Despite NASA claims, 2003 ozone hole one of the biggest

This year's Antarctic ozone hole will be among the largest ever recorded, early signs suggest. Despite NASA's recent announcement that Earth's shielding ozone layer is repairing itself from human damage, Australian scientists said the hole was heading towards a record size.

The most extensive ozone hole yet, in 2000, was about 27 million square kilometres. It led to daily health bulletins in South American cities, in which residents were told to stay indoors and a state of emergency was mooted.

That hole reached across sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, but did not reach the Australian landmass.

Since then it has been smaller - down to about 20 million square kilometres last year. But yearly meteorological variations mean it could widen again. This winter, in the middle layer of the atmosphere, the stratosphere, temperatures that encourage depletion are exceptionally cold. An atmospheric scientist with the Environment Department's Antarctic Division, Dr Andrew Klekociuk, said the first signs of cooling of the lower stratosphere, where the hole formed, had been detected six weeks earlier than usual.

Read more @ TheAge.com.au.

Synthetic marijuana proven to aid Alzheimer sufferers

Study results suggest dronabinol, a synthetic version of THC, the active ingredient in Cannabis sativa L (marijuana), may reduce agitation and lead to weight gain in patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to data presented today at the annual meeting of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

"Our research suggests dronabinol may reduce agitation and improve appetite in patients with Alzheimer's disease, when traditional therapies are not successful," said Joshua Shua-Haim, M.D., lead investigator in the study and medical director of the Meridian Institute for Aging, a continuum of senior health programs and services in Central New Jersey affiliated with Meridian Health System. "In the study, dronabinol appeared to be safe and effective for these patients. The results point to a promising direction for future research."

Read more @ ScienceDaily.com.

NASA asks for Mars photo suggestions

Earth comes closer to Mars this month than it has in nearly 60,000 years, but one new opportunity for seeing details on the red planet comes from a vantage point much closer.

The public has an unprecedented opportunity to suggest places on Mars that should be photographed from a spacecraft orbiting that planet. Camera operators for NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are ready to take suggestions online for new places for images from the Mars Orbiter Camera.

Read more @ SpaceFlightNow.com.

Hubble to photo Mars during close encounter

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) will make observations of the planet Mars on Aug. 26-27, when Earth and Mars will be closer together than they have been in the last 60,000 years.

As soon as Hubble's high-resolution images of the Red Planet are received at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and are digitally processed by the Mars observing team, they will be released to the public and news media via the Internet.

High-resolution files for downloading will available on HubbleSite News Center at http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/2003/22, beginning at 6 a.m. EDT Aug. 27.

Read more @ SpaceFlightNow.com.

Stretching embryos activates genes

Stretching or squashing might influence embryo growth. French researcher Emmanuel Farge has found that gently squeezing fruitfly embryos drastically alters their development.

Farge, a physicist working at the Curie Institute in Paris, is challenging the idea that, at least in the first few hours after fertilization, a hard-wired genetic program drives tissues to twist, bend and bud into head, limbs and internal organs.

When he briefly flattened three-hour old fruitfly (Drosophila) embryos, their upper surfaces switched on a gene called twist, which is normally only active on the bottom. "You can reprogram the embryo mechanically at the beginning of its life," concludes Farge.

Read more @ Nature.com.

Earth-like planets most likely water worlds

If there are planets like Earth around other stars, they'll probably be water worlds, with awesomely deep, pole-to-pole oceans and no land in sight.

So say Sean Raymond, of the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues. They have computer-modelled the late stages of planet formation, when Earth probably acquired its oceans. The 110 planets detected so far around other stars are all much bigger than Earth, because they are the only ones that can easily be seen. But astronomers think that where there are big planets there may well be small ones - habitable ones, even. Many researchers think that liquid water is a prerequisite for habitability, as it is on Earth.

Read more @ Nature.com.

Humans began wearing clothes 70,000 years ago

We started wearing clothes about 70,000 years ago - at least according to our lice genes.

At that time the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) evolved from the head louse (P. humanus capitis), say Mark Stoneking and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The split should correspond to the time when the body louse's habitat - clothes - became widespread.

Read more @ Nature.com.

NASA's to launch "SIRTF" infrared telescope

The launch of NASA’s Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) has been rescheduled to no earlier than Monday, Aug. 25, at 1:35:39 a.m. EDT.

Read more @ Kennedy Space Centre.

Superflood 8,500 years ago

A catastrophic 'superflood' following the rupture of a massive glacier-dammed lake in Canada at the end of the Ice Age probably plunged the world into centuries of climatic chaos.

That single event was likely responsible for the most dramatic climate change of the last 10,000 years, according to a report by a Canadian team led by Professor Garry Clarke, a geophysicist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, which appears today in the journal Science.

Read more @ ABC News Australia.

Aspirin attributed again with another life-saving quality

The common painkiller aspirin could be used to treat certain types of cancer, according to scientists.

They believe it can fight a rare form of skin cancer and some breast cancers.

The scientists say the drug can help to reduce inflammation in the body, which causes some of these cancers.

The study, published in the journal Nature, adds to growing evidence that the humble painkiller can be used to fight a wide range of diseases.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk Health News.

Scientists find life growing in more heat than expected

The upper temperature limit at which life can exist has been extended to 121°C, 8°C higher than the previous record holder. The hardy organism, given the preliminary name Strain 121, was found at a "black smoker" hydrothermal vent on the floor of the northeast Pacific Ocean.

Microbiologists Derek Lovley and Kazem Kashefi, at the University of Massachusetts say the discovery will help scientists determine where and when life might have evolved on Earth, and how deep life might exist below the surface.

Read more @ NewScientist.com.

Hormone may bring hope for obesity sufferers

A study out today (a year ago. Ed.) suggests a hormone might prompt people to eat 30% less — even when they're feasting at an all-you-can-eat buffet. This hormone, or drugs designed to act the same way, may help fight the "epidemic of obesity" in the USA and other developed nations, says researcher Stephen Bloom of the Imperial College at the Hammersmith Hospital in London.

Experts say 61% of all Americans are now overweight or obese and thus are at high risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and other health problems.

But Bloom and others say that such folks often face an uphill battle when it comes to body fat. He says humans evolved to stuff themselves with food in times of plenty. That meant a cushion of body fat that acted as protection in times of famine. But in a society in which cheap eats are available 24/7, that urge to eat has led to an ever-increasing number of overweight people, he says.

Read more @ USA Today, via email from TreeSprite.

Genetics shows we're more mousey than mog-like

A comparison of human DNA to 12 other animals shows we share more than our genes and helps show that people are more closely related to rats than to cats, scientists reported on Wednesday.

The survey also adds to the argument that so-called "junk" DNA is nothing of the sort, but must do something important because it stays virtually identical across many species.

It also supports what is becoming increasingly clear -- that the stretches of DNA we call genes are only a small part of the genetic story.

Read more @ CNN.com Health.

Giant laser transmutes nuclear waste

A giant laser has cut the lifetime of a speck of radioactive waste from millions of years to just minutes. The feat raises hopes that a solution to nuclear power's biggest drawback - its waste - might one day be possible.

"It is not going to solve the waste problem completely, but it reduces toxicity by a factor of 100. That's an attractive proposition," says Ken Ledingham, at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, who led the British and German research team.

The transmutation was performed using the Vulcan laser, which is the size of a small hotel and housed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. About a million atoms of iodine-129 were transformed into iodine-128. The half-life of iodine-129 is 15.7 million years, meaning it remains radioactive for an extremely long time. In contrast, the half-life of iodine-128 is just 25 minutes.

Read more @ NewScientist.com.

NASA's Hubble may orbit us a little longer

There is a good scientific case to extend the mission of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) for a further five years, says a report published on Thursday - but astronomers will have to make it.

A panel of experts commissioned by the US space agency (Nasa) believes the observatory has been so successful in unlocking the secrets of the Universe consideration should be given to keeping it serviceable beyond 2010 - its current termination date.

This would ensure astronomers have access to a major space observation platform while they wait for Hubble's replacement, which is not due for launch until 2011.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk Science News.

Ocean-going cyanobacteria genome sequenced

Researchers have sequenced the first genomes of bacteria that live in the sea. The DNA readouts hint at the essential apparatus for photosynthesis and provide new insights into Earth's carbon cycle.

"We can consider these very close to minimal genomes," says molecular biologist Donald Bryant of Pennsylvania State University. What many of the genes in these token toolkits do is still unknown.

Read more @ Nature.com.

And in the end, darkness covers the sky

Astronomers have confirmed by a new method one of the saddest stories of the Universe - one day the stars in the sky will all stop twinkling.

As old stars die, new ones are born, but, for billions of years, the rate of star formation has been in decline. According to recent estimates, there are 10 times more stars in the visible Universe than all the grains of sand on every beach and desert in the world. The good news is that they should last for a very long time yet. One day, however, the Universe will fade into darkness.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk Science News.

Amateur astronomer captures cosmic mega-blast

Armed with a 12-inch telescope, a computer, and a NASA email alert, Berto Monard of South Africa has become the first amateur astronomer to discover an afterglow of a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful explosion known in the Universe.

The discovery highlights the ease in tapping into NASA's burst alert system, as well as the increasing importance that astronomy enthusiasts play in helping scientists understand fleeting and random events, such as star explosions and gamma-ray bursts.

Read more @ SpaceFlightNow.com.

Iron Age coin hoard found in cow bone

A hoard of Iron Age gold coins has been found at an archaeological dig in Norfolk.

The coins, which are about 2000 years old, were discovered at Sedgeford in north west Norfolk. The 18 coins which show a horse on one side, were found stuffed inside a cow bone after it was x-rayed at a hospital.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk England News.

Aussies say iceman Oetzi knocked off by neighbour

The theory that Oetzi the Iceman died in a violent fight with others has received further support from scientists in Australia.

The researchers say their DNA study of items found with the 5,300-year-old hunter's body back up the idea that he was involved in close-quarter combat.

"We analysed samples, scrapings from the knife, the axe and from his jacket and it indicates that the blood samples are actually from several different individuals," Dr Ian Findlay, of the Australian Genome Research Facility in Brisbane, said.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk Asia Pacific News.

Embryonic human stem cells grown in the UK

Human embryonic stem cells have been grown in the UK for the first time, a team at King's College London announced on Wednesday.

Its success is the first since such experiments were approved in Britain. The researchers say they will use the cells to research treatments for Parkinson's disease and Type 1 diabetes. But anti-abortion organisations described the research as unethical and unnecessary.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk Science News.

Excavated Catalhoyuk houses protected from wear

The houses founded in Catalhoyuk, central Turkey -- one of the most ancient settlement areas in the world, have been covered with a roof for protection.

After the Catalhoyuk Research Project's tenth year was completed, Culture and Tourism General Director Nadir Avci visited the excavation site and obtained information from Standford University Archeology Professor responsible for excavation Ian Hodder. Afterwards, Avci opened 20 houses excavated in southern Catalhoyuk, saying that it was necessary to take protective measures since they were trying to preserve the finds after excavating.

Read more @ Turkish Daily News.

Creatine boosts brain power, highlights vegetarian deficiency

The dietary supplement creatine - known to improve athletic performance - can also boost memory and intelligence, researchers claim.

Creatine is a natural compound found in muscle tissue, and has been popular with athletes looking for ways to increase fitness.

However, experts say that it has a role in maintaining energy levels to the brain, and have the theory that taking more creatine might actually improve mental performance.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk Science News.

ESA's "Mars Express" to map Martian weather

Over its four-year lifetime, Mars Express will be returning data to refine the latest computer models of the Martian climate. It will be closely watching the clouds, fog, dust devils, and storms, looking for clues to explain the climate changes on Mars, now and in the past, and to better prepare us for future missions.

ESA scientists are already working to make sure that future missions to Mars arrive safely, and that future human explorers know what kind of weather to expect. They have developed a global atmospheric circulation model for Mars, which uses the same principles as those used to predict weather on Earth. Weather data sent back from Mars Express will help us to perfect these Martian weather forecasts.

Read more @ ScienceDaily.com.

Scientists study and compare 13 vertebrate genomes

In one of the most novel and extensive comparisons of vertebrate genomic sequences performed to date, a team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) today reported results that demonstrate how such comparisons can reveal functionally important parts of the human genome beyond the genes themselves.

In a study published in the journal Nature, the researchers compared the sequence of the same large genomic region in 13 vertebrate species. The organisms included human, chimpanzee, baboon, cat, dog, cow, pig, rat, mouse, chicken, zebrafish and two species of pufferfish (Fugu, Tetraodon).

Read more @ ScienceDaily.com.

Oort Cloud & Kuiper Belt not as quiet as first thought

The long-held perspective that comets are pristine remnants from the formation of the solar system has evolved from the prevailing views of 30 years ago, finds planetary scientist Dr. S. Alan Stern in a paper published in the journal Nature.

"It's fair to say that a sea change has taken place," says Stern, director of the Space Studies Department in the SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division. "We used to consider comets as wholly unchanged relics that had been stored ever since the era of solar system formation in a distant, cold, timeless deep freeze called the Oort cloud. We now appreciate that a variety of processes slowly modify comets during their storage there," he says. "As a result, it's become clear that the Oort cloud and its cousin the Kuiper Belt are not such perfect deep freezes."

Read more @ SpaceFlightNow.com.

Archaeologists unearth German Stonehenge

German experts on Thursday hailed Europe’s oldest astronomical observatory, discovered in Saxony-Anhalt last year, a “milestone in archaeological research” after the details of the sensational find were made public.

The sleepy town of Goseck, nestled in the district of Weissenfels in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt shimmers under the brutal summer heat, as residents seek respite in the shade.

Nothing in this slumbering locale indicates that one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of all times was made here. But this is indeed exactly where archaeologists digging in the region last September stumbled upon what they believe is Europe’s oldest astronomical observatory ever unearthed.

Read more @ Deutsche Welle.

Pre-Mayan civilization found in Nicaragua

Nicolas Jarquin was cutting trees in preparation for constructing a warehouse on the property of a Nicaraguan agricultural company when he noticed several large mounds exposed by the activity, some with building foundations on their surface.

Before disturbing the mounds, he called in Spanish and Nicaraguan archaeologists working at the nearby prehistoric village of Karoline to have a look.

What they found surprised everyone involved: evidence of a poorly known, complex civilization that existed in the tropical forest just before the Maya began to dominate regions to the north.

Read more @ Sun-Sentinal.com.

Hubble spies galactic cannibalism

A big galaxy is gobbling a tiny one, just as astronomers have long suspected, and for the first time there is photographic evidence of this kind of galactic cannibalism, snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Read more, and view the image in question @ CNN.com.

Large african ape, a mystery

From a remote region in the heart of Africa to a genetics lab at the Omaha Zoo, scientists are trying to find out if they have a new big ape on their hands.

"It doesn't look much like a gorilla, it doesn't look like a chimpanzee," said primatologist Shelly Williams, who captured a bit of video of the female mystery ape with a baby.

Pictures of the rare ape are scarce. Wildlife photographer Karl Amman, who was first to spot the mysterious mammals a few years ago, said the animal has feet that are about two inches bigger than the average gorilla and is more flat-faced than other apes. Its behavior also sets it apart from other apes, researchers say.

Read more @ CNN.com.

Comment on Frimlinks* articles online

You can now leave comments to each article posted to frimlinks*

Under each article there is now a link for comments -- if you feel like adding your opinion about a certain article, why not post a comment. All I ask is that you remain polite and keep criticisms to the purely constructive level.

Comment on frimlinks* articles @ frimlinks *.

Instrument failure on NASA's "Spirit" Mars lander

"An instrument aboard one of the two NASA rovers en route to Mars has malfunctioned, prompting worries it could harm the robot's information-gathering ability, a scientist said."

"If left unfixed, the instrument could still determine the presence of iron-bearing minerals in the rocks and soil on the Martian surface, but not their relative abundance, Steve Squyres, of Cornell University, said Wednesday. Some of that information could be derived from the rover's other instruments, however."

Read more @ CNN.com.

Frimlinks blog design update!

Hope you like the new look Frimlinks! I'll probably update it some more, knowing me. Don't forget to post to the Frimlin.com Guestbook sometime... :-)

~ Frimlin *.

NASA targets return to Shuttle use in Spring 2004

"NASA's efforts to launch its next space shuttle flight, the first since the Columbia disaster, are focused on March 2004, the agency said on Tuesday.

NASA cautions that the date is a planning target, not a deadline that must be met. The plan (STS-114) calls for Atlantis to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station."

Read more @ NewScientist.com.

Sun's magnetic field will focus space dust on Earth

"The Sun's shifting magnetic field is set to focus a decade-long storm of galactic dust grains towards the inner Solar System, including Earth.

The effect this will have on our planet - if any - is unknown. But some researchers have speculated that sustained periods of cosmic dust bombardment might be related to ice ages and even mass extinctions.

During the last decade, the magnetic field of the Sun acted like a shield, deflecting the electrically charged galactic dust away from the Solar System. However, the Sun's regular cycle of activity peaked in 2001.

As expected, its magnetic field then flipped over, so that south became north and vice-versa. In this configuration, rather than deflecting the galactic dust, the magnetic field should actually channel the dust inwards.

This pattern may have been repeated during previous solar cycles but it is only now that astronomers are beginning to have the data they need to prove it."

Read more @ NewScientist.com.

NASA's "Phoenix" to dig Martian pole for life signs

"A mission to explore the frozen north pole of Mars as part of the search for past, or even present, microbial life has been selected by NASA for launch in 2007.

The Phoenix mission will send a lander to a frozen region of the planet to dig out soil samples for detailed chemical analysis. Scientists hope this will reveal whether the poles could provide a viable habitat for life today, or did so in the past."

Read more @ NewScientist.com.

Gravity glitches offer Earthquake prediction promise

In another "but, isn't that kinda obvious?" moment, Scientists have now discovered that the Earth's gravitational field can be used to predict earthquakes. Despite the quoted opening lines from a SpaceFlightNow article, below, it seems quite obvious to me that a phenomenon such as Earthquakes must have at least some relation to gravitational anomolies. But anyhow, apparently...

"In trying to predict where earthquakes will occur, few people would think to look at Earth's gravity field. What does the force that causes objects to fall to the ground and the moon to orbit around the earth have to do with the unpredictable ground trembling of an earthquake?

Now, researchers at the California Institute of Technology have found that within subduction zones, the regions where one of the earth's plates slips below another, areas where the attraction due to gravity is relatively high are less likely to experience large earthquakes than areas where the gravitational force is relatively low. "

Read more @ SpaceFlightNow.com (from a Caltech news release).

Timed Hubble obsolescence too soon?

"Not since Galileo turned his telescope towards the heavens in 1610 has any event so changed our understanding of the Universe as the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope."

So says Nasa's official introduction to the Hubble, but officials at the US space agency are now planning its demise and that is upsetting many scientists.

The facts are straightforward. Launched in 1990, the telescope was always destined to have a limited life. Planning is well under way for a new space telescope - the James Webb - to launch in 2011 and the Hubble mission is slated to end by 2010.

But it need not be that way, argue Hubble's supporters. Such are the passions surrounding the subject that Nasa has chartered a panel of experts to determine the best way to manage the transition.

Read more @ BBC.co.uk Science News.