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The week in science
New Scientist's roundup of the week's most eyecatching scientific news.
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North Pole could be ice free in 2008
You know when climate change is biting hard when instead of a vast expanse of snow the North Pole is a vast expanse of water. This year, for the first time, Arctic scientists are preparing for that possibility.
"The set-up for this summer is disturbing," says Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). A number of factors have this year led to most of the Arctic ice being thin and vulnerable as it enters its summer melting season.
Photo Text:
A polar bear roams on the remote Svalbard archipelago between Norway's northern tip and the North Pole, Sept. 1, 1998. The thousands of polar bears that prowl the archipelago are one of the main reason visitors venture to the frozen islands, which are as far north as one can go on a regularly scheduled airline. The huge and aggressive animals rarely come into Longyearbyen, the capital of the Svalbards, but local authorities recommend that visitors who head out of town take along high-powered rifles,which can be rented at local stores. You know when climate change is biting hard when instead of a vast expanse of snow the North Pole is a vast expanse of water. This yea... more -
Paddle boat-style rotating wing actually flies!
Several international research groups are working on prototype "cyclogyros", a design first proposed more than 100 years ago.
A cyclogyro flies using "cycloidal propellers" – several wings positioned around the edge of a rotating cylindrical framework, a bit like a paddle-wheel. As each wing rotates, its blades move through the air generating lift and thrust.
[NewScientist] Several international research groups are working on prototype "cyclogyros", a design first proposed more than 100 years ago... more -
Upgraded Hubble Space Telescope to be 90 times as powerful
Scheduled for August, 2008, astronauts will fit the aging HST with new components that will let it see distant galaxies all the way back to about 400 million years after the Big Bang - it'll be like going back in time to take actual pictures of our very early Universe.
Rad. Scheduled for August, 2008, astronauts will fit the aging HST with new components that will let it see distant galaxies all the way ba... more -
Giant 'IceCube' could take snaps of Earth’s core
From New Scientist, a link to a story about an imaging machine--buried in ice at the South Pole. Here's an excerpt:
A giant imaging machine buried in ice at the South Pole could one day create pictures of the Earths core...Currently under construction, IceCube is designed to detect subatomic particles called neutrinos, which are so evasive that they can slip quite easily through the body of the planet.
The machine consists of thousands of detectors and will eventually fill a cubic kilometre of ice. The detectors look downwards, watching for the distinctive flash of blue light that means a neutrino has come through most of the planet only to get snagged in the Antarctic ice.
The main aim is to look for neutrinos from exotic objects in deep space, such as the giant black holes in galactic cores, using the bulk of the Earth as a shield to screen out unwanted noise from other cosmic particles.
Read about it here. From New Scientist, a link to a story about an imaging machine--buried in ice at the South Pole. Here's an excerpt: ... more -
'Starquake' reveals star's powerful magnetic field
Some neutron stars have such powerful magnetic fields that they rip themselves open due to magnetic forces, a new study confirms.
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Are You a Web Addict?
Read this New Scientist article and judge for yourself. I know now that I am!
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