SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society


Today's Headlines - February 21, 2008

Long Nights, 90 Below. What More Could Astronomers Want?

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

It's been called the whitest place on Earth, and at 90 degrees below
zero,
it could be the coolest place on the planet for astronomy.

And so 17 Chinese astronomers, engineers and technicians boarded an old
icebreaker last November, crunched into a harbor in East Antarctica and
then set off on a 20-day, 1,000-mile trip across the snows to establish
a
new observatory at the bottom of the world. The observatory is called
Plato, for the Plateau Observatory.

For now it consists of a collection of boxes and towers holding seven
small
telescopes and cameras on a bump known as Dome Argus, which is 13,000
feet
high and about 700 miles east of the South Pole. For the next year they
will hold vigil alone, reporting by satellite radio through the long
Antarctic night, but these instruments are the vanguard of great hopes.

To read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/science/19scope.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2qn9gf


Space Shuttle Returns to Earth After Spacelab Mission

from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis landed at its
Florida home port on Wednesday after a mission that delivered Europe's
first permanent space lab to orbit, clearing the way for the U.S.
military
to shoot down a dead spy satellite.

The shuttle touched down at 9:07 a.m. EST at the Kennedy Space Center,
where NASA already has another shuttle at the launch pad for a March 11
flight to continue assembling the International Space Station.

Flying through clear skies, Atlantis commander Stephen Frick circled
high
over the spaceport to lose speed, then nosed the 100-tonne spaceplane
onto
a three-mile-long, canal-lined runway just a few miles west of where the
shuttle blasted off 13 days ago.

To read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/02/20/AR2008022001074.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/yw7vyj


Mysterious Pyramid Complex Discovered in Peru

from National Geographic News

The remnants of at least ten pyramids have been discovered on the coast
of
Peru, marking what could be a vast ceremonial site of an ancient,
little-
known culture, archaeologists say.

In January construction crews working in the province of Piura
discovered
several truncated pyramids and a large adobe platform. Officials from
Peru's National Institute of Culture (INC) were dispatched to inspect
the
discovery.

Last week they announced that the complex, which is 2 miles long and 1
mile
wide, belonged to the ancient Vicus culture and was likely either a
religious center or a cemetery for nobility. The Vicus was a
pre-Hispanic
civilization that flourished in Peru's northern coastal desert from 200
B.C
to 300 A.D. and is known for its decorated ceramics.

To read more:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080220-vicus-
pyramids.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/yuv2rx


Disease Monitors 'Looking in the Wrong Places'

from Nature News

The world's health watchdogs are looking in the wrong places for the
next
dangerous epidemics, according to an analysis of global trends in
emerging
disease outbreaks over the past few decades.

The study gives a fresh perspective on global disease by tracking the
history, from 1940 to 2004, of the emergence and spread of 335
infectious
diseases. The extensive work helps to quantify the effect of well-known
risk factors, such as population density, on the probability of a
disease
taking hold in a given area.

Although the data haven't yet been used to map out specific future
hotspots
for disease, they do suggest that watchdog groups should invest more in
monitoring regions such as tropical Africa, Latin America and Asia.
These
areas have the greatest threats of newly emerging epidemics, say the
survey's authors, but they have traditionally received the least
surveillance.

To read more:
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080220/full/news.2008.612.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/24ocvz


Ancestral Human Skull Found in China

from National Geographic News

A human skull tentatively dating back 80,000 to 100,000 years may shed
light on a murky chapter of evolutionary history, its discoverers say.
An
excavation team led by Chinese archaeologist Li Zhanyang recently found
the
shattered fossil in the central province of Henan.

China's government-run press was quick to describe the skull as "the
greatest discovery in China after Peking Man," but archaeologists and
paleoanthropologists say it's a much more modest find.

The Chinese report suggested that the fossil came from a modern human,
which would have forced a radical reworking of current theories about
when
our species first left Africa. Instead, experts say, the skull likely
belongs to a sister or precursor species to modern humans.

To read more:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080220-china-
fossil.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/yp2ef2


Plant in China Under Scrutiny

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

CHANGZHOU, CHINA -- The maker of a blood thinner suspected in four U.S.
deaths and allergic reactions in 350 people said Tuesday that its
investigation was focusing more closely on whether something went awry
during the processing of ingredients in China.

Baxter Healthcare Corp. spokeswoman Erin Gardiner said testing had
detected
irregularities in samples of the drug, heparin, that were processed in
China from raw material extracted in China.

No such irregularities were detected in heparin made from raw materials
from China but processed at a supplier's plant in Wisconsin. Gardiner
stressed that the findings were preliminary and that the company had
reached no final conclusions about what caused the adverse reactions
among
patients.

To read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/scimedemail/la-fi-
heparin20feb20,0,4058978.story

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2g6fxk


Botanical Conservatories Take on Urgent New Role

from the Christian Science Monitor

Conservatories, once the glass-walled playgrounds of wealthy plant
collectors, now serve a more urgent function. The changing global
climate
has spotlighted the role these specialized greenhouses play in
preserving
plant diversity.

Like zoos for endangered animals, climate-controlled conservatories may
well be the only places some plants can survive, allowing scientists to
educate the public, including gardeners, about the environmental threats
to
many species.

Glasshouses, as they are also known, are often the first stop on
visitors'
tours of public botanic gardens. These structures hint at the research
going on behind the scenes, such as the development of seed banks and
collections of endangered plants. Conservatories also cost a good deal
to
operate, and so they stand at the forefront of efforts to use fuel more
efficiently.

To read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0220/p13s02-lign.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/3cfslc


Self-Healing Rubber Bounces Back

from BBC News Online

A material that is able to self-repair even when it is sliced in two has
been invented by French researchers. The as-yet-unnamed material - a
form
of artificial rubber - is made from vegetable oil and a component of
urine.

The substance, described in the journal Nature, produces surfaces when
cut
that retain a strong chemical attraction to each other. Pieces of the
material join together again as if never parted without the need for
glue
or a special treatment.

This remarkable property comes from careful engineering of the molecules
in
the material. The French researchers are already making kilogramme
quantities in their Paris laboratories and say the process is almost
completely green, and could be completely so with a few adjustments.

To read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7254939.stm

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2nq3x5


Stem Cell Jabs Reverse Damage After Strokes, Doctors Claim

from the Guardian (UK)

Stroke patients could receive stem cell injections to help repair damage
to
their brains within the next five years, a team of American doctors
claimed
yesterday.

Hopes that a therapy may be on the horizon were boosted by experiments
which showed human embryonic stem cells could be turned into a variety
of
brain cells, which helped animals recover from strokes without causing
dangerous side effects.

Researchers led by Gary Steinberg at Stanford University took a dish of
human embryonic stem cells and treated them with natural chemicals
called
growth factors, to nudge them into forming early-stage neurons and other
brain cells called astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The scientists
screened
these cells to make sure that any genes which could make them grow into
cancers were switched off.

To read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/feb/20/medicalresearch.genetics

Or: http://tinyurl.com/38cx7t


US Missile Hits Crippled Satellite

from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)

HONOLULU - A US Navy cruiser based in Pearl Harbor fired a missile last
night that struck a crippled spy satellite roughly 150 miles above the
earth, in an attempt to prevent the out-of-control spacecraft from
dumping
hazardous fuel on a population center, the Pentagon said.

"A network of land-, air-, sea- and space-based sensors confirms that
the
US military intercepted a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office
satellite which was in its final orbits before entering the earth's
atmosphere," the Pentagon said in a short statement.

... The missile ship, relying on advanced radars and other missile
defense
technologies, "fired a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3,
hitting
the satellite approximately 133 nautical miles over the Pacific Ocean as
it
traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph," the statement added.

To read more:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/21/us_missile_hits_cr
ippl
ed_satellite/

Or: http://tinyurl.com/yntewo