SciByte

On April 29th, an annular solar eclipse occurs over a small D-shaped 500 kilometre wide region of Antarctica

2014 has the minimum number of eclipses possible in one year, with four: two partial solars and two total lunars

This month’s solar eclipse is also a rarity in that it’s a non-central eclipse with one limit

Hubble Space Telescope

In 1990, the $2.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in space from the Space Shuttle Discovery into an orbit 381 miles above Earth. It was the first major orbiting observatory, named in honour of American astronomer, Edwin Powell Hubble. It was seven years behind schedule and nearly $2 billion over budget. In orbit, the 94.5-in primary mirror was found to be flawed, giving blurred images and reduced ability to see distant stars. However, correcting optics were successfully installed in 25 Dec 1993. The telescope 43-ft x 14-ft telescope now provides images with a clarity otherwise impossible due to the effect of the earth's atmosphere. Instrument packages capture across the electromagnetic spectrum.

First Chinese satellite

In 1970, the People's Republic of China became the fifth nation with a satellite in orbit with the launch of DFH-1, from Jiuquab Satellite Launch Center. It had a design life of 15 days, and for propaganda, it transmitted the Communist China national anthem, The East is Red (in Chinese "Dongfanghong," hence the initials DFH). It had a 72-face polyhedral shape, 1-m diam., mass 173-kg. It was followed by on 3 Mar 1971 by a second DFH named SJ-1 (Practice-1). The first four nations with satellites in space were the USSR (Sputnik on 4 Oct 1957), the U.S. (Explorer-I on 31 Jan 1958), France (Astrix-1 on 26 Nov 1965 and Japan (Osumi 5, 11 Feb 1970). After China, Britain launched its Prospero satellite on 28 Oct 1972)

The SpaceX 3 Dragon commercial cargo freighter successfully arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Easter Sunday morning, April 20

The mission is the company’s third cargo delivery flight to the station.

The Dragon vehicle loaded with nearly 2.5 tons of science experiments

Two space researchers

have published a paper

they describe three possible interior models of the former planet Pluto

Young adults who used marijuana only recreationally showed significant abnormalities in two key brain regions that are important in emotion and motivation

This is the first study to show casual use of marijuana is related to major brain changes

the degree of brain abnormalities in these regions is directly related to the number of joints a person smoked per week

A bright clump spotted orbiting Saturn at the outermost edge of its A ring may be a brand new moon in the process of being born

have not seen anything like this before

In images acquired with Cassini’s narrow-angle camera in 2013

This discovery opens up the possibility that environmental and/or genetic factors may hinder or suppress a specific brain activity that the researchers have identified as helping us prevent distraction.

doctoral student

made the discovery during his master's thesis research

The first Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of another star has been confirmed by observations with both the W. M. Keck Observatory and the Gemini Observatory

The initial discovery, made by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, is one of a handful of smaller planets found by Kepler and verified using large ground-based telescopes

his Earth-sized planet, one of five orbiting this star, which is cooler than the Sun, resides in a temperate region where water could exist in liquid form

: a quick 2.5-hour run to swap out a failed backup computer that controls several systems

including robotics

t NASA doesn’t want to go ahead with it until spare spacesuit parts arrive, in the aftermath of a life-threatening suit leak that took place last summer.

A backup computer that controls “some systems associated with robotics

is not “responding to commands

The crew is safe, there’s no “immediate” change to space station operations, and because the primary computer is working

April 12

NASA is preparing a contingency spacewalk to deal with a broken backup computer component

in an update Saturday (April 12)

Surgery book

In 1575, printing of Ambroise Paré's book Oeuvres Complètes (Complete Works) was finished, but its publication was opposed by establishment physicians. His previous texts on surgery had popularized a new way to treat gunshot wounds without cauterisation, reintroduced the ligature in amputation, and improved midwifery techniques. These many writings were gathered together in this one new volume, which spread his teachings throughout the world. It remained in print for a century and ran to thirteen editions. He wrote in French instead of Latin with practical, common sense so that many barber-surgeons, who (like Paré) were unable to interpret Latin, had access to medical knowledge otherwise unavailable from Latin texts