April 2005 in science

April 29, 2005

• The next launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-114, is delayed until at least July 13. This is to be the first Space Shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster in February 2003. (BBC) (CNN)

April 28, 2005

• The Deep Impact spacecraft takes the first picture of its target comet, Tempel 1. The mission is on schedule to create an impact crater on July 4, 2005. (BBC)

April 27, 2005

• NASA invests $11 million over four years with Rice University to develop an experimental power cable (quantum wire) with 10 times better conductivity than copper at one-sixth the weight. It would be made with carbon nanotubes and would help reduce the weight of the next generation shuttle; but can have wide ranging applications. (Wired)
• The new Airbus A380 lifts off in Toulouse to its maiden flight. The A380 replaces Boeing's Jumbo Jet (Boeing 747) as largest passenger plane. (BBC)

April 25, 2005

• By applying a small charge to bacteria in a hydrogen biomass generator, environmental engineers at Penn State have increased its output fourfold. Producing energy while cleaning water could lead to a significant reduction in the cost of treating wastewater. (Penn State Live)

April 24, 2005

• Soyuz TMA-5: A Russian Soyuz spacecraft lands in Kazakhstan, bringing three astronauts, Russian Salizhan Sharipov, Chinese American Leroy Chiao and Italian Roberto Vittori, safely back to Earth from the International Space Station. (Reuters)

April 21, 2005

• Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have induced mice to hibernate using hydrogen sulfide. This could have wide ranging applications from medicine to space travel if successfully applied to humans. (NewScientist)

April 19, 2005

• The American Dietetic Association and the USDA release a new food guide pyramid, called MyPyramid. The aim of the new dietary guidelines, is to guide people to make healthier choices about what they are eating. (EurekAlert!)

April 18, 2005

• Physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory announce that they have created a long sought after state of matter by smashing atoms in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Surprisingly, this new state of matter behaves like a hot and dense liquid made up of basic atomic particles such as quarks and gluons, and not like a gas as expected. Researchers claim that all matter in the universe for a fraction of a second after the Big Bang was in the form of this liquid. (BNL News)

April 16, 2005

• The NASA autonomous DART spacecraft failed to complete its mission because of lack of fuel and "retires" itself. (BBC)

April 15, 2005

• Soyuz TMA-6 lifts off at dawn from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the Expedition 11 crew to the International Space Station. (Fox News) (Yahoo! News)
• A Saab Gripen fighter aircraft has been undertaking an air-to-air refueling test campaign with a Boeing 707 tanker at Saab's facility in Linköping, Sweden. The campaign had the objective of verifying the Gripen's air-to-air refueling capabilities with a NATO standard compatible tanker. (PrimeZone)
• A fossilised dinosaur pelvis, most likely belonging to a theropod, containing eggs has been found in Jiangxi Province, China. The dinosaurs reproductive system shares similarities with both reptiles and modern birds. (BBC)

April 14, 2005

• Researchers have identified possibly the oldest stars in the universe. The stars named HE1327-2326 and HE0107-5240 have a very primitive composition, containing very low amount of heavy elements. (ABC) (BBC)
• Microsoft launches a Nupedia-like version of its Encarta encyclopedia where anonymous users can submit their new or edited entries to be approved by a paid staff of editors. Server problems have so far delayed launch until later tonight. (FairfaxDigital) (Business Week)
• Michael D. Griffin takes the helm as NASA administrator after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate the day before. (SpaceflightNow)

April 13, 2005

• The College of American Pathologists asks laboratories worldwide to destroy a flu sample they sent in their testing kits. Canadian National Microbial Laboratory identified it as a strain of Asian flu virus that killed millions in 1957. People born after 1968 would have no antibodies to resist it. WHO supports the plea. (CNN) (Yahoo!)
• National Geographic Society and IBM support a project to take DNA samples from various people worldwide to track migration of Homo sapiens from Africa (Reuters) (New York Times)

April 12, 2005

• MareNostrum, Europe's most powerful (and the world's fourth most powerful) supercomputer, is booted up for the first time in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain. (BusinessWeek)
• A German research team have developed a laser that can detect cancerous cells by measuring the elasticity of biopsied cells. Healthy cells have a cytoskeleton making them relatively rigid, cancerous cells have a diminished cytoskeleton and are stretchy. (Nature)

April 11, 2005

• A new transistor speed record has been set by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The three material layer transistor can operate at 604 GHz, which is three times faster than the fastest silicon-based device. NewScientist
• NASA announces the third extension to the Mars Exploration Rover program and will support the rovers Spirit and Opportunity for up to 18 months. (BBC)

April 8, 2005

• Scientists have shown that the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum hides from the human immune system by continuously changing the protein PfEMP1 that it deposits on the surface of infected cells. (BBC)
• Researchers at the Australian research institute, the CSIRO, have created transgenic Arabidopsis that can synthesise omega-3 fatty acids. If this technology was incorporated in genetically modified food crops it would have the potential to reduce the demand on world fish stocks. (ABC)

April 7, 2005

• Sony has patented an idea of transmitting data directly to the brain. (PhysOrg)
• The space shuttle Discovery is rolled onto its launch platform, in time for a launch in May for the first launch of shuttle since January 2003. A crack was found in the fuel tank's foam insulation, however NASA officials say that it will not prevent the mission. (BBC)
• Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have created a new model of the Earth's early atmosphere. The model indicates up to 40 percent of the early atmosphere was hydrogen, under these high-hydrogen conditions the formation of organic compounds like amino acids, and ultimately life are more likely. (EurekAlert!)
• The IUCN announced that one in four-of the 625 primate species and subspecies are at risk of extinction. (EurekAlert!)

April 6, 2005

• Computer reconstruction of the 7-million-year-old fossilised remains of Toumaï (Sahelanthropus tchadensis), confirm the fossil as the oldest known hominid. (Nature) (BBC)
• Studies in mice hove shown that a low dose of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in cannabis, can protect blood vessels from the formation of arterial blockages. (Nature)
• The prevalence of nanobacteria is becoming more accepted as evidence mounts for their role in the spread of disease; and perhaps the formation of raindrops in the atmosphere. (EurekAlert)
• Hitachi has increased data density on harddrives to 230Gigabit per square inch using perpendicular recording. This could lead to 1-inch 20 Gigabyte and 1 Terabyte 3.5-inch drives by 2007. (ElectronicNews)

April 5, 2005

• NASA researchers show that the Earth's northern and southern polar auroras are not mirror images of each other (EurekAlert!)
• Research has shown that polyethoxylated tallow amine (POEA). the surfactant used in herbicide glyphosate, kills tadpoles. The finding could be a reason for the global decline in frog populations since glyphosate is widely used and was believed to have no effect on animals . (Science)

April 4, 2005

• The Vlog channel -- To kick off product re-branding and positioning efforts, Al Gore and Joel Hyatt appear at the NCTA convention and announce a new TV network, "Current." Current will be a national network "created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience." Formerly known as INdTV, Current is the same idea but with Google branding. (Yahoo!)

April 1, 2005

• Scientists studying cyanobacteria 'fossils' at Meishan in southern China propose that the mass extinction that occurred 250 million years ago at the Permian-Triassic boundary happened in two phases. (BBC)