The French surrender to Astronomers – my town likely to be next
"New enviro-policy to 'end light pollution' has France on track to look like North Korea at night." Continue reading →
Sun Storm Forecast: Tiny Chance of Havoc
"It was the biggest geomagnetic storm in recorded history. The Sun hurled billions of tons of electrons and protons whizzing toward Earth, and when those particles slammed into the planet’s magnetic field they created spectacular auroras of red, green and purple in the night skies — along with powerful currents of electricity that flowed out of the ground into the wires, overloading the circuits. Scientists say it is impossible to predict when the next monster solar storm will erupt and whether Earth will lie in its path. What they do know is that with more sunspots come more storms, and this fall the Sun is set to reach the crest of its 11-year sunspot cycle." Continue reading →
Ecuador announces plans to launch first two satellites into space
"Ecuador will launch its first satellite into space from China in two weeks, President Rafael Correa announced Saturday. 'It’s not a satellite bought in another country, it’s a satellite made in Ecuador,' Correa said proudly during his weekly address of the homegrown engineering team. The 'Pegaso' (pegasus) nanosatellite will be launched from China aboard an unmanned rocket at 0513 GMT on April 26. Measuring just 10 by 10 by 75 centimeters (four by four by 30 inches), and weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds), Pegaso will beam live video images back to Earth from an onboard camera. The Ecuadoran Space Agency plans a second satellite launch in July." Continue reading →
Swiss Space Systems aims for low-cost satellite service
"A new Swiss-based company said Thursday it would offer low-cost satellite launches which it claims could be a quarter of current market rates. Swiss Space Systems-S3 said its goal was to offer launches for 10 million Swiss francs (8.1 million euros, $10.5 million) using unmanned suborbital spaceplanes that could carry satellites weighing up to 250 kilos (550 pounds). The company said it planned to open such a spaceport by 2015 at the Payerne airfield in western Switzerland, which has already been used by the Solar Pulse sun-powered aircraft of Swiss astronaut Bertrand Piccard." Continue reading →
Swiss solar-power plane set for trans-US flight
"The experimental Solar Impulse plane, which has made several trips since its maiden flight in 2009, will take off on May 1st on a transcontinental tour split in five stages. 'We are ready to do this flight across America,' said Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg during a press conference at a hangar in Mountain View, near San Francisco. A non-stop flight would take approximately three days travelling at the aircraft's cruising speed of around 43 miles (70 kilometres) per hour. 'We have limited ourselves to fly a duration maximum of 24 hours,' said Borschberg, who will share the piloting duties with Solar Impulse president Bertrand Piccard." Continue reading →
Is Virgin Galactic ready for powered flight?
"SpaceShipTwo (SS2) performed a 10.8-minute glide flight April 12 in the skies above the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, the second such flight in as many weeks. This flight was distinguished by a 'cold flow' test of the SS2′s propulsion system, where nitrous oxide flowed through the rocket engine and out the nozzle, creating a distinctive contrail. 'As well as providing further qualifying evidence that the rocket system is flight ready, the test also provided a stunning spectacle due to the oxidizer contrail and for the first time gave a taste of what SpaceShipTwo will look like as it powers to space,' Virgin Galactic noted in a statement." Continue reading →
New space race: Putin unveils $50 billion drive for Russian supremacy
"President Vladimir Putin on Friday unveiled a new $50 billion drive for Russia to preserve its status as a top space power, including the construction of a brand new cosmodrome from where humans will fly to space by the end of the decade. Fifty-two years to the day since Yuri Gagarin became the Soviet Union’s greatest hero by making the first human flight into space, Putin inspected the new Vostochny (Eastern) cosmodrome Russia is building in the Amur region of the Far East. Putin said that Russia hoped to have the first launches from Vostochny in 2015 and the first manned launches in 2018." Continue reading →
Scientists create ‘superbrain’ by connecting thoughts of two rats
"Scientists on Thursday said they had enabled a rat to help a fellow rodent while the animals were a continent apart but connected through brain electrodes. With electrodes imbedded in its cortex, a rat in a research institute in Natal, Brazil sent signals via the Internet to a counterpart at a university lab in Durham, North Carolina, helping the second animal to get a reward. The exploit opens up the prospect of linking brains among animals to create an 'organic computer,' said Brazilian neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis. It also helps the quest to empower patients stricken with paralysis or locked-in syndrome, he said." Continue reading →
Veterinary School the Latest Bad Deal in Higher Ed
"When I was in college, the conventional wisdom among students was that veterinary school was even harder to get into than medical school. Presumably this was because there were fewer veterinary schools than there are medical schools. I don't know if that's even true, but that's what we thought, and it was therefore assumed that veterinary grads were rare and that vets would always make a good living. No one even mentioned, back then, the massive debt loads that could be involved. Well, it turns out that demand for vets is falling, and that many vets nevertheless have six-figure debt loads while the starting salary is down to $45,500." Continue reading →
Venezuela inmates open jailhouse nightclub
"Venezuelan inmates have opened their own nightclub and hosted friends and family at an inaugural bash complete with strippers and a light and sound show, a newspaper reported Saturday. The so-called 'Yacht Club' at a prison on Margarita Island in the Caribbean boasts 'professional sound, spectacular lights, air conditioning, strippers, bad girls and all the toys,' the inmates wrote in an invitation to their opening night gig, according to the El Universel newspaper. The party was attended by friends and relatives of the detainees, who publicized it through messages on social media, the newspaper reported." Continue reading →
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