HIV – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com Open Source Entertainment, on Demand. Mon, 22 Feb 2016 02:48:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.3 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon-32x32.png HIV – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com 32 32 Voyager 1 & SpaceX | SciByte 136 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/62367/voyager-1-spacex-scibyte-136/ Tue, 15 Jul 2014 20:45:40 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=62367 Hello everyone and welcome back to SciByte! We take a look at Voyager 1 reading a tsunami wave from the sun, SpaceX launching satellites into space and testing new reusable systems, story and spacecraft updates, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week. Direct Download: […]

The post Voyager 1 & SpaceX | SciByte 136 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>

post thumbnail

Hello everyone and welcome back to SciByte!

We take a look at Voyager 1 reading a tsunami wave from the sun, SpaceX launching satellites into space and testing new reusable systems, story and spacecraft updates, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | HD Video | Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed | iTunes

Become a supporter on Patreon:

Foo

Show Notes:

Book Pick:

Voyager 1 Sees Another Interstellar Tsunami

  • NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has experienced a new “tsunami wave” from the sun as it sails through interstellar space
  • Such waves are what led scientists to the conclusion, in the fall of 2013, that Voyager had indeed left our sun’s bubble, entering a new frontier
  • Interstellar Tsunami
  • “Normally, interstellar space is like a quiet lake,But when our sun has a burst, it sends a shock wave outward that reaches Voyager about a year later. The wave causes the plasma surrounding the spacecraft to sing.” | Ed Stone of the California Institute of Technology
  • Data from this newest tsunami wave generated by our sun confirm that Voyager is in interstellar space
  • Coronal Mass Ejection
  • Our sun goes through periods of increased activity, where it explosively ejects material from its surface, flinging it outward
  • These events, called coronal mass ejections, generate shock, or pressure, waves.
  • Three such waves have reached Voyager 1 since it entered interstellar space in 2012
  • The first was too small to be noticed when it occurred and was only discovered later, but the second was clearly registered by the spacecraft’s cosmic ray instrument in March of 2013
  • In 2013, thanks to the second tsunami wave, the team acquired evidence that Voyager had been flying for more than a year through plasma that was 40 times denser than measured before – a telltale indicator of interstellar space
  • Now, the team has new readings from a third wave from the sun, first registered in March of this year
  • Frequency
  • The plasma wave instrument can detect oscillations of the plasma electrons
  • “The tsunami wave rings the plasma like a bell … While the plasma wave instrument lets us measure the frequency of this ringing, the cosmic ray instrument reveals what struck the bell – the shock wave from the sun.” | Ed Stone of the California Institute of Technology
  • This ringing of the plasma bell is what led to the key evidence showing Voyager had entered interstellar space, denser plasma oscillates faster, the team was able to figure out the density of the plasma
  • Of Note
  • These data show that the density of the plasma is similar to what was measured previously, confirming the spacecraft is in interstellar space
  • The mission has not left the solar system, it has yet to reach a final halo of comets surrounding our sun, but it broke through the wind-blown bubble, or heliosphere, encasing our sun
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Sun sends more ‘tsunami waves’ to Voyager 1 | Phys.org

— NEWS BYTE —

SpaceX Launches Telecom Satellites

  • SpaceX successfully launched six ORBCOMM advanced telecommunications satellites into orbit on Monday, July 14, to significantly upgrade the speed and capacity of their existing data relay network.
  • Testing the Rocket Booster Reentry
  • They also used this launch opportunity to try and test the reusability of the Falcon 9′s first stage and its landing system while splashing down in the ocean
  • However, the booster did not survive the splashdown. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reported that the rocket booster reentry, landing burn and leg deployment worked well, the hull of the first stage “lost integrity right after splashdown
  • Musk tweeted. “Detailed review of rocket telemetry needed to tell if due to initial splashdown or subsequent tip over and body slam.”
  • SpaceX wanted to test the “flyback” ability to the rocket, slowing down the descent of the rocket with thrusters and deploying the landing legs for future launches so the first stage can be reused
  • The previous test of the landing system was successful, but the choppy seas destroyed the stage and prevented recovery
  • The Future
  • The six satellites launched are the first part of what the company hopes will be a 17-satellite constellation. They hope to have all 17 satellites in orbit by the end of the 2014
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | Orbcomm OG2 | Falcon 9 Satellite Launch | Launch
  • YouTube | Orbcomm OG2 | Falcon 9 Satellite Launch | Seperation
  • YouTube | Orbcomm OG2 | Falcon 9 Satellite Launch | In Space
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • SpaceX Launches Six Commercial Satellites on Falcon 9; Landing Test Ends in “Kaboom” | UniverseToday.com

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

How Many Scientists Publish Papers?

  • A new study finds that very few scientists – fewer than 1% manage to publish a paper every year.
  • But these scientists dominate the research journals, having their names on 41% of all papers.
  • They looked at papers published between 1996 and 2011 by 15 million scientists worldwide in many disciplines
  • This research, published on 9 July in PLOS ONE, was led by epidemiologist John Ioannidis of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, with analysis of Elsevier’s Scopus database by colleagues Kevin Boyack and Richard Klavans at SciTech Strategies
  • By The Numbers
  • The ranks of scientists who repeatedly published more than one paper per year thin out dramatically
  • Two or more: 68,221
  • Three or more: 37,953
  • Four or more: 23,342
  • Five or more: 15,464
  • 10 or more: 3269
  • How Does That Make Sense?
  • Many of these prolific scientists are likely the heads of laboratories or research groups; they bring in funding, supervise research, and add their names to the numerous papers that result
  • Others may be scientists with enough job security and time to do copious research themselves from highly productive labs
  • There is also a lot of grunt work behind these papers, for example doctoral students may be enrolled in high numbers, offering a cheap workforce
  • Those doctoral students might only get their name published on only one or a few papers and may spend years on research that yields
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • The 1% of scientific publishing | Science/AAAS | News

— Updates —

HIV Detected in ‘Cured’ ‘Mississippi Baby

  • Last Time on SciByte …
  • SciByte 84 | HIV & SpaceX Troubles | March 5, 2013
  • SciByte 123 | HIV Treatment & European Dinosaur | March 11, 2014](https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/53247/hiv-treatment-european-dinosaur-scibyte-123/
  • The child known as the ‘Mississippi baby’ — an infant seemingly cured of HIV that was reported as a case study of a prolonged remission of HIV infection now has detectable levels of HIV after more than two years of not taking antiretroviral therapy without evidence of virus
  • History
  • The child was born prematurely in a Mississippi clinic in 2010 to an HIV-infected mother who did not receive antiretroviral medication during pregnancy and was not diagnosed with HIV infection until the time of delivery
  • Because of the high risk of HIV exposure, the infant was started at 30 hours of age on liquid, triple-drug antiretroviral treatment.
  • Testing confirmed within several days that the baby had been infected with HIV. At two weeks of age, the baby was discharged from the hospital and continued on liquid antiretroviral therapy
  • The baby continued on antiretroviral treatment until 18 months of age, when the child was lost to follow up and no longer received treatment
  • When the child was again seen by medical staff five months later, blood samples revealed undetectable HIV levels (less than 20 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood (copies/mL)) and no HIV-specific antibodies
  • The child continued to do well in the absence of antiretroviral medicines and was free of detectable HIV for more than two years
  • Unfortunate New Findings
  • During a routine clinical care visit earlier this month, the child, now nearly 4 years of age, was found to have detectable HIV levels in the blood
  • Repeat viral load blood testing performed 72 hours later confirmed this finding
  • Additionally, the child had decreased levels of a key component of a normal immune system, and the presence of HIV antibodies — signals of an actively replicating pool of virus in the body.
  • Based on these results, the child was again started on antiretroviral therapy.
  • To date, the child is tolerating the medication with no side effects and treatment is decreasing virus levels
  • Genetic sequencing of the virus indicated that the child’s HIV infection was the same strain acquired from the mother
  • What This Means
  • In light of the new findings, researchers must now work to better understand what enabled the child to remain off treatment for more than two years without detectable virus or measurable immunologic response
  • Researchers are hoping to find out what might be done to extend the period of sustained HIV remission in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. Since typically, when treatment is stopped, HIV levels rebound within weeks, not years
  • “The prolonged lack of viral rebound, in the absence of HIV-specific immune responses, suggests that the very early therapy not only kept this child clinically well, but also restricted the number of cells harboring HIV infection,” said Katherine Luzuriaga, M.D., professor of molecular medicine, pediatrics and medicine at the University of Massachusetts
  • The results to indicate that early antiretroviral treatment in this HIV-infected infant did not completely eliminate the reservoir of HIV-infected cells that was established upon infection
  • The Clinical Trial
  • At the same time the results were announced in March, a clinical study was announced that would follow a similar treatment
  • The researchers planning the clinical trial will now need to take this new development into account, the case may have considerably limited its development and averted the need for antiretroviral medication over a considerable period
  • “Scientifically, this development reminds us that we still have much more to learn about the intricacies of HIV infection and where the virus hides in the body. The NIH remains committed to moving forward with research on a cure for HIV infection.” | NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • ‘Mississippi Baby’ now has detectable HIV, researchers find | ScienceDaily
  • Researchers Describe First ‘Functional HIV Cure’ in an Infant | ScienceDaily.com

— SPACECRAFT UPDATE—

ISEE3 Reboot Project

  • The Low Down
  • The previous ‘problems’ with the propulsion tanks were turned loose upon the internet looking for experts in various fields to help come up with ideas and solutions
  • One idea that came up was that that there would have been some ‘vapor lock’ where come fuel gasified in the lines
  • The team then used those experts to come up with a plan to heat and pulse the propulsion systems to hopefully clear the lines.
  • The current window of opportunity to test this is Wed, July 16
  • [Recently in ISEE-3 Reboot Project Category | SpaceCollege.org(https://spacecollege.org/isee3/)
  • Twitter | ISEE3 Reboot Project ‏@ISEE3Reboot
  • 10 Jul 2014 | We have spent the day consulting with world class propulsion experts and have some solid plans for tackling our #ISEE3 propulsion issues.
  • 11 Jul 2014 | Now focusing on more heating of hydrazine tanks & long sequences of thruster firing attempts to (possibly) clear #ISEE3 prop system
  • 11 Jul 2014 | We did not have a successful #DSN ranging session today. DSN was unable to get a consistent lock on #ISEE3 – updates later today.
  • 11 Jul 2014 | #ISEE3 is in Science Mode and is broadcasting telemetry which you can view in near real-time at https://www.amsat-dl.org
  • 11 Jul 11 2014 | Our propulsion experts say it is unlikely that we’ve lost Nitrogen &/or Hydrazine reserves. Most likely some gas in the lines #ISEE3 1/2
  • 11 Jul 2014 | Some additional heating and a few hundred thruster pulse firings might clear the lines. Working up a plan now for next week #ISEE3 2/2
  • 12 Jun 2014 | the Voyager team reprogrammed both spacecraft billions of miles away. Nearby space plumbing on #ISEE3 is easy by comparison
  • 12 Jun 2014 | we want to heat the fuel tanks and then fire the engines several hundred times to clear gas out of the lines. #ISEE3
  • 13 Jul 2014| We’re focusing on heating hydrazine tanks & then making long series of thruster firing attempts to clear the lines. More info soon. #ISEE3
  • 14 Jul 2014 | We’re putting final touches on #ISEE3 propulsion repair process to be implemented this week. We think there is still plenty of fuel for TCM
  • 14 Jul 2014 | All we are waiting for now is a confirmed window from our friends at Arecibo & we’re ready to do some deep space plumbing repairs on #ISEE3
  • 15 Jul 2014 | If you’ve ever had to clean out your car’s carburetor & fuel line then you have an idea of what our plan is to try & fix #ISEE3 tomorrow

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

  • Mission Info
  • Curiosity still has about another 2.4 miles (3.9 kilometers) to go to reach the entry way at a gap in the dunes at the foothills of Mount Sharp sometime later this year
  • To date, Curiosity’s odometer totals over 5.1 miles (8.4 kilometers) since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. She has taken over 162,000 images
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube Curiosity Rover Report JPLnews
  • Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
  • Social Media
  • Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
  • Further Reading / In the News

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • July 17, 709 BC : 2723 years ago : Earliest Record Solar Eclipse. : In 709 BC, the earliest record of a confirmed total solar eclipse was written in China. From: Ch’un-ch’iu, book I: “Duke Huan, 3rd year, 7th month, day jen-ch’en, the first day (of the month). The Sun was eclipsed and it was total.” This is the earliest direct allusion to a complete obscuration of the Sun in any civilisation. The recorded date, when reduced to the Julian calendar, agrees exactly with that of a computed solar eclipse. Reference to the same eclipse appears in the Han-shu (‘History of the Former Han Dynasty’) (Chinese, 1st century AD): “…the eclipse threaded centrally through the Sun; above and below it was yellow.” Earlier Chinese writings that refer to an eclipse do so without noting totality.

Looking up this week

— SciByte Summer Hiatus —

The post Voyager 1 & SpaceX | SciByte 136 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> HIV Treatment & European Dinosaur | SciByte 123 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/53247/hiv-treatment-european-dinosaur-scibyte-123/ Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:33:29 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=53247 We take a look at an infant possibly cured of HIV, a new dinosaur in Europe, antibiotics, Curiosity news, and more!

The post HIV Treatment & European Dinosaur | SciByte 123 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>

post thumbnail

We take a look at an infant possibly cured of HIV, a new dinosaur in Europe, antibiotics, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed | iTunes

Show Notes:

2nd Infant Possibly Cured of HIV

  • A second American baby born with the AIDS virus may have had her infection put into remission and possibly cured by very early treatment, in this instance, four hours after birth.
  • Last Time on SciByte …
  • Scibyte 84 | HIV & SpaceX Troubles | March 5, 2013
  • The \’First Case\’
  • The girl was born in LA a month after researchers announced the first case in Mississippi last year that led doctors worldwide to rethink how fast and hard to treat infants born with HIV
  • The Mississippi baby is now 3 1/2 and seems HIV-free despite no treatment for about two years although she is still getting AIDS medicines, so the status of her infection is not as clear.
  • Treatment
  • Most HIV-infected moms in the U.S. get AIDS medicines during pregnancy, which greatly cuts the chances they will pass the virus to their babies
  • The LA baby was born mother was not taking her HIV medicines although the mom was given AIDS drugs during labor to try to prevent transmission of the virus
  • Doctors started the baby on AIDS drugs within a few hours after birth before test results came back, tests later confirmed she had been infected
  • The infant remained on antivirals until 18 months of age, at which point the child was lost to follow-up for a while
  • Ten months after discontinuation of treatment, the child underwent repeated standard blood tests, none of which detected HIV presence in the blood
  • Tests
  • A host of sophisticated tests at multiple times suggest the LA baby has completely cleared the virus
  • Doctors are cautious about suggesting she has been cured, instead of being in remission but it looks like a cure
  • The baby\’s signs are different from what doctors see in patients whose infections are merely suppressed by successful treatment
  • Adult AIDS-related Development
  • Only about 1 percent of people have two copies of the gene that gives this protection
  • Scientists have modified genes in the blood cells of a dozen adults to help them resist HIV from a donor with natural immunity to the virus
  • HIV usually infects blood cells through a protein on their surface called CCR5. A California company, Sangamo BioSciences Inc., makes a treatment that can knock out a gene that makes CCR5.
  • They tested it in 12 HIV patients who had their blood filtered to remove some of their cells. The treated cells were infused back into the patients
  • Four weeks later, half of the patients were temporarily taken off AIDS medicines to see the gene therapy\’s effect
  • The virus returned in all but one of them; that patient turned out to have one copy of the protective gene
  • Researchers knew that the virus was going to come back in most of the patients, but the hope is that the modified cells eventually will outnumber the rest and give the patient a way to control viral levels without medicines
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Doctors hope for cure in a second baby born with HIV | MedicalXPress.com

— NEWS BYTE —

Tracking SeaTurtles

  • Small satellite-tracking devices attached to sea turtles swimming off Florida\’s coast have delivered first-of-its-kind data that could help unlock the mystery of what endangered turtles do during the \”lost years.\”
  • \”Lost Years
  • \”Lost years\” refers to the time after turtles hatch and head to sea where they remain for many years before returning to near-shore waters as large juveniles
  • The time period is often referred like this because not much has been known about where the young turtles go and how they interact with their oceanic environment
  • Before this study, most of the scientific information about the early life history of sea turtles was inferred through genetics studies, opportunistic sightings offshore, or laboratory-based studies
  • With real observations of turtles in their natural environment, scientists are able to examine and reevaluate existing hypotheses about the turtles\’ early life history
  • Tracking
  • A team of scientists tracked 17 loggerhead turtles for 27 to 220 days in the open ocean using small, solar-powered satellite tags
  • The goal was to better understand the turtles\’ movements, habitat preferences, and what role temperature may play in early sea turtle life history
  • While the turtles remain in oceanic waters (traveling between 124 miles to 2,672 miles) off the continental shelf and the loggerhead turtles sought the surface of the water as predicted
  • The Study
  • The study found that the turtles do not necessarily remain within the currents associated with the North Atlantic subtropical gyre
  • It was historically thought that loggerhead turtles hatching from Florida\’s east coast complete a long, developmental migration in a large circle around the Atlantic entrained in these currents
  • The team\’s data suggest that turtles may drop out of these currents into the middle of the Atlantic (Sargasso Sea)
  • The team also found that while the turtles mostly stayed at the sea surface, where they were exposed to the sun\’s energy, the turtles\’ shells registered more heat than anticipated (as recorded by sensors in the satellite tags
  • Hiding in the Seaweed
  • A new hypothesis about why the turtles seek refuge in seaweed (Sargassum). It is a type of seaweed found on the surface of the water in the deep ocean long associated with young sea turtles.
  • Scientists propose that young turtles remain at the sea surface to gain a thermal benefit, which makes sense because the turtles are cold blooded animals by remaining at the sea surface
  • By associating with Sargassum habitat, turtles gain a thermal refuge of sorts that may help enhance growth and feeding rates, among other physiological benefits.
  • The Importance
  • Findings are important because the loggerhead turtles along with other sea turtles are threatened or endangered species
  • Florida beaches are important to their survival because they provide important nesting grounds in North America, more than 80% along Florida\’s coast
  • There are other important nesting grounds and nursing areas for sea turtles in the western hemisphere found from as far north as Virginia to South America and the Caribbean.
  • There\’s a whole lot that happens during the Atlantic crossing that we knew nothing about and this work helps to redefine Atlantic loggerhead nursery grounds and early loggerhead habitat use
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Sea turtles \’lost years\’ mystery starts to unravel | Phys.org

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

New European Dinosaur

  • A new dinosaur species found in Portugal may be the largest land predator discovered in Europe, as well as one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs from the Jurassic
  • Torvosaurus Gurneyi
  • Scientists discovered bones belonging to this dinosaur north of Lisbon, they were originally believed to be a dinosaur species from North America
  • Closer comparison of the shin bone, upper jawbone, teeth, and partial tail vertebrae suggested a new species, Torvosaurus Gurneyi
  • The mouth bones have a different shape and structure, the number of teeth, as well as size and shape of the mouth, may differentiate the European and the American
  • It had blade-shaped teeth up to 10 cm long, which indicates it may have been at the top of the food chain in the Iberian Peninsula roughly 150 million years ago
  • Scientists estimate that the dinosaur could reach 10 meters long and weigh around 4 to 5 tons
  • With a skull of 115 cm, it would be one of the largest terrestrial carnivores at this era
  • An active predator that hunted other large dinosaurs, as evidenced by blade shape teeth up to 10 cm
  • Evidences of closely related dinosaurs suggest that this large predator may have already been covered with proto-feathers
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • New dinosaur found in Portugal, largest terrestrial predator from Europe — ScienceDaily | ScienceDaily.com
  • Torvosaurus gurneyi: New Giant Dinosaur Discovered in Portugal | sci-news.com

New Antibiotic to Fight Drug-Resistant Bacteria

  • A team of researchers have discovered a new class of antibiotics to fight drug-resistant bacteria
  • Oxadiazoles, was discovered in silico (by computer) screening and has shown promise in the treatment of MRSA in mouse models of infection
  • Researchers screened 1.2 million compounds found that the oxadiazole inhibits a penicillin-binding protein
  • The oxadiazoles are also effective when taken orally, currently there is only one marketed antibiotic for MRSA that can be taken orally.
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • New class of antibiotics discovered by chemists — ScienceDaily |ScienceDaily.com

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

  • Continuing On
  • Engineers will now occasionally commanding Curiosity to drive backwards in a newly tested bid to minimize serious damage to the six 20 inch diameter wheels
  • Curiosity is well on the way to her next near term goal, which is a science waypoint, named Kimberly (formerly called KMS-9), which lies about half a mile ahead.
  • \”Kimberley,\” features ground with striations and is where researchers plan to suspend driving for a period of science investigations
  • The map shows the route driven by NASA\’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 561st Martian day, or sol, of the rover\’s mission on Mars (March 5, 2014)
  • Multimedia
  • Big-Context Traverse Map Through Sol 561 | mars.jpl.nasa.gov
  • Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
  • Social Media
  • Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
  • Further Reading / In the News

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back | March 13

  • 1781 : 233 years ago : Uranus : Sir William Herschel announced his discovery of Uranus, the first planet discovered with a telescope. At the time of discovery he labeled it as a comet, by 1783 he finally acknowledged it was a planet, and by 1787, he had also observed the Uranian satellites Titania and Oberon (11 Jan 1787), which were later given these names by his son, John Herschel.
  • 1930 : 84 years ago : Pluto : Clyde W. Tombaugh telegraphed the discovery of Pluto to the Harvard College Observatory. After nearly a year of searching, Tombaugh discovered a possible moving object on photographic plates taken on January 21, 23 and January 29 confirmed the movement and discovery of Pluto.

Looking up this week

  • Keep an eye out for …
  • Thurs, March 13 | ~hour after sunset | To the lower left of the Moon you can see the star Regulus (actually two binary stars). Regulus is the bottom star of the handle of the sickle of the constellation Leo (looks like a backwards question mark)
  • Fri, Mar 14 | Tonight Regulus is above the moon
  • Planets
  • Venus | \”Morning Star\” | Before and during dawn Venus is in the SE
  • Mars | 9pm | Rises in the SE, with Spica 6* to its right. The two are their highest point around 2am with Spica now 5-6* to the lower right
  • Jupiter | Is the only planet visible right now in the evenings and is high in the SE, it crosses nearly overhead (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes) around 8 or 9 p.m. and sets in the West before dawn

  • Saturn | 11pm | Rises around 11 or and is highest in the south at the beginning of dawn. By then it\’s far to the left of Mars and Spica

  • Further Reading and Resources

  • Sky&Telescope
  • SpaceWeather.com
  • StarDate.org
  • For the Southern hemisphere: SpaceInfo.com.au
  • Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere : astronomyonline.org
  • Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand : rasnz.org.nz
  • AstronomyNow
  • HeavensAbove

The post HIV Treatment & European Dinosaur | SciByte 123 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Voyager 1 & Insect Gears| SciByte 102 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/43267/voyager-1-insect-gears-scibyte-102/ Tue, 17 Sep 2013 20:42:02 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=43267 We take a look at Voyager 1’s journey, a possible HIV vaccine, gears in nature, Curiosity news.

The post Voyager 1 & Insect Gears| SciByte 102 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>

post thumbnail

We take a look at Voyager 1’s journey, a possible HIV vaccine, gears in nature, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed | iTunes

[asa]B006ZP8UOW[/asa]

— Show Notes: —

Voyager 1’s Journey

  • NASA says that the Voyager 1 spacecraft is in interstellar space and actually made the transition about a year ago
  • There is however a bit of an argument on the semantics of whether Voyager 1 is still inside or outside of our Solar System
  • Also Viewer Submission
  • Website Email Form from : Nick Tanin
  • \”Edge of the Solar System?\”
  • There is no one simple definition of where the \’edge of the solar system\’ is
  • The heliosphere is a region of space dominated by the Sun, a sort of bubble of charged particles in the space surrounding the Solar System.
  • Although electrically neutral atoms from the extrasolar volume can penetrate this bubble, virtually all of the material in the heliosphere emanates from the Sun itself.
  • Some scientists define that as the edge of the solar system, while others define it at the outer boundary of the Oort cloud
  • The Oort cloud is a hypothesized spherical cloud of predominantly icy planetesimals that may lie roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun
  • This places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun
  • The outer Oort cloud is only loosely bound to the Solar System, and thus is easily affected by the gravitational pull both of passing stars and of the Milky Way itself
  • Shift in the Magnetic Field
  • Solar plasma produces a distinctive magnetic field because it all comes from the same source
  • Scientists expected that the field would shift in interstellar space, where particles flit around in all directions
  • Because of this, scientists thought would be the key signature of interstellar space: a shift in the direction of the magnetic field
  • Without a Shift in the Magnetic Field
  • Since there was no clear change in the magnetic fields, scientists determined they needed to look at the properties of the plasma instead
  • The Sun’s heliosphere is filled with ionized plasma from the Sun, outside that bubble, the plasma comes from the explosions of other stars millions of years ago
  • The main tell-tail difference between the two is that interstellar plasma is denser.
  • The real instrument that was designed to make the measurements on the plasma quit working in the 1980’s
  • Instead they used the plasma wave instrument, located on the 10-meter long antennas on Voyager 1 and a massive Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun
  • All Scientists Never Agree
  • Some scientists, including a few holdouts on the Voyager team, have written a paper demonstrating how plasma could become dense enough within the heliosphere to produce the measurements seen
  • Several well-publicized studies made that claim the team lacked evidence of what they thought would be the key signature of interstellar space: a shift in the direction of the magnetic field
  • Solar plasma produces a distinctive magnetic field because it all comes from the same source
  • Scientists expected that the field would shift in interstellar space, where particles flit around in all directions
  • Getting The Data
  • Voyager 1 is 18.7 billion km [11.6 billion miles] from the sun, or about 125 astronomical units
  • Voyager mission controllers still talk to or receive data from Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 every day
  • Emitted signals are currently very dim, at about 23 watts, the power of a refrigerator light bulb and takes more than 17 hours for a radio signal to travel from the spacecraft
  • By the time the signals get to Earth, they are a fraction of a billion-billionth of a watt
  • The signal strength is so incredibly weak that it takes both a 230-foot and a 110-foot-diameter antenna to receive our highest resolution data
  • Data from Voyager 1′s instruments are transmitted to Earth typically at 160 bits per second and the signals from Voyager 1 takes about 17 hours to travel to Earth.
  • After the data are transmitted to JPL and processed by the science teams, Voyager data are made publicly available
  • What the Data Says
  • Other astrophysicists say the evidence is overwhelming that Voyager 1 has crossed the heliopause, but acknowledge that they have to determine why the magnetic field direction didn’t shift
  • The data shows that Voyager 1 in certainly in a new region at the edge of the solar system where things are changing rapidly
  • The data is also changing in ways that the team didn’t expect
  • After further review, the Voyager team generally accepts the August 2012 date as the date of interstellar arrival
  • The charged particle and plasma changes were what would have been expected during a crossing of the heliopause
  • Coronal Mass Ejection Data
  • A CME erupted from the Sun in March 2012, and eventually arrived at Voyager 1′s location 13 months later, in April 2013
  • Because of the CME, the plasma around the spacecraft began to vibrate like a violin string.
  • The pitch of the oscillations helped scientists determine the density of the plasma
  • Those particular oscillations meant the spacecraft was bathed in plasma more than 40 times denser than what they had encountered in the outer layer of the heliosphere
  • The plasma wave science team reviewed its data and found an earlier, fainter set of oscillations in October and November 2012 from other CMEs
  • Extrapolation of measured plasma densities from both events, the team determined Voyager 1 first entered interstellar space in August 2012
  • Sounds of \’Interstellar Space\’
  • YouTube | Voyager Captures Sounds of Interstellar Space | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • The graphic shows the frequency of the waves, which indicate the density of the plasma.
  • Colors indicate the intensity of the waves, or how \”loud\” they are, with red indicating the loudest waves and blue the weakest.
  • The soundtrack reproduces the amplitude and frequency of the plasma waves as \”heard\” by Voyager 1.
  • The waves detected by the instrument antennas can be simply amplified and played through a speaker
  • This helped the Voyager science team calculate the density of interstellar plasma
  • The Future of Voyager 1
  • While Voyager 1 will keep going, we will not always be able to communicate with it, as we do now
  • NASA estimates that Voyager 1 has enough plutonium fuel to keep all its instruments powered for another seven years
  • Moving outward from the sun at about 3.5 AU per year there are estimates of how long it will be before it reaches various locations
  • In 2025 all instruments will be turned off, and the science team will be able to operate the spacecraft for about 10 years after that to just get engineering data
  • It will take 300 years to reach the Oort cloud
  • Scientists do not know when Voyager 1 will reach the undisturbed part of interstellar space where there is no influence from our Sun
  • They also are not certain when Voyager 2 is expected to cross into interstellar space, but they believe it is not very far behind.
  • In the year 40,272 AD, Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light years of an obscure star in the constellation Ursa Minor
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | Voyager Captures Sounds of Interstellar Space | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • YouTube | Voyager Welcomed To Interstellar Space | VideoFromSpace
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Messages To Voyager: Welcome to Interstellar Space | UniverseToday.com
  • [Listen to the Sounds of Interstellar Space, Recorded by Voyager 1] | UniverseToday.com(https://www.universetoday.com/104719/listen-to-the-sounds-of-interstellar-space-recorded-by-voyager-1/)
  • Voyager 1 spacecraft reaches interstellar space, study confirms | phys.org
  • It\’s Official: Voyager 1 Is Now In Interstellar Space
  • At last, Voyager 1 slips into interstellar space | Atom & Cosmos | Science News
  • Voyager 1 Probe Captures 1st-Ever Sounds of Interstellar Space (Video) | Space.com
  • Heliosphere | Wikipeida
  • Oort Cloud | Wikipeida

— NEWS BYTE —

HIV/AIDS Vaccine

  • An HIV/AIDS vaccine candidate being developed by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University
  • The Vaccine
  • The promising vaccine is being tested through the use of a non-human primate form of HIV simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV, which causes AIDS in monkeys
  • In fact SIV is roughly 100x more deadly that HIV
  • It involves the use of cytomegalovirus, or CMV, a common virus already carried by a large percentage of the population
  • The researchers discovered that pairing a modified CMV virus with SIV had a unique effect
  • The modified version of CMV engineered to express SIV proteins generates and indefinitely maintains so-called \”effector memory\” that are capable of searching out and destroying SIV-infected cells
  • The Testing
  • About 50 percent of monkeys given highly pathogenic SIV after being vaccinated with this vaccine became infected with SIV but over time eliminated all trace of SIV from the body
  • The vaccine mobilized a T-cell response that was able to overtake the SIV invaders in 50 percent of the cases treated
  • In fact, testing suggests SIV was banished from the host
  • The lab is now investigating the possible reasons why only a subset of the animals treated had a positive response in hopes that the effectiveness of the vaccine candidate can be further boosted
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • AIDS vaccine candidate appears to completely clear virus from the body | MdicalXress.com

— VIEWER FEEDBACK —

Natural Insect Gears

  • Michael Thalleen ‏@ThalleenM | Check This Out!
  • Natural Insect Gears
  • Answer
  • To the best of our knowledge, the mechanical gear was invented sometime around 300 B.C.E. by Greek mechanics who lived in Alexandria
  • Issus coleoptratus, planthopper, have an intricate gearing system that locks their back legs together, allowing both appendages to rotate at the exact same instant, causing the tiny creatures jump forward.
  • The finding, is believed to be the first functional gearing system ever discovered in nature
  • Gearing
  • The reason for the gearing, they say, is coordination, to jump both of the insect’s hind legs must push forward at the exact same time
  • The skeleton is used to solve a complex problem that the brain and nervous system can’t
  • The gears are located at the top of the insects’ hind legs and include 10 to 12 tapered teeth, each about 80 micrometers wide (or 80 millionths of a meter).
  • In all the planthoppers studied, the same number of teeth were present on each hind leg, and the gears locked together neatly
  • Scientists used electron microscopes and high-speed video capture to discover the existence of the gearing and figure out its exact function.
  • They jump at speeds as high as 8.7 miles per hour, and 50,000 teeth per second
  • They cock their back legs into a jumping position, then pushed forward, with each moving within 30 microseconds (30 millionths of a second)
  • No \’Gears\’ in Adults
  • Adults of the same insect species don’t have any gearing-as the juveniles grow up and their skin molts away
  • The adult legs are synchronized by an alternate mechanism
  • Adults are bigger and heavier, Burrows say, so perhaps leg-to-leg friction syncs motions without the need for gear teeth
  • It is hypothesize that this could be explained by the fragility of the gearing, if one tooth breaks, it limits the effectiveness of the design
  • That weakness isn’t such a big problem for the juveniles, who repeatedly molt and grow new gears before adulthood
  • However for the mature Issus, replacing the teeth would be impossible
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | Working Gears Evolved in Plant-Hopping Insect | SciAmerican
  • Image Animation of the Gears in Action | blogs.smithsonianmag.com
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Young insect legs have real meshing gears | Zoology | ScienceNews.org
  • This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature | blogs.smithsonianmag.com

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • September, 23 1846 : 167 years ago : Neptune Discovered : The German astronomer Johan G. Galle discovered Neptune after only an hour of searching, within one degree of the position that had been computed by Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier. Independently of the English astronomer John C. Adams, Le Verrier had calculated the size and position of a previously unknown planet, which he assumed influenced the irregular orbit of Uranus, and he asked Galle to look for it.

Looking up this week

The post Voyager 1 & Insect Gears| SciByte 102 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Exoplanet & Bee Venom | SciByte 86 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/33896/exoplanet-bee-venom-scibyte-86/ Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:47:03 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=33896 We take a look at an exoplanets atmosphere, HIV killing bee venom, ancient sundials, viewer feedback, and much more!

The post Exoplanet & Bee Venom | SciByte 86 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>

post thumbnail

We take a look at an exoplanets atmosphere, HIV killing bee venom, ancient sundials, viewer feedback, spacecraft updates, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed | iTunes

Support the Show:

[asa]B00BEZTMQ8[/asa]
[asa]B009SPZ11Q[/asa]

Show Notes:

Exoplanet Atmosphere

  • A team led by an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, has found hints of ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide and acetylene in an exo-planets’ atmosphere in the sharpest spectrum ever obtained of an extrasolar planet
  • Searching for Exoplanets
  • In the past, astronomers inferred the existence of exoplanets and their gases by looking for subtle changes in the light streaming from the planet’s star
  • Now, with improved instruments, a team has detected light coming directly from a planet light-years away
  • The data have high enough resolution to reveal not only the presence but the abundance of carbon monoxide and water in the planet’s atmosphere
  • Such information could shed light on how the planet formed
  • Studies could also reveal the presence of life on a distant planet, but this planet’s size and orbit have already ruled it out as a habitable world
  • The System
  • In 2008 the first image of a multi planet system outside the solar system, showing three gas giants orbiting the star HR 8799
  • The results suggest the HR 8799 system is like a scaled-up Solar System
  • HR 8799 is about 130 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus
  • The planets are scorching hot, making them bright enough for astronomers to detect directly
  • In 2010, the researchers imaged a fourth planet around HR 8799, a new study focused on one of these planets, HR 8799c.
  • HR 8799c
  • Five to 10 times as massive as Jupiter, HR 8799c sits about eight times farther away from its star than Jupiter does from the sun
  • Because of that great distance, the astronomers could block the star’s light and record infrared light
  • Even with water present on this world, it is incredibly hostile to life
  • Like Jupiter, it has no solid surface, and it has a temperature of more than a thousand degree
  • The Studies
  • Because different gases absorb and emit light in distinct ways, the team could identify carbon monoxide and water but found no methane, which scientists had thought might be present.
  • In another new study researchers simultaneously collected infrared light from the atmospheres of all four planets
  • The chemistry of each planet varies different from anything in our own solar system
  • Although the teams looked at different wavelengths of light, which pick up different types of molecules, the two studies appear consistent
  • By peering at just one planet, one team obtained more detailed data that allowed the researchers to get a sense of how much carbon and oxygen is in HR 8799c’s atmosphere
  • Knowing the ratio of carbon to oxygen in the atmosphere may reveal how the planet formed
  • Planetary Formation Theories
  • Astronomers have two competing theories of how planets arise from the disk of gas and dust encircling a young star
  • In the gravitational instability model, some of the gas and dust suddenly clumps and collapses, simultaneously creating a planet’s core and atmosphere
  • In this scenario, the chemical composition of a planet should match that of its star
  • In the other model, known as core accretion, planets are built in two-steps
  • First, material from the disk accumulates into a core, later the core captures gases swirling in the disk to form an atmosphere.
  • In this case, the carbon-to-oxygen ratio of the planet may differ from the star because the accretion of cores may deplete the disk of certain elements
  • What This Planet\’s Data Tells Us
  • Compared with its star, HR 8799c appears to have slightly more carbon relative to oxygen, suggesting the planet originated via core accretion
  • It is surmises that when the disk around HR 8799 formed, water froze into particles of ice, the bits of ice then collided to form the planet’s core, leaving behind little water vapor, and therefore less oxygen, when the planet accumulated its atmosphere later on
  • Other researchers are not convinced by this conclusion saying “We don’t really understand planetary formation enough to make a strong case either way,”
  • The Future
  • Either Way the data from both new studies may help astronomers refine their simulations of planetary formation
  • Not that astronomers have directly imaged planets around three distant stars researchers are poised to capture light from many more planets
  • Project 1640, is looking for Jupiter-sized planets around some 200 stars
  • “Ultimately, with better instruments, people will be able to use these methods on Earthlike planets.”
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube Remote Reconnaissance of Another Solar System | AMNHorg
  • Video Clip Nearby Stars with planets| AMNHorg
  • Video Clip HR 8799 System| AMNHorg
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Exoplanet Atmospheres Provide Clues to Solar System Formation | UniverseToday.com
  • Distant planets\’ atmospheres revealed | Atom & Cosmos | ScienceNews.org

— NEWS BYTE —

Bees Against HIV

  • Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed
  • What it Does
  • Bee venom contains a potent toxin called melittin that can poke holes in the protective envelope that surrounds HIV, and other viruses
  • The new study shows that melittin loaded onto these nanoparticles does not harm normal cells, because added protective bumpers to the nanoparticle surface
  • When the nanoparticles come into contact with normal cells, which are much larger in size, the particles simply bounce off
  • HIV, on the other hand, is even smaller than the nanoparticle, so HIV fits between the bumpers and makes contact with the surface of the nanoparticle, where the bee toxin awaits
  • The advantage of this approach is that the nanoparticle attacks an essential part of the virus\’ structure. In contrast, most anti-HIV drugs inhibit the virus\’s ability to replicate.
  • Drawbacks
  • This anti-replication strategy does nothing to stop initial infection, and some strains of the virus have found ways around these drugs and reproduce anyway.
  • Where it does work, because it attacks the inherent physical property of HIV, theoretically, there isn\’t any way for the virus to adapt to this treatment
  • The potential for using nanoparticles with melittin as therapy for existing HIV infections, especially those that are drug-resistant
  • Other Uses
  • The hope is that in places where HIV is running rampant, people could use this gel as a preventive measure to stop the initial infection
  • Since melittin attacks double-layered membranes indiscriminately, this concept is not limited to HIV.
  • Many viruses, including hepatitis B and C, rely on the same kind of protective envelope and would be vulnerable to melittin-loaded nanoparticles
  • In addition to antiviral therapy, the paper\’s senior author has shown melittin-loaded nanoparticles to be effective in killing tumor cells.
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Nanoparticles loaded with bee venom kill HIV | MedicalXPress.com

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Worlds Oldest Egyptian Sundials

  • Telling Time in Ancient Egypt
  • During archaeological excavations in the Kings\’ Valley in Upper Egypt a team of researchers found one of the world\’s oldest ancient Egyptian sundials
  • During this year\’s excavations the researchers found a flattened piece of limestone (so-called Ostracon) on which a semicircle in black color had been drawn
  • The semicircle is divided into twelve sections of about 15 degrees each.
  • A dent in the middle of the approximately 16 centimeter long horizontal baseline served to insert a wooden or metal bolt that would cast a shadow to show the hours of the day
  • Small dots in the middle of each section were used for even more detailed time measuring
  • It was found in an area of stone huts that were used in the 13th century BC to house the men working at the construction of the graves, possibly used to measure their work hours
  • The division of the sun path into hours also played a crucial role in the so-called netherworld guides that were drawn onto the walls of the royal tombs
  • These guides are illustrated texts that chronologically describe the nightly progression of the sun-god through the underworld.
  • The sundial could also have served to further visualize this phenomenon.
  • Multimedia
  • Image Ancients Egyptian sun dial | Phys.org | Credit: University of Basel
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • One of the world\’s oldest sun dial dug up in Kings\’ Valley | Phys.org

— VIEWER FEEDBACK —

ESTCube

  • Karl Sakrits
  • Estonia is sending up their first satellite, a CubeSat, made by University students to test the electric solar wind sail
  • CubeSat
  • The CubeSat standard for nanosatellites was followed during the engineering of ESTCube-1,
  • The CubeSat standard has three different sizes corresponding to size 1U, 2U and 3U. Base side lengths are the same but height is 2 to 3 times bigger than 1U CubeSats
  • Mass is also set in CubeSat standard, the highest possible mass for 1U CubeSat is 1300 grams, 2U CubeSat 2600 grams and 3U CubeSat 4000 grams
  • CubeSat base side length must be 100.0 +/- 0.1 millimeters and satellite height must be 113.5±0.1 mm
  • Purpose
  • Although its main purpose was to educate students, the satellite does have a scientific purpose.
  • On board of the satellite is an electric solar wind sail (e-sail) which was created by a Finnish scientist Pekka Janhunen, which will be the first real experimentation of the e-sail
  • Subsystems
  • ADCS – attitude determination and control system, determines and modifies satellite\’s alignment
  • CAM – onboard camera for taking pictures of the Earth and the unreeled tether
  • CDHS – command and data handling system, the satellite\’s main onboard computer
  • COM – communications system for up- and downlinks
  • EPS – electrical power system, provides electrical power for the satellite
  • PL – payload, the satellite\’s experiment module, that contains the tether and everything else related to the experiment
  • STR – satellite\’s structure
  • Solar Wind Sail
  • 10 meters of e-sail 50 to 20 micrometers thick wire of high-technology structure so-called Heytether will be deployed from the satellite.
  • The deployment of the Heytether can be detected by decrease of the satellite\’s speed of rotation or by a on-board camera
  • To control the loaded solar wind sail elements interaction with the plasma surrounding the earth and the effect it has on the spacecraft spinning speed the spacecraft has two on-board nanotechnologic electron emitters/gun
  • The electron emitters are connected to the e-sail element and by shooting out electrons it loads the e-sail element positively to 500 volts
  • The positive ions in the plasma push the e-sail element and have an influence on the satellites rotation speed
  • The effect of the e-sail is measured by the change in rotation speed
  • The camera is used to take a picture of Earth and the successfully deployed Heytether.
  • Mission
  • ESTCube-1 will be sent to orbit by the European Space Agency\’s rocket Vega in spring of 2013
  • Half an hour after the satellites deployment from the start capsule satellites antennas will be opened and radio transmitter and important subsystems will be switched on
  • The first days or weeks will be used to test the satellite and set it to work on full capacity
  • They will then orient the satellite so the on-board camera will be faced to earth so that they can try to take a picture of Estonia
  • They will rotate the satellite on an axis with a speed of 1 revolution per second
  • The E-sail element will deploy from the satellite by a centrifugal force and will confirm the deployment via the on-board camera
  • Then they will activate the electron emitter and loading the e-sail, measuring the e-sails and Lorentz force by satellites revolutions per second
  • If possible they will use the negatively charged e-sail to take the satellite off orbit and burn it in the earths atmosphere
  • Should everything go perfect the mission could be completed within a few weeks to a month
  • Communication
  • Communicating with the satellite will be held by two International Amateur Radio Unions three registered frequencies [437.250 MHz, 437.505 MHz]
  • The maximum possible connection speed is 19,200 bits per second, only to be used when the satellite has been given a specific order
  • Important satellite parameters will be transmitted every 3 to 5 minutes, and periodic but slow communication can be done on a telegraphic signal
  • A 9600 baud connection speed and AX.25 standard is used, a slower communication frequency which allow a maximum of 25 kiloherz bandwidth, fast connection will only be used when the satellite has been given a specific
  • Software
  • FreeRTOS on the satellite\’s Command and Data Handling System and camera module
    TinyOS on the satellite\’s communication module
  • Financing and costs
  • This option is the cheapest possibility to send a satellite into orbit is offered by European Space Agency
  • Estonia is an associated member of ESA most of the launch expenses (about 70,000 euros) will be covered from Estonian member fee for educational expenses
  • The total expense, with launch cost, for the project are approximately 100,000 euros
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube estcube dissection2 | taavi torim
  • YouTube Packing ESTCube-1 for shipping. Tallinn TV Tower 21.1.2013. | AjattaraQuad
  • ESTCube.eu | Video Library
  • Twitter
  • ESTCube @ESTCube
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • ESTCube.eu

— Updates —

Space Shuttle Atlantis

— SPACECRAFT UPDATE—

SpaceX’s Grasshopper Hops Higher

  • GrassHopper
  • Grasshopper stands 10 stories tall and consists of a Falcon 9 rocket first stage tank, Merlin 1D engine, four steel and aluminum landing legs with hydraulic dampers, and a steel support structure
  • The goal of Grasshopper is to eventually create a reusable first stage for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which would be able to land safely instead of falling back into the ocean and not being usable again
  • On March 7, 2013, the vertical and takeoff and landing (VTVL) vehicle, rose 24 stories, 263 ft / 80m, hovered for approximately 34 seconds and then landed safely, and more accurately than ever before
  • Previous Tests
  • This is Grasshopper’s fourth in a series of test flights, with each test demonstrating exponential increases in altitude
  • September 2012 | Flew to 8.2 ft / 2.5 meters
  • November 2012 | Flew to 17.7 ft / 5.4 meters
  • December 2012 | Flew to 131 ft / 40 meters
  • Multimedia
  • Ring of Fire | spacexchannel
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • SpaceX Grasshopper Takes a Leap Into a \’Ring of Fire\’ | UniverseToday.com

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

  • Analyzing the Drill Sample
  • Curiosity obtained her first drill sample and passed that sample on to her onboard analytical lab instruments, called CheMin and SAM
  • These powerful instruments can tell about what minerals are present in these rocks and whether they contain the ingredients necessary to sustain life as we know it.
  • When the rover science team combine the data from remote sensing and contact science instruments from CheMin and SAM, we get a picture of an ancient watery environment, which would have been habitable had life been present in it.
  • At that site of Opportunity rover, the sedimentary rocks record evidence of an environment that was only wet on a very intermittent basis, and when it was, the waters that were there were highly acidic, very salty, and not favorable for the survival of organic compounds.
  • CheMin instrument, tells us that the minerals that are present in this lakebed sedimentary rock at John Klein are very different from just about anything we\’ve ever analyzed before on Mars and was deposited in a freshwater environment
  • The SAM instrument is telling us that these rocks contained all of the ingredients necessary for a habitable environment
  • The science team found carbon, sulfur and oxygen, all present and a number of other elements in states that life could have taken advantage of.
  • Image Mosaic
  • The mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA\’s Mars rover Curiosity shows Mount Sharp in raw color as recorded by the camera.
  • This mosaic was assembled from dozens of images from the 100-millimeter-focal-length telephoto lens camera mounted on the right side of the Mastcam instrument
  • Raw color shows the scene\’s colors as they would look in a typical smart-phone camera photo, before any adjustment.
  • White-balancing helps scientists recognize rock materials based on their experience looking at rocks on Earth
  • White balancing yields an overly blue hue in images that have very little blue information, such as Martian landscapes, because the white balancing tends to overcompensate for the low inherent blue content.
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube Curiosity Rover Report (Mar. 15, 2013) | Rover Hits Paydirt | JPLnews
  • Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
  • Social Media
  • Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
  • Further Reading / In the News

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • March 23, 2001 : 12 years ago : Mir destroyed : The Russian space station, Mir, ended 15 years in orbit by burning up in Earth\’s atmosphere as the way chosen to end its life. Mir, launched in 1986, had far exceeded its original planned five year lifespan. The Russian government decided in Oct 2000 that its poor condition could no longer justify the expense to maintain its use. A docked Progress tanker had been remotely commanded by mission controllers to fire rockets and lower its orbit and cause re-entry into the atmosphere. The debris that did not burn up during reentry fell harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean at the planned target zone between New Zealand and Chile. For safety, airlines had rerouted Pacific flights in anticipation of the event, and ships had been warned earlier

Looking up this week

The post Exoplanet & Bee Venom | SciByte 86 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> HIV & SpaceX Troubles | SciByte 84 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/33016/hiv-spacex-troubles-scibyte-84/ Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:17:22 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=33016 We look at a HIV-infected infant that is "Functionally Cured," a really old star, one big Antarctic meteorite, an update on a private Mars mission and more!

The post HIV & SpaceX Troubles | SciByte 84 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>

post thumbnail

We take a look at a HIV-infected infant that is \”Functionally Cured,\” a really old star, one big Antarctic meteorite, renaming a NASA center, an update on a private Mars mission and the Dragon space station supply mission, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed | iTunes

[asa]B007FTE2VW[/asa]

Show Notes:

\”Functional Cure\” in an HIV-Infected Infant

  • A team of researchers from Johns Hopkins Children\’s Center has described the first case of a so-called \”functional cure\” in an HIV-infected infant
  • The infant described in the report underwent remission of HIV infection after receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 30 hours of birth
  • Natural Viral Suppression
  • Natural viral suppression without treatment is an exceedingly rare phenomenon observed in less than half a percent of HIV-infected adults
  • HIV experts have long sought a way to help all HIV patients achieve elite-controller status
  • \”Elite controllers,\” whose immune systems are able to rein in viral replication and keep the virus at clinically undetectable levels
  • Functionally Cured
  • \”Functionally cured,\” a condition that occurs when a patient achieves and maintains long-term viral remission without lifelong treatment and standard clinical tests fail to detect HIV replication in the blood
  • A functional cure occurs when viral presence is so minimal, it remains undetectable by standard clinical tests, yet discernible by ultrasensitive methods
  • Sterilizing Cure
  • A sterilizing cure-a complete eradication of all viral traces from the body
  • A single case of sterilizing cure has been reported so far in an HIV-positive man treated with a bone marrow transplant for leukemia.
  • The bone marrow cells came from a donor with a rare genetic mutation of the white blood cells that renders some people resistant to HIV
  • Such a complex treatment approach, however, HIV experts agree, is neither feasible nor practical for the 33 million people worldwide infected with HIV
  • Medical Details
  • The child described was born to an HIV-infected mother and received combination antiretroviral treatment beginning 30 hours after birth.
  • A series of tests showed progressively diminishing viral presence in the infant\’s blood, until it reached undetectable levels 29 days after birth
  • The infant remained on antivirals until 18 months of age, at which point the child was lost to follow-up for a while
  • Ten months after discontinuation of treatment, the child underwent repeated standard blood tests, none of which detected HIV presence in the blood
  • Test for HIV-specific antibodies-the standard clinical indicator of HIV infection-also remained negative
  • Antiviral Treatment
  • Investigators say the prompt administration of antiviral treatment likely led to this infant\’s cure by halting the formation of hard-to-treat viral reservoirs
  • Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns that begins within days of exposure may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment by preventing such viral hideouts from forming in the first place
  • Dormant cells are responsible for re-igniting the infection in most HIV patients within weeks of stopping therapy
  • Researchers say they believe this is precisely what happened in the child described in the report
  • What This Means
  • Currently, high-risk newborns-those born to mothers with poorly controlled infections or whose mothers\’ HIV status is discovered around the time of delivery-receive a combination of antivirals at prophylactic doses to prevent infection for six weeks and start therapeutic doses if and once infection is diagnosed
  • This particular case may change the current practice because it highlights the curative potential of very early ART
  • Investigators caution they don\’t have enough data to recommend change right now to the current practice of treating high-risk infants
  • This infant\’s case provides the rationale to start proof-of-principle studies in all high-risk newborns
  • The next step is to find out if this is a highly unusual response to very early antiretroviral therapy or something we can actually replicate in other high-risk newborns
  • Researchers say preventing mother-to-child transmission remains the primary goal as they already have proven strategies that can prevent 98 percent of newborn infections by identifying and treating HIV-positive pregnant women
  • Multimedia
  • Image Scanning electromicrograph of an HIV-infected T cell. (Credit: NIAID) | ScienceDaily.com
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Researchers describe first \’functional HIV cure\’ in an infant | MedicalXpress
  • Synthesized compound flushes out latent HIV | MedicalXpress
  • Researchers Describe First \’Functional HIV Cure\’ in an Infant | ScienceDaily.com

— NEWS BYTE —

A Star That’s Almost as Old as the Universe

  • Results from a new study show that a metal-poor star located merely 190 light-years from the Sun is 14.46+-0.80 billion years old, which implies that the star is nearly as old as the Universe
  • Such metal-poor stars are important to astronomers because they set an independent lower limit for the age of the Universe and can be used to corroborate age estimates inferred by other means
  • Amount of Metal vs Age of Star
  • Metal-poor stars can be used to constrain the age of the Universe because metal-content is typically a proxy for age
  • Heavier metals are generally formed in supernova explosions, which pollute the surrounding interstellar medium.
  • Stars subsequently born from that medium are more enriched with metals than their predecessors with each successive generation becoming increasingly enriched
  • The reliability of the age determined is likewise contingent on accurately determining the sample’s metal content, and is likewise contingent on the availability of a reliable distance
  • Analyses of globular clusters and the Hubble constant yielded vastly different ages, by billions of years, for the Universe, the discrepant ages stemmed partly from uncertainties in the cosmic distance scale
  • HD 140283
  • HD 140283 exhibits less than 1% the iron content of the Sun, which provides an indication of its sizable age.
  • Based on the microwave background and the Hubble constant, it must have formed soon after the big bang
  • This star had been used previously to constrain the age of the Universe, but uncertainties tied to its estimated distance (at that time) made the age determination somewhat imprecise
  • Scientists were recently also to obtain a new and improved distance for HD 140283 using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), namely via the trigonometric parallax approach
  • From that data the distance uncertainty for HD 140283 was significantly reduced by comparison to existing estimates, thus resulting in a more precise age estimate for the star
  • The age of HD 140283 does not conflict with the age of the Universe, 13.77 ± 0.06 billion years, within the errors
  • This study reaffirms that there are old stars roaming the solar neighborhood which can be used to constrain the age of the Universe
  • Multimedia
  • Image A new age estimate for the star HD 140283 implies that it was among the first few generations of stars created in the Universe | NASA, ESA, A. Felid (STScI) | UniverseToday.com
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Nearby Ancient Star is Almost as Old as the Universe | UniverseToday.com

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Antarctic Meteorite Season Findings

Voting to rename NASA Dryden after Neil Armstrong

— SPACECRAFT UPDATE—

SpaceX – Dragon Space Station Resupply Mission Glitch

  • The Glitch
  • The problem cropped up immediately following Dragon\’s separation from the rocket upper stage, nine minutes into the flight.
  • Three of the four sets of thrusters on the company\’s unmanned Dragon capsule did not immediately kick in, delaying the release of the solar panels.
  • The problem may have been caused by a stuck valve or a line blockage
  • Dragon\’s twin solar wings swung open two hours later than planned, an hour later, the Dragon was raised with the thrusters to a safe altitude.
  • Working Towards the Solution
  • SpaceX worked to bring up the idled thrusters and keep the capsule on track
  • The Dragon is equipped with 18 thrusters, divided into four sets, and can maneuver adequately even with some unavailable.
  • The capsule is designed to return to Earth with just two good sets of thrusters and, in \”a super worst case situation,\” conceivably just one although it would be \”a bit of a wobbly trip.\”
  • If SpaceX and NASA had determined that more time was needed to gain confidence that Dragon could safely carry out an attempt the Dragon could have stayed in orbit for several additional months if needed
  • By late Saturday afternoon sufficient recovery work had been accomplished to warrant NASA, ISS and SpaceX managers to give the go-ahead for the Dragon to rendezvous with the station early Sunday morning, March 3.
  • Capture
  • The capsule was captured 5:31 am EST (1031 GMT) on Sunday, March 3
  • More than 1 ton of space station supplies aboard this Dragon, which included some much-needed equipment for air purifiers
  • It is scheduled to spend more than three weeks at the space station before being cut loose by the crew
  • Despite the one-day docking delay, the Dragon unberthing and parachute assisted return to Earth will still be the same day as originally planned on March 25.
  • History
  • This has been the first serious trouble to strike a Dragon in orbit, none of the four previous unmanned flights had any thruster issues
  • On the previous flight in October, one of nine first-stage engines on the Falcon rocket shut down too soon, on this flight it performed \”really perfectly\” and that the thruster problem was isolated to the Dragon
  • Future Re-Supply Missions
  • SpaceX plans to launch its next Dragon to the station in late fall.
  • SpaceX says it has 50 launches planned-both NASA missions and commercial flights-totaling about $4 billion in contracts
  • NASA also has a $1.9 billion resupply contract for the station with Orbital Sciences Corporation, which will launch the first test flight of its Antares rocket from a base in Virginia in the coming weeks
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube SpaceX Dragon Carrying NASA Cargo Arrives at International Space Station | NASATelevision
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • SpaceX\’s capsule arrives at ISS | phys.org
  • SpaceX\’s capsule nears ISS for rendezvous on Sunday (Update) | Phys.org
  • SpaceX Dragon Recovers from Frightening Propulsion System Failure – Sunday Docking Set | UniverseToday.com
  • SpaceX rocket launched, but problem with thrusters (Update 3)
  • SpaceX working to fix Dragon capsule\’s thrusters (Update 2) | phys.org
  • SpaceX company fixes Dragon capsule problem | phys.org
  • Dragon Spacecraft Glitch Was \’Frightening,\’ SpaceX Chief Elon Musk Says | Space.com

— UPDATES—

Russian Meteorite Chunk Found

Dennis Tito\’s Honeymoon Suite to Mars

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

  • The \’Glitch\’
  • The spacecraft remained in communications at all scheduled communication windows on Wednesday, but it did not send recorded data, only current status information.
  • Status information revealed that the computer had not switched to the usual daily \”sleep\” mode when planned
  • On Thurs, Feb 28, the ground team for NASA\’s Mars rover Curiosity switched the rover to a redundant onboard computer in response to a memory issue on the computer that had been active
  • Flash Memory
  • The condition is related to a glitch in flash memory linked to the other, now-inactive, computer.
  • Diagnostic work in a testing simulation at JPL indicates the situation involved corrupted memory at an A-side memory location used for addressing memory files
  • It appears to have caused the computer to get stuck in an endless loop.
  • Protections and History
  • Curiosity has protections against such high-energy disruptions, but the problem was compounded by what appears to have been the location of the strike-in the directory, or \”table of contents,\” of the computer\’s memory
  • Similar problems were caused by high-energy solar and cosmic ray strikes on other space missions
  • Previous rovers experienced many so-called \”anomalies\” during the early part of their treks
  • Like many spacecraft Curiosity carries a pair of redundant main computers in order to have a backup available if one fails
  • Each of the computers, A-side and B-side, also has other redundant subsystems linked to just that computer
  • Operations
  • Curiosity is now operating on its B-side, as it did during part of the flight from Earth to Mars. It operated on its A-side from before the August 2012 landing through Wednesday.
  • Although scientific investigations by the rover were suspended the team hopes that Curiosity would resume science work in about a week.
  • While resuming operations on the B-side, they are also working to determine the best way to restore the A-side as a viable backup
  • What Happens Next
  • Even if the rover is fully operational again in a week, the amount of science it can perform is limited.
  • The sun comes between Mars and the Earth in early April, partially blocking the path for radio commands for an entire month
  • The Curiosity team had planned to send back science data from Mars during that period-called \”solar conjunction,\” but had decided not to send up any commands.
  • Multimedia
  • Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
  • Image This artist concept features NASA\’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover | mars.jpl.NASA.gov
  • Social Media
  • Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Curiosity Rover Has Computer Problems | UniverseToday.com
  • Mars Rover Curiosity Has First Big Malfunction news.NationalGeographic.com
  • Mars Science Laboratory: Computer Swap on Curiosity Rover | mars.jpl.NASA.gov
  • Computer Swap on Curiosity Rover – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | jpl.nasa.gov

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • March 10, 1797: 216 years ago : Thomas Jefferson on paleontology : Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) presented a paper on the megalonyx to the American Philosophical Society. It was published as \”A Memoir on the Discovery of Certain Bones of a Quadruped of the Clawed Kind in the Western Parts of Virginia,\” Transactions of American Philosophical Society 4:255-256, along with an account by Caspar Wistar (1761-1818). This is arguably the first American publication in paleontology, but the only paleontology paper written by Jefferson. In 1822, this huge extinct sloth was named Megalonyx jeffersoni by a French naturalist. (Megalonyx Gr. large claw). It was a bear-sized ground sloth, over 2 meters tall, widespread in North America during the last Ice Age

Looking up this week

  • Keep an eye out for …

  • Mercury, Venus, Mars | Now hidden in the Sun\’s glare

  • Jupiter | High in the S-SW after sunset, moving to the W/SW later in the evening

  • Saturn | ~10-11 pm | Rises in the E-SE moving to high in the Southern skies by dawn

  • Where to Find Comet PanSTARRS

  • 10* is about the width of your fist held at arm\’s length.
  • This diagram is drawn for a viewer near 40* north latitude (Denver, New York, Madrid) 30 minutes after sunset.
  • If you\’re south of there, the comet will be a little higher above your horizon early in the month than shown here.
  • North of 40°, it will be a little lower early in March than shown here.
  • SkyandTelescope.com/panstarrs

Daylight Savings Time

The post HIV & SpaceX Troubles | SciByte 84 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> HIV & SpaceView | SciByte 72 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/28011/hiv-spaceview-scibyte-72/ Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:21:10 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=28011 We take a look at HIV treatment, public help watching the skies, Space Station, Curiosity updates!

The post HIV & SpaceView | SciByte 72 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>

post thumbnail

We take a look at HIV treatment, public help watching the skies, Space Station, Curiosity updates, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

Direct Download:

MP3 Download | Ogg Download | Video | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | Ogg Feed | iTunes Feed | Video Feed

Support the Show:

Storm Front: The Dresden Files, Book 1 and Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 1

Annihilation: Star Wars: The Old Republic Audio Book

Show Notes:

New combination of HIV–1 antiretroviral drugs

  • The low down
  • Michel Nussenzweig’s Laboratory of Molecular Immunology found that a combination of five different antibodies that effectively suppressed HIV–1 replication and kept the virus at bay for a 60 day period after termination of therapy
  • In addition this new combination has a longer half-life than current antiretroviral drugs that require daily intake.
  • Significance
  • These especially potent antibodies were only recently discovered
  • They were identified and cloned from HIV-infected patients whose immune systems showed an unusually high ability to neutralize HIV
  • The antibodies had been written off as a treatment for HIV/AIDS because previous studies showed only a limited effect on controlling the virus before these more potent antibodies were discovered
  • HIV–1 is notorious for evading the immune system’s attacks by constantly mutating
  • Antibodies target HIV–1’s surface protein gp160, a large molecule that forms a spike that seeks out host cells and attaches to them
    One antibody alone wasn’t enough to quell the virus; neither was a mix of three, five of them in unison proved too complicated for gp160 to mutate its way out of.
  • Of Note
  • Although HIV–1 infection in humanized mice differs in many important aspects from infection in humans, the results are encouraging to investigate these antibodies in clinical trials
  • It also may be that a combination of antibodies and the already established antiretroviral therapy is more efficacious than either alone
  • These antibodies could be used as a treatment one day, it is conceivable that patients would only need to take traditional drugs until the virus is controlled then receive antibodies every two to three months to maintain that control
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Potent antibodies neutralize HIV and could offer new therapy, study finds | MedicalXPress.com

— NEWS BYTE —

DARAPA’s SpaceView Program

  • The U.S. military is launching a far-out neighborhood watch. But instead of warding off burglars, these amateur watchdogs are tracking orbital debris and possible satellite collisions in Earth orbit.
  • Significance
  • The sky-monitoring project, called SpaceView, is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program that enrolls the talents of amateur astronomers
  • SpaceView should provide more diverse data from different geographic locations
  • It is envisioned as a long-term partnership. that could potentially include time-sharing on telescopes, upgraded hardware at the astronomer’s site or financial compensation
  • Of Note
  • SpaceView hopes to engage amateur astronomers by purchasing remote access to an already in-use telescope or by providing a telescope to selected astronomers
  • Telescopes used for astrophotography, asteroid hunting or simply high-quality astronomy are well suited for SpaceView’s needs
  • This new program provides the means to upgrade a skywatcher’s site to a state-of-the-art fully automated observer in late 2013, the process will start to select the first dozen members of the project
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • DARPA’s SpaceView project
  • DARPA Wants Amateur Help Tracking Space Junk | Space.com
  • DARPA unveils SpaceView program to engage amateur astronomers in helping to protect satellites | phys.org

— VIEWER FEEDBACK —

  • Planetary Alignment
  • Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be aligned over the Giza Pyramids on Dec 3
  • While this is true they will not be perfectly aligned over the pyramids, they will be more vertically aligned in fact
  • These three planets formed a similar alignment in 2007

— Updates —

Higgs-Boson

  • Of Note
  • This information is from a blog on the Scientific American website
  • The Low Down
  • New data from the LHC continues to show promising results for Higgs-Boson particle
  • Further data is also following the Standard Model of particle physics limiting potential extensions
  • Including the concept of supersymmetry, the proposal that every elementary particle has a heavier, as-yet-unseen cousin
  • The LHC has yet to find any evidence for supersymmetric particles of any kind, although is has not been ruled out by our measurement, but it is strongly constrained
  • Only certain flavors of supersymmetry jibe with the new data, failure to find one variant of a theory is not evidence against other variants,”
  • The reigning theory of subatomic particles and forces, the Standard Model of particle physics, predicts just how often the effect should occur
  • The LHCb data match up well with the Standard Model predictions
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • LHC Experiment Yields No Insight into Post-Higgs Physics | blog.ScientificAmerican.com

– SPACECRAFT UPDATE –

Kepler gets mission extension

  • NASA is marking two milestones in the search for planets like Earth; the successful completion of the Kepler Space Telescope’s three-and-a-half-year prime mission and the beginning of an extended mission that could last as long as four years.
  • Highlights from the prime mission
  • Kepler was help identify more than 2,300 planet candidates and confirm more than 100 planets
  • Hundreds of Earth-size planet candidates have been found
  • confirmed the discovery of the first planetary system with more than one planet transiting the same star
  • the discovery of the first unquestionably rocky planet outside the solar system, 1.4 times the size of Earth in September 2011
  • Confirmed the existence of a world with a double sunset
  • Discoveries of six additional worlds orbiting double stars further demonstrated planets can form and persist in the environs of a double-star system
  • In December 2011 first planet in a habitable zone
  • In February 2012 transiting planet candidates totaled of 2,321
  • Recently the joint effort of amateur astronomers and scientists led to the first reported case of a planet orbiting a double star
  • Social Media
  • NASA Kepler | @NASAKepler
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Kepler wraps prime mission, begins extension | phys.org

Space Station Expedition 32/33 crew Returns Home

– CURIOSITY UPDATE –

  • Wind and Radiation
  • Radiation levels at the Martian surface appear to be roughly similar to those experienced by astronauts in low-Earth orbit and about half as high as the levels Curiosity experienced during its nine-month cruise through deep space
  • This add more support that astronauts can indeed function on the Red Planet for limited stretches of time.
  • These findings demonstrate that Mars’ atmosphere, though just 1 percent as thick as that of Earth, does provide a significant amount of shielding
  • Mars however lacks a magnetic field, which gives our planet another layer of protection.
  • Although these findings are preliminary, as Curiosity is just three months into a planned two-year prime mission
  • American Geophysical conference
  • Hard numbers on Martian surface radiation levels are planned to be released at the conference Dec 3
  • In a Nov 20 NPR radio interview Curiosity rover’s Principal Investigator, John Grotzinger, said that the team will soon make an announcement “for history books”
  • Organic molecules typically consists of carbon atoms in rings or long chains, where other atoms (e.g. hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen) are attached
  • While organics are a prerequisite to life. Life requires finding much more complex molecules, like amino acids and far more beyond that.
  • Hypotheses on the Announcement
  • They have already published preliminary surface radiation readings and there is evidence that they will be announcing the exact radiation reading on the surface on Mars.
  • The fact that surface levels of radiation do not preclude life will be part of the announcement, although they are still awaiting surface radiation readings from a CME
  • The SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument was the last used before moving on and they retained some of the sample they could repeat the analysis. It looks for looks for and measure the abundances of light elements, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen
  • In addition they have said they are analyzing data from the instrument and are not yet ready to discuss the results
  • There is a chance that they will announce evidence of organic compounds if they do it will most likely be a simple hydrocarbon. Neither of which means life on Mars
  • I believe a much less likely chance would be the announcement of nitrogen in the soil
  • Check back over the next two SciBytes for the actual announcements
  • They have already published preliminary surface radiation readings and there is evidence + Multimedia
  • YouTube Curiosity Rover Report (Nov. 15, 2012): Wind and Radiation on | JPLNews
  • Animation of Curiosity Rover’s First ‘Touch and Go’ | NASAJPL
  • Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
  • Social Media
  • Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Astronauts Could Survive Mars Radiation, Curiosity Rover Finds | Space.com
  • Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity Rover Preparing for Thanksgiving Activities | mars.jpl.nasa.gov
  • [Mars Science Laboratory: NASA Rover Providing New Weather And Radiation Data About Mars | ](mars.jpl.nasa.gov](https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1393)
  • Curiosity providing new weather and radiation data about Mars | phys.org
  • Digging deep into Martian soil | Atom & Cosmos | Science News
  • Is Historic Discovery imminent concerning Martian Organic Chemistry? | UniverseToday.com

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back


+ Dec 01 1997 : 15 years ago : Planetary Lineup : Eight planets from our Solar System lined up from West to East beginning with Pluto, followed by Mercury, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn, with a crescent moon alongside, in a rare alignment visible from Earth that lasted until Dec 8. Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are visible to the naked eye, with Venus and Jupiter by far the brightest. A good pair of binoculars is needed to see the small blue dots that are Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is visible only by telescope. The planets also aligned in May 2000, but too close to the sun to be visible from Earth. It will be at least another 100 years before so many planets will be so close and so visible

Looking up this week

  • Sunspots
  • VIDEO of Sunspot AR1620 doubling in size, it is now almost 10 times a wide as Earth
  • Although it has been relatively quiet the magnetic fields are now changing, leading forecasters to believe there is a 35% chance of it producing an M-class flare
  • M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions
  • Keep an eye out for …
  • Wed, Nov 28 | Early evening | Jupiter is close and to the upper left of the Moon and the star Aldebaran, the “eye” of Taurus, the bull, to the right of the Moon.
  • Fri, Nov 30 | ~ hour after end of twilight | The waning Moon rises look right of it, by a bit more than a fist-width at arm’s length, for orange-red Betelgeuse sparkling in Orion’s shoulder.
  • Venus / Saturn | Before Dawn | Are together in the SESaturn to the lower left
  • Mars | Evening Twilight | Low in the SW
  • Further Reading and Resources
  • 1* = pinky finger
  • 5* = three middle fingers
  • 10* = closed fist
  • 15* = pointer and pinky spread \m/
  • 25* = pinky to thumb spread
  • Sky&Telescope
  • SpaceWeather.com
  • StarDate.org
  • For the Southern hemisphere: SpaceInfo.com.au
  • Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere : astronomyonline.org
  • Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand : rasnz.org.nz
  • AstronomyNow
  • HeavensAbove

The post HIV & SpaceView | SciByte 72 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>