| Your World of Science News |  |
| Top Story
|  |  |
|
- Astronauts fix space station bolt problem with a toothbrush
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide performed a 6.5-hour spacewalk Wednesday to apply grease and clean a bolt on the International Space Station using a wire brush and toothbrush. The bolt problem affected the power supply in the space station. During the fix, Williams set a spacewalking record by a female astronaut, said NASA spokesman Josh Byerly. Los Angeles Times(tiered subscription model)
(9/6)
    
| Science in the News
| | |
|
- Curiosity will test its robotic arm
NASA's Curiosity rover is set to spend about a week examining and testing the different instruments connected to its 7-foot-long robotic arm. The rover's arm holds sophisticated tools, including a sample collector and the Mars Hand Lens Imager, that were mounted on a 66-pound turret. Space.com
(9/6)
- Scientists set quantum teleportation distance record
Scientists from Germany, Canada and Austria successfully transferred a light particle from an island to another about 89 miles away in a quantum teleportation experiment at the Optical Ground Station in Tenerife, Spain, and successfully transferred a light particle from one island to another. The achievement surpassed the previous record of quantum teleportation of 60.27 miles. Research findings depict an important step toward setting up a "quantum internet," which is expected to be the next-generation data processing platform. LiveScience.com
(9/6)
- Researchers set up the first NOvA detector block
Scientists involved in an experiment called the NuMI Off-Axis Neutrino Appearance have set up the first block of a detector that will catch neutrinos, which are capable of altering their identity, at the Ash River site in Minnesota. The NOvA detector will help uncover the mystery behind neutrino flavors. The neutrino study, which will involve the Ash River facility and a unit at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago, is scheduled to start collecting data next year. LiveScience.com
(9/6)
- Unique Mayan theater unearthed in Mexico
A 1,200-year-old Mayan theater was excavated at the archaeological site of Plan de Ayutla in Ocosingo, Mexico. Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History said the theater may have been a place for political rallies and could have been used by Mayan elite to legitimize their authority and to control local minority groups. "It's different from all the other theaters that have already been studied," research project director Luis Alberto Martos Lopez said. "These theaters were usually located in plazas and were built to entertain the crowds." Discovery
(9/5)
- Stonehenge was built by herders, not farmers, study suggests
An analysis of data on more than 700 cultivated and wild food remains samples across the British Isles from the last several millenia suggests that the Stonehenge was not constructed by ancient farmers, but by pastoralists. In a study published in the journal Antiquity, British archeobotanists Chris Stevens and Dorian Fuller found that, though farming started in British Isles around 6,000 years ago, cultivation gave way to herding and animal raising by the time stone monuments including Stonehenge were built on the islands. Science News
(9/6)
- Study: 2 crab species capable of seeing UV, blue light
A study in the Journal of Experimental Biology showed that the crab species Eumunida picta and Gastroptychus spinifer are capable of seeing blue and ultraviolet light. The crabs' sensitivity to the light lets them differentiate between the bioluminescent blue plankton and the dim greenish glow produced by the anemones where the crabs like to rest. The recent finding of bioluminescent deep-sea plankton could help explain the reason for the crabs' color vision. LiveScience.com
(9/6)
- Tiny implantable heart device gets its power from outside the body
U.S. scientists have developed a millimeter-sized cardiac implant that they say obtains its power from radio waves released from outside the body. The device has been shown in a study to have an optimal power transmission rate of 1.7 GHz, which is about tenfold more efficient than existing tools, researchers reported in the journal Applied Physics Letters. MedGadget.com
(9/4)
| Funding Watch
| | |
|
| SmartQuote
| | |
|
 | The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions."
--Antony Jay,
British writer, broadcaster, director and actor
|
| |
|
Advertise
|
| Account Director:
Tom Sikes
212-450-1694 |
| |
|
Read more at
SmartBrief.com |
|
|
|
| |
| |
| | Recent
Sigma Xi SmartBrief Issues:
- Thursday, September 06, 2012
- Wednesday, September 05, 2012
- Tuesday, September 04, 2012
- Friday, August 31, 2012
- Thursday, August 30, 2012
| | | Lead Editor:
Bryan McBournie
Mailing Address:
SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 | |
| |
|
| © 1999-2012 SmartBrief, Inc.®
Legal Information |
|
