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New View of Family Life in the North American Nebula

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2011Sciencecontamination, cosmic community, earth, gulf of mexico, infrared view, light years, luisa rebull, micron, NASA, north american nebula, spitzer image, spitzer space telescope, stars, toddler stars, wavelength, young stars, zodiacal dust

Pasadena, Calif. — Stars at all stages of development, from dusty little tots to young adults, are on display in a new image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

This cosmic community is called the North American nebula. In visible light, the region resembles the North American continent, with the most striking resemblance being the Gulf of Mexico. But in Spitzer’s infrared view, the continent disappears. Instead, a swirling landscape of dust and young stars comes into view.

“One of the things that makes me so excited about this image is how different it is from the visible image, and how much more we can see in the infrared than in the visible,” said Luisa Rebull of NASA’s Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Rebull is lead author of a paper about the observations, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. “The Spitzer image reveals a wealth of detail about the dust and the young stars here.” (more…)

Language May Play Important Role in Learning the Meanings of Numbers

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2011Scienceformal sign language, homesigners, meanings of numbers, number words, sign language

Research shows “homesigners” unable to comprehend the value of large numbers

New research conducted with deaf people in Nicaragua shows that language may play an important role in learning the meanings of numbers. (more…)

Unexpected Exoskeleton Remnants Found in Paleozoic Fossils

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2011Sciencearthropods, canada, cenozoic fossils, chitin protein complex, fossils, george cody, horseshoe crabs, low energy x rays, mesozoic fossils, molecular signature, ontario, organic fossil record, paleozoic era, partial bacterial degradation, polysaccharide, protein

Washington, D.C.— Surprising new research shows that, contrary to conventional belief, remains of chitin-protein complex—structural materials containing protein and polysaccharide—are present in abundance in fossils of arthropods from the Paleozoic era. Previously the oldest molecular signature of chitin-protein complex was discovered in 25 million year old Cenozoic fossils and remnants of structural protein have also been discovered in 80 million-year-old Mesozoic fossils. Carnegie’s George Cody and an international team of scientists discovered relicts of protein-chitin complex in fossils of arthropods from the Paleozoic era. Their findings, published online by Geology, could have major implications for our understanding of the organic fossil record. (more…)

Quantum Quirk: JILA Scientists Pack Atoms Together to Prevent Collisions in Atomic Clock

By Guest PostFebruary 7, 20111 commentScienceatomic clock, experimental clock, neutral atoms, strontium clock

In a paradox typical of the quantum world, JILA scientists have eliminated collisions between atoms in an atomic clock by packing the atoms closer together. The surprising discovery, described in the Feb. 3 issue of Science Express, can boost the performance of experimental atomic clocks made of thousands or tens of thousands of neutral atoms trapped by intersecting laser beams. (more…)

Scientists Find Part of New Zealand’s Submerged “Pink Terraces”

By Guest PostFebruary 6, 2011Scienceamy kukulya, autonomous underwater vehicles, auvs, charles blomfield, cornel de ronde, dan fornari, eighth wonder of the world, geothermal system, geothermal systems, gns science, high frequency auv sonars, lake basin, lake rotomahana, maori cultural significance, mt tarawera, new zealand, north island, pink and white terraces, pink terraces, robin littlefield

They were called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Until the late 19^th century, New Zealand’s Pink and White Terraces along Lake Rotomahana on the North Island, attracted tourists from around the world, interested in seeing the beautiful natural formations created by a large geothermal system. But the eruption of Mt. Tarawera on June 10, 1886, buried the terraces in sediment and caused the lake basin to enlarge, engulfing the land where the terraces stood. For more than a century, people have speculated whether any part of the Pink and White Terraces survived the eruption. (more…)

DNA Caught Rock ‘n Rollin’

By Guest PostFebruary 6, 2011Sciencedna double helix, dna structural forms, double helix, hoogsteen base pair, molecule of life

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— DNA, that marvelous, twisty molecule of life, has an alter ego, research at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine reveals. (more…)

Northern Mars Landscape Actively Changing

By Guest PostFebruary 5, 2011Sciencecandice hansen, carbon dioxide ice, high resolution imaging science experiment, hirise, hirise camera, image, landscape, mars, martian dunes, martian years, nasa orbiter, north polar cap, northern mars, sand dunes, serina diniega, texas

Sand dunes in a vast area of northern Mars long thought to be frozen in time are changing with both sudden and gradual motions, according to research using images from a NASA orbiter.

These dune fields cover an area the size of Texas in a band around the planet at the edge of Mars’ north polar cap. The new findings suggest they are among the most active landscapes on Mars. However, few changes in these dark-toned dunes had been detected before a campaign of repeated imaging by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars five years ago next month. (more…)

Is Anybody Out there: Planets in the Outer Space

By ShamsFebruary 3, 2011Scienceouter space

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