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Asteroid 2011 AG5 – A Reality Check

By Guest PostMarch 2, 2012Sciencearizona, asteroid 2011 ag5, cassegrain reflector telescope, catalina mountains, don yeomans, earth interception, gravitational influence, mars, mount lemmon, near earth object, orbit, space rock, spaceguard, torino impact hazard scale, tucson

Asteroid 2011 AG5 has been receiving a lot of attention lately because of a very unlikely scenario which would place it on an Earth-interception course 28 years from now. Here is a scientific reality check of this relatively nondescript space rock which is currently ranked a “1” on the 1 to 10 Torino Impact Hazard Scale

As of Feb. 26, 2012, asteroid 2011 AG5 is one of 8,744 near-Earth objects that have been discovered. It is approximately 460 feet (140 meters) in size and its orbit carries it as far out as beyond Mars’ orbit and as close to the sun as halfway between Earth and Venus. It was discovered on Jan. 8, 2011, by astronomers using a 60-inch Cassegrain reflector telescope located at the summit of Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona. (more…)

Five U.S. Urban Counties Lead ‘Terror Hot Spots’ List, but Rural Areas Not Exempt: Research

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2012General, Politicsarizona, bianca bersani, domestic actors, extreme right wing, gary lafree, homeland security, hot spots, left wing terrorism, los angeles, lubbock county, manhattan, maricopa, massachusetts, metropolitan, miami dade county, nebraska, new york, perpetrator, profile, radical environmental groups, religious, rural areas, san francisco, start, terrorism, terrorist attack, texas, university of maryland, us counties, Washington

*N.Y., L.A., Miami, San Francisco, D.C. Top List; Maricopa, Ariz. Rising*

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Nearly a third of all terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2008 occurred in just five metropolitan U.S. counties, but events continue to occur in rural areas, spurred on by domestic actors, according to a report published today by researchers in the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Center of Excellence based at the University of Maryland.

The research was conducted at Maryland and the University of Massachusetts-Boston. (more…)

Scientists Prepare to Take First-Ever Picture of a Black Hole

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2012Scienceabyss of space, albert einstein, alma, arizona, astrophysicists, atacama large millimeter array, atmosphere, black hole, black void, center of milky way, Chile, cosmic traffic jam, dan marrone, daniel stolte, dimitrios psaltis, earth, einstein, event horizon, event horizon telescope, extreme environment, field of gravity, game changer, general relativity, global array, hawaii, haystack observatory, maelstroms, mass, massachusetts institute of technology, mauna kea, mercury, Mexico, MIT, mt graham, nothingness, optical telescopes, plasma, radio telescopes, radio waves, shadow, sheperd doeleman, south pole, space and time, steward observatory, sun, supermassive black hole, theory of general relativity, tucson, ultra precise timing, universe, university of arizona, virtual telescope, water vapor, wavelengths

*The Event Horizon Telescope is an Earth-sized virtual telescope powerful enough to see all the way to the center of our Milky Way, where a supermassive black hole will allow astrophysicists to put Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity to the test.*

Astronomers, physicists and scientists from related fields across the world will convene in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 18 to discuss an endeavor that only a few years ago would have been regarded as nothing less than outrageous.

The conference is organized by Dimitrios Psaltis, an associate professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, and Dan Marrone, an assistant professor of astronomy at Steward Observatory. (more…)

With ‘Google Earth’ for Mars, Explore the Red Planet from Home

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2011Science, Technologyanaglyph image file, arizona, bradford castalia, crater on mars, data mapper, desktop, geologic feature, gigabyte size, hirise, hirise imagery, hiview, image file format, images, jpeg2000, layered deposits, local storage space, martian landscape, mesas, monument valley, orbit around mars, oval mesa, photoshop, pictures are beautiful, red planet, rodney heyd, Science, shelley littin, software tool, statistics tool, surface of mars, terabytes, university of arizona, utah, waves

A new software tool developed by the HiRISE team in the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Lab allows members of the public to download high-resolution images of the Martian landscape almost instantaneously and explore the surface of the Red Planet from their own desktops.

Imagine zooming in over the surface of Mars, sweeping over sand dunes and circling around the rims of craters – all from your home desktop.

With HiView, the image-viewing tool recently released by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, team at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab, you can do just that. (more…)

Genetic Analysis Splits Desert Tortoise into Two Species

By Guest PostJune 29, 2011Environment, Natureagassiz desert tortoise, arizona, army physician, california, california state university dominguez hills, colorado river, desert tortoise, dna evidence, endangered species act, fish and wildlife service, fws, genetic evidence, gopherus agassizii, gopherus morafkai, habitat preferences, j g cooper, kristin berry, Mexico, morafka desert tortoise, nevada, northern arizona, robert murphy, roy averill murray, san francisco earthquake, Smithsonian, species, us army fort irwin, usaf edwards air force base, usgs, utah

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A new study shows that the desert tortoise, thought to be one species for the past 150 years, now includes two separate and distinct species, based on DNA evidence and biological and geographical distinctions.

This genetic evidence confirms previous suspicions, based on life history analysis, that tortoises west and east of the Colorado River are two separate species. (more…)

Preserving the Navajo Language, One Interpreter at a Time

By Guest PostJune 2, 2011Cultureagnese nelms haury, arizona, arizona supreme court, armando valles, casey watchman, christian missionaries, english to navajo, karen frances begay, navajo interpreter training institute, navajo nation, new mexico, perphelia fowler, philanthropist, rick nez, roseann gonzalez, university of arizona, university of new mexico, vocabulary

*A group of 33 students were competively selected to earn free certification from the UA’s Navajo Interpreter Training Institute to gain eligibility to serve as interpreters in New Mexico and Arizona state courts.*

Many of the 33 students enrolled in the University of Arizona’s Navajo Interpreter Training Institute have similar backgrounds – they began their unofficial role as English-to-Navajo language interpreters as children translating for their parents and grandparents.

Now, as adults who live and work across Arizona and New Mexico, they still find themselves providing the same service. (more…)

Fighting Words: Violent Political Rhetoric Fuels Violent Attitudes

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2011Politicsamericans, arizona, combat, daily life, democrats, disease, drugs, fight, gabrielle giffords, nathan kalmoe, negative consequences, non violent text, party affiliation, political leaders, political rhetoric, political violence, poverty, republicans, social problems, terrorism, us house candidates, violent attitudes, violent language, war, words

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Political leaders regularly promise to “fight” for noble causes and “combat” pressing problems. They declare “war” on social problems, such as poverty, disease, drugs and terrorism.

This violent political rhetoric—whether politicians intend to or not—can enflame violent attitudes in many Americans, especially those predisposed to behave aggressively in daily life, according to new University of Michigan research involving three studies. (more…)

Ancient Colorado River Flowed Backwards

By Guest PostOctober 4, 2010Sciencearizona, california river, colorado river, colorado-green river system, colton formation, geologist, gulf of california, isotope, lead, mineral, mojave region, rocky mountains, southern california, steven davis, uranium, utah, zircon

Palo Alto, CA — Geologists have found evidence that some 55 million years ago a river as big as the modern Colorado flowed through Arizona into Utah in the opposite direction from the present-day river. Writing in the October issue of the journal Geology, they have named this ancient northeastward-flowing river the California River, after its inferred source in the Mojave region of southern California. (more…)

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