Science News

NASA's Deep Impact Generates its own Spectacular Photo Flash-The hyper-speed demise of NASA's Deep Impact probe generated an immense flash of light, which provided an excellent light source for the two cameras on the Deep Impact mother ship. Deep Impact scientists theorize the 820-pound impactor vaporized deep below the comet's surface when the two collided at 1:52 am July 4, at a speed of about 10 kilometers per second (6.3 miles per second or 23,000 miles per hour)......Read more.  Additional links:  "One-way Trip to Tempel" video footage from the impactor probe, NASA's Deep Impact Home Page,  7/05/05

Mission to Build a Simulated Brain Begins-An effort to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level, was launched on Monday.  The “Blue Brain” project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM’s Blue Gene design......Full Story.  6/11/05

Self-cloning Robots are a Chip Off the Old Block- Birds and bees do it - now machines can reproduce too. The first scalable robot to have built an exact copy of itself could herald a fundamental rethink of how robots may be used to explore other planets.   Hod Lipson and colleagues at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, built their self-replicating device using small mechanical building blocks that can swivel, and also attach themselves to one another using electromagnets....Full Story.  Be sure to watch the video.  5/14/05

Howard Hughes Medical Institute:  Spotting Evolution on the Wing-By analyzing the genetic origin of a modest spot on a fruit fly wing, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a molecular mechanism that explains, in part, how new patterns can evolve. The secret appears to be specific segments of DNA that orchestrate where proteins are used in the construction of an insect's body. Full Story, a related story from University of Wisconsin-Madison: has a link to a video of a male fruit fly displaying his wing spots in an effort to attract a mate.  2/8/05

Project Honeypot Aims to Trap Spammers-A blow-by-blow account of how one of the world's most prolific senders of spam email was tracked down and prosecuted had an audience of spam fighters on the edge of their seats last week.  NewScientist.com 2/07/05

Thermal Depolymerization Process or Thermal Conversion Process is a process by which organic materials are broken down to petroleum products.  The overall process is not new, but there have been relatively recent advances in the technology which allows this process to occur with improved efficiency.   A company called Changing World Technologies ran a demonstration plant in Philadelphia with good results and recently opened a full scale plant in Carthage, Missouri, at the Butterball Turkey plant.  The plant has reported running with up to nearly 85% efficiency using turkey offal.  Meaning that about 15% of the fuel provided by the feedstock is required to power the process.  Additionally this process requires extremely high temperatures which break down many hazardous materials.  As always skepticism is warranted but if the plant continues to do as well as projected, this will be a major boost to the renewable resource and waste management industries.  References:  Wikipedia, Discover Magazine.  1/24/05