Science Talk

Felix's historic jump breaks the sound barrier

2012-10-29T07:33:00.001-07:00

Felix Baumgartner,Austrian "extrema athlete", kept the world brethless, jumping down from a height of 38.6km.
He has become the first skydiver to jump from the record-making height, breaking tge speed of sound. The jump wad part of experiments including breaking the speed of sound and testinga new space suit.
Baumgartner, nick named as 'Fearless Felix', was taken off in a pressurized capsule carried by helium balloon. After security check the 43-year old old former military parachutist went up the skies above the New Mexico desert. At 128,097 feet Felix exited his capsule, flashed his thumbs to live-streaming cameras, and jumped down.
The live-stream was delayed by 20 seconds so as not to telecast a tragedy, in case it turned out so. Bur Felix dashed down to Earth hitting a speed of 690mph (1,110 kph), and landed at New Mexico desert.
However, wasn't as easy as it seems. Any contact with the capsule while he exited could have torn his pressurized suit. This could have led to lack of oxygen and lower temeratures (-70 degrees Farenheit), creating lethal bubbles in his bodily fluids. But nothing went untoward. Felix worked out things as planned making it easy for him to land. During his downward onrush, he activated parachute just 4 minutes away from Earth.
The widely watched jump immediatly became sensational, and Felix was escorted to his waiting friends, whom he huggedvcelebrating the success.
According to reports the jump could make NASA certify a new generation of spacesuit for protecting astronauts. Also it could provide ab escape option from spacecraft at 120,000 feet (36,000).
With this jump, Felix has officially become the first man to break the speed of sound.

Alzheimer's disease can be curable?

2012-10-28T04:15:00.000-07:00

Good news for Alzheimer's patients.

A team of scientists from the US and China claim a break-through: they have found a class of currently used anti-cancer drugs as well as several previously untested synthetic compounds as effective in reversing memory loss in two animal models of Alzheimer's disease.

Life on Earth from other planets?

2012-10-28T04:11:00.002-07:00

A new theory on life says microorganisms that crashed to Earth embedded in the fragments of distant planets might have bought life here. The researchers from Princeton University, the University of Arizona and the Centro de Astrobiologia, Spain, support the idea that meteorite-like fragments distributed life on the planet.

Microbial life on land came from ocean

2012-10-28T04:06:00.003-07:00

A study by the University of Washington says some microbial life had migrated from Earth's oceans to land 2.75 billion years ago. But this contradicts the idea that such land-based life was limited because the ozone layer protection against ultraviolet radiation did not form until hundreds of millions years later.

Periodic health checks don't reduce death rate

2012-10-25T13:06:00.001-07:00

A study on 1,82,880 people reveals that periodic general health checkups do not reduce overall deaths, reports Science Daily. According to researchers at Cocharane Library, a major database of systematic reviews and meta-analysis, general health checks don't reduce death from illnesses like cancer and heart diseases.

Are writers and artists really mad?

2012-10-25T13:05:00.001-07:00

Most creative artists and writers are best known for their mad ways, and now a study says people in creative professions are treated more often for mental illness than the general population; according to researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, there is a salient connection between writing and schizopherenia.

Are cyclones increasing in number as reported?

2012-10-25T12:58:00.001-07:00

Of late we hear a lot about incidents if tropical cyclones. Many beleive it is because of the increased media reporting of them - more than were reported in the past. But a research by the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen shows that tropical cyclones are indeed on the rise as the climate is getting warmer.

New planet found near Earth

2012-10-25T12:01:00.001-07:00

It seems there is no end to it. European astronomers have discovered a planet with about the mass of Earth orbiting a star in the Alpha Centauri system - the nearest to Earth. It is also the lightest exoplanet ever discovered around a star like Sun, reports the journal Nature.

Changing colours of honey

2012-10-24T16:24:00.001-07:00

Honey is golden coloured the world over, but beekeepers in France's Ribeauville town of Alsace region may not agree.
The honey their bees ooze out came in shades of blue and green. Being shocked by the freakish honey, beekeepers didn't sell it for fear of contamination.
Every time they went to the hives they found only the coloured substance that remotely looked like honey.
Given the alarming decline of bee population the world over, the incident stirred the farming community there, because it started hitting their livelihood.
The coloured honey hit the lives of 2,400 beekeepers in Alsace who tend some 35,000 colonies, producing about 1,000 tonnes of honey per year.
France being the largest honey producer in the European Union, the freakish honey was a worrisome situation.
They grappled with the problem without finding out the reasons, and eventually started inveatigating.
It was later that they noticed a biogas plant some 4km away from their bee colonies. The plant has been processing waste from a candy-manufacture unite, which produced bite-sized candies in bright red, blue, green, yellow and brown colours.
The mystry thus has been solved as it is found that the residue from the candy containers straightaway get to bees when they gorge on them, leading to colour change i honey. Now the company authorities have stepped in to address the problem.
Look how serious the situation is. The colour change in honey helped the farmers identify the problem.
Most of the vegitables and fruits we eat are heavily contaminated. What could be the fallout?

Scientists' survey show black holes

2012-10-24T16:08:00.001-07:00

An infrared survey of skies by scientists at the University of Cambridge has revealed a new population of enormous, rapidly growing supermassive black holes in the early Universe. These previously undetected black holes lay cocooned within thick layers of dust, which made them elude human observation, reports Science Daily.

Learning new languages boosts your brain

2012-10-24T16:02:00.001-07:00

Learning new languages improves the brain, says a new study. Observing benefits of young recruits' learning new languages at Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, researchers found areas of their brains developing. They include the hippocampus and a deeplying brain structure that is involved in learning new material and spatial navigation.

Playing violent games turns teenagers violent

2012-10-24T15:54:00.001-07:00

Teenagers who play violent games over a number of years tend to become more aggressive to a new long-term study. The study on 1492 adolecents suggests a clear link between violent games and hostile behaviour. Long time players aggressive reacted to unintentional provocations.

Your sleeping brain remembers

2012-10-24T15:37:00.001-07:00

Researchers at the University of California have discovered that some areas of brain behave as though they are remembering something during sleep and even under anaesthesia. The first-ever measuring of activity of brain regions involved in learning, memory and Alzheimer's disease contradicts conventional theories about memory consolidation during sleep, reports Science Daily.

Eyes can kill germs

2012-10-10T20:29:00.001-07:00

When it comes to germ killing, eyes are really powerful. A team of researchers at UC Berkeley say the small fragments of keratin protein in the eye can help keep pathogens at bay. The researchers say small fragments of keratin protein in the eye can ward off pathogens.