Mars Mission – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com Open Source Entertainment, on Demand. Mon, 22 Feb 2016 02:47:01 +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 Mars Mission – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com 32 32 Alzheimer’s & Mars Missions | SciByte 90 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/35511/alzheimers-mars-missions-scibyte-90/ Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:43:13 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=35511 We take a look at more Alzheimer's breakthroughs, nuclear fusion to Mars, finding an old Soviet mars probe, a comet aiming for Mars, and more!

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We take a look at more Alzheimer\’s breakthroughs, nuclear fusion to Mars, finding an old Soviet mars probe, a comet aiming for Mars, glasses that read to you, viewer feedback, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

Show Notes:

Mysteries of Alzheimer\’s Disease

  • New findings show that brain damage in Alzheimer\’s disease is linked to the overactivation of an enzyme called AMPK
  • In addition findings suggest the need for further safety studies on an existing drug, metformin, a popular treatment for Type 2 Diabetes, causes AMPK activation.
  • What We Know
  • Researchers have known for years that people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer\’s disease begin to lose synapses in certain memory-related brain areas
  • Small aggregates of the protein amyloid beta can cause this, but how they do so has been a mystery
  • Recent Research
  • Until recently, Polleux\’s laboratory has been focused not on Alzheimer\’s research but on the normal development and growth of neurons
  • In 2011 they reported that AMPK overactivation by metformin, among other compounds, in animal models impaired the ability of neurons to grow output stalks, or axons
  • Around the same time, separate research groups found clues that AMPK might also have a role in Alzheimer\’s disease
  • One team used J20 mice, which are genetically engineered to overproduce mutant amyloid beta
  • When they blocked the activity of CAMKK2 or AMPK in those neurons, they completely prevented the spine loss
  • Recent studies have shown that amyloid beta\’s toxicity to dendritic spines (rootlike, synapse-bearing input stalks that receive signals from other neurons) depends largely on the presence of tau, but just how the two Alzheimer\’s proteins interact has been unclear
  • Tangles of tau with multiple phosphorylations, altered function and activity, are known to accumulate in neurons in affected brain areas in Alzheimer
  • Amyloid beta oligomers can\’t cause dendritic spine loss unless AMPK overactivation occurs-and indeed AMPK overactivation on its own can cause the spine loss
  • To determine whether the reported interactions of AMPK with amyloid beta and tau can in fact cause the damage seen in the brains of Alzheimer\’s patients, a postdoctoral research associate began by confirming that amyloid beta, in the small-aggregate (\”oligomer\”) form that is toxic to synapses, does indeed strongly activate AMPK
  • Domino Effect of Biology
  • Amyloid beta oligomers stimulate certain neuronal receptors, which in turn causes an influx of calcium ions into the neurons
  • This calcium influx triggers the activation of an enzyme called CAMKK2, which appears to be the main activator of AMPK in neurons
  • Then AMPK overactivation in neurons is the essential reason for amyloid beta\’s synapse-harming effect
  • Still to Come
  • Colleagues are now following up with further experiments to determine what other toxic processes, such as excessive autophagy, mechanism that involves cell degeneration or dysfunction, are promoted by AMPK overactivation and might also contribute to the long-term aspects of Alzheimer\’s disease progression
  • Scientists are also interested in the long-term effects of blocking AMPK overactivation in the J20 mouse model as well as in other mouse models of Alzheimer\’s disease, which normally develop cognitive deficits at later stages
  • The pharmaceuticals industry is now potentially interested in targeting either CAMKK2 or AMPK
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube Clip | Neuron Communication with Dendritic Spines
  • YouTube Clip | Tau tangles
  • YouTube | Inside the Brain: Unraveling the Mystery of Alzheimer\’s Disease [HQ] | AlzheimerUniversal
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Study unravels central mystery of Alzheimer\’s disease | MedicalXpress

— NEWS BYTE —

Quick Trip to Mars

  • Viewer Feedback | Check This Out!
  • Akito
  • The Premise
  • Previous estimates have found that a roundtrip manned mission to Mars would require about 500 days of space travel
  • A team of scientists have published papers calculating the potential for 30- and 90-day expeditions to Mars using a rocket powered by fusion, which would make the trip more practical and less costly
  • Nuclear fusion
  • Nuclear fusion occurs when the nuclei of two or more atoms combine, resulting in a release of energy
  • The sun and other stars convert this energy into light, and the same process gives hydrogen bombs their destructive power
  • The Project
  • Funded through NASA\’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program, it is one of a handful of projects awarded a second round of funding last fall after already receiving phase-one money in a field of 15 projects chosen from more than 700 proposals
  • Last month the team presented their mission analysis for a trip to Mars, along with detailed computer modeling and initial experimental results
  • They have demonstrated successful lab tests of all portions of the process
  • Now, the key will be combining each isolated test into a final experiment that produces fusion using this technology
  • Researchers and scientists are now building components of a fusion-powered rocket aimed to clear many of the hurdles that block deep space travel, including long times in transit, exorbitant costs and health risks
  • Power
  • To power the rocket, the team has devised a system in which a powerful magnetic field causes large metal rings to implode around this plasma, compressing it to a fusion state
  • The converging rings merge to form a shell that ignites the fusion, but only for a few microseconds which is enough energy to quickly heat and ionize the shell
  • This super-heated, ionized metal is ejected out of the rocket nozzle at a high velocity. This process is repeated every minute or so, propelling the spacecraft
  • A small grain of sand of this material has the same energy content as 1 gallon of rocket fuel.
  • Hardware
  • The team had a sample of the collapsed, fist-sized aluminum ring resulting from one of those tests on hand for people to see and touch at the recent NASA symposium
  • Now, the team is working to bring it all together by using the technology to compress the plasma and create nuclear fusion
  • With the flip of a switch, the capacitors are simultaneously triggered to deliver 1 million amps of electricity for a fraction of a second to the magnet, which quickly compresses the metal ring.
  • The mechanical process and equipment used are reasonably straightforward
  • In actual space travel, scientists would use lithium metal as the crushing rings to power the rocket. Lithium is very reactive, and for lab-testing purposes, aluminum works just as well
  • Concerns
  • Nuclear fusion may draw concern because of its application in nuclear bombs, but its use in this scenario is very different
  • The fusion energy for powering a rocket would be reduced by a factor of 1 billion from a hydrogen bomb, too little to create a significant explosion
  • Also, concept uses a strong magnetic field to contain the fusion fuel and guide it safely away from the spacecraft and any passengers within
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | The Fusion Driven Rocket: Animation | FusionDrivenRocket
  • YouTube Channel | Fusion Driven Rocket
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Nuclear Fusion Could Power Rocket to Mars | Space.com
  • Rocket powered by nuclear fusion could send humans to Mars | Phys.org

Soviet Lander Found

  • Viewer Feedback | Check This Out!
  • Allan from TechSnap
  • Soviet Mars 3 Mission
  • On May 28, 1971, the Soviet Union launched the Mars 3 mission which consisted of an orbiter and lander destined for the Red Planet. Just over six months later on December 2, 1971, Mars 3 arrived at Mars
  • The Mars 3 descent module separated from the orbiter and several hours later entered the Martian atmosphere, descending to the surface via a series of parachutes and retrorockets
  • Once safely on the surface, the Mars 3 lander opened its four petal-shaped covers to release the 4.5-kg PROP-M rover contained inside
  • Although it only transmitted for 20 seconds it was the first spacecraft to survive a Mars landing long enough to transmit anything
  • Due to unknown causes, the Mars 3 lander was never heard from or seen again
  • The Search
  • The largest Russian Internet community about Curiosity has been looking through data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, looking for the lost lander.
  • Subscribers did the preliminary search for Mars 3 via crowdsourcing
  • Coordinators modeled what Mars 3 hardware pieces should look like in a HiRISE image, and the group carefully searched the many small features in this large image, finding what appear to be viable candidates
  • The predicted Mars 3 landing site was at latitude 45 degrees south, longitude 202 degrees east, in Ptolemaeus Crater
  • HiRISE acquired a large image at this location in November 2007, and promising candidates for the hardware from Mars 3 were found on Dec. 31, 2012
  • Likely Features
  • Four features from the image resemble four pieces of hardware from the Mars 3 mission: the parachute, heat shield, terminal retrorocket and lander.
  • Each candidate has a size and shape consistent with the expected hardware, and they are arranged on the surface as expected from the entry, descent and landing sequence
  • A follow-up image by the orbiter from last month shows the same features
  • Further analysis of the data and future images to better understand the three-dimensional shapes may help to confirm this interpretation
  • Off all the feature the the candidate parachute is the most distinctive feature, an especially bright spot for this region, about 8.2 yards (7.5 meters) in diameter
  • The parachute would have a diameter of 12 yards (11 meters) if fully spread out over the surface
  • This set of features and their layout on the ground provide a remarkable match to what is expected from the Mars 3 landing, but alternative explanations for the features cannot be ruled out
  • Multimedia
  • Image | Graphic of the lander pieces and candidates | Credit: Vitali Eerogov
  • Image | Could This Be the Mars Soviet 3 Lander? | nasa.gov
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Mars 3 | Wikipedia
  • Mars orbiter images may show 1971 Soviet lander | Phys.org
  • Soviet Lander Spotted by Mars Orbiter | UniverseToday.com
  • NASA Mars Orbiter Images May Show 1971 Soviet Lander | masr.jpl.nasa.gov
  • New Mars Photos May Reveal 1970s Soviet Lander | Space.com

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Comet Aiming to Hit Mars is Going to Miss

  • The Discovery
  • The comet C/2013 A1 was discovered in the beginning of 2013 by comet-hunter Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia
  • When the discovery was initially made, astronomers looked back over their observations to find “prerecovery” images of the comet dating back to Dec. 8, 2012.
  • These observations placed the orbital trajectory of comet C/2013 A1 right through Mars orbit on Oct. 19, 2014
  • New Observations
  • The latest orbital plot places the comet’s closest approach to Mars slightly closer than previous estimates
  • The new data has also significantly reduces the probability the comet will impact the Red Planet, JPL said, from about 1 in 8,000 to about 1 in 120,000.
  • The closest approach is now estimated at about 68,000 miles (110,000 kilometers). The most previous estimates had it whizzing by at 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers).
  • The latest estimated time for close approach to Mars is about 11:51 a.m. PDT (18:51 UTC) on Oct. 19, 2014
  • Future observations of the comet are expected to refine the orbit further
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | Animation of the Orbit of Comet C 2013 A1 and MArs | INSANE! COMET C 2013 A1 (SIDING SPRING) comes close to MARS | Valeria Gusmão
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • New Calculations Effectively Rule Out Comet Impacting Mars in 2014 | UniverseToday.com

Glasses That Read to You

  • Where it Started
  • The project began with a challenge issued by faculty member Seema Pissaris, founder of Games Trader
  • Last fall, Pissaris urged students in several of her classes to think about developing a social entrepreneurship project
  • It has now has been hailed by venture investors as a potentially breakthrough product that could make a difference for disabled people worldwide
    nt
  • EyeTalk
  • Eyetalk is designed to be portable, affordable, and operate without requiring an Internet connection
  • It will allow a blind user to access printed material while walking around a store or library, which now requires bulkier, more expensive equipment
  • Future versions of Eyetalk will target a global market and enable users to hear information aloud in one of many languages.
  • An early prototype, known as the FreedomLens, was one of 16 semi-finalists chosen from 29 nations to present at the 2013 Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC), February 25-30 at the University of Washington\’s Foster School of Business in Seattle
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | EYETalk: read printed text to the blind | equityplus
  • YouTube | Demonstration of glasses that read for you | FloridaInternational
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Eyes4Blind.com
  • Eyeglasses read to the blind | Phys.org

— VIEWER FEEDBACK —

Visiting Mars

  • Jacob F. Roecker ‏@jacobroecker
  • If we landed someone on mars would they go to the same spot as the rovers or pick someplace new?
  • My Opinion
  • It’s not cheating to say it depends.
  • We will use Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, to help determine the best locations to land
  • There will be specific qualifications for a landing site including soil composition and terrain
  • On one hand, you want to be able to break all new science in different locations, possibly where rovers would have a hard time going
  • On the other hand, if one of the rovers find some very exciting data it might sense to go back to that location where

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • April 17, 1930 | 93 years ago | Synthetic rubber | The discovery of a new rubber-like compound was recorded by Dr. Arnold M. Collins in his laboratory notebook. He had noticed that a mixture that had stood from some weeks before, had solidified “to white, somewhat rubber-like masses,” from polymerization of monovinylacetylene mixed with concentrated HCl. He theorized the new compound was 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene. His research group at the Du Pont Company, over the next several weeks, but only gradually, recognized its potential as the first synthetic rubber. Wallace Carothers named it chloroprene. It was announced as DuPrene on 2 Nov 1931. From 1936, it is known as Neoprene.
  • After more development, it was sold as a material useful for products impervious to oil, for electrical wire insulation and as a coating compound. It is now used in a wide variety of applications, such as laptop sleeves, orthopedic braces (wrist, knee, etc.), electrical insulation, liquid and sheet applied elastomeric membranes or flashings, and automotive fan belts

Looking up this week

The post Alzheimer's & Mars Missions | SciByte 90 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Tiny Exo-planet & Medical Glue | SciByte 83 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/32512/tiny-exo-planet-medical-glue-scibyte-83/ Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:14:14 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=32512 We take a look at a tiny exoplanet, new medical glue, dogs, private Mars mission, updates on bionic eyes and the Russian meteorite.

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We take a look at a tiny exoplanet, new medical glue, dogs, private Mars mission, updates on bionic eyes and the Russian meteorite, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

Tiny Exo-planet

  • Scientists have discovered a new planet orbiting a Sun-like star, and the exoplanet is the smallest yet found in data from the Kepler mission
  • This discovery came from a collaboration between Kepler scientists and a consortium of international researchers who employ asteroseismology
  • Asteroseismology\”
  • Sound waves travel into the star and bring information back up to the surface, these waves cause oscillations that Kepler observes as a rapid flickering of the star’s brightness
  • Asteroseismology is when scientists measure those oscillations in the star’s brightness caused by continuous star-quakes, and turn those tiny variations in the star’s light into sounds
  • It is similar to how geologists use seismic waves generated by earthquakes to probe the interior structure of Earth
  • Barely discernible, high-frequency oscillations in the brightness of small stars are the most difficult to measure, the bigger the star, the lower the frequency, or ‘pitch’ of its song
  • Kepler-37b
  • The measurements made by the astroseismologists allowed the Kepler research team to more accurately measure the tiny Kepler-37b
  • Kepler-37b, is smaller than Mercury, but slightly larger than Earth’s Moon
  • Orbits every 13 days at less than one-third Mercury’s distance from the Sun
  • Very likely a rocky planet with no atmosphere or water, similar to Mercury
  • Estimated surface temperature of this smoldering planet, at more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Kelvin, hot enough to melt the zinc in a penny
  • The rest of the Kepler-37 system
  • Kepler-37 has a radius just three-quarters of the Sun, and is about 210 light-years from Earth.
  • The size is known to 3 percent accuracy, which translates to exceptional accuracy in the planet’s size.
  • Measurements also revealed two other planets in the same planetary system: one slightly smaller than Earth and one twice as large
  • All three planets orbit the star at less than the distance Mercury is to the Sun Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d, orbit every 21 days and 40 days, respectively
  • What this means
  • This discovery took a long time to verify, as the signature of this very small exoplanet was hard to confirm
  • Uncovering a planet smaller than any in our solar system orbiting one of the few stars that is both bright and quiet, where signal detection was possible
  • “The detection of such a small planet shows for the first time that stellar systems host planets much smaller as well as much larger than anything we see in our own Solar System.” [Published paper in Nature]
  • Multimedia
  • Image | NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered a new planetary system that is home to the smallest planet yet found | Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech
  • Image | Where in the sky Kepler is looking | Credit: Carter Roberts / Eastbay Astronomical Society
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Tiny exoplanet smaller than Mercury: Smallest planet yet found outside solar system (Update) | phys.org
  • Smallest Exoplanet Yet Discovered by \’Listening\’ to a Sun-like Star
  • Moon-Size Alien Planet Is the Smallest Exoplanet | Space.com
  • How Does Tiny Kepler-37b Measure Up? | news.discovery.com

— NEWS BYTE —

Medical \”Super Glue\” for Wet Surfaces

  • The Problem\”
  • Not even Super Glue will stick in a wet environment because a layer of water forms that keeps the two surfaces from bonding
  • Mussels somehow elbow the water aside and bind themselves to rocks anyway by secreting liquid proteins that harden into a solid, water-resistant glue
  • A Possible New Solution
  • One researcher now says he has used the mollusk’s tricks to develop medical applications
  • This biocompatible glue that could one day seal fetal membranes, allowing prenatal surgeons to repair birth defects without triggering dangerous premature labor
  • The research team has now created a synthetic, thread-like polymer called polyethylene glycol that mimics the mussel protein
  • Basis of a Mussels Sticking Ability
  • Parts of the proteins that face out toward the hard surface
  • This enables liquid holdfast proteins to solidify rapidly and stick flawlessly to wet and salty surfaces
  • Initial Testing
  • To see if the compound worked in live animals, a veterinary surgeon made a 2.5-centimeter incision in the carotid artery of a dog and placed four stitches along the length of that incision to hold it in place
  • With stitches alone were used, the incision bled when the surgeon pressed it.
  • After just 20 seconds after the mussel-based glue was applied, the artery was sealed and didn’t bleed.
  • Recently the team began testing its glue on fetal membranes
  • Possible Prenatal Use
  • For the past few decades, surgeons have begun surgically repairing birth defects like spina bifida while a fetus is still in utero
  • The process is risky because the surgery risks rupturing the fetal membrane prematurely, sending the mother into premature labor.
  • There are no good adhesives on the market for surgeons to repair such fetal-membrane tears
  • In recent, unpublished experiments in rabbits, the team has found that after a veterinary surgeon poked a 3.5-mm hole in the animal’s fetal membrane, the new, mussel-inspired glue readily sealed up the puncture
  • Without the glue, only 40% of the fetal rabbits survived the surgery, but with the glue, 60% did.
  • Fetal surgeons are now working with the research team to test whether the glue can help reseal the tissue surrounding the spinal cord to repair a serious birth defect known spina bifida in rabbits
  • Recent Alterations
  • In another recent result researchers chemically altered the polyethylene glycol polymer so that the glue would shrink when it hardened
  • This could counter tissue swelling during surgery
  • Multimedia
  • Mytilus mussel withb yssus showing, on a rock atOcean Beach, San Francisco,California,USA | Brocken Inaglory
  • Adding a glue modeled on the biochemistry of mussel attachment quickly sealed a punctured fetal membrane in rabbits, protecting the fetal bunnies inside | news.ScienceMag.org | Credit: Martin Ehrbar from University Hospital Zurich
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Mussel Glue Could Help Repair Birth Defects – ScienceNOW | News.ScienceMag.org
  • Translation of Mussel Adhesion to Beneficial New Concepts and Materials | AAAS.Confex.com

Food Ninja Dogs

  • A new study suggests dogs might understand people even better than we thought
  • The research shows that domestic dogs, when told not to snatch a piece of food, are more likely to disobey the command in a dark room than in a lit room
  • Dogs have specialized skills in reading human communication, specific in dogs
  • The Test
  • A research team recruited 84 dogs, all of which were more than a year old, motivated by food, and comfortable with both strangers and dark rooms
  • The team then set up experiments in which a person commanded a dog not to take a piece of food on the floor
  • They then repeated the commands in a room with different lighting scenarios ranging from fully lit to fully dark
  • What the team found was that the dogs were four times as likely to steal the food-and steal it more quickly—when the room was dark
  • It was thought that whether the dogs saw the human would would affect the results, but weather the dogs saw the human or not didn\’t affect the behavior
  • The dog\’s behavior depended on whether the food was in the light or not, suggesting that the dog made its decision based on whether the human could see them approaching the food
  • Results and Future
  • The study of dog cognition suddenly began about 15 years ago
  • Many of the new dog studies are variations on research done with chimpanzees, bonobos, and even young children
  • Dogs are better at reading human cues than even our closest mammalian relatives
  • Researchers are now interested in whether the dog has a theory of mind, \”an understanding that others have different perspective, knowledge, feelings than we do\”
  • While research reveals more and more insight into the minds we still don\’t know just how smart they are
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | Siberian Husky – Kiba The Pizza Thief | SeberHusky
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Confirmed: Dogs Sneak Food When People Aren\’t Looking | news.NationalGeographic.com

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Dennis Tito, Space Tourist, Now Mars Mission Planner

  • ”The Plan\”
  • Dennis Tito, the first-ever space tourist, is planning send a human mission to Mars in January 2018 on a round-trip journey lasting 501 days
  • Reportedly, Tito has created a new nonprofit company called the Inspiration Mars Foundation to facilitate the mission
  • Presentation
  • Tito, along with several other notable people from the space community will provide more information in a press conference set for Wednesday, February 27th
  • The paper Tito plans to present at the IEEE Aerospace Conference in March, will discuss a crewed free-return Mars mission that would fly by Mars, not going into orbit or landing
  • Initial Mission Breakdown
  • The 501-day mission would launch in January 2018, “using a modified SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket,”
  • Existing environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) technologies would allow such a spacecraft to support two people for the mission,
  • The paper outlines how NASA would also have a role in this mission in terms of supporting key life support and thermal protection systems, even though this is a private-sector effort
  • Crew comfort would be limited to survival needs only, sponge baths are acceptable, with no need for showers
  • Of Note
  • No estimates of what such a mission would cost are included in the paper, but it does say it would be financed privately
  • The paper adds that if they miss this favorable 2018 opportunity, the next chance to take advantage of this lower energy trajectory would be in 2031.
  • Multimedia
  • Image Dennis Tito, the first private citizen to visit the International Space Station | NASA via Wikipedia
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Dennis Tito Wants to Send Human Mission to Mars in 2018 | UniverseToday.com

— Updates —

Another Step for Bionic Eyes

  • Clinical Trials
  • As part of the first module of second human clinical trials in Germany research found that, during the course of a three to nine month observation period, functional vision was restored in the majority of nine patients implanted with a subretinal microchip
  • Patients were implanted with Retina Implant AG\’s subretinal wireless 3×3 mm2, 1500 pixel Alpha IMS microchip and are able to adjust the level of stimulation received to view objects at varied distances
  • Test Data
  • Visual acuity for two of the nine patients surpassed the visual resolution of patients from the Company\’s first human clinical trial
  • Of the nine patients observed in the study, three patients were able to read letters spontaneously during observation in and outside the laboratory patients
  • They also reported the ability to recognize faces, distinguish objects such as telephones and read signs on doors
  • Results
  • Results from the first trial concluded that the implantation of Retina Implant\’s microchip was successful in restoring useful vision in patients previously blind due to retinitis pigmentosa
  • second clinical trial with a wireless device that allows patients to use the implant outdoors and at home and has since expanded into the multicentre phase
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | Scientists help blind man see again | Channel4News
  • YouTube | Blind man given bionic eye describes seeing again | Frank Swain
  • YouTube | Animation of Retina Implant | jonmillsswns
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Retina Implant AG
  • Retinal implants with wireless microchip restore functional vision in retinitis pigmentosa patients, research finds | MedicalXpress.com

Russian Meteorite Orbital Calculations

  • Initial Calculations
  • Just a week after a huge fireball streaked across the skies of the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, astronomers published a paper that reconstructs the orbit and determines the origins of the space rock
  • Scientists at the University of Antioquia in Colombia used a resource not always available in meteorite falls: the numerous dashboard and security cameras that captured the huge fireball
  • Using the trajectories shown in videos posted on YouTube, the researchers were able to calculate the trajectory of the meteorite as it fell to Earth and use it to reconstruct the orbit in space of the meteoroid before its violent encounter with our planet.
  • Although the results are preliminary and they are already working on getting more precise results, through their calculations, the team determined the rock originated from the Apollo class of asteroids
  • In addition to the video data they Google Earth to reconstruct the path of the rock as it entered the atmosphere and showed that it matched an image of the trajectory taken by the geostationary Meteosat-9 weather satellite.
  • Even with the plethora of video\’s due to variations in time and date stamps on several of the videos, some which differed by several minutes, they decided to choose two videos from different locations that seemed to be the most reliable
  • From triangulation, they were able to determine height, speed and position of the meteorite as it fell to Earth
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube | Preliminary Orbit of the Chelyabinsk Meteoroid.mp4 | Jorge Zuluaga
  • YouTube | The video from Revolutionary Square in Chelyabinsk
  • YouTube | Video recorded in Korkino
  • YouTube Meteor Over Russia seen by Meteosat-9 [HD] | TheMarsUnderground
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Astronomers Calculate Orbit and Origins of Russian Fireball | universetoday.com

— SPACECRAFT UPDATE / VIEWER FEEDBACK —

Dragon resupply

  • On March 1 at 10:10 AM EST, the Dragon CRS-2 is slated to blast off on a Dragon cargo vehicle on what will be only the 2nd commercial resupply mission ever to the ISS
  • The mission will carrying about 1,200 pounds of vital supplies and science experiments for the six man international crew living aboard the million pound orbiting outpost
  • The Dragon will remain docked to the ISS for about three weeks while the crew unloads all manner of supplies including food, water, clothing, spare parts and gear and new science experiments
  • The astronauts will replace all that cargo load with numerous critical experiment samples they have stored during ongoing research activities, as well as no longer needed equipment and trash totaling about 2300 pounds, for the return trip to Earth and a Pacific Ocean splashdown set for March 25
  • ‏@Tubsta pointed this story out on Twitter as well
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Commercial Resupply Launch | NASA.gov

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Remembering David McKay [September 25, 1936 – February 20, 2013]

  • As a graduate student, McKay was in the audience when President John F. Kennedy gave his legendary \”We choose to go to the moon\” speech
  • McKay joined NASA in June of 1965 and participated extensively in astronaut training leading up to 1969\’s historic Apollo 11 mission
  • He also served as chief scientist for astrobiology at NASA\’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
  • McKay was lead author of a 1996 paper in the journal Science that suggested ALH84001 may contain evidence of past life on Mars.
  • While the claim still spurs controversy, it also sparked a shift in perspectives that is alive and well within NASA today and prompted the establishment of the NASA Astrobiology Institute
  • McKay developed innovative new technology for both life detection and the use of lunar regolith as feedstock, radiation protection, fuel, nutrient source for microbial bioreactors and long-term lunar habitation.
  • Publications
  • David published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers on lunar samples, space resource utilization, cosmic dust, meteorites, astrobiology and Mars topics, as well as about twice that many published abstracts, and this body of work includes many contributions to our understanding of the development and evolution of the lunar regolith and space weathering processes
  • Professional Positions
  • Chief Scientist for Astrobiology and Planetary Science and Exploration, 1996 – 2013
  • Assistant for Exploration and Technology – NASA Johnson Space Center, 1994 – 96
  • Chief, Planetary Programs Office – NASA Johnson Space Center, 1991 – 94
  • Chief, Mission Science and Technology Office – NASA Johnson Space Center, 1990 – 91
  • Chief, Space Resources Utilization Office – NASA Johnson Space Center, 1987 – 90
  • Staff Scientist – NASA Johnson Space Center, 1965 – 87
  • Exploration Geophysicist, Exxon and Marine Geophysical, 1960 – 61
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • David S. McKay, Chief Scientist for Astrobiology | ares.jsc.nasa.gov
  • Pioneering Moon, Mars Scientist David McKay Dies at 76 | Space.com

Looking back

  • March 05, 1223 BC : 3236 years ago : Oldest Eclipse Record : The oldest recorded eclipse occurred, according to one plausible interpretation of a date inscribed on a clay tablet retrieved from the ancient city of Ugarit, Syria (as it is now). This date is favoured by recent authors on the subject, although alternatively 3 May 1375 BC has also been proposed as plausible. Certainly by the 8th century BC, the Babylonians were keeping a systematic record of solar eclipses, and possibly by this time they may have been able to apply numerological rules to make fairly accurate predictions of the occurrence of solar eclipses. The first total solar eclipse reliably recorded by the Chinese occurred on 4 Jun 180 BC.

Looking up this week

The post Tiny Exo-planet & Medical Glue | SciByte 83 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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