pdf file, http://www.glyco2009.genomics.sinica.edu.tw/docs/CV_NSCM_Lee.pdf, Professor Lou-Chuang Lee's major
research achievements include:
the discovery of gigantic jets in the Earth’s upper atmosphere;
the multiple X-line reconnection model for magnetic flux transfer events;
the turbulence spectrum of interstellar medium;
the formation mechanism of solar prominences;
the cyclotron maser theory for the generation of auroral kilometric radiation;
and a new mechanism for solar coronal heating.
Professor Lou-Chuang Lee has published three academic monographs and over 200 scientific papers.

Friday, May 28, 2010

John Scalzi's "Old Man's War"

I'm presently reading John Scalzi's book Old Man's War. I became interested in John Scalzi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scalzi) when I learned that he was hired as a consultant for "Stargate: Universe." When I was able to pick up Old Man War's at Books-A-Million for $2.97 plus tax, I decide to read it.

Friday, May 14, 2010

NASA Space Shuttle

I went to NASA's website and saw the the Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch for the International Space Station at 1420 EDT today.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Golf of Mexico - Transocean Drilling

I am at this website, http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/, getting some information on the oil spill.
The latest information is available as text files that download to your computer and there are some photos.
And I will be reading the latest information offline.
According to this website, this information is about the 20 April 2010 incident involving the drilling Rig Deepwater Horizon in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Friday, April 30, 2010

James Cameron and NASA

James Cameron will be helping NASA develope a 3-D camera for its next Mars rover. Mr. Cameron developed 3-D technology for his movie Avatar.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Prebiotic Molecules from Comet Impact

Nir Goldman, of Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and his colleagues modeled the shock compression and subsequent expansion of a typical comet mixture of water, methanol, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide molecules to see what could happen if a comet were to impact a planet's surface. For shock compressions lasting about 20 picoseconds at temperatures up to 4,000 K and pressures about 60 gigapascals, the researchers observed formation of chains of carbon and nitrogen atoms, some parts of which were akin to chains of amino acids. The results show that a comet colliding with a planet could produce prebiotic chemicals from common interstellar building blocks regardless of the planetary environment.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

STS-131 Mission Information

I am reading this article, STS-131 Mission Information, on NASA's website.
According to this article the members of the Space Shuttle Discovery crew for this mission to the International Space Station are:
Alan
G. Poindexter, James P. Dutton Jr., Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie D. Wilson,
Dorothy M. Metcalf-Lindenburger, Naoko Yamazaki and Clayton C. Anderson.

They are currently aboard the ISS.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Climate-change "Geoengineering"

According to a new report by the U.K. House of Commons Select Committee on Science & Technology, which was released in the U.S. on March 18 at a House of Representatives Science & Technology Committee hearing, international regulations are needed to control the use of climate-change "geoengineering" technologies intended to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gases. The report names the U.N. as the best body to enforce these regulations.

American Chemical Society National Meeting

The American Chemical Society held its national meeting in San Francisco March 21-25. There were nearly 12,500 technical papers presented. The meeting theme was "Chemistry for a Sustainable World."

Ravencon 2010

Ravencon is this weekend. Al, Mike, Nik , and I plan to be there. It will be at the Koger Center in Richmond.

Russian-American crew prepares to blast off to ISS

I am reading this story, Russian-American
crew prepares to blast off to ISS, on Russia Today's website.
According to this article Tracy Dyson, Aleksandr Skvortsov and Mikhail Korneenko trained for this mission at Balikonur Space Center and the Soyuz Spacecraft.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Stargate: Universe

New episodes of "Stargate: Universe" start again this coming Friday.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Monthly Meeting

Our regular monthly meeting will be at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights this coming Sunday around 2:00 PM.

Everyone is welcome!

Flash Forward

The TV show based on Robert Sawyer's sci-fi novel Flash Forward resumed new episodes last week. Mike, Al, and I got together to watch the new season's premier. We saw more of the science behind the show as Wakefield plasma wave acceleration and tachyon dark matter were mentioned.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Star Trek Movie Wins Oscar

Last year's Star Trek movie won a Oscar for best makeup. I believe that this is the first time that a Star Trek movie has won an Oscar, but I am not sure

Saturday, March 6, 2010

NOVA: The Pluto Files

I watched this episode of NOVA, The Pluto Files.
According to this show, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on 18 Febraury 1930.
Is Pluto a small planet or a Kuiper belt object?
This show mentioned the reclassification of Pluto from a planet.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cost of Human DNA Sequencing Drops Tremendously

The cost of determining the DNA sequence of a human has dropped tremendously in recent years: from $1 million in 2007 to less than $20,000 today. A technique that allows physicians to sequence only the DNA of known genes can drop the cost to around $2500, thus making use of DNA sequencing more practical in medical diagnoses. Here's an article in the latest Forbes about this: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0315/health-illumina-genome-cancer-diagnosis-by-dna.html.

World's most powerful atom smasher restarts: CERN

I went to Yahoo! News to read this article, World's most powerful atom smasher restarts: CERN.
According to this article, CERN announced that the LHC was restarted at 0310 GMT on 28 February 2010 after a 14-month shutdown.

European Commission okays GM potatoes

I saw this article, European Commission okays GM potatoes, on France24's website.
According to this article, a strain of genetically modified maze has been authorized for cultivation in Europe since 1998.
Now Amflora potatoes are authorized for cultivation in Europe since 1998.
It seems the Amflora potato is intended for industrial use only.

Friday, February 26, 2010

STS-131 Crew

According to NASA's website the STS-131 crew members are: Alan G. Poindexter, James P. Dutton Jr., Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie D. Wilson, Dorothy
M. Metcalf-Lindenburger, Naoko Yamazaki and Clayton C. Anderson.
They are scheduled to launch to the ISS abound the Space Shuttle Discovery on 5 April 2010.

Endeavour Completes Mission

I went to NASA's website to read this article, Endeavour Completes Mission.
The STS-130 crew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, according to this article.

Exploring the Cosmos With Stephen Hawking

I went to The Planetary Society's website to read this article, Exploring the Cosmos With Stephen Hawking.
According to this article, Dr. Stephen Hawking is scheduled to receive the Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science from The Planetary Society on 27 Febrary 2010 in Cambridge, England.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Exoplanet's Methane Detected from Hawaii

A telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii has detected fluorescent infrared emission coming from methane in the atmosphere of a giant, Jupiter-like extrasolar planet. This is the first time that such a measurement has been made from Earth's surface -- the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have been necessary to make such discoveries in the past. The Mauna Kea telescope can observe IR spectral regions not possible with the space-based telescopes.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

$1,000,000 for Superman Comic

A copy of the first comic book to feature Superman sold yesterday for 1 million dollars -- a new record: http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20100223/ENT/302230049/1001/rss.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Monthly Meeting

Next Sunday we have our regular monthly meeting At Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone is welcome!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Nicolas Copernicus

Nicolas Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in Torun, Poland.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Avatar

Al, Mike, Nik, Andrew, and I enjoyed a second viewing of the movie Avatar yesterday.

Endeavour is in Orbit

I heard the news on the radio at 0400 and went to NASA's website and found this article, Endeavour is in Orbit.
According to this article, Endeavour successfully launched and the STS-130 clock shows that the crew is about 47 minutes into the mission to the ISS.

Friday, February 5, 2010

EU: hackers broke into cap-and-trade system

I have been looking at articles on Cap and Trade and found this article, EU: hackers broke into cap-and-trade system, on The Boston Globe's website.
According to this article 3 million euros worth of pollution credits were stolen by hackers.
Some carbon trading in Germany was stopped in last week.

Carbon Watch

I followed a link from Fresh Air's website to Carbon Watch on PBS's FRONTLINE website http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/carbonwatch/
When Terry Gross interviewed Mark Schapiro, I learned a few things about the economic side of Cap and Trade.
Especially how pollution credits are traded like stocks.
Here I followed a link to http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/01/20/pm-carbon-q/
Where I am reading this story, Clearing the air on carbon credits at Market Place's website.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Cap And Trade And The New Carbon Economy

I heard this story, Cap And Trade And The New Carbon Economy, during a Fresh Air program that aired a few days ago on NPR.
I learned a few things about the economic side of Cap and Trade that I did not know.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Remembering Columbia STS-107

I am looking at this, Remembering Columbia STS-107, at NASA's website http://history.nasa.gov/columbia/index.html
According to this account of the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle Columbia launched on 16 January 2003.
Space Shuttle Columbia and crew reentered the atmosphere on 1 February 2003.
The shuttle suffered a serious failure as the result of a breach caused when form, falling from the external tank during launch, struck reinforced carbon control panels on the bottom of the left wing.

In Memory of
Rick D. Husband, Commander
William C. McCool, Pilot
Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander
David Brown, Mission Specialist
Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist
Laurel Blair Salton Clark, Mission Specialist
Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Google to hold programming competition in China

I heard about this on NPR.
I am reading this article, Google to hold programming competition in China, on Computerworld's website.
According to this article, the Google Chinia Code Jam is an effort to attract talented Chinese computer programmers to Google Inc.'s R&D facility planned for Beijing.

NASA's Spitzer and Deep Impact Build Recipe for Comet Soup

I am reading this article, NASA'sSpitzer and Deep Impact Build Recipe for Comet Soup, on NASA's website.
According to this article, when Deep Impact's probe collided with the comet Tempel 1 on 4 July 2005 Spitzer observed the cloud of ejected material with it infrared spectrograph.
The data from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope is being studied to determine with materials make up not just comets but planets and other bodies in our solar system.

Now a Stationary Research Platform, NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Starts a New Chapter in Red Planet Scientific Studies

I heard about this on NPR and I am reading this article, Now a Stationary Research Platform, NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Starts a New Chapter in Red Planet Scientific Studies, on NASA's website.
According to this article, Spirit is still stuck in a sand trap and will be used to study Mars from where it is now.

Newborn Black Holes May Add Power to Many Exploding Stars

I am reading this article, Newborn Black Holes May Add Power to Many Exploding Stars, on NASA's website.
Usually in typical supernovae you observe matter expanding at no more than 3 % of the speed of light due to explosion dynamics, according to an astrophysicst at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center Chryssa Kouveliotou.
According to this article, two objects were studied, SN 2007gr in the spiral galaxy NGC 1058 and SN 2009bb in the spiral galaxy NGC 3278.
Jets of particles were detected traveling from these exploding stars at speeds of more that one half of the speed of light.

Endeavour Launch Date Officially Set

I am reading this article at NASA's website, EndeavourLanch Date Officially Set.
According to this article, the launch of the Space Shuttle is scheduled for 7 February 2010 at 0439 at Kennedy Space Center.
Endeavour is scheduled to carry the Tranquility node and cupola to the ISS.
The STS-130 mission crew members are George D. Zamka, Terry W. Virts Jr., Nicholas J. W. Patrick, Robert L. Behnken, Stephen K. Robinson and Kathryn P. Hire.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Monthly Meeting

We are having our regular monthly meeting at Books-A-Million Sunday around 2:00 PM. Everyone is welcome!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Steven Collins

I am reading a biography of Steven Collins on NASA's website, http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/deepimpact/mission/bio-scollins.cfm
According to this article, he is an Attitude Control Engineer and works for JPL.
He worked on the Deep Impact Project.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Kepler Discovers New Planets

The Kepler Space Telescope discovered its first five new exoplanets it was announced yesterday: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jan/HQ_10-002_Kepler_5_Exoplanets.html.

Saturn's Day

I am reading this story, Saturn's Day, on StarDate Online's website.
I hear this story on NPR yesterday morning.
Several ways used to determine the length of Saturn's day were discussed.
Saturn has no solid features to track.