September
14, 2000 - Scientists
Race to Find 'God Particle'
- European physicists are
racing against American rivals
to discover the so-called
"God Particle," the
last missing piece in an
elemental puzzle: What is the
universe made of? "It would
be one of the greatest landmark
achievements of physics,"
said Chris Tully, a Princeton
University professor who has
been searching for the particle,
known as the Higgs boson...
September
09, 2000 - Astronomers
Pinpoint Black Hole -
Astronomers have pinpointed with
unprecedented accuracy an
immense black hole with a mass
of more than 2 million suns at
the center of the spiral of
stars that is the Milky Way
galaxy. The researchers have
spent four years watching stars
spin closer and faster around
the black hole, an illustration
of its powerful gravitational
tug...
New
Evidence for an Alien Ocean
- Fluctuations in the magnetic
field surrounding Jupiter's moon
Europa are a telltale sign of
salty liquid water beneath the
moon's icy crust. Europa could
harbor the solar system's
largest ocean. NASA researchers
have the strongest evidence yet
that one of Jupiter's most
mysterious moons hides a
fermenting ocean of water
beneath its icy coat. This
evidence comes from magnetic
readings by NASA's Galileo
spacecraft, reported in the
Friday, August 25, edition of
the journal Science...
Cyberlink - An Interface for Quadriplegic,
Traumatic Brain Injured, and Non-Verbal Persons
- The United States Constitution states that people
have the inalienable right to the pursuit of
happiness. Also, US residents in government-funded
long-term care facilities often have a right to
recreation. It has been estimated that there are
approximately 4.7 million people, or one in 65
Americans, with traumatic brain injury (TBI) (Cambell
1998). Their condition often impairs their ability to
be active and communicate. To withhold recreation from
an institutionalized person because of a handicap, is
a form of discrimination. Recreational activities need
to be complemented by communication in order to
express ideas, wants, and needs. This communication is
necessary to participate in society...
Is
It A Bird Or Is It A Plane?
- If you look up into the skies
around Pasadena, California, you
may see something flying which
looks like a little bird, but is
actually a miniature robot. The
Microbat is the work of a team
from the California Institute of
Technology and the company
Aerovironment. Their work to
date has taken them to the final
of the Technical Innovation
Competition run by the
influential American science
magazine Discover. Science In
Action's Molly Bentley spoke to
Joel Grasmeyer, one of the team
working on the project, about
the design of the current model,
and the ambitions of the team
for the future application of
their innovation...
Audacious
& Outrageous: Space
Elevators - Inspired
partly by science fiction, NASA
scientists are seriously
considering space elevators as a
mass-transit system for the next
century. "Yes, ladies and
gentlemen, welcome aboard NASA's
Millennium-Two Space Elevator.
Your first stop will be the
Lunar-level platform before we
continue on to the New Frontier
Space Colony development. The
entire ride will take about 5
hours, so sit back and enjoy the
trip. As we rise, be sure to
watch outside the window as the
curvature of the Earth becomes
visible and the sky changes from
deep blue to black, truly one of
the most breathtaking views you
will ever see!" ...
The
Fascinating Golem Project
- The field of Artificial Life
examines "life as it could
be" based on understanding
the principles and simulating
the mechanisms of real
biological forms. Just as
airplanes use the same
principles as birds, but have
fixed wings, artificial
lifeforms may share the same
principles, but not the same
implementation in chemistry.
Every feature of living systems
seems wondrous until it is
understood: Stored energy,
autonomous movement, and even
animal communication are no
longer miracles, as they are
replicated in toys using
batteries, motors, and computer
chips...
Robot
learns to reproduce -
Back in the 1950s, science
fiction writers predicted that
by now robots would be part of
everyday life. So why doesn't
everyone have their own personal
R2-D2 beeping around their
kitchen? One reason is the time
and money it takes to design and
build them...
Half
fish, half robot - THE
advent of "cyborgs"
has been brought a step closer
by the creation of a strange
hybrid creature with a
mechanical body controlled by
the brain of a fish. As ghoulish
as this chimera sounds, it may
one day allow people to be
fitted with prosthetic devices
that are controlled directly by
their brain...
