Heavens | Page 445 | Science Codex

To boldly go where no glass has gone before

QUT's first foray into space is bound to be a giant step for mankind.

Dr Martin Castillo from Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) Science and Engineering Faculty, and researcher for the university's micro-gravity drop tower, in Brisbane, Australia, has partnered with the United States Air Force to fund world-first research into the development of ZBLAN glass.

Dr Castillo said the special glass will be the first QUT project to be launched into space.

"True ZBLAN glass fibres can only be made in the absence of gravity," he said.

Fermi observations of dwarf galaxies provide new insights on dark matter

There's more to the cosmos than meets the eye. About 80 percent of the matter in the universe is invisible to telescopes, yet its gravitational influence is manifest in the orbital speeds of stars around galaxies and in the motions of clusters of galaxies. Yet, despite decades of effort, no one knows what this "dark matter" really is. Many scientists think it's likely that the mystery will be solved with the discovery of new kinds of subatomic particles, types necessarily different from those composing atoms of the ordinary matter all around us.

South Pole Telescope provides new insights into dark energy and neutrinos

Analysis of data from the National Science Foundation- (NSF) funded 10-meter South Pole Telescope (SPT) in Antarctica provides new support for the most widely accepted explanation of dark energy, the source of the mysterious force that is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.

The results begin to hone in on the tiny mass of the neutrinos, the most abundant particles in the universe, which until recently were thought to be without mass.

The sounds of Mars and Venus are revealed for the first time

In a world first, the sounds of Mars and Venus are revealed as part of a planetarium show in Hampshire this Easter.

Despite many years of space exploration, we have no evidence of the sound of other planets. While most planetary probes have focused on imaging with cameras and radar and a couple have carried microphones, none of them successfully listened to the sound of another world.

Black holes grow big by eating stars

Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, have a supermassive black hole at their center weighing millions to billions of suns. But how do those black holes grow so hefty? Some theories suggest they were born large. Others claim they grew larger over time through black hole mergers, or by consuming huge amounts of gas.

New research by astronomers at the University of Utah and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) shows that supermassive black holes can grow big by ripping apart double-star systems and swallowing one of the stars.

A*STAR scientists discover special class of natural fats stimulates immune cells to fight diseases

An international research team led by scientists from Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) under the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) discovered that a special class of fatty molecules is essential for activating a unique group of early-responding immune cells. This study sheds light on how recognition of fatty molecules by immune cells could protect from infection, allergic reactions, autoimmune diseases and cancer.

South Pole Telescope hones in on dark energy, neutrinos

Analysis of data from the 10-meter South Pole Telescope is providing new support for the most widely accepted explanation of dark energy — the source of the mysterious force that is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.

The results also are beginning to hone in on the masses of neutrinos, the most abundant particles in the universe, which until recently were thought to be without mass.

Organics probably formed easily in early solar system

Complex organic compounds, including many important to life on Earth, were readily produced under conditions that likely prevailed in the primordial solar system. Scientists at the University of Chicago and NASA Ames Research Center came to this conclusion after linking computer simulations to laboratory experiments.

How black holes grow

SALT LAKE CITY -- A study led by a University of Utah astrophysicist found a new explanation for the growth of supermassive black holes in the center of most galaxies: they repeatedly capture and swallow single stars from pairs of stars that wander too close.

Raising the school leaving - while learning from another age

In April 1947 the post-war Labour Government raised the school leaving age from 14 to 15 and paved the way for a further increase to 16 in 1972. Now, 65 years later, as the UK prepares to raise the 'education participation age' to 17 in 2013 and to 18 in 2015, new research reveals that the transitions of 1947 and 1972 met with more controversy and difficulty than previously thought.

NASA sees Typhoon Pakhar headed for Vietnam landfall

The first typhoon of the northern hemisphere 2012 typhoon season is headed for landfall in Vietnam. NASA's Aqua and TRMM satellites have been providing forecasters with valuable data on Typhoon Pakhar, that includes rainfall rates, cloud extent and temperature.

Clocking an accelerating universe: First results from BOSS

Some six billion light years ago, almost halfway from now back to the big bang, the universe was undergoing an elemental change. Held back until then by the mutual gravitational attraction of all the matter it contained, the universe had been expanding ever more slowly. Then, as matter spread out and its density decreased, dark energy took over and expansion began to accelerate.

'Backpacking' bacteria

SAN DIEGO, March 29, 2012 — To the ranks of horses, donkeys, camels and other animals that have served humanity as pack animals or beasts of burden, scientists are now enlisting bacteria to ferry nano-medicine cargos throughout the human body. They reported on progress in developing these "backpacking" bacteria — so small that a million would fit on the head of a pin — here today at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

The MIRI has 2 faces

A short new video takes viewers behind the scenes with the MIRI or the Mid-Infrared Instrument that will fly on-board NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. MIRI is a state-of-the-art infrared instrument that will allow scientists to study distant objects in greater detail than ever before.

NASA's TRMM satellite sees newborn Tropical Storm Pakhar's heavy rain

System 96W intensified overnight and became Tropical Storm Pakhar during the morning hours on March 29. NASA's TRMM satellite measured rainfall rates within the storm, and noticed areas of heavy rain west of the center as the storm continued to strengthen.