Sunday, November 30, 2003
Lonely planet formed just like a star
Planets can be spawned by the same process that makes stars, say astronomers who have discovered a developing planet floating alone in a stellar nursery.
"It's a planet but it has all the hallmarks of an embryonic star," says Jane Greaves of the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh (ROE).
Until recently, it was thought that planets could only build up, or "accrete", from gas and dust swirling in a disc around a newborn star. But everything changed in 2000 with the discovery of isolated planets without parent stars in the Sigma Orionis star cluster. "Their existence strongly suggested there was another way of making planets," says Greaves.
I guess the downside of these planets is that it would be hard for life as we know it to establish itself on them.
From New Scientist.
"It's a planet but it has all the hallmarks of an embryonic star," says Jane Greaves of the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh (ROE).
Until recently, it was thought that planets could only build up, or "accrete", from gas and dust swirling in a disc around a newborn star. But everything changed in 2000 with the discovery of isolated planets without parent stars in the Sigma Orionis star cluster. "Their existence strongly suggested there was another way of making planets," says Greaves.
I guess the downside of these planets is that it would be hard for life as we know it to establish itself on them.
From New Scientist.
Terracotta Army saved from crack up
A chemical treatment could prevent China's Terracotta Army from cracking up. Around 1,500 of the 2,000-year-old figures are fading as their protective glaze begins to crumble.
The new method effectively glues the lacquer together from the inside, explain Heinz Langhals and colleagues at the University of Munich in Germany. A handful of soldiers have been protected so far and thousands more may be treated.
Lets hope that this treatment is soon enough so that the army will not fall to the test of the elements.
From Nature.
The new method effectively glues the lacquer together from the inside, explain Heinz Langhals and colleagues at the University of Munich in Germany. A handful of soldiers have been protected so far and thousands more may be treated.
Lets hope that this treatment is soon enough so that the army will not fall to the test of the elements.
From Nature.
SECOND LOG BOAT UNEARTHED
A Second prehistoric log boat has been unearthed in a Derbyshire quarry less than a mile from where a similar find was discovered five years ago.
Archaeologists found the 3,500-year-old log boat, which dates back to the Bronze Age, at Shardlow Quarry, Shardlow, in an area that used to be river channel into the Trent.
The boat lay 1km away from the area where a similar boat, now on display at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, the Strand, was found in 1998.
It was amazing when just one log boat was found at this site, but to have two that have survived approximately 3500 years is just amazing.
From Evening Telegraph.
Archaeologists found the 3,500-year-old log boat, which dates back to the Bronze Age, at Shardlow Quarry, Shardlow, in an area that used to be river channel into the Trent.
The boat lay 1km away from the area where a similar boat, now on display at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, the Strand, was found in 1998.
It was amazing when just one log boat was found at this site, but to have two that have survived approximately 3500 years is just amazing.
From Evening Telegraph.
Dusty disc may mean other Earths
Astronomers say they have evidence for Earth-like planets orbiting a nearby star, making it more like our own Solar System than any yet discovered.
The star, Vega, is one of the brightest in the sky, only 25 light years away.
It is three times larger than our Sun and, at 350 million years old, much younger as well.
Vega has a disc of dust circling it, and at least one large planet which could sweep debris aside allowing smaller worlds like Earth to exist.
I have always heard that if we were to find life, it would be at Vega, and this discovery could possibly lead to this discovery.
From BBC Online
The star, Vega, is one of the brightest in the sky, only 25 light years away.
It is three times larger than our Sun and, at 350 million years old, much younger as well.
Vega has a disc of dust circling it, and at least one large planet which could sweep debris aside allowing smaller worlds like Earth to exist.
I have always heard that if we were to find life, it would be at Vega, and this discovery could possibly lead to this discovery.
From BBC Online
Flare damages Mars Odyssey probe
The US space agency says one of the instruments on its Mars Odyssey craft has been shut down by a solar flare.
The instrument, designed to assess the hazards humans would face if they ever went to the planet, has not worked since a solar storm on 28 October.
The same storm caused a blackout in Sweden, damaged two Japanese satellites and interfered with navigation and radio systems for aircraft and ships.
NASA has had incredibly bad luck with recent probes sent to Mars, and it appears this craft is also being plagued. Hopefully they will be able to get this instrument back online.
From BBC Online.
The instrument, designed to assess the hazards humans would face if they ever went to the planet, has not worked since a solar storm on 28 October.
The same storm caused a blackout in Sweden, damaged two Japanese satellites and interfered with navigation and radio systems for aircraft and ships.
NASA has had incredibly bad luck with recent probes sent to Mars, and it appears this craft is also being plagued. Hopefully they will be able to get this instrument back online.
From BBC Online.
Venus has 'heavy metal mountains'
The highlands of Venus are covered by a heavy metal "frost", say planetary scientists from Washington University.
Because it is hot enough to melt lead at the surface, metals vaporise and condense at cooler, higher elevations.
This may explain why radar observations made by orbiting spacecraft show that the highlands are highly reflective.
This makes some sense, knowing that the surface of Venus is so hot with its greenhouse gas trapping cloud system that obscures our view of the surface.
From BBC Online.
Because it is hot enough to melt lead at the surface, metals vaporise and condense at cooler, higher elevations.
This may explain why radar observations made by orbiting spacecraft show that the highlands are highly reflective.
This makes some sense, knowing that the surface of Venus is so hot with its greenhouse gas trapping cloud system that obscures our view of the surface.
From BBC Online.
Sun 'sheds its skin like a snake'
Astronomers have discovered a key fact required to understand the Sun's 11-year cycle of activity.
Sunspots and flares on the Sun's surface follow the cycle, but expelled gas clouds do not.
It seems that these ejections trail the sunspot peak - they peaked in 2002, two years after sunspots.
Pretty interesting article regarding the suns surface, especially after the sunspots we had in late October.
From BBC Online.
Sunspots and flares on the Sun's surface follow the cycle, but expelled gas clouds do not.
It seems that these ejections trail the sunspot peak - they peaked in 2002, two years after sunspots.
Pretty interesting article regarding the suns surface, especially after the sunspots we had in late October.
From BBC Online.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
New whale species found in museum
A new species of baleen whale has been discovered. The stunning find, made after researchers studied the body shape and genetics of a few leviathan skeletons gathering dust for the last 25 years in a Japanese museum, brings the total number of known species in the main genus of baleen whale to eight.
Coming just a day after the World Conservation Union released its latest list of the world's endangered species, it also reinforces just how little scientists still know about much of the world's fauna, including its greatest mammals.
And the seas open up (well, 25 years ago) and present us another new species that has not been documented.
From New Scientist.
Coming just a day after the World Conservation Union released its latest list of the world's endangered species, it also reinforces just how little scientists still know about much of the world's fauna, including its greatest mammals.
And the seas open up (well, 25 years ago) and present us another new species that has not been documented.
From New Scientist.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Easter Island's statues await facelift
The steep side of dormant Rano Raraku volcano is the most photographed spot on mysterious Easter Island.
Tourists crowd each other to shoot photos of the statues called Moai in the native language. The enormous long faces of these best-preserved examples look down on their eroded brothers at outposts along the coast of Rapa Nui, as the island is known in the native language.
All of the existing 870 Moai sculptures were born here in a quarry of unique volcanic tuff rock.
I want to visit Easter Island one day, and I hope that these great sculptures are there for me to view.
From CNN.
Tourists crowd each other to shoot photos of the statues called Moai in the native language. The enormous long faces of these best-preserved examples look down on their eroded brothers at outposts along the coast of Rapa Nui, as the island is known in the native language.
All of the existing 870 Moai sculptures were born here in a quarry of unique volcanic tuff rock.
I want to visit Easter Island one day, and I hope that these great sculptures are there for me to view.
From CNN.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Leonids Shower
For those of you in areas where it will be clear tonight, don't forget to catch the Leonids meteor shower tonight!
For more information, check out Space.com
For more information, check out Space.com
Oven chips threat to relics
One of Britain's most important archaeological finds is under threat - from North Yorkshire potato farmers.
Scientists have discovered a vast area of buried buildings and villages spanning 6,000 years, under fields at West Heslerton, near Malton in North Yorkshire.
But the land is used by farmers who are being urged to start digging it up to plant potatoes for the nearby McCain chips factory.
Boycott McCain chips until they allow this area to be excavated so more can be learned about Britain's history!
From BBC Online.
Scientists have discovered a vast area of buried buildings and villages spanning 6,000 years, under fields at West Heslerton, near Malton in North Yorkshire.
But the land is used by farmers who are being urged to start digging it up to plant potatoes for the nearby McCain chips factory.
Boycott McCain chips until they allow this area to be excavated so more can be learned about Britain's history!
From BBC Online.
350-Million-Year-Old Fossils Found in Pa.
The Wyalusing Rocks were supposed to be just a scenic stop on Jennifer Elick's drive to Tuckhannock, where she and other Pennsylvania geologists planned to meet.
But then a spot of white caught Elick's eye in the red sandstone of those Bradford County cliffs.
"I thought to myself, 'Well, that's either a fossil, a fish fossil, or it's bird doo,'" said Elick, an assistant professor of geological and environmental sciences at Susquehanna University. "I reached up, grabbed it and looked at it, and it had teeth. It was a jaw, and it filled the palm of my hand, and was crumbling all over. That was pretty exciting."
This area of Pennsylvania is loaded with fossils, having been on a few geology field trips in the area.
From Yahoo - Science AP.
But then a spot of white caught Elick's eye in the red sandstone of those Bradford County cliffs.
"I thought to myself, 'Well, that's either a fossil, a fish fossil, or it's bird doo,'" said Elick, an assistant professor of geological and environmental sciences at Susquehanna University. "I reached up, grabbed it and looked at it, and it had teeth. It was a jaw, and it filled the palm of my hand, and was crumbling all over. That was pretty exciting."
This area of Pennsylvania is loaded with fossils, having been on a few geology field trips in the area.
From Yahoo - Science AP.
Land of the Lost is now Land of Lost and Found
This is the follow-up story regarding the finding of the triceratops in Colorado.
Fossil hunter Bruce Young's heart was racing as crumbly brown sandstone flaked away from buried bone to reveal the unmistakable horned skull of a triceratops.
"As soon as we could see the outline of it, I said, 'Holy mackerel, I think we have a skull,' " Young said Monday, recalling last week's discovery of the dinosaur fossil at a home construction site west of Brighton.
From The Rocky Mountain News.
Fossil hunter Bruce Young's heart was racing as crumbly brown sandstone flaked away from buried bone to reveal the unmistakable horned skull of a triceratops.
"As soon as we could see the outline of it, I said, 'Holy mackerel, I think we have a skull,' " Young said Monday, recalling last week's discovery of the dinosaur fossil at a home construction site west of Brighton.
From The Rocky Mountain News.
Monday, November 17, 2003
US fossil spins web of intrigue
The ancient cousins of modern spiders could have been spinning webs 55 million years before the reign of the dinosaurs, a scientist says.
What appear to be silk-spinning structures have been found on the body of an ancient arachnid fossil.
The 300-million-year-old creature, Aphantomartus pustulatus, could have used silk threads to trap prey.
It is a trigonotarbid, part of a group of ancient arthropods that were among the first animals to colonise land.
Unfortunately the debate of whether these arthropods actually spun silk or not will go on until silk threads are found in a fossil with the Aphantomartus pustulatus.
From BBC Online.
What appear to be silk-spinning structures have been found on the body of an ancient arachnid fossil.
The 300-million-year-old creature, Aphantomartus pustulatus, could have used silk threads to trap prey.
It is a trigonotarbid, part of a group of ancient arthropods that were among the first animals to colonise land.
Unfortunately the debate of whether these arthropods actually spun silk or not will go on until silk threads are found in a fossil with the Aphantomartus pustulatus.
From BBC Online.
Fossil fools: Return to Piltdown
So introducing a bogus ancestor into our family tree can throw the entire study of human evolution off course.
This is exactly what happened with the Piltdown skull, which was exposed as an elaborate hoax exactly 50 years ago this month.
Its discovery had generated frenzied excitement. Piltdown man was argued to be 500,000 years old and therefore an irrefutable "missing link" between humans and apes.
Ah, Piltdown Man. I remember studying him in my Anthropology classes and having great discussions on how it fooled the scientific world for many years.
More can be learned about this hoax at BBC Online.
This is exactly what happened with the Piltdown skull, which was exposed as an elaborate hoax exactly 50 years ago this month.
Its discovery had generated frenzied excitement. Piltdown man was argued to be 500,000 years old and therefore an irrefutable "missing link" between humans and apes.
Ah, Piltdown Man. I remember studying him in my Anthropology classes and having great discussions on how it fooled the scientific world for many years.
More can be learned about this hoax at BBC Online.
Dino fossil unearthed: Museum of Nature & Science to show off rare triceratops specimen
A significant fossil from the triceratops dinosaur will be unveiled today at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
Museum officials declined Sunday to discuss details of the find, which one museum paleontologist described as major. The fossils were found recently at a metro-area home construction site by a museum paleontology volunteer, a news release said.
The owner of the land where the "rare and unusual" fossil was found has donated it to the museum, the release said. The museum already has started preparing it.
This is a pretty significant donation to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. If you happen to be in that area, go check it out.
From The Rocky Mountain News.
Museum officials declined Sunday to discuss details of the find, which one museum paleontologist described as major. The fossils were found recently at a metro-area home construction site by a museum paleontology volunteer, a news release said.
The owner of the land where the "rare and unusual" fossil was found has donated it to the museum, the release said. The museum already has started preparing it.
This is a pretty significant donation to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. If you happen to be in that area, go check it out.
From The Rocky Mountain News.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Harry Connick Jr
Went and saw Harry Connick, Jr tonight at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. I will try and get a review up over the next few days..
Friday, November 14, 2003
Dark dry side of the Moon
Scientists dampened hopes of finding large amounts of water on the dark side of the Moon yesterday, showing new evidence that few, if any, deposits exist.
Data from the Clementine and Lunar Prospector space missions in the 1990s had suggested that craters near the poles could hold significant supplies of water, vital to support life and human colonies on the Moon.
But after making a radar survey of craters constantly in shadow at the lunar poles, Bruce Campbell of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and his colleagues said they did not uncover any evidence of thick ice deposits
This is disappointing news to find out, but as we have seen so far, water is rare except on our planet.
From The New Zealand Herald.
Data from the Clementine and Lunar Prospector space missions in the 1990s had suggested that craters near the poles could hold significant supplies of water, vital to support life and human colonies on the Moon.
But after making a radar survey of craters constantly in shadow at the lunar poles, Bruce Campbell of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and his colleagues said they did not uncover any evidence of thick ice deposits
This is disappointing news to find out, but as we have seen so far, water is rare except on our planet.
From The New Zealand Herald.
Astronomers Ready for Comet Encke's Return
One of the most studied comets in history will be favorably passing by the Earth in the next few days. Aside from Halley’s Comet, Comet Encke is the most famous and richest in history of all of those mysterious icy wanderers that wend their way among the planets.
While Encke is not expected to be visible to the unaided eye, it will be an interesting target through binoculars and small telescopes, for those experienced enough to find it.
Encke is the comet with the shortest orbital period known – taking about 3.3 years to complete one revolution around the Sun. It does not approach giant Jupiter as closely as do some other periodic comets. So unlike other comets, whose orbits get gravitationally adjusted by Jupiter, Encke’s orbit has remained more or less stable for hundreds of years.
Comets are fun to try and locate out in the night sky, and even if you are unsuccessful, there are so many other things to look at up there.
From Space.com.
While Encke is not expected to be visible to the unaided eye, it will be an interesting target through binoculars and small telescopes, for those experienced enough to find it.
Encke is the comet with the shortest orbital period known – taking about 3.3 years to complete one revolution around the Sun. It does not approach giant Jupiter as closely as do some other periodic comets. So unlike other comets, whose orbits get gravitationally adjusted by Jupiter, Encke’s orbit has remained more or less stable for hundreds of years.
Comets are fun to try and locate out in the night sky, and even if you are unsuccessful, there are so many other things to look at up there.
From Space.com.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Explorers find the lost ruins of sacred Inca city
Using an infra-red camera to peer through dense Peruvian forest cover for the first time, explorers have found a lost ruin which seems to be a sister site of the Inca ceremonial city of Machu Picchu.
Flying over the Andes in a single engined Cessna, the Anglo-American expedition found Llactapata when the camera picked out the outlines of stone buildings, which retain heat, unlike vegetation.
However, there are fears that the new site is highly vulnerable to looters. It is only two miles from Machu Picchu, part shrine, part palace, which is visited by half a million people each year and protected by a national park.
This is an amazing re-discovery of this city which had been known about since 1912 when it was found by Hiram Bingham.
From Electronic Telegraph
Flying over the Andes in a single engined Cessna, the Anglo-American expedition found Llactapata when the camera picked out the outlines of stone buildings, which retain heat, unlike vegetation.
However, there are fears that the new site is highly vulnerable to looters. It is only two miles from Machu Picchu, part shrine, part palace, which is visited by half a million people each year and protected by a national park.
This is an amazing re-discovery of this city which had been known about since 1912 when it was found by Hiram Bingham.
From Electronic Telegraph
Nearby Star is Forming a Jupiter-Like Planet
University of Arizona astronomers have used a new technique called nulling interferometry to probe a dust disk around a young nearby star for the first time. They not only confirmed that the young star does have a protoplanetary disk -- the stuff from which solar systems are born -- but discovered a gap in the disk, which is strong evidence of a forming planet.
"It's very exciting to find a star that we think should be forming planets, and actually see evidence of that happening," said UA astronomer Philip Hinz.
This is an exciting find to see the formation of a planet around a young star.
From Universe Today.
"It's very exciting to find a star that we think should be forming planets, and actually see evidence of that happening," said UA astronomer Philip Hinz.
This is an exciting find to see the formation of a planet around a young star.
From Universe Today.
`Full-fledged dig' sought for Russell Cave
Fifty years ago, two amateur archaeologists digging just inside the entrance to Russell Cave unearthed stone tools, pottery and other Indian artifacts.
Archaeologists from the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution spent several years in the late 1950s, with the help of area coal miners, excavating a portion of the cave in rural Jackson County.
Peeling back layer upon layer of the floor - revealing thousands of objects and the bones of seven humans - archaeologists found the cave had been a home for Indians from about 9,000 years ago until the arrival of European settlers.
A lot of information regarding the Native Americans who lived in this area for almost 9000 years could be gained by a fully funded dig in the area.
From The Birmingham News.
Archaeologists from the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution spent several years in the late 1950s, with the help of area coal miners, excavating a portion of the cave in rural Jackson County.
Peeling back layer upon layer of the floor - revealing thousands of objects and the bones of seven humans - archaeologists found the cave had been a home for Indians from about 9,000 years ago until the arrival of European settlers.
A lot of information regarding the Native Americans who lived in this area for almost 9000 years could be gained by a fully funded dig in the area.
From The Birmingham News.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Voyager Enters Unexplored Space Frontier
A small spacecraft dispatched 26 years ago to give humanity its first close-up look at Jupiter and Saturn is approaching an unexplored region of space where the sun's influence abates and forces from beyond our solar system reign.
Scientists disagree about whether Voyager 1 already has crossed the boundary into interstellar space or will be doing so in the relative near future and become the first man-made object to leave the solar system.
Voyager 1 and 2 have provided us with an amazing amount of information, starting from their initial tasks of exploring the outer planets and now with their further mission of exploring the unknown parts of the solar system.
From Discovery Channel.
Scientists disagree about whether Voyager 1 already has crossed the boundary into interstellar space or will be doing so in the relative near future and become the first man-made object to leave the solar system.
Voyager 1 and 2 have provided us with an amazing amount of information, starting from their initial tasks of exploring the outer planets and now with their further mission of exploring the unknown parts of the solar system.
From Discovery Channel.
Congrats!
Congrats to Stinky Pete and his wife on their new bundle of joy that is on the way!
Two men plead innocent to petroglyph thefts in Nevada
Two men accused of stealing rocks with American Indian petroglyphs from a national forest in Nevada didn't know the removal of the important artifacts was illegal, one of their lawyers said Monday.
John Ligon, 40, Reno, and Carroll Mizell, 44, Van Nuys, Calif., pleaded innocent in U.S. District Court on Monday to two federal felony counts under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. The crimes carry potential maximum sentences of more than 10 years in prison and $250,000 fines.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse, anyone who steals Native American artifacts should be punished to the harshest amount allowed under law.
From Las Vegas Sun.
John Ligon, 40, Reno, and Carroll Mizell, 44, Van Nuys, Calif., pleaded innocent in U.S. District Court on Monday to two federal felony counts under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. The crimes carry potential maximum sentences of more than 10 years in prison and $250,000 fines.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse, anyone who steals Native American artifacts should be punished to the harshest amount allowed under law.
From Las Vegas Sun.
Ancient Bones Found in Honduras Said to Be Olmec
Human bones believed to date from the ancient Olmec civilization have been found in southeastern Honduras, suggesting the influential culture extended farther than previously thought, Honduran authorities said on Tuesday.
Carmen Fajardo, at the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History, said it appeared to be the first time Olmec remains have been found outside the so-called Mesoamerican corridor that stretches from Mexico to central Honduras.
This is an amazing discovery that expands the range of the Olmec in Central America.
From Yahoo - Science Reuters
Carmen Fajardo, at the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History, said it appeared to be the first time Olmec remains have been found outside the so-called Mesoamerican corridor that stretches from Mexico to central Honduras.
This is an amazing discovery that expands the range of the Olmec in Central America.
From Yahoo - Science Reuters
Hiya
Found a new home for my blog hopefully after being censored at my old site. Look for posts mostly regarding earth sciences and archaeology to appear soon.
