Friday, March 15, 2002

CNN.com Twin probes set for mission to map Earth gravity March 15, 2002 Twin probes will use a microwave beam, depicted by red lines, to track each other. By Kate Tobin CNN Sci-Tech (CNN) -- Barring any last-minute snags, NASA and the German Space Agency will launch two satellites into orbit Saturday on a five-year mission to study Earth's gravity field. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, aims to map variations in the Earth's gravity field as it changes over time in response to shifts in sea levels, the ebb and flow of glaciers, the seasonal melting and freezing of ice sheets, and other such fluctuations. Further Information GRACE-short for the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment CNN NASA satellite pair to tackle weighty task 11:54:22 AM    comment

Thursday, March 14, 2002

Yahoo! News Russian Co. Presents 'Space Plane' By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer ZHUKOVSKY, Russia (AP) - Eager to open up a space tourism market, a Russian aerospace company presented a mock-up Thursday of a "space plane" that would give an adventurer willing to pay nearly $100,000 the chance to experience three minutes in zero gravity on the edge of space. Further Information BBC News - Russia unveils tourists' spaceship 1:26:55 PM    comment CNN.com Future looks bright for new comet Comet Ikeya-Zhang might have last passed this way 341 years ago. Richard Stenger (CNN) -- An unexpected visitor to the inner solar system is brightening rapidly and could put on quite a celestial show as it approaches our planet, astronomers said. Discovered in early February, Comet Ikeya-Zhang has brightened more quickly than expected and is now visible to the naked eye, according to comet experts. 7:59:16 AM    comment BBC News SCI/TECH Russia unveils tourists's spaceship By Caroline Wyatt BBC Moscow correspondent A Russian company has unveiled the prototype of the world's first reusable spaceship, aimed at space tourists. C21 is fully automatic, and the idea is that even with very little training, one of the passengers could sit at the controls. 7:33:53 AM    comment

Wednesday, March 13, 2002

BBC Online News Blue jet streaks high The lights move into the upper atmosphere at a rapid rate By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor Lightning-like flashes called blue jets may link the electrical energy of thunderstorms and the charged layer of the upper atmosphere. Writing in the journal Nature Victor Pasko at Pennsylvania State University, US, and colleagues used high-speed low-light cameras to capture an image of a fleeting blue jet that extended from the top of a thunderstorm 70 kilometres up into the ionosphere. 6:01:27 PM    comment Yahoo! News Thriving Peru Coca Hampers Drug War By MONTE HAYES Associated Press Writer TINGO MARIA, Peru (AP) - The jungle-draped mountains that loom over this town in the Huallaga valley conceal a truth that anti-narcotics officials have been loath to admit. After years of declining prices and production, coca crops are on the rise again in Peru. Even more worrisome to U.S. counternarcotics officials, Colombian drug traffickers are promoting poppy plants, the raw material of heroin. 2:13:48 PM    comment ABCNEWS.com—Researchers Chewing Gum May Make People Smarter: By Jeremy Laurence LONDON (Reuters) - The often-maligned act of chewing gum could in fact make us smarter, according to British research. A joint study carried out by the University of Northumbria and the Cognitive Research Unit, Reading, has found that chewing gum has a positive effect on cognitive tasks such as thinking and memory. 10:03:10 AM    comment CNN.com Smart Mars rovers to think, work as team March 13, 2002 Two autonomous rovers approached, gripped and carried this beam more than 164 feet (50 m) in a recent test. From Allard Beutel NASA is working on a new breed of rovers whose sole purpose is to work together on Mars. They are robots that basically act like synchronized swimmers for construction work. The space agency envisions a martian building crew consisting of multiple rovers. Prototypes can now lift and move an eight-foot metal beam. 9:21:32 AM    comment New Scientist Satellites spot city subsidence NewScientist.com Subsidence near two London tunnels constructed in the last decade is revealed in new images produced from satellite data. The ground movement appears near London Underground's Jubilee line extension and a London Electricity tunnel. 7:37:48 AM    comment

Tuesday, March 12, 2002

New Scientist  "Defective" cigarette filters hidden for 40 years, claim scientists New Scientist Science & Technology News Service  Researchers are claiming that Philip Morris, the world's biggest tobacco company, knew for at least 40 years that fibres and particles are drawn out of filters and into smokers' lungs, but did not disclose it. They also claim the company knew of the potential additional health risk this "fall out" posed. 9:56:33 AM    comment CNN.com Intel names top 10 young scientists in U.S. March 12, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Colorado high school student who invented a glove that converts American sign language into text on a portable screen has won a top award for young scientists. 8:48:00 AM    comment

Monday, March 11, 2002

NATIONAL POST ONLINE News story Stem cell backlash feared Research advocates prepare to face fury of politicians who charge scientists are dictating policy: Scientists ready to lobby by Norma Greenaway Ottawa Citizen OTTAWA - Advocates of stem cell research say the political fury over a federal agency's decision to give scientists the green light to use surplus human embryos suggests a tough battle ahead to prevent stricter legislative curbs on the work. They are gearing up to begin lobbying Anne McLellan, the federal Minister of Health, and individual MPs and bureaucrats in the health department. Advocates want to ensure legislation expected before mid-May closely mirrors guidelines for embryonic stem cell research unveiled last week by the agency that funds medical research. Further Information Wired News — Mouse's Tail of Stem Cell Success BBC online News — Cloning fix for lab mice 9:55:47 AM    comment

© Copyright 2002 Jack Foster Mancilla . Last update: 2/1/02; 14:59:44 .