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Mars Base

NASA's Curiosity rover to be back online next week - 0 views

phys.org/...riosity-rover-online-week.html

scibyte85 Curiosity

shared by Mars Base on 06 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • On February 28, controllers put the rover into "minimal activity safe mode," when they switched the machine's operations to a backup computer after detecting malfunctions in the primary computer's flash memory.
  • The statement said the rover exited safe mode on Saturday and its high gain antenna went back online on Sunday.
Mars Base

Now Boston Dynamics' BigDog can lift and toss (w/ video) - 0 views

phys.org/...ynamics-bigdog-toss-video.html

scibyte85 BosonDynamics

shared by Mars Base on 03 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • BigDog has a new appendage to its torso that resembles a head.
  • Boston Dynamics is giving BigDog an enhanced ability to rely on its entire body for throwing heavy objects around, with an appendage powerful enough to lift and throw the objects aside.
  • the entire body goes to work with fancy step-work to throw fifty-pound objects over its shoulder,
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • grasping a block with "jaws" and flinging it out of the way.
  • The idea is to make BigDog successfully cope with heavy objects that need to be hurled out of the way
  • BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule; about 3 feet long, 2.5 feet tall and weighs 240 lbs
  • BigDog can run at four miles per hour, walk across the roughest terrain, make its way through mud and snow (its four legs are articulated like an animal
  • The robot carries 300-plus pound loads. According to Boston Dynamics, BigDog covered 12.8 miles without stopping or refueling, setting a world record for legged vehicles.
Mars Base

We Didn't Domesticate Dogs. They Domesticated Us. - 0 views

news.nationalgeographic.com/...tion-science-wolf-wolves-human

scibyte85 dog

shared by Mars Base on 03 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • hunting hypothesis, that humans used wolves to hunt, doesn't hold up either
  • Humans were already successful hunters without wolves, more successful than every other large carnivore.
  • The most common assumption is that some hunter-gatherer with a soft spot for cuteness found some wolf puppies and adopted them.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • But when we look back at our relationship with wolves throughout history, this doesn't really make sense
  • the wolf was domesticated at a time when modern humans were not very tolerant of carnivorous competitors.
  • Most likely, it was wolves that approached us, not the other way around, probably while they were scavenging around garbage dumps on the edge of human settlements.
  • only the ones that were bold and friendly would have been tolerated.
  • Domestication gave them splotchy coats, floppy ears, wagging tails.
  • In only several generations, these friendly wolves would have become very distinctive from their more aggressive relatives.
  • Changes also happened to their psychology. These protodogs evolved the ability to read human gestures.
  • the ability of dogs to read human gestures is remarkable
  • chimpanzees and bonobos-can't read our gestures as readily as dogs can.
  • Dogs are remarkably similar to human infants in the way they pay attention to us.
  • People who had dogs during a hunt would likely have had an advantage over those who didn't.
  • Even today, tribes in Nicaragua depend on dogs to detect prey
  • Moose hunters in alpine regions bring home 56 percent more prey when they are accompanied by dogs
  • In the Congo, hunters believe they would starve without their dogs
  • Dogs would also have served as a warning system, barking at hostile strangers from neighboring tribes
Mars Base

Tiny Satellites' Big Mission: Going Beyond Earth Orbit | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/satellites-head-for-space.html

scibyte85 cubesat

shared by Mars Base on 01 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Two CubeSats, designed by NASA's JPL and three university partners, are soon to go where no CubeSats have gone before: beyond Earth orbit.
  • The space agency’s twin
  • satellites,
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • , will be the first CubeSats to leave Earth's orbit for interplanetary space.
  • CubeSats are tiny satellites, some no bigger than four inches (10 cm) on each side, sent into orbit as secondary payloads on other launch vehicles
  • If the interplanetary test launch succeeds, CubeSats could someday blanket the solar system, conducting cheap, high-risk missions to comets, asteroids, moons and planets
  • Just where the pioneering CubeSats will go is still unclear, however, since it’s not known yet which model rocket will be used for launch
  • The first mission will be basically an escape trajectory
  • he rocket's going to send us in some unknown direction
  • Lacking much propulsion or scientific instrumentation, the INSPIRE craft are a test of whether tiny machines can survive the harsh environment of space.
  • The INSPIRE project has been approved by NASA to launch sometime between 2014 and 2016, but a specific launch vehicle hasn't been selected.
  • One of the challenges of the project is figuring how the tiny satellites will communicate with Earth.
  • CubeSats are far cheaper than a traditional space mission but they lack room for complex communications systems or large power sources.
  • As we head away from Earth, we're talking about using much larger antennas" to communicate with the low-powered craf
  • Furthermore, once a spacecraft leaves the protective magnetic field surrounding Earth, it's at risk of failure from solar radiation
  • Traditional satellites are built with more expensive "radiation-hardened" components
  • satellites are instead built to respond to a shut-down command from Earth if space weather systems detect an oncoming solar flare
Mars Base

Scarred Duckbill Dinosaur Escaped T. Rex Attack - 0 views

news.nationalgeographic.com/...us-dinosaur-wound-scar-science

scibyte85 dinosaur

shared by Mars Base on 01 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • A scar on the face of a duckbill dinosaur received after a close encounter with a Tyrannosaurus rex is the first clear case of a healed dinosaur wound, scientists say.
  • A teardrop-shaped patch of fossilized skin about 5 by 5 inches (12 by 14 centimeters) that was discovered with the creature's bones and is thought to have come from above its right eye
  • The lucky dinosaur was an adult Edmontosaurus annectens, a species of duckbill dinosaur that lived
  • ...27 more annotations...
  • about 65 to 67 million years ago
  • The skull
  • also showed signs of trauma
  • from the size and shape of the marks on the bone
  • paleontologist at the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History
  • speculate the creature was attacked by a T. rex
  • , though still unproven, that both the skin wound and the skull injury were sustained during the same attack,
  • . The wound "was large enough to have been a claw or a tooth,"
  • also compared the dinosaur wound to healed wounds on modern reptiles, including iguanas, and found the scar patterns to be nearly identical.
  • Phil Bell, a paleontologist with the Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative in Canada
  • not convinced, however, that it was caused by a predator attack
  • The size of the scar is relatively small
  • , and would also be consistent with the skin being pierced in some other accident such as a fall.
  • certainly the marks that you see on the skull, those are [more consistent] with Tyrannosaur-bitten bones,"
  • Prior to the discovery, scientists knew of one other case of a dinosaur wound.
  • But in that instance, it was an unhealed wound that scientists think was inflicted by scavengers after the creature was already dead
  • It's very likely that this particular
  • wasn't the only dinosaur to sport scars, whether from battle wounds or accidents
  • Just how Edmontosaurus survived a T. rex attack is still unclear
  • . "Escape from a T. rex is something that we wouldn't think would happen,"
  • Duckbill dinosaurs
  • were not without defenses.
  • , for example, grew up to 30 feet (9 meters) in length, and could swipe its hefty tail or kick its legs to fell predators.
  • Furthermore, they were fast
  • had very powerful [running] muscles, which would have made them difficult to catch once they'd taken flight,"
  • Duckbills were also herd animals, so maybe this one escaped with help from neighbors
  • Figuring out the details of the story is part of what makes paleontology exciting
Mars Base

Russia finds 'new bacteria' in Antarctic lake - 0 views

phys.org/...a-bacteria-antarctic-lake.html

scibyte85 SubglacialLake

shared by Mars Base on 08 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Russian scientists believe they have found a wholly new type of bacteria in the mysterious subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica
  • The samples obtained from the underground lake in May 2012 contained a bacteria which bore no resemblance to existing type
  • "After putting aside all possible elements of contamination, DNA was found that did not coincide with any of the well-known types in the global database,"
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • discovery comes from samples collected in an expedition in 2012 where a Russian team drilled down to the surface of Lake Vosto
  • believed to have been covered by ice for more than a million years but has kept its liquid state.
  • Lake Vostok is the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica
  • The Russian team last year drilled almost four kilometres (2.34 miles) to reach the lake and take the samples.
  • t the interest surrounded one particular form of bacteria whose DNA was less than 86 percent similar to previously existing forms.
  • "In terms of work with DNA this is basically zero. A level of 90 percent usually means that the organism is unknown."
  • not even possible to find the genetic descendants of the bacteria.
  • "If this had been found on Mars everyone would have undoubtedly said there is life on Mars. But this is bacteria from Earth."
  • new samples of water would be taken from Lake Vostok during a new expedition in May.
  • "If we manage to find the same group of organisms in this water we can say for sure that we have found new life on Earth that exists in no database,"
  • Exploring environments such as Lake Vostok allows scientists to discover what life forms can exist in the most extreme conditions
  • whether life could exist on some other bodies in the solar system.
  • Saturn's moon Enceladus and the Jupiter moon Europa as they are believed to have oceans, or large lakes, beneath their icy shells.
Mars Base

Curiosity sleeps as solar blast races toward Mars - 0 views

phys.org/...uriosity-solar-blast-mars.html

scibyte85 Curiosity

shared by Mars Base on 07 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Scientists say a solar eruption was detected on March 5, 2013
  • headed toward Mars
  • Curiosity rover will postpone some activities but other Mars missions will operate normally
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • While the
  • rover was designed to withstand punishing space weather, its
  • decided to power it down as a precaution since it suffered a recent computer problem
  • Opportunity rover and two NASA spacecraft circling overhead carried on with normal activities
  • The eruption did not appear severe or extreme, but "middle of the road
  • was not expected to have an impact on Earth
  • Since Mars lacks a planet-wide magnetic field, it does not experience geomagnetic storms
  • the planet sees a spike in radiation
  • Powerful solar blasts can cause trouble to Mars spacecraft. In 2003, an intense solar flare knocked out the radiation detector on the Odyssey orbiter
  • In the worst-case scenario, one or more of the working Mars spacecraft may enter "safe mode" in which science activities are halted but they remain in contact with Earth.
  • The delay means it'll take longer for Curiosity to return to analyzing the pinch of rock powder it collected from a recent drilling
  • Engineers were in the middle of troubleshooting when they decided to wait for the weather to pass
Mars Base

Particle looking 'more and more' like Higgs, LHC scientists say - 0 views

phys.org/...icle-higgs-lhc-scientists.html

scibyte85 HiggsBoson

shared by Mars Base on 07 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • in the latest update, physicists told a conference in La Thuile, Italy, that more analysis is needed before a definitive statement can be made
  • Key to a positive identification of the particle is a detailed analysis of its properties and how it interacts with other particles
  • Since scientists' announcement last July that they had found a particle likely to be the Higgs, much data has been analysed, and its properties are becoming clearer
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • One property that will allow several teams researching the particle to declare whether or not it is a Higgs, is called spin
  • A Higgs must have spin-zero
  • All the analysis conducted so far strongly indicates spin-zero, but it is not yet able to rule out entirely the possibility that the particle has spin-two
  • Until we can confidently tie down the particle's spin, the particle will remain Higgs-like
  • looking "more and more"
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