Does Anyone Want A Pre-Owned Shuttle?

The space shuttle Discovery on its 39th and final flight. NASA/Getty Images

Who Wants A Pre-Owned Shuttle? Everyone. -- New York Times

Condition: 27 years old, 150 million miles traveled, somewhat dinged but well maintained.

Price: $0.

Dealer preparation and destination charges: $28.8 million.

So, does anyone want to buy a used space shuttle?

Yes, it turns out. This old vehicle — the space shuttle Discovery — is an object of fervent desire for museums around of the country, which would love to add it or one of its mates, the Endeavour and the Atlantis, to their collections. (Financing terms can be arranged with NASA.)

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My Comment: It is an impressive piece of technology with an incredible history. It should not be a surprise that everyone now wants it.

A Global Katrina Sun Storm

The Sun is waking up from a quiet period and is likely to throw a lot more 'space weather' at the Earth, according to the Government's chief scientist Photo: GETTY

Sun Storm May Be 'Global Katrina' -- The Telegraph

The risk of a devastating space storm wreaking havoc like a "global Katrina" and costing the world trillions of pounds should be taken "seriously", claims Britain's top scientist.

Professor Sir John Beddington, the Government's chief scientist, said that the Sun was waking up from a quiet period and was likely to throw a lot more "space weather" at the Earth.

Also, the world was increasingly vulnerable to damage because of our dependence on satellites, communication networks and computer devices.

If a solar storm hit the Earth, it could throw out navigation systems, crash stock markets, ground aircraft and cause power cuts.

The financial fallout could cost £1.2 billion in the US alone, claim experts.

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My Comment: If it happens .... grab a few good books and kill the time until everything gets back to normal.

With A Send-Off From Captain Kirk

Photo: Send-off: Actor William Shatner, who played Captain James T Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series and films, today paid tribute to Discovery

Coming Home: Discovery Undocks From The International Space Station For The Last Time... With A Send-Off From Captain Kirk -- Daily Mail

* Star Trek actor William Shatner paid tribute to the Nasa shuttle's voyages
* Discovery is scheduled to land back on Earth on Wednesday

Discovery, the world's most travelled spaceship, has left the International Space Station for the last time with a send-off from Star Trek's original Captain Kirk.

The vessel undocked from the ISS yesterday morning, wrapping up a nine-day visit there.

This is the final flight for Discovery, which is due to land back on Earth on Wednesday.

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Space: Battle Los Angeles: Could Aliens Attack?

From Discovery News: In the new movie Battle: Los Angeles, mankind fights off an alien invasion. But could a race of intergalactic beings really attack us? Jorge Ribas gets some answers.

Any Truth To Britain's Real X-Files?

UFO Reports: Any Truth to Britain's Real X-Files? -- ABC News

U.K. Government Releases Thousands of Secret Documents on UFOs, Paranormal Reports

Alien abductions, flying saucer sightings, mysterious lights and even extraterrestrial autopsies -- they're all in the real-life X-files released by the British government this week.

As part of a continuing effort to declassify government reports related to unidentified flying objects, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense and The National Archives this week released about 8,500 pages of UFO-related documents, illustrations, letters, and parliamentary debates from 2000-2005.

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My Comment: You just gotta love reading X-File stories like this one.

Is India An Emerging Scientific Superpower

(Image: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty)

India: The Story Of An Emerging Scientific Superpower -- New Scientist

Why are Indians such a bunch of geeks? In Geek Nation, Angela Saini goes in search of the truth behind the stereotype.

At first, the truth seems hard to find. Dispiritingly, the first few chapters are filled not with the playful, passionate geeks Saini seeks, but with obsessive, socially inept nerds. Yes, they're different beasts.

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My Comment: It seems that it is a dog eat dog world out there.

Hawaii Volcano Erupts

Hawaii Volcano Shoots Lava 65 Feet In Air -- CBS News

New vent opens on Kilauea, 1 of world's most active volcanoes; Hikers told to stay away.

VOLCANO, Hawaii - A new vent has opened at one of the world's most active volcanoes, sending lava shooting up to 65 feet high, scientists at Kilauea volcano said Sunday.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the fissure eruption was spotted shortly after the floor at the Pu'u O'o crater collapsed around 5 p.m. Saturday. It occurred along the middle of Kilauea's east rift zone, about 2 miles west of Pu'u O'o.

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My Comment: One more reason to visit Hawaii.

Longest Golf Drive On Record

Why Has The Longest Golf Drive Record Not Been Broken? -- BBC

The record for the longest golf drive has stood unbeaten for 35 years and was achieved with a wooden club, so have three decades of improving golfing technology failed to make an impression?

On 25 September 1974, a 64-year-old man called Mike Austin is recorded to have driven a golf ball 515 yards from the tee on a Las Vegas golf course.

It was a 450 yard par 4 so he will have ended up more than 50 yards past the green. No-one on record has hit a ball further in a tournament.

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My Comment: Wow .... that must have been one hell of a drive.

New 'Frozen Smoke' May Improve Robotic Surgery, Energy Storage

UCF associate professor Lei Zhai worked with fellow professors Saiful Khondaker, Sudipta Seal and Quanfang Chen. (Credit: Jason Greene)

Nanotechnology: New 'Frozen Smoke' May Improve Robotic Surgery, Energy Storage -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2011) — A spongy substance that could be mistaken for packing material has the nanotechnology world buzzing. University of Central Florida Associate Professor Lei Zhai and postdoctoral associate Jianhua Zou have engineered the world's lightest carbon material in such a way that it could be used to detect pollutants and toxic substances, improve robotic surgery techniques and store energy more efficiently.

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Are We Witnessing The 6th Great Mass Extinction?

Will 75 percent of Earth's species go the way of the dodo?
CREDIT: Dreamstime

Humans On Verge Of Causing 6th Great Mass Extinction -- Live Science

Are humans causing a mass extinction on the magnitude of the one that killed the dinosaurs?

The answer is yes, according to a new analysis — but we still have some time to stop it.

Mass extinctions include events in which 75 percent of the species on Earth disappear within a geologically short time period, usually on the order of a few hundred thousand to a couple million years. It's happened only five times before in the past 540 million years of multicellular life on Earth. (The last great extinction occurred 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs were wiped out.) At current rates of extinction, the study found, Earth will enter its sixth mass extinction within the next 300 to 2,000 years.

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My Comment: The data speaks for itself .... we are experiencing the 6th Great Mass Extinction

NASA Refutes Alien Discovery Claim

From Discovery News:

On Saturday, aliens invaded.

On Monday, NASA denied their existence.

This might sound like the perfect X-Files storyline for conspiracy theorists to chew over (and they probably will, for months), but as you may have already guessed, something wasn't quite "right" about Richard Hoover's announcement of an extraterrestrial discovery inside samples of meteorites.

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My Comment: If true .... it would have been an interesting story.

Two Suns Setting?

Two Suns Setting? Scientists Offer Explanations of Chinese Video -- ABC News

Pictures of Double Sun Go Viral in Web; Astronomers Suspect Optical Illusion or Hoax.

Early in the original "Star Wars" movie, there is a scene in which the restless young Luke Skywalker looks out at the two suns setting on his home planet of Tatooine.

It was a charming, exotic touch, and it was done simply. Two images of the earth's sun were superimposed next to each other.

Now, video of what looks like two suns setting has been broadcast by Chinese television -- and it's quickly spread all over the Web.

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My Comment: It is still a cool video to watch.

Pursuit Of The Universe's First Galaxy

In Pursuit Of The Universe's First Galaxy -- CBS News

If all goes according to plan, the James Webb space telescope will take to the stars in 2014. And scientists are counting down the days. The Webb is expected to offer them unprecedented views of the cosmos. The heir to the Hubble space telescope, the upcoming telescope has been taxed with a big job during its planned five-year space mission: no less than the job of photographing some of the universe's first-ever galaxies. With a 21-foot mirror, the Webb telescope will be powerful enough to take aim at the oldest stars and galaxies in the universe.

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My Comment: I suspect that the discoveries that it will find will rewrite the book on the origins of the universe.

A Suicide Warning System On Facebook

Facebook Adds Samaritans Suicide Risk Alert System -- BBC

Facebook is launching a system that allows users to report friends who they think may be contemplating suicide.

The feature is being run in conjunction with Samaritans, which said several people had used it during a test phase.

Anyone worried about a friend can fill out a form, detailing their concerns, which is passed to the site's moderators.

It follows reports of several cases where Facebook users announced their intention to commit suicide online.

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My Comment: This is smart.

Looking At Mars Impact Craters

This elongated depression is about 78 km in length, opens from just under 10 km wide at one end to 25 km wide at the other, and reaches a depth of 2 km. It is located at about 21°S / 55°E, and was probably caused by the impact of a train of projectiles. The data were acquired during orbit 8433 on 4 August 2010 using the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))

The Scars Of Impacts On Mars -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Mar. 7, 2011) — ESA's Mars Express has returned new images of an elongated impact crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Located just south of the Huygens basin, it could have been carved out by a train of projectiles striking the planet at a shallow angle.

The large Huygens basin (not visible in the main image but seen in the wider contextual image) is about 450 km in diameter and lies in the heavily cratered southern highlands. In this area there are many impact scars but none perhaps are more intriguing than the 'elongated craters'.

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My Comment: That is one hell of an impact.

Has NASA Discovered Evidence Of Alien Life?

NASA Scientist Finds Evidence Of Alien Life -- Yahoo News/Digital Trends

Aliens exist, and we have proof.

That astonishingly awesome claim comes from Dr. Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, who says he has found conclusive evidence of alien life — fossils of bacteria found in an extremely rare class of meteorite called CI1 carbonaceous chondrites. (There are only nine such meteorites on planet Earth.) Hoover’s findings were published late Friday night in the Journal of Cosmology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

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My Comment: I am skeptical.

Are Criminal Minds Different From Yours?

CT scans of a human brain. CREDIT: Dreamstime

Criminal Minds Are Different From Yours, Brain Scans Reveal -- Live Science

The latest neuroscience research is presenting intriguing evidence that the brains of certain kinds of criminals are different from those of the rest of the population.

While these findings could improve our understanding of criminal behavior, they also raise moral quandaries about whether and how society should use this knowledge to combat crime.

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My Comment: Hmmm .... this is going to open a Pandora's box.

Is India An Emerging Scientific Superpower

(Image: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty)

India: The Story Of An Emerging Scientific Superpower -- New Scientist

Why are Indians such a bunch of geeks? In Geek Nation, Angela Saini goes in search of the truth behind the stereotype.

At first, the truth seems hard to find. Dispiritingly, the first few chapters are filled not with the playful, passionate geeks Saini seeks, but with obsessive, socially inept nerds. Yes, they're different beasts.

Read more ....

My Comment: It seems that it is a dog eat dog world out there.

All The Digital Data In The World Is Equivalent To One Human Brain

Supercomputer An IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer rack. Wikimedia Commons

From Popular Science:

If you could put all the data in the world onto CDs and stack them up, the pile would stretch from the Earth to beyond the moon, according to a new study. The world’s technological infrastructure has a staggering capacity to store and process information, reaching 295 exabytes in 2007, a reflection of the world’s almost complete transition into the digital realm. That's a number with 20 zeroes behind it, in case you're wondering.

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A Glimpse Into World's Biggest Wind Tunnel

The massive propellers, weighing a tonne each, are 24 metres in diameter and can get up to speeds of 230 rotations a minute

Rare Glimpse Into World's Biggest Wind Tunnel That Blows Gusts Twelve Times The Speed Of Sound -- The Daily Mail

Shrouded in total secrecy, massive wind tunnels that test the resistance of European aircraft have been opened up and photographed.

Journalists were offered the rare glimpse of the 24 metre diametre steel tubes at the National Centre for Aeropsace Research (Onera), where propellers, weighing over a tonne each, power the huge gusts of wind.

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My Comment: That's one big wind tunnel.