The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel

Buried Antarctica "Alps" Point to Hyper-Speed Global Warming

An international team of experts have mapped a huge, incredibly old location, mentioned in the notes of a Russian explorer from half a century ago, buried under hundreds of meters of ice.  In an amazing break with tradition this process did not result in the unleashing of ancient horrors, a self-destruct sequence, alien invasion or anyone shooting at Indiana Jones.  They've examined the entire Gamburtsev mountain range, 700 meters tall and buried under a kilometer of Antarctica.

An international team of experts have mapped a huge, incredibly old location, mentioned in the notes of a Russian explorer from half a century ago, buried under hundreds of meters of ice.  In an amazing break with tradition this process did not result in the unleashing of ancient horrors, a self-destruct sequence, alien invasion or anyone shooting at Indiana Jones.  They've examined the entire Gamburtsev mountain range, 700 meters tall and buried under a kilometer of Antarctica.

An international team of experts have mapped a huge, incredibly old location, mentioned in the notes of a Russian explorer from half a century ago, buried under hundreds of meters of ice.  In an amazing break with tradition this process did not result in the unleashing of ancient horrors, a self-destruct sequence, alien invasion or anyone shooting at Indiana Jones.  They've examined the entire Gamburtsev mountain range, 700 meters tall and buried under a kilometer of Antarctica.

Titanic Thirty-Meter Telescope 12 x's Hubble To Probe Dark Matter & First Stars

We're building a billion dollar telescope and it isn't just aimed at the stars: it's looking for the first ones. The new Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) proves that sometimes bigger really is better and will be elements in the optics allows them all to act as one (which is good because it's impossible to build a real one that big.)  The realtime control also allows astronomers to correct for the effects of the atmosphere - so even though it's on the ground, the TMT will have twelve times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Will Dark Energy Fuel Spaceships of the Future? -A Galaxy Classic

The internet was amazed by images of the world's first warpship recently, and if you're wondering how science got past the fiction so quickly, remember how Leonardo is credited with inventing the helicopter?  Despite not knowing any of the relevant aerodynamics, physics, engineering, or having any of the required skills other than "able to draw a pretty picture"?  It's the same deal.

The internet was amazed by images of the world's first warpship recently, and if you're wondering how science got past the fiction so quickly, remember how Leonardo is credited with inventing the helicopter?  Despite not knowing any of the relevant aerodynamics, physics, engineering, or having any of the required skills other than "able to draw a pretty picture"?  It's the same deal.

The internet was amazed by images of the world's first warpship recently, and if you're wondering how science got past the fiction so quickly, remember how Leonardo is credited with inventing the helicopter?  Despite not knowing any of the relevant aerodynamics, physics, engineering, or having any of the required skills other than "able to draw a pretty picture"?  It's the same deal.

'Hobbits' a New Human Species?

Professor Mike Morwood created an international storm with his discovery of Homo floresiensis -- dubbed the Hobbit because of its small size and big feet -- on Flores, an Indonesian island, in 2003. The archaeologist said the Hobbits, who were only about one metre tall and weighed just 30kg, existed on the remote island until about 12,000 years ago. 

Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease found researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, the researchers determined the "hobbit" to be a distinct species and not a genetically flawed version of modern humans. 

Will NexGen AI Have Unintended Consequences? -A Galaxy Insight

What could a criminal do with a speech synthesis system that could masquerade as a human being? What happens if artificial intelligence technology is used to mine personal information from smartphones?

AI is becoming the stuff of future scifi greats: A robot that can open doors and find electrical outlets to recharge itself. Computer viruses that no one can stop. Predator drones, which, though still controlled remotely by humans, come close to a machine that can kill autonomously.

What could a criminal do with a speech synthesis system that could masquerade as a human being? What happens if artificial intelligence technology is used to mine personal information from smartphones?

AI is becoming the stuff of future scifi greats: A robot that can open doors and find electrical outlets to recharge itself. Computer viruses that no one can stop. Predator drones, which, though still controlled remotely by humans, come close to a machine that can kill autonomously.

The Daily Flash -Eco, Space, Tech (11/20)

Beyond genomics, biologists and engineers decode the next frontier

A team of Princeton biologists and engineers has dramatically improved the speed and accuracy of measuring an enigmatic set of proteins that influences almost every aspect of how cells and tissues function. The new method offers a long-sought tool for studying stem cells, cancer and other problems of fundamental importance to biology and medicine. The research allows scientists an unprecedented look at a special class of proteins called histones, which are at the core of every chromosome and control the way instructions in DNA are carried out.

Plants Have a Social Life, Too

After decades of seeing plants as passive recipients of fate, scientists have found them capable of behaviors once thought unique to animals. Some plants even appear to be social, favoring family while pushing strangers from the neighborhood. Research into plant sociality is still young, with many questions unanswered. But it may change how people conceive of the floral world, and provide new ways of raising productivity on Earth’s maxed-out farmland.

GM: Don't Worry, the Volt Will Arrive on Time

The Chevy Volt is an electric car plagued by nagging problems, with rumors as late as June that the vehicle might not even make it into production. But even as GM reports losses of $1.2 billion, the company wants us all to know that the Volt is on track for its November 2010 release dates--and most of the car's kinks have already been worked out. Among the Volt engineers' biggest challenges: cutting down on road noise in electric mode, lengthening battery life, and making sure the Volt's battery could still run in extremely hot and cold climates.

Bomb-Proof Wallpaper Could Save You in a Natural Disaster

A hurricane is barreling towards your house, but instead of hiding in the basement, you can stay safely and comfortably in your living room, all thanks to your X-Flex Blast Protection System wallpaper. It’s not a fantasy; the wallpaper, invented by Berry Plastics in a partnership with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, actually exists — and a single sheet is strong enough to stop a wrecking ball.

Gadget Deals of the Day

If Gizmodo's gift guides didn't give you enough ideas for the upcoming holiday season, check out today's Deals. You can get 10% off a Zune HD stocking stuffer or even bigger savings on a TV that everyone can enjoy.

Is an Imminent "Little Ice Age" Possible? -Scientists Says "Yes"

Evidence has mounted that global warming began in the last century and that humans are, at least in part, responsible. The concern is that the warming of our climate will greatly affect its habitability for many species, including humans. Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concur that this is the case. But some argue that this thinking is too limited. They say that too many scientists are either ignoring, or don’t understand, the well-established fact that Earth’s climate has changed rapidly in the past and could change rapidly in the future—in either direction.

Evidence has mounted that global warming began in the last century and that humans are, at least in part, responsible. The concern is that the warming of our climate will greatly affect its habitability for many species, including humans. Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concur that this is the case. But some argue that this thinking is too limited. They say that too many scientists are either ignoring, or don’t understand, the well-established fact that Earth’s climate has changed rapidly in the past and could change rapidly in the future—in either direction.

Unmasking Jupiter's Europa: The Search for an Alien Biosphere (VIDEO)

"There's nothing saying there is life there now.  But we do know there are the physical conditions to support it."

Richard Greenberg, University of Arizona. world's leading expert on Europa.

Do Cosmic Rays Affect Growth of Life on Earth?

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

NASA Answers "2012" Fears (VIDEO)

2012 a disaster flick about the end of the world is currently assaulting movie goers across the country. The plot of the film, which grossed more than $65 million on its opening weekend, revolves around the ancient Mayan "prophecy" that we will all be obliterated on December 21, 2012,  the date on which the Mayan calendar ends - a prophecy that was also referenced in the series finale of The X-Files as the launch date for the ultimate alien invasion.

Meanwhile, NASA has found itself answering so many common questions that their Ask an Astrobiologist video offers calming, professional reassurance that there is no planet Nibiru, nor will it collide with Earth.

The Daily Flash -Eco, Space, Tech (11/19)

The Google Phone Is Coming to Change the Game

Google is for sure building its own-branded smartphone that it will sell directly through the usual retail channels. It was to have hit the stores before the holidays, but setbacks have pushed the launch into early 2010. The hardware will, of course, be made by someone else (a "major phone manufacturer") and it will most definitely be Google branded unlike, say, the T-Mobile G1.

Music: Too Expensive to Be Free, Too Free to Be Expensive

The digital music doubters could be right with the contention that advertising revenue can’t cover the costs of licensing music. Meanwhile, illegitimate free music sources continue to proliferate, rendering paid music subscriptions irrelevant for most music fans.

Mapping Job Loss Live! In Gloomy Color!

What it hasn't been shown is the ripple affect of what happens when the guy in the cubicle or on the assembly line next to you disappears. What makes the full, interactive version of this map unique--besides the fact that it appears to be the work of an over-achieving grad student at American University--is that it provides a shifting time line to show exactly how contagious poverty can be.

Throwing Out Food and Paper Will Be Illegal

Quebec has taken a long hard look at itself, and decided it doesn’t like what it sees. Its policies simply aren’t working.  Overall waste generated has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, with waste going to landfill rising by over 10% in the same period. However, rather than just trying to fiddle with green taxes, the government has gone straight for the jugular and announced plans to make it illegal to dump rubbish and food waste.

Interstellar Highway Patrol: Stars Racing One-Million MPH Through Milky Way's Halo May Be From Other Galaxies

Interstellar Highway Patrol take note: MIT astronomers announced that stars of a recently discovered type, tagged ultracool subdwarfs, take some pretty wild rides reaching speeds of one million mph as they orbit around the Milky Way, following paths very different from those of typical stars. One of them may actually be a visitor that originated in another galaxy.

Interstellar Highway Patrol take note: MIT astronomers announced that stars of a recently discovered type, tagged ultracool subdwarfs, take some pretty wild rides reaching speeds of one million mph as they orbit around the Milky Way, following paths very different from those of typical stars. One of them may actually be a visitor that originated in another galaxy.

Can Hitchiking Microbes Survive Millions of Years of Space Travel? Experts Say "Yes"

In a unique experiment on a galactic scale, millions of bacterial spores were purposely exposed to space, to see how solar radiation affects them and the results supported the idea that not only could life have arrived on Earth on meteorites, but that considerable material has flowed between planets.

In a unique experiment on a galactic scale, millions of bacterial spores were purposely exposed to space, to see how solar radiation affects them and the results supported the idea that not only could life have arrived on Earth on meteorites, but that considerable material has flowed between planets.

You Create the Caption

 

Image of the Day: The Mysterious "X" Galaxy

The disc and bulge of NGC 4710, surrounded by luminous eerie-looking dust lanes, are found in the constellation Coma Berenices, a region rich in galaxies, containing the northern part of the Virgo cluster. When staring directly at the center of the galaxy above, you can see a faint, ethereal "X"-shaped structure, which astronomers call a "boxy" or "peanut-shaped" bulge. The odd shape is due to the vertical motions of the stars in the galaxy's bar and is only evident when the galaxy is seen edge-on. 

Alien Oxygen Atmosphere Discovered (on Stars!)

Our planetary surveys are nowhere near Star Trek's strike rate - they keep finding worlds stuffed with green-skinned females, humanoid societies, and thinly veiled metaphors for the situations they left behind a few hundred light (and regular) years ago.  We find rocks which could freeze, explode and crush organic life just by looking at it.  Now we've found a couple of Earth-sized oxygen atmosphered bodies, which would be all the way M-Class except for one thing: they're stars.

Specifically, they're "white dwarfs": old stars who've burned all their hydrogen fuel, gone through the red giant stages where they fuse their way up to heavier elements, but lack the mass to supernova and collapse into neutron stars or black holes.  This is actually what'll happen to most stars, a relatively calm and cold fate, but there's no explosion so you don't hear about it much.

"Vampire Star" May Unlock Clues to Secret of Dark Energy

ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured the first time-lapse movie of a rare shell ejected by a “vampire star." The gas-sucking star is part of a double star system known as V445 in the constellation of Puppis ("the Stern") that is devouring part of a companion star looks to be a ticking time bomb. It appears that this double star system is a prime candidate to be one of the long-sought progenitors of the exploding stars known as Type Ia supernovae, critical for studies of dark energy. In November 2000, this system underwent a nova outburst, becoming 250 times brighter than before and ejecting a large quantity of matter into space.

Ghosts of Billions of Black Holes Litter the Cosmos: Are They Signs of Other Universes?

Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd don't need to suit up for this one. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost," and scientists think it is evidence of a huge eruption produced by a supermassive black hole equal in power to a billion supernovas. The source, HDF 130, is over 10 billion light years away and existed at a time 3 billion years after the Big Bang, when galaxies and black holes were forming at a high rate. The explosion of each super-massive black hole may, according to recent theories, collapse to form a number of new universes.

Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd don't need to suit up for this one. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost," and scientists think it is evidence of a huge eruption produced by a supermassive black hole equal in power to a billion supernovas. The source, HDF 130, is over 10 billion light years away and existed at a time 3 billion years after the Big Bang, when galaxies and black holes were forming at a high rate. The explosion of each super-massive black hole may, according to recent theories, collapse to form a number of new universes.

Image of the Day: A Galaxy's Supermassive Engine

Astronomers believe that supermassive black holes are standard objects in galaxies with bulges such as the spectacular Seyfert galaxy NGC 4258 shown here. Black holes with masses of a million to a few billion times the mass of the Sun are believed to be the engines that power nuclear activity in galaxies. Some nuclei fire jets of energetic particles millions of light years into space. Almost all astronomers believe that this enormous outpouring of energy comes from the death throes of stars and gas that are falling into the central black hole. A giant black hole in a galactic nucleus exerts a powerful gravitational force on nearby gas and stars, causing them to move at high speeds. 

Global Warming is Accelerating Growth of Ancient High-altitude Trees

Ancient pines close to treeline have wider annual growth rings for the period from 1951 to 2000 than for the previous 3,700 years, reports a University of Arizona-led research team. Regional temperatures have increased, particularly at high elevations, during the same 50-year time period. Increasing temperatures at high altitudes are fueling the post-1950 growth spurt has been observed in Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines, including ones in Arizona's San Francisco Peaks.

Bristlecone pines live for thousands of years on dry, windswept, high-elevation mountain slopes in the western U.S. The scientists collected and analyzed tree rings from Great Basin bristlecone pines located in three mountain ranges in eastern California and Nevada that are separated by hundreds of miles.

Top-Secret Global Warming Spy Pics -A Galaxy Insight

The Medea Program has released secret spy pictures of a melting Arctic, but don't worry: we're not under alien attack just yet.  "The Medea Program" might look like something you'd see written on a thick paperback (possibly above an image of knives and spy satellites) but in reality it's a program to share declassified intelligence agency information with scientists.  Who might actually do something with it.

The Medea Program has released secret spy pictures of a melting Arctic, but don't worry: we're not under alien attack just yet.  "The Medea Program" might look like something you'd see written on a thick paperback (possibly above an image of knives and spy satellites) but in reality it's a program to share declassified intelligence agency information with scientists.  Who might actually do something with it.

The Daily Flash -Eco, Space, Tech (11/18)

Android’s Rapid Growth Has Some Developers Worried

A year after its release, Google’s open source Android operating system has become a sensation. After a slow start, it is now available on at least 12 phones, with more devices waiting in the wings. Good news for Android fans, right? Not really, say some developers. A slew of problems have made managing Android apps a “nightmare,” they say, including three versions of the OS (Android 1.5, 1.6 and 2.0), custom firmware on many phones, and hardware differences between different models.

For users, it means apps in the store could be buggy, might not work well depending on their handsets, and could deliver a frustrating experience.

Are Dystopian Movies More Popular When the Economy Sucks?

With the launch of disaster/apocalypse movie 2012 last weekend, a new question has popped up on the Net: Are dystopian movies more popular when the world is already gloomy from an economic depression? You'd think perhaps yes, wouldn't you?

Mark Cuban's Plan to Crush Google's Super Powers

Musing on his blog, the early (read: easy) Internet billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks has thrown out a crazy idea for Microsoft. Instead of spending billions promoting Bing, what if they paid the top 1000 sites a million bucks to de-list from Google?

Swarm of Cheap Open Source Robots Set to Take Over the World

How can we fear the robot revolution when it's our own DIY handywork and GPL? Each of these swarm robots costs less than €100 to build and has a mind powered by open source software

Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks Early Tuesday Morning

One of the best annual meteor showers will peak in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, and for some skywatchers the show could be quite impressive. The best seats are in Asia, but North American observers should be treated to an above average performance of the Leonid meteor shower, weather permitting. The trick for all observers is to head outside in the wee hours of the morning – between 1 a.m. and dawn – regardless where you live.


After Microsoft, Bringing a High-Tech Eye to Professional Kitchens

Nathan Myhrvold, a former chief technology officer at Microsoft, and his company, Intellectual Ventures, pursues an eclectic array of speculative and potentially world-changing ideas — inventing a new battery, taming hurricanes, defeating disease. And here, along with the laser designed to shoot mosquitoes out of the air (a high-speed camera counts the rate of wing-flapping to ensure that innocent insects are not vaporized), is the best-equipped restaurant kitchen anywhere that never serves any customers.

Project MOON EXPLOSION Blows More Than Water Out Of Lunar Craters

 

NASA's most awesome mission since pointing at the sky and saying "I bet we can put people there" has come to fruition, with absolute proof that there's water ice on the Moon - and lots of it.

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is the most explosive euphemism since Tom Clancy discovered the thesaurus.  It 'sensed' the contents of the lunar crater Cabeus by dropping an entire Centaur rocket booster into it, and when you 'drop' something in orbit it's very much like 'fired at' by the time it hits the ground.  The booster slammed into the shadowed regolith like a two ton bullet, blowing a twenty meter hole in the moon and ejecting dust tens of kilometers into space - where the LCROSS satellite, chasing the Centaur, could get a good look at it for four minutes before its own suicide strike into the same crater.

 

NASA's most awesome mission since pointing at the sky and saying "I bet we can put people there" has come to fruition, with absolute proof that there's water ice on the Moon - and lots of it.

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is the most explosive euphemism since Tom Clancy discovered the thesaurus.  It 'sensed' the contents of the lunar crater Cabeus by dropping an entire Centaur rocket booster into it, and when you 'drop' something in orbit it's very much like 'fired at' by the time it hits the ground.  The booster slammed into the shadowed regolith like a two ton bullet, blowing a twenty meter hole in the moon and ejecting dust tens of kilometers into space - where the LCROSS satellite, chasing the Centaur, could get a good look at it for four minutes before its own suicide strike into the same crater.

Jupiter: Earth's Protector or Eventual Destroyer?

Jupiter's been in the news a lot this past summer, as anywhere there's a Pacific-Ocean-sized explosion tends to be.  The recent impact (and detonation) of an asteroid against the gas giant's hide has triggered the usual flurry of discussion with the planet cast as everything from cosmic protector to vengeful heavenly killer (both believable aspects of Jupiter, the god the Romans ripped off from the Greeks, but less so for the actual solar system object).  Both miss the real answer: it's just there, and sometimes things just happen.

"The Earth Strain" -Could Future Space Missions Infect the Milky Way?

A Mars mission to be launched in October on a Russian robot spacecraft will include specimens of thale cress; tiny water creature tardigrade - or water bear - which can also survive extraordinary extremes of temperature and pressure; samples of brewer's yeast; and permafrost from the Siberian Arctic. Together with several other microscopic organisms, these representatives of Earth life will be carried in a package that will be flown to Mars and are scheduled to be returned to Earth in 2012.

Richard Dawkins on Evolution & Origins of Life (VIDEO)

"The universe could so easily have remained lifeless and simple -just physics and chemistry, just the scattered dust of the cosmic explosion that gave birth to time and space. The fact that it did not -the fact that life evolved out of literally nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved literally out of nothing -is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice. And even that is not the end of the matter. Not only did evolution happen: it eventually led to beings capable of comprehending the process by which they comprehend it."

Richard Dawkins -famed Oxford evolutionary biologist reflecting on the sheer wonder of the emergence of life on Earth and the evolutionary process in his classic The Ancestor's Tale.

Is the Observable Universe a Massive Computer Simulation? - A Galaxy Classic

Philosophy is a vital study for the human race - from the ancient Greeks to the modern day, some of the finest thinkers have examined the human condition and produced valuable insights and conclusions on what it means "to be."  Unfortunately much of the other work in the field is dubious, including a recent paper which argues that we're all living in a vast computer simulation.  Yes, it WAS written after the first Matrix film but before the sequels.  Funny that.

Son of HAL! Crunching One Quintillion Calculations Per Second

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has already begun holding workshops on building a system that's 1,000 times more powerful as the Jaguar, capable of a peak performance of 2.3 petaflops. — an exascale system, said Buddy Bland, project director at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility that includes Jaguar. An exaflop is a million trillion calculations per second, (one quintillion) or 1,000 times faster than a petaflop.

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has already begun holding workshops on building a system that's 1,000 times more powerful as the Jaguar, capable of a peak performance of 2.3 petaflops. — an exascale system, said Buddy Bland, project director at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility that includes Jaguar. An exaflop is a million trillion calculations per second, (one quintillion) or 1,000 times faster than a petaflop.

Image of the Day: "The Gemini Twins"

 

Spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are passing dangerously close to each other, but each is likely to survive as the galaxies advance over the next tens of millions of years, their component stars are not likely to collide, although new stars will form in the bunching of gas caused by gravitational tides. Close inspection of the above image taken by the 8-meter Gemini-South Telescope in Chile shows a bridge of material momentarily connecting the two giants. Known collectively as Arp 271, the interacting pair spans about 130,000 light years and lies about 90 million light-years away toward the constellation of Virgo. The Milky Way Galaxy will undergo a similar collision with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy in about five billion years.

Dr MEGAVolt (VIDEO)

Don't miss this awesome Dr MegaVolt spectacle at Burning Man: two coils firing simultaneously fill a 40-foot-long volume of space with electrical arcs! Austin Richards, creator of the Dr. MegaVolt character, has been building Tesla coils since 1981. Austin holds a Ph.D. in particle physics from UC Berkeley and a Physics BA from Amherst College, and has worked professionally on high-voltage systems since 1987.