10-Year-Old Girl Discovers Supernova

10-year-old Kathryn Aurora Gray of Fredericton, New Brunswick has become the youngest person ever to discover a supernova.  Miss Gray discovered the supernova on January 2, 2011. 

Supernova 2010lt is a magnitude-17 in galaxy UGC 3378, in the constellation of Camelopardalis.  It is about 240 million light years away from earth.  Katheryn Gray discovered the supernova from Abbey Ridge Observatory under the watchful eyes of her father, astronomer Paul Gray, and astronomer David Lane.  Supernova 2010lt is Paul Gray's seventh supernova discovery and David Lane's fourth.

Supernovas are stellar explosions that signal the violent deaths of stars several times larger than the sun.  They can be used to estimate the size and age of the universe.  Supernovas are rare.  The Chandra X-Ray Observatory found evidence of one which took place around 140 years ago in our galaxy.  Before that, the last known supernova in the Milky Way occurred around 1680.

Congratulations, Kathryn!  This might just be the start of a long and illustrious career in astronomy for young Miss Gray!

For more information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12110747
http://www.davelane.ca/aro/sn/sn2010lt.html

Proof of Alien Life Could Come Within 25 Years, Astronomer Says

Astronomer Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) in Mountain View, California said on Sunday, August 15, 2010 that he believes the chances are pretty good they will be able to find ET within the next twenty-five years.  Shostak made his comments at the SETIcon convention.

Shostak is using the Drake Equation, a formula invented by SETI pioneer Frank Drake that calculates the number of alien civilizations (N) we might be able to communicate with.  The equation uses factors like rate of star formation in the galaxy, fraction of stars with planets, fraction of habitable planets, planets that actually develop life and the fraction of civilizations that have a technology that can broadcast into space, among other things.

The late Carl Sagan estimated the Drake Equation amounted to N=1 million.  Isaac Asimov estimated N=670,000.  Frank Drake estimated N=10,000.

SETI's quest to make ET contact will take a giant step when the Allen Telescope Array becomes fully operational, hopefully by 2015.  The ATA is a network of radio dishes that should be able to scan hundreds of thousands of stars for signs of extraterrestrial life and intelligence.

For more information:
Source article:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38727371/ns/technology_and_science-space/
SETIcon Convention:  http://www.seticon.com/
SETI Institute:  http://www.seti.org/Page.aspx?pid=1366

Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle Solved?

For decades the area of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" has both intrigued and terrified people around the world.  It's been known as a place where strange disappearances and disasters are the norm and answers have been elusive, at best.

But, all that may have changed.

Using the "mystery areas" identified by Ivan T. Sanderson in the 1960's, Professor Joseph Monaghan and honor student David May conducted their own research at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.  Monaghan and May believe they have come up with an answer to the mysterious disasters and disappearances of the Bermuda Triangle.

Their paper, published in the American Journal of Physics attributes the mysteries of the Triangle not to the supernatural but to gas, specifically methane gas.

The paper suggests that the methane gas, which is normally frozen at great pressure as gas hydrates embedded in subterranean rock, becomes dislodged.  It then transforms into gaseous bubbles and expands as the bubbles explode upwards.  When the bubbles reach the surface of the ocean, they rise into the air while still expanding up and out.  Any ships caught in the bubbles lose buoyancy and sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Larger bubbles that carry enough density can unexpectedly knock aircraft from the sky.

After all these years of speculation, what do you think of this possible explanation?

For more information you can read this article.

Gulf Oil Spill Threatened Sea Turtle Hatchlings Getting a New Chance at Life?

Scientists released hundreds of Kemp's ridley sea turtle hatchlings onto a beach at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas on Monday, July 26, 2010.  The tiny, days-old turtles headed into the Gulf of Mexico in an area 400 miles from the oil spill.  The little guys have got a lot of danger ahead of them that, sadly, a good many will not survive.  Not only must they contend with the threats in nature, they must also deal with the dangers presented by the oil spill.

Loggerhead turtles from Florida were moved to safer eastern Florida waters but the Kemp's ridley turtles were released into the coasts of Texas and Mexico as originally planned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service.  Since June, between seven and eight thousand Kemp's ridley sea turtle hatchlings have been released.  Biologists are hoping that by time the Kemp's make their way to the spill zone, the mess will have been cleaned up.

Releasing the baby turtles was a move made not without some controversy.  The biologists believe that keeping the turtles in captivity until the oil is cleaned up would cause them greater harm than good.  Some fear that releasing the fragile and highly endangered turtles into the tainted waters will deal them a major setback.

Kemp's ridley sea turtles are the smallest living sea turtle species.  Fully mature, they reach lengths of only 2-3 feet and weight around 100 pounds.  They have been on the endangered list since 1973.  By 1985 their numbers had dwindled to a dangerously low 7,702.  Since the oil spill, 638 sea turtles have been found dead.  A staggering 524 of those turtles were Kemp's ridleys.

For more information on the Kemp's ridley sea turtles, and other sea turtles being cared for by conservationists, you can read these articles:
Oily Future for Sea Turtle Hatchlings?
Despite Oil, Baby Turtles Being Released to Gulf

Rare Otter Sighted in Malaysia

A photograph taken in Malaysia's Sabah state in the latter part of 2008 has given scientists a glimmer of hope.  The photograph was of a hairy-nosed otter.  The animal is often thought to be the rarest otter in Asia because it has been hunted for meat and its fur and due to development of its habitat.

The otter was photographed by a remote-controlled camera being used by researchers in a forest reserve.  After studying the photograph for two years the researchers are hopeful they truly do have an image of a hairy-nosed otter.  The otter, once believed to be extinct, has been sighted in Vietnam and Cambodia. 

It has been more than 100 years since this species of otter has been seen in Malaysia.

Hopefully, the sightings and the photograph means this cute little guy truly is still alive and kicking and will be for a long time!

For more information and to see a photo of the otter, you can read this article.

Possible Cause of Arthritis in Moose: Malnutrition

It's a condition we generally associate with old age and the wear and tear of life on the joints.  Researchers have found a possible new cause for arthritis thanks to studies of animal health.  Rather than observing rats and mice, researchers turned their attention to larger subjects:  wild moose. 

For the past 50 years an ongoing study has revealed that moose suffer from a form of arthritis that is nearly identical to that humans suffer from, osteoarthritis.  The results of the half-century study has shown that malnutrition early in the life of the moose played a role in the development of arthritis in the animals. 

On Isle Royale, in Lake Superior and Michigan, the study began in 1958.  Since then, the skeletal remains of over 4,000 moose killed by harsh winters or wolves have been studied by three generations of scientists.  As the moose population increased and food became scarce, cases of osteoarthritis in the moose increased as well.  When the population fell and food became more plentiful, cases of arthritis lowered.

Researchers are hoping that the studies they've done with the moose will aid in research of osteoarthritis in humans. 

For more information you can read this article.

Which Came First? The Chicken, or the Egg?

Which came first?  The chicken, or the egg?  It's a question that has been asked by thousands and everyone believes they know the answer.  But, do they?  Does anyone?

A group of researchers at Sheffield and Warwick universities in Britain claim they have the definitive answer to the age-old question:  the chicken.

According to the scientists, a protein that speeds the development of the hard shell of an egg is found only in a chicken's ovaries is necessary for the protection and formation of the egg.  Thus, the egg can only exist if first created inside a chicken.

The scientists revealed their research in a paper, Structural Control of Crystal Nuclei By an Eggshell Protein.  They hope their research lends assistance to other science and technological research.

So, was "the chicken" the answer you always chose when you were asked this riddle?  ;)

For more information you can read this MSNBC Technology and Science article.

New Batfish Species Discovered

Did you ever think there could be good news related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill?  No?  I didn't either.  Until now.

Two previously unknown species of bottom-dwelling fish have been discovered living in the Gulf of Mexico, in the exact same area affected by the BP oil spill. 

The fish are called "pancake batfish" and are so named because of the way they clumsily "walk" along the sea bottom.  Their manner of walking looks similar to a bat crawling.  The fish prefer to stay in the deepest parts of the sea and, thus, are rarely seen. 

Pancake batfish have round, flat bodies with giant heads and mouths that can be thrust forward.  Arm-like fins are used to "walk" along the sea floor and they can excrete a fluid from a modified dorsal fin to lure prey.

John Sparks of the American Museum of Natural History in New York issued a statement Thursday, July 8, 2010, "One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area.  If we are still finding new species of fishes in the Gulf, imagine how much diversity, especially microdiversity, is out there that we do not know about."

Sparks and his colleagues named the species Halieutichthys intermedius and H. bispinosus.  A third already known species, H. aculeatus, lives only in waters affected by the spill.  Until now, the three species had been considered a single species but enough differences were found to alert researchers they were dealing with more than a single species.

To see a photo of the new batfish species, check out this article.

Scientists Find Surprises in Deep Atlantic Ocean

I love articles like this and I love them even more when there are loads of great pictures.  This one certainly doesn't disappoint.

Scientists from 17 nations recently embarked on a six-week expedition aboard the British research vessel the James Cook to explore a never-before-seen area of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.  Some expected to see nothing.  All were amazed that they were able to bring back photographs of an area that is teeming with life.

The scientists focused on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.  It is a massive undersea mountain range that splits the ocean in half, dividing the east Atlantic from the west Atlantic.  The seascape is apparently similar to the American West featuring rocky outcroppings, sheer cliffs and flat open plains.  The critters that live there, however, are nothing like the rattlesnakes, jackrabbits and prairie dogs that inhabit the American West.

There were at least 10 creatures discovered during the expedition that possibly could represent new species.

Giant Propeller Structures Seen in Saturn's Rings

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Thursday, July 8, 2010 that giant propeller-shaped structures have been discovered in Saturn's rings.  NASA believes the structures were created by a new class of hidden moons.

The propeller-shaped structures were located by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.  The structures are located inside one the debris disk rings on the planet and are several thousands of miles long.  This discovery marks the first time scientists have been able to track the orbits of individual objects within a debris disk.  Researchers are hoping to learn how the structures form to give them more insight into the debris disks around other stars as well.

This isn't the first time propeller-like structures have been found in Saturn's rings.  In 2006 an area known as the "propeller belt" was found to be located in Saturn's A ring, its outermost ring.

The structures are gaps in the ring material created by "moonlets" a new class of objects smaller than known moons but larger than the debris particles that make up Saturn's rings.  Cassini scientists estimate the moonlets could number into the millions.

For more information and to see a photo of the propeller-shaped structures, click here.

Got a Cavity? Forget the Drill. A New Gel May Regenerate The Tooth For You

According to a new study in the journal ACS Nano, the dreaded sound of the dentist's drill could soon be a thing of the past.  A new peptide, embedded in a soft gel or thin, flexible film could be placed next to a cavity.  It would encourage cells inside the teeth to regenerate in about a month.  This technology is the first of its kind and would eliminate the need for root canals or drilling.

Nadia Benkirane-Jessel, a scientist at the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale and co-author of a recent paper on the subject says it isn't like a toothpaste.  It doesn't prevent cavities but instead helps to control them once they develop.

The gel or thin film contains a peptide known as MSH, melanocyte-stimulating hormone.  Experiments reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown that MSH encourages bone regeneration.  Since bone and teeth are relatively similar, French scientists conducted a test of the MSH substance.  They applied a film or gel containing MSH to cavity-filled mice teeth.  After about a month, the cavities had disappeared.

MSH doesn't prevent cavities, it just treats them so proper oral hygiene such as brushing and flossing is still necessary.  Numerous clinical trials over several years will still need to be performed before the MSH gels are available for human treatments.

The causes of cavities, which are bacteria and pus-filled holes on or in teeth, are varied.  It could be anything from improper oral hygiene to eating acidic or sugary foods.  When bacteria get the chance to start eating away at the teeth, they damage the protective enamel and other minerals inside the tooth.

Source:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37978810/ns/health-oral_health/

President Barack Obama's Vision for NASA: Is it the Doom of US Space Exploration or a Misunderstanding?

There has been a great deal of talk about the plans the Obama administration has for NASA since those plans were announced earlier in the year.  Some feel that the current administration has all but taken the United States out of the business of space exploration.  Just what is the truth about the future of NASA?  Has President Obama sealed its fate or is it just one big misunderstanding?

Leaders at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have recently put together an FAQ about the direction the organization is now headed under the current administration.  They've answered some questions by offering further information to clear up some of the misconceptions about the future of the space program.  NASA would like for the public to focus more on the new directions of the organization, such as their plans to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 than on the furor surrounding the Obama administrations plans for NASA.

Is the Space Program Dead in the Water?
According to Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut and member of the Augustine committee, the new administration didn't come in and kill the space program despite what is commonly being said.  Chiao feels that NASA is getting a slight bump from the Obama administration instead.  In 2010 the annual budget for the space administration was $18.3 billion.  The new plan has set aside $19 billion for 2011.  While that isn't a large increase, it isn't a cut, either.

Are Humans Destined to Be Extinct Within 100 Years?

Ninety-five year-old Australian microbiologist Professor Frank Fenner is world renown for bringing the myxomatosis virus to rabbits in Australia to control their population in the 1950's.  He's also the man who announced to the World Health Assembly in 1980 that smallpox had been eradicated.  Now, Professor Fenner has made another startling announcement.

In an interview with The Australian, Professor Fenner has revealed his fears that "we're going to become extinct" and that "whatever we do now is too late."

According to Fenner, "Homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years.  A lot of other animals will, too.  It's an irreversible situation.  I think it's too late.  I try not to express that because people are trying to do something but they keep putting it off."

Fenner feels that despite efforts to control global warming and overpopulation issues the fate of humans is already sealed.

Kevin Coster's "Dream Machines" Have Started Work in the Gulf

As you might remember, a while back, I blogged about an effort by actor Kevin Costner to help with the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. To recap, Coster, his brother and the company they established developed a vacuum-like machine that can supposedly remove up to 97% of oil from water.

Well, the machines have made their debut in the Gulf of Mexico.

Thirty-two of Costner's "dream machines" are going out into the waters on an oil finding barge.  Over the next 60 days, the 32 machines will start to do their thing. 

I truly hope this works.  Something has to work in the Gulf.

To read a bit more about this, check out this short article.

500 Million Year Old Mollusk Identified

It was discovered in British Columbia, Canada and looks like a cross between a shrimp and cartoon alien but it is actually one of the world's oldest and most primitive cephalopods. 

It's name is Nectocaris pteryx pushes the origins of cephalopods back at least 30 million years making them one of the longest lasting animal groups on Earth.  Cephalopods include modern octopi, squids and cluttlefish.

Martin Smith, a paleobiologist at the Royal Ontario Museum's Department of Natural History told Discovery News "modern cephalopods display a quite astonishing intelligence, and I like to think that Nectocaris may have been the smartest critter in the Cambrian sea."

Smith and his colleague, Jean-Bernard Caron studied at least 91 Nectocaris fossils found from the Burgess Shale, located in Yoho National Park near Field, British Columbia.  Thanks to the exceptional preservation of soft-bodied animals Burgess Shale is known for, the paleobiologists were able to get an idea as to what primitive cephalopods looked like.

Nectocaris did not have a hard shell contrary to what most scientists had thought for decades.  According to Smith, "shells evolved much later, probably in response to increased levels of competition and predation in the Late Cambrian."

Nectocaris was approximately 2 inches long, quite small by modern cephalopod standards, and swam using its large lateral fins.  It could accelerate to high speeds by using a nozzle-like funnel to squirt out water.  It was kite-shaped and flat from top to bottom with large, stalked eyes and a long pair of grasping tentacles. 

Other scientists have wondered why Nectocaris lacked such cephalopod features as a ring of tentacles around the mouth, a beak and a radula.  According to Smith, he and Caron were able to identify some possible mouthparts but that they weren't well preserved for them to describe in detail.

Highlights from the Royal Ontario Museum's Burgess Shale collection will go on display in its future Peter F. Bronfman Gallery of Early Life.  They will also be able to be seen on the Virtual Museum of Canada Burgess Shale website which will be launched in the spring of 2011.

For more information on this interesting mollusk and to see an artists rendition of what Nectocaris would have looked like you can read the MSNBC.com Technology and Science article and find further information in the Vancouver Sun's Technology section.

"Hell of a Year" for 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Hurricane season is almost upon us again.  The season runs from June to November and, according to experts, this year is going to yield an above-average threat in the Atlantic.

In what experts are calling a "hell of a year" 18 named storms have been predicted, 10 hurricanes and five intense hurricanes rated as Category 3 with winds of 110-130 mph or greater.  Past averages from 1950-2009 have ranged around 10 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 intense hurricanes. 

Weather Services International has given the eastern coastal region of the United States from the Outer Banks of North Carolina northward to Maine as an area that should expect twice as likely the normal hurricane experience.

To date, the most active hurricane season in history was the 2005 Atlantic season which left more than 1,500 deaths and more than $115 billion in damages from hurricanes such as Katrina and Rita.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration releases its updated 2010 hurricane season forecast today.

For more information:
Weather Services International:  http://www.wsi.com/
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:  http://www.noaa.gov/
MSNBC.com "Weather" article:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37360717/ns/weather/

Gamers Can Control Their Dreams?

I always knew the countless hours I love to wile away playing on Pogo.com or playing PC video games would eventually pay off!

Jayne Gackenbach, a psychologist at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada  has been interested in video games and how they affect those who play them since the 1990's.  For a decade, she has been involved in game-related research and that research has offered up several surprises.  However, it is important to note that the findings aren't definitive proof, just representations of suggestive associations.

Both lucid dreamers and gamers seemed to have better spatial skills, were less prone to motion sickness and demonstrate a high level of focus or concentration. 

Gackenbach surveyed dreams of hardcore gamers and non-gamers with two studies published in 2006.

Gackenbach's first study suggested that gamers were more likely to report lucid dreams, observer dreams and dream control.  Her second study attempted to narrow down uncertainties and focused more on gamers than non-gamers.  The second study revealed that lucid dreams were common but gamers never had control over anything beyond their dream selves.    They also changed between first person and third person view of themselves during dreams.

Gackenbach's studies have shown that gamers have been able to control nightmare situations during dreaming that, instead of providing fear, the nightmares were more of a fun situation.  Gamers also showed lower levels of aggression during dreams overall but Gackenbach found that when gamers did show agression in dreams, they really showed aggression.

Gackenbach is pursuing a new study with Athabasca University in Athabasca, Alberta, Canada to determine whether or not gaming could be of help to individuals suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  PTSD sufferers have used virtual reality simulators in the past to help manage the nightmares symtomatic with the illness.  If Gackenbach's theories prove true, PTSD sufferers might need to just spend some time playing on thier PC's or consoles before bed.

This week, Gackenbach is scheduled to discuss her studies at the Sixth Annual Games for Health Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

For more information about this interesting study, read the MSNBC.com Technology and Science article.

A New Savior in the Gulf Oil Spill? Kevin Costner?

The situation in the Gulf of Mexico seems to get worse by the day, doesn't it?  They've tried capping the spill once and it failed.  Hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil has spilled, and continues to spill out into the waters threatening animal and plant life as well as the economy of those who live and work in the Gulf.

But, there may be new hope and it is from a rather unlikely source.  Kevin Costner.

Yes, you read that right.  Bull Durham, Robin Hood, Dances with Wolves.  That Kevin Costner.

No can deny that the situation in the Gulf is severe and something needs to be done ASAP before things get any worse.  And, yes, they can get worse.

British Petroleum (BP) recently enlisted the help of movie star Kevin Costner who, along with his older brother, Dan, a scientist invented a vacuum-like machine that works using a high-powered centrifuge to suck up polluted water then separate it into oil and heavier water.  Mr. Costner has spent 15 years and approximately $26 million of his personal fortune developing this machine with his brother.

In the mid 1990's, Mr. Costner founded the Costner Industries Nevada Corporation to fund eco-friendly research by his brother and a team of scientists.  The firm invented the water cleaning device as well as a non-chemical battery.

Currently, there are 26 machines in Louisiana waiting to be deployed to do their jobs in the Gulf waters.  Each machine can clean between 5 and 200 gallons of water per minute depending upon the size of the machine.  Theoretically, this means the machines could clean up the oil as fast as it is polluting the waters.  The water that is filtered out of the machines comes out 97% clean.

For more information on this ray of hope for the Gulf, you can read the independent.co.uk article.

I truly hope Mr. Costner's machines do the trick in the Gulf.  He certainly has spent a great deal of time and money on this invention.  Something needs to be done and right now, this solution does seem to add a bit of hope to an otherwise dark situation.

Gray Whale Sighting--On the Wrong Side of the World

No, this isn't the plot for the next Free Willy movie. A good friend sent me the link to this article and I knew right away I'd have to talk about it!

When researchers from the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center (IMMRAC) went out to study a whale last Saturday everything seemed normal at first. The whale wasn't behaving strangely and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. For almost two hours they observed the whale and, at first, believed it to be a sperm whale. That in itself would have been exciting as a sperm whale has never before been sighted in that area. However, things seemed a bit strange. The blowhole of the whale wasn't located where it should have been to be a sperm whale and the dorsal region wasn't wrinkled as it is on a sperm whale. The researchers took some photographs and returned to shore. After closely examining the photographs they learned they had been watching a gray whale all that time.

What is so remarkable about that?

Gray whales do not live near Israel, or the Mediterranean. There aren't any gray whales in the Atlantic and haven't been since the eighteenth century. Gray whales are known to live in the western and eastern Pacific and number roughly around 20,200. Neither location is anywhere near Israel or the Mediterranean.

Still, researchers say there is no doubt a gray whale was seen in waters off Israel. According to Phillip Clapham of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration there are two possible explanations for the whale sighting: a relict population in the North Atlantic that no one has noticed or that the whale came down through the ice-free Northwest Passage and is lost. The latter explanation seems most likely.

Clapham believes that with the Northwest Passage opening up in coming years due to warming temperatures that this gray whale will not be the last to make it from the waters where they normally live to new waters.

If you would like to read more about this amazing sighting and see three of the photographs of this gray whale taken by IMMRAC check out this article.

Swedish Fisherman Finds Rare 12-foot Oarfish

When 73-year old Swedish fisherman Kurt Ove Eriksson first saw it he thought it was a large piece of plastic floating near the shoreline. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the dead fish as a super-rare 12-foot long Giant Oarfish.

Eriksson took his find to The House of the Sea, an aquarium in Lysekil where Roger Jansson, a marine expert, positively identified the find. A Giant Oarfish was last seen in Sweden in 1879.

The Giant Oarfish, also known as the "King of Herrings" despite the fact they are not true herrings. Because of the immense size and serpent-like shape of the fish, it is believed that the Giant Oarfish possibly inspired tales of sea serpents. They can grow to a length of 39 feet and weigh up to 600 pounds and are the world's largest bony fish.

To read more and see an undated photo of the Giant Oarfish you can read the MSNBC.com article