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Current Top News

S c i e n c e		Researchers Launch Online Protein Folding Game NEW May 08, 2008 Multiplayer online gaming brings to mind fabulously successful titles, such as “World of Warcraft” and “Ultima.” On May 8, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers at the University of Washington are bringing the arcane world of protein folding to the online gaming arena with the launch of “Foldit,” a free game in which players around the world compete to design proteins. Scientists will test proteins designed by the game's players to see if they make viable candidate compounds for new drugs.
E a r t h		New study analyzes why endangered parrot population isn't recovering NEW May 06, 2008 The population of wild Puerto Rican parrots, among the most endangered birds in the world, has languished for decades, with several dozen remaining birds unable to break through the bottleneck that prevents their numbers from growing.
S p a c e		Argonne supercomputer to simulate extreme physics of exploding stars NEW May 02, 2008 A better understanding of Type Ia supernovas is critical to solving the mystery of dark energy, one of the grandest challenges facing today’s cosmologists. Dark energy is somehow causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate. Cosmologists discovered dark energy by using Type Ia supernovas as cosmic measuring devices. All Type Ia supernovas display approximately the same brightness, so scientists could assess the distance of the exploding stars’ home galaxies accordingly.
T e c h n o l o g y		Record-Setting Laser May Aid Searches for Earth-like Planets NEW May 06, 2008 Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated an ultrafast laser that offers a record combination of high speed, short pulses and high average power. The same NIST group also has shown that this type of laser, when used as a frequency comb—an ultraprecise technique for measuring different colors of light—could boost the sensitivity of astronomical tools searching for other Earth-like planets as much as 100 fold.
A v i a t i o n		Unmanned Aircraft to Study Southern California Smog and its Consequences NEW May 06, 2008 Using sophisticated unmanned aircraft, research scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego hope to assess Southern California’s potential for climate change and better understand the sources of air pollution. Funded by the California Energy Commission, the California AUAV Air Pollution Profiling Study (CAPPS) uses autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) to gather meteorological data as the aircraft fly through clouds and aerosol masses in Southern California skies.

Top Article in Communication Center

C o m m

Chilean Volcano Captured Blasting Ash NEW May 08, 2008 Chile’s Chaiten Volcano is shown spewing ash and smoke into the air for hundreds of km over Argentina’s Patagonia Plateau in this Envisat image acquired on 5 May 2008. The 1000 m-high volcano had been dormant for thousands of years before erupting on 2 May, causing the evacuation of thousands. Chaiten Volcano is located in southern Chile 10 km northeast of the town of Chaiten on the Gulf of Corcovado.

Top Article in World News Report

W o r l d N e w s

Chile volcano’s spreading ash cloud NEW May 08, 2008 Experts say Chile’s Chaiten volcano could belch out ash for months to come. Some experts say it could rumble on for years. Residents have been evacuated from the surrounding area after the long dormant volcano began erupting several days ago for the first time in thousands of years.

Latest from The Environmental Awareness Report®

E A R

ESA Contributes to Ocean Carbon Cycle Research NEW May 05, 2008 The Earth’s oceans play a vital role in the carbon cycle, making it imperative that we understand marine biological fig3_H activity enough to predict how our planet will react to the extra 25 000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the atmosphere annually. The color of oceanic seawater depends largely on the number of microscopic phytoplankton, marine plants that live in the well-lit surface layer. Just like land-based plants, phytoplankton accumulate carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and store it in their tissues, making them potentially important carbon sinks.

Latest in the SFL Gallery

Clavius NEW May 03, 2008 Lunar Crater Clavius taken on the 15th April 2008 using a Meade 10in LX200, 3x Barlow and Imaging Source DMK21AU04.AS monochrome camera. This is a mosaic consisting of 4 separate images merged in Photoshop. Taken by Paul Rix at the PCW Memorial Observatory

Latest Mission Updates

		The Cassini Mission Moons that Pass in the Night NEW May 08, 2008 Two of Saturn's ring moons draw close momentarily, before the inner of the pair moves off alone. Atlas (30 kilometers, or 19 miles across, at center right) passes Prometheus (86 kilometers, or 53 miles across, at center left) about once a month, then slowly and steadily pulls ahead of its slower moving sibling.
		Mars Odyssey Mission / THEMIS Landslides NEW May 08, 2008 This group of landslide deposits is located in an unnamed crater in Noachis Terra.
		Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Rayed Crater in Tharsis Region NEW May 08, 2008 This image shows a small rayed impact crater, about 160 meters (530 feet) in diameter, in the Tharsis region in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Relatively recent impacts form rays of ejecta that spray out radially from the crater. In addition to relatively fine material, large boulders and smaller secondary craters are visible in the rays surrounding this crater.
		The Cassini Mission Saturn Does the Wave in Upper Atmosphere NEW May 07, 2008 Two decades of scrutinizing Saturn are finally paying off, as scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere only visible from Earth every 15 years. The discovery of the wave pattern is the result of a 22-year campaign observing Saturn from Earth (the longest study of temperature outside Earth ever recorded), and the Cassini spacecraft's observations of temperature changes in the giant planet's atmosphere over time.
		The XMM- Newton Mission XMM-Newton discovers part of missing matter in the universe NEW May 06, 2008 ESA’s orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton has been used by a team of international astronomers to uncover part of the missing matter in the universe. 10 years ago, scientists predicted that about half of the missing ‘ordinary’ or normal matter made of atoms exists in the form of low-density gas, filling vast spaces between galaxies.
		Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Phoenix Landing Area Viewed by Mars Color Imager NEW May 06, 2008 NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is scheduled to land on the Martian northern plains near 68 degrees north latitude, 127 degrees west longitude on May 25, 2008. In preparation for the landing, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been monitoring weather in the region around the landing site. On April 20, 2008, the orbiter's Mars Color Imager camera captured this view of a large region of northern Mars that includes the landing target area in the lower right quadrant.

Video / Image of the Week

V i d e o		Nano Air Vehicle NEW May 05 – May. 12, 2008 Imagine a tiny vehicle, the size and shape of a maple seed, flying over enemy territory. A camera embedded in its wing is sending real-time images of the adversary to a soldier with a hand-held display. Nano technology, the art and science of the very small, will revolutionize warfare in the 21st century. Lockheed Martin's nano air vehicle design, shaped like a maple tree seed, is a single-bladed device that rotates in flight.
I m a g e		The Tarantula Nebula NEW May 05 – May. 12, 2008 Three-color image of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The image is based on observations made on 10 February 2002 and 22 March 2003 with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope in three different narrow-band filters

Latest Space Weather News

		The Magnetosphere NEW May 05 – May 12, 2008 The Earth is a huge magnet, and its magnetic influence extends far into space. In our everyday environment, magnetic forces are of no importance and a sensitive instrument, the compass needle, is needed to detect them. That is because we, the materials we encounter in everyday life, even the oxygen and nitrogen which we breathe, are all electrically neutral. The atoms of oxygen, for instance, contain electrons with negative electric charges and protons which are positive, but the two charges balance each other andthe electric and magnetic forces cancel. Magnetic forces have almost no effect on neutral atoms.
		Solar Surface Wave NEW May 05, 2008 SOHO's EIT telescope observed a wave streak across part of the solar surface when a (moderate) flare erupted on April 26, 2008. As seen in the extreme UV wavelength of 195 Angstroms, in both the pair of stills and the video clip, a series of "post-flare" loops above replace the pre-existing active region structure when a faint wave erupts toward the upper left and a noticeable dimming occurs with its passage: coronal plasma, at temperatures of 1.5 million Kelvin, has been swept out of that part of the corona by the wave and coronal mass ejection.
		Solar H-alpha: 2008 05 04, 1035ST - 1145ST (1435UT – 1545UT) NEW May 05, 2008 New active region in the ESE quadrant was visible with two crescent shaped plage facing each other during the h-alpha observing session. In white light, seeing was very poor making it invisible at first glance. Eventually my eyes were able to see two dark specks in the AR, appearing to be only umbrae, with the more easterly one slightly darker and thicker.
		NASA Calls on APL to Send a Probe to the Sun NEW May 02, 2008 The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is sending a spacecraft closer to the sun than any probe has ever gone – and what it finds could revolutionize what we know about our star and the solar wind that influences everything in our solar system. NASA has tapped APL to develop the ambitious Solar Probe mission, which will study the streams of charged particles the sun hurls into space from a vantage point within the sun’s corona – its outer atmosphere

Next Celestial Event

Celestial Events The Moon, Mars, and Gemini NEW May 09, 2008 MAP | MAP The Moon, Mars, and Gemini are high in the west at nightfall. Mars is to the upper left of the Moon on the 9th, with Pollux and Castor to lower right of Mars.

Featured Web Site

The Royal Society of New Zealand NEW May 05 – May. 12, 2008 The Royal Society of New Zealand is an independent, national academy of sciences, a federation of some 60 scientific and technological societies, and individual members. They promote science and technology in schools, in industry and in society. They administer several funds for science and technology, publish science journals, offer advice to Government, and foster international scientific contact and co-operation.

Directors Chair

Why No Hype About Earth Day on Scientific Frontline NEW Apr. 22 2008 We see this same old band wagon year after year, in a week the cigarette butts will be flying out the windows, the cans will go into the trash, the lights left on when not in a room, et cetera, et cetera… I would hope one would notice that unlike the rest of the media sites with their once a year weekly observation and promotion, the Earth Flag is on every single page of Scientific Frontline, 365 days a year. Earth Day is not a holiday or an event, it is a life style that we all must live in order for future generations to be able too also.

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