Team of scientists try to find and fend off killer asteroids
December 18, 2008
Washington (ChattahBox) — Even though there are plenty of problems to solve before we humans destroy our own planet some are looking skyward for a random silent threat. US congress has commissioned a blue-ribbon panel of scientists to determine the best way to detect and ward off any wandering space rocks that might be on a collision course with Earth. The committee selected by the National Academy of Sciences on Congress’ behest is headed by Irwin Shapiro , a former director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. It has a two-part assignment from Congress : Detect and deflect asteroids that might hit earth. Read more
New Graphene Memory Revolutionary Leap in Storage?
December 17, 2008
Texas (ChattahBox) — A team at Rice University have developed a new type of memory, that could be a great leap in the amount of storage held on computers, handheld media players, cell phones and cameras compared to recent state-of-the-art flash memory and other new technologies.
Rice professor James Tour and postdoctoral researchers Yubao Li and Alexander Sinitskii describe a solid-state device that takes advantage of the conducting properties of graphene, in new research available online in Nature Materials. Read more
Rapid Arctic Melting May Point To Permanent Damage
December 17, 2008
US (ChattahBox) – As the Arctic continues to warm and melt at a faster rate then anywhere else on Earth, researchers are beginning to fear that damage already being caused by Global Warming may be too late to reverse.
Drillers accidentally dig into magma chamber in Hawaii
December 17, 2008
(ChattahBox) — It’s now being disclosed that drillers looking for geothermal energy in Hawaii have inadvertently put a well right into a magma chamber.
Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several metres before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study.
The exploratory well was being put down in the east of Hawaii’s Big Island, through the basalt lava fields formed by Kilauea Volcano. It could be this is how continents could have been started to be built on the planet. Read more
New Giant Raptor similar to Mini T.rex is uncovered in Argentina
December 17, 2008
(ChattahBox) — An unusual raptor dinosaur found in Argentina is the largest of its kind found so far in the Southern Hemisphere. Researchers said the creature would have weighed 368 kg (800 pounds) and been nearly 5 meters (15 feet) long when it hunted in what is now Patagonia 100 million to 65 million years ago. Read more
‘Leaks’ Change Scientists Minds On Magnetic Theory
December 17, 2008
US (ChattahBox) – Two large leaks in Earth’s magnetosphere are causing scientists to rethink what they thought they knew about how solar wind works. In fact, it seems to be the opposite of what they originally thought, with the possibility that the Sun’s magnetic field may have a direct affect to the one on Earth, as the two leaks have begun allowing in more solar particulars at a much faster rate.
First Almost Entire Face Transplant Performed in the U.S.
December 17, 2008
Ohio (ChattahBox) — Surgeons have performed the first face transplant in the United States at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Maria Siemionow, the Cleveland Clinic plastic surgeon who performed the marathon procedure, is well known among microsurgery specialists, and colleagues were quick to praise the achievement.
The clinic refused to release any details other than to say that a team led by reconstructive surgeon Maria Siemionow replaced about 80 percent of a disfigured woman’s face with that of a deceased female donor within the last two weeks. Read more
First Accurate Depiction of Cleopatra Created?
December 16, 2008
UK (ChattahBox) – Over the last several centuries artists have attempted to paint the image of Cleopatra, to give a face to the name that has become one of the most famous and mysterious in history. But for the first time we may have finally gotten it right.
After a year of extensive research, Dr. Sally Ann Ashton of Cambridge University has pieced together what she believed to be the true face of Cleopatra (top left), one that differs greatly from the many depictions throughout history. Read more
Cyborgs Now Look To Be A Reality?
December 16, 2008
Sweden (ChattahBox) – A new robotic limb may work with the brain to relieve the phantom limb pain often associated with amputation. The Karolinska Institutet and Malmö University Hospital in Sweden has been conducting tests to eventually be able to use a new form of robotic limb technology in conjunction with psychological tricks to make the brain and body feel as though a real arm or leg are actually connected.
South East Asia Holds Thousands of Newly Discovered Species
December 15, 2008
South East Asia (ChattahBox) – The WWF (World Wildlife Fund) has released a new report that estimates over one thousand species of vertebrates (as well as several thousand invertebrates) have been discovered over the last decade in South East Asia.