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New Mineral (Wassonite)Found in Antarctic Meteorite
A meteorite discovered in Antarctica in 1969 has just divulged a modern secret: a new mineral, now called Wassonite.The new mineral found in the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite was tiny — less than one-hundredth as wide as a human hair. Still, that was enough to excite the researchers who announced the discovery Tuesday (April 5).
“Wassonite is a mineral formed from only two elements, sulfur and titanium, yet it possesses a unique crystal structure that has not been previously observed in nature,” NASA space scientist Keiko Nakamura-Messenger said in a statement.
The mineral’s name, approved by the International Mineralogical Association, honors John T. Wasson, a UCLA professor known for his achievements across a broad swath of meteorite and impact research.
Grains of Wassonite were analyzed from the meteorite that has been officially designated Yamato 691 enstatite chondrite. Chondrites are primitive meteorites that scientists think Read more…
G2-Geomagnetic Storm / Solar Watch April 8th 2011
Forecasters expect 5 big hurricanes
At least five major hurricanes with winds of more than 111 miles per hour are expected to develop in the Atlantic during the 2011 storm season, Colorado State University forecasters said yesterday.
Overall, some 16 named storms are likely, with nine of them reaching hurricane status — an above-average season, said the forecasters led by William Gray and Phil Klotzbach. The forecast reduces by one the group’s preliminary December outlook for 17 named storms.
There is a 72 percent chance that one of the major storms will strike the US coast, above the 52 percent average for the past century, they said, and a 47 percent chance of a Gulf Coast hit. The East Coast’s odds are 48 percent.
“We reduced the number of storms but our statistical models are still calling for an active Read more…
Scientists Work on New Nerve Agent Treatment
Researchers in Ohio are developing a new treatment that would counteract the effects of exposure to deadly organophosphorus nerve agents, according to a Tuesday release from Ohio State University (see GSN, July 25, 2007).
Nerve agents can cause uncontrollable muscle spasms and other physical effects that can prove lethal in a matter of minutes.
Existing treatments counteract the material by inserting oxime compounds that adhere to the nerve agent’s phosphorous atoms and block their effects on a key enzyme from which constant activation messages would otherwise produce the spasms through transmission to muscles, organs and glands in the body. Complete recovery from exposure, though, is not always guaranteed as some nerve agent molecules can be remain attached to enzymes.
Ohio State chemistry professor Christopher Hadad and a team of scientists are using the Ohio Supercomputer Center in studying potential compounds that would allow the body to Read more…
India objects to ‘smuggling’ superbug samples out to UK
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday seriously objected to biological samples in the form of “swabs of seepage water and tap water” being carried out of the country “on the sly” by British scientists to test the presence of the multi-drug resistant superbug.
India said it was a signatory to World Health Organization’s International Materiel Transfer Agreement as per which permission is required to carry out any biological material from the country.
“The way scientists carried out samples from India to be tested in UK does not point to a good scientific motive. It is illegal,” said Dr V M Katoch, director general of Indian Council for Medical Research. “Some people want to keep the heat on India,” he added.
According to him, such multi-drug resistant bacteria — like what is being called a superbug caused by the NDM1 gene — exists in environment across the world. “To keep on pressing India as a hotbed of such superbugs is unfair, and its motive is questionable,” Dr Katoch added.
The scientists had collected 171 swabs of seepage water and 50 public tap water samples Read more…
Cosmic burst in distant galaxy puzzles NASA
This NASA image from Swift’s Ultraviolet/Optical (white, purple) and X-ray telescopes (yellow and red) were combined in this view of a cosmic burst at the center of distant galaxy that has burned for more than a week, longer than astronomers have ever seen before, the US space agency said Thursday.
NASA is studying a surprising cosmic burst at the center of distant galaxy that has burned for more than a week, longer than astronomers have ever seen before, the US space agency said Thursday.
Calling it “one of the most puzzling cosmic blasts ever observed,” NASA said it has mobilized the Hubble Space Telescope along with its Swift satellite and Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the phenomenon.
“More than a week later, high-energy radiation continues to brighten and fade from its location,” NASA said in a statement.
“Astronomers say they have never seen such a bright, variable, high-energy, long-lasting burst before. Usually, gamma-ray bursts mark the destruction of a massive star, and flaring Read more…
Look Out Above for Gold and Silver Prices
By Greg Hunter’s
Gold hit another all-time high yesterday, closing well over $1,450 per ounce. Silver’s closing price of more than $39 per ounce is the highest it has been in 31 years. Why the big jump in gold and silver prices? The answer is pretty scary because there are many reasons precious metals are heading higher. Let’s start with the most obvious —inflation. Kitco.com reported yesterday, “The precious yellow metal got a fresh influx of investment buying based upon heightened inflationary expectations, safe-haven demand and a weakening U.S. dollar index.” (Click here for the complete Kitco.com story.) You can give the same reasons for rising silver prices.
In the case of silver, many experts say it is way undervalued and will outperform gold as Read more…
Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo stays in bunker and vows not to surrender
Ivory Coast’s embattled leader Laurent Gbagbo is protected by a rump of just 200 soldiers in his bunker beneath the presidential palace, the French defence minister said, but he is refusing to surrender to advancing forces.
Gerard Longuet said Mr Gbagbo has an estimated 1,000 troops left in Abidjan, as forces loyal to president-in-waiting Alassane Ouattara had the palace surrounded.
“We’re going to wait and let him come out like a rat,” said an adviser to Mr Ouattara
However, Mr Gbagbo refuses to give up his increasingly fragile position and continues to Read more…
U.S. braces for floods as Red River rises
Movers this week pulled furniture from the lower level of the Sterns’ house and ripped out the carpet to reduce damage from seeping water as the Red River continued a rapid rise.
“Any spring there is anxiety,” Sherri Stern said on Thursday. “We didn’t expect to have water that we would have to start pumping this fast.”
The Red River swelled to within four feet of its forecasted crest at Fargo-Moorhead on Thursday as volunteers piled up sandbags. At the forecasted level, the Red River crest would be the third highest on record behind 2009 and 1997.
The flood has potential to force thousands of people from their homes in North Dakota and Minnesota based on past similar floods, but protection is better this year, said Cecily Fong, spokeswoman for the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
RED TO CREST SUNDAY AT FARGO
The Red, which forms the boundary between the two states, rose to 35.9 feet at Fargo- Read more…
South Korea shuts schools amid Japan radiation fears
Ahn Young-joon / AP
TOKYO — Dozens of schools in South Korea closed Thursday amid concerns about radioactive fallout from Japan’s nuclear disaster.
Classes were canceled or shortened at more than 150 schools as rain fell across the country.
Authorities said radiation levels in the rain posed no health threat.
However, school boards across the country — Japan’s closest neighbor — advised Read more…
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