March 30, 2005

• Rutgers researchers have found a potential way to create hydrogen
  Hydrogen
  Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
  
   on demand for a fuel cell
  Fuel cell
  A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
  
  . Nano tuned metal iridium
  Iridium
  Iridium is the chemical element with atomic number 77, and is represented by the symbol Ir. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum family, iridium is the second-densest element and is the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C...
  
   could extract the fuel from ammonia
  Ammonia
  Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
  
  . EurekAlert!

March 29, 2005

• A study on Canadian fish farms
  Fish farming
  Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
  
  , published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, has found that incidence of sea lice in salmon
  Salmon
  Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
  
   are 30,000 times more likely in fish farms
  Fish farming
  Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
  
   than in the wild. (Guardian)

March 28, 2005

• Ric Pashley of the Australian National University
  Australian National University
  The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
  
   in Canberra
  Canberra
  Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
  
   found that oil and water do mix if the gas dissolved in the liquids is removed. This could lead to faster testing of new drugs; and simpler less expensive formulations with fewer side-effects of current drugs. (NewScientist)
• Luxtera
  Luxtera
  Luxtera Inc., founded in 2001, is based in Carlsbad, California. Luxtera is a fabless semiconductor company that is using silicon photonics technology to build complex electro-optical systems in a production silicon CMOS process...
  
   has announced a new type of silicon
  Silicon
  Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
  
   chip which could blend the low-cost manufacturing prowess of the semiconductor
  Semiconductor
  A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
  
   with laser
  Laser
  A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
  
   optical networking. By April 2006 Luxtera expect to have an inexpensive chip that can handle 10-gigabit
  Gigabit
  The gigabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix giga is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 109 , and therefore...
  
   office networks
  Computer network
  A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
  
  . (InfoWorld)
• Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology show that plant hemoglobin
  Hemoglobin
  Hemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...
  
  s act like animal hemoglobin, removing oxygen
  Oxygen
  Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
  
   and thus assisting in fixation of nitrogen
  Nitrogen fixation
  Nitrogen fixation is the natural process, either biological or abiotic, by which nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia . This process is essential for life because fixed nitrogen is required to biosynthesize the basic building blocks of life, e.g., nucleotides for DNA and RNA and...
  
   in the root nodule
  Root nodule
  Root nodules occur on the roots of plants that associate with symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, capable plants form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific strain of bacteria known as rhizobia...
  
  s of legumes. (EurekAlert!)

March 27, 2005

• Scientists have developed a new variety of Golden Rice
  Golden rice
  Golden rice is a variety of Oryza sativa rice produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of pro-vitamin A in the edible parts of rice...
  
  , Golden Rice 2, that produces 23 times more beta-carotene
  Beta-carotene
  β-Carotene is a strongly-coloured red-orange pigment abundant in plants and fruits. It is an organic compound and chemically is classified as a hydrocarbon and specifically as a terpenoid , reflecting its derivation from isoprene units...
  
   than the original variety. It is hoped that the new variety will provide sufficient provitamin A to supplement the diet of people at risk of vitamin A
  Vitamin A
  Vitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...
  
   deficiency. (BBC)

March 25, 2005

• A new High-resolution Ultrasonic Transmission Tomography (HUTT) system made at the University of Southern California
  University of Southern California
  The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
  
   could offer resolutions of 0.4 mm for soft tissue scan. This is an order of magnitude better than the best X-Ray
  X-ray
  X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
  
   or MRI alternatives and it safe. (USC)
• Blue Gene/L the world's fastest supercomputer
  Supercomputer
  A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
  
   completed a trillion calculations a second, beating its own record. (BBC)

March 24, 2005

• Paleontologists
  Paleontology
  Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
  
   from North Carolina State University
  North Carolina State University
  North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
  
   announce the discovery of what appears to be soft tissue
  Biological tissue
  Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...
  
   inside the fossilised bone of a Tyrannosaurus rex
  Tyrannosaurus
  Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
  
  . (Science Magazine) (BBC).

March 23, 2005

• For the first time light from planet
  Planet
  A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
  
  s outside the solar system
  Solar System
  The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
  
   has been directly observed by NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
  's Spitzer Space Telescope
  Spitzer Space Telescope
  The Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
  
  . Up until now all extrasolar planets have been found using the "wobble" and "transit" techniques. (PhysOrg)
• Researches show that the plant Arabidopsis
  Arabidopsis thaliana
  Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant native to Europe, Asia, and northwestern Africa. A spring annual with a relatively short life cycle, arabidopsis is popular as a model organism in plant biology and genetics...
  
  can change the DNA
  DNA
  Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
  
   sequences that were inherited
  Heredity
  Heredity is the passing of traits to offspring . This is the process by which an offspring cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to the characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Through heredity, variations exhibited by individuals can accumulate and cause some species to evolve...
  
   from their parents, reverting to that of their grandparents. The findings challenge the understanding of inheritance first described by Mendel
  Gregor Mendel
  Gregor Johann Mendel was an Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance...
  
  . (Nature)

March 22, 2005

• Researchers at Griffith University
  Griffith University
  Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
  
   discover a source of stem cell
  Stem cell
  This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
  
  s in the human nose. (ABC)
• A group of cosmologists
  Physical cosmology
  Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution. For most of human history, it was a branch of metaphysics and religion...
  
   announce a new possible explanation for the observation of an accelerating universe
  Accelerating universe
  The accelerating universe is the observation that the universe appears to be expanding at an increasing rate, which in formal terms means that the cosmic scale factor a has a positive second derivative, implying that the velocity at which a given galaxy is receding from us should be continually...
  
  , which does not involve dark energy
  Dark energy
  In physical cosmology, astronomy and celestial mechanics, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Dark energy is the most accepted theory to explain recent observations that the universe appears to be expanding...
  
   but instead invokes after-effects of the "inflationary period
  Inflationary epoch
  In physical cosmology the inflationary epoch was the period in the evolution of the early universe when, according to inflation theory, the universe underwent an extremely rapid exponential expansion...
  
  " of the early Universe
  Universe
  The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
  
  . The paper will be published in Physical Review Letters
  Physical Review Letters
  Physical Review Letters , established in 1958, is a peer reviewed, scientific journal that is published 52 times per year by the American Physical Society...
  
  . (YahooNews)

March 17, 2005

• A simpler way to model plasmon
  Plasmon
  In physics, a plasmon is a quantum of plasma oscillation. The plasmon is a quasiparticle resulting from the quantization of plasma oscillations just as photons and phonons are quantizations of light and mechanical vibrations, respectively...
  
  s is created by Mark Brongersma, at Stanford University
  Stanford University
  The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
  
  . Plasmons in computer chips could operate at frequencies 100,000 times faster than Pentium chips. (NewScientist)
• The Cassini
  Cassini-Huygens
  Cassini–Huygens is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI spacecraft mission studying the planet Saturn and its many natural satellites since 2004. Launched in 1997 after nearly two decades of gestation, it includes a Saturn orbiter and an atmospheric probe/lander for the moon Titan, although it has also returned...
  
   probe reveals that Saturn
  Saturn
  Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
  
  's moon Enceladus
  Enceladus (moon)
  Enceladus is the sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn. It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Until the two Voyager spacecraft passed near it in the early 1980s very little was known about this small moon besides the identification of water ice on its surface...
  
   has an atmosphere. (BBC)

March 16, 2005

• Hitachi
  Hitachi, Ltd.
  is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
  
   unveils its robot
  Robot
  A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
  
   Emiew
  EMIEW
  EMIEW is a robot developed by Hitachi. Another version has also been made called EMIEW 2. EMIEW stands for Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate. Two EMIEWs have been made, called Pal and Chum...
  
   which will compete with the engineering prowess of Honda
  Honda
  is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
  
  's ASIMO
  ASIMO
  is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Introduced in 2000, ASIMO, which is an acronym for "Advanced Step in Innovative MObility", was created to be a helper to people. With aspirations of helping people who lack full mobility, ASIMO is used to encourage young people to study science and mathematics...
  
   and Sony
  Sony
  , commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
  
  's QRIO
  QRIO
  QRIO was to be a bipedal humanoid entertainment robot developed and marketed by Sony to follow up on the success of its AIBO toy. QRIO stood approximately 0.6 m tall and weighed 7.3 kg...
  
   robots. Emiew's use of wheels instead of feet makes it the fastest robot yet; and its focus is Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate. (BBC)
• The sequencing of the human X chromosome
  X chromosome
  The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in many animal species, including mammals and is common in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and X0 sex-determination system...
  
   is published in Nature
  Nature (journal)
  Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
  
   and there are matching segments in chromosomes of animals. This supports the theory that when genes are transferred from "non-sex" chromosomes, they stay there. (New Scientist)
• Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute La Jolla, California have developed an artificial fifth base for DNA
  DNA
  Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
  
  . The fifth base is called 3-fluorobenzene (3FB), 3FB pairs with itself, and it is hoped that this new tool can be used to learn about DNA
  DNA
  Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
  
   evolution. (Nature)

March 15, 2005

• Researchers at Stanford University
  Stanford University
  The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
  
   have created a photonic crystal that slows light by a factor of 100. Possible applications include optical data switches and high power laser
  Laser
  A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
  
  s. (PhysicsWeb)

March 14, 2005

• The 2003 winners of the National Medal of Science
  National Medal of Science
  The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
  
   were announced. Eight medals were awarded honouring lifelong and individual achievements. (NSF)

March 12, 2005

• Mission members monitoring the Spirit rover
  Spirit rover
  Spirit, MER-A , is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity , landed on the other side of the planet...
  
   on Mars
  Mars
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
  
   report that a lucky encounter with a dust devil
  Dust devil
  A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from small to large . The primary vertical motion is upward...
  
   has cleaned the solar panel
  Photovoltaic module
  A solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
  
  s of that robot. Power levels have dramatically increased and daily science work is anticipated to be expanded. (space.com)

March 11, 2005

• Apple Computer
  Apple Computer
  Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
  
   backs the Blu-Ray optical disc
  Optical disc
  In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces...
  
   format in the next generation DVD
  DVD
  A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
  
   format war
  Format war
  A format war describes competition between mutually incompatible proprietary formats that compete for the same market, typically for data storage devices and recording formats for electronic media. It is often characterized by political and financial influence on content publishers by the...
  
  . (Slashdot)

March 10, 2005

• The Inmarsat
  Inmarsat
  Inmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...
  
   4 was launched successfully today covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the Indian Ocean
  Indian Ocean
  The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
  
  . The first of three satellite
  Satellite
  In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
  
  s that will be offering 3G (third-generation) compatible broadband
  Broadband
  The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
  
   (up to 432 kbit/s) data services to mobile users. (PC World)

March 8, 2005

• A very high plume of ash and steam is seen coming from the direction of active volcano Mount St. Helens
  Mount St. Helens
  Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is south of Seattle, Washington and northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a...
  
   in the United States state of Washington. The plume is visible as far away as Portland, Oregon
  Portland, Oregon
  Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
  
  . (Wikinews) (ABCnews)
• A CT scan of King Tutankhamun
  Tutankhamun
  Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
  
   revealed that he may have died of complications from a broken leg. (BBC)
• Bone protein osteocalcin
  Osteocalcin
  Osteocalcin, also known as bone gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-containing protein , is a noncollagenous protein found in bone and dentin. In humans, the osteocalcin is encoded by the BGLAP gene.- Function :...
  
   extracted from a Neanderthal
  Neanderthal
  The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
  
   from Shanidar Cave, Iraq
  Iraq
  Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
  
   dating to approximately 75,000 years old, was sequenced. This is the oldest fossil human protein ever sequenced. (EurekAlert!)

March 7, 2005

• The first superconducting dipole magnet
  Dipole magnet
  A dipole magnet, in particle accelerators, is a magnet constructed to create a homogeneous magnetic field over some distance. Particle motion in that field will be circular in a plane perpendicular to the field and collinear to the direction of particle motion and free in the direction orthogonal...
  
   for the Large Hadron Collider
  Large Hadron Collider
  The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
  
   (LHC) was lowered into place at the CERN
  CERN
  The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
  
   lab, near Geneva
  Geneva
  Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
  
  . Physicists hope to recreate the conditions that followed just after the big bang
  Big Bang
  The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
  
   using the LHC. (BBC)

March 6, 2005

• Stanford University
  Stanford University
  The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
  
   will create a chimera
  Chimera (genetics)
  A chimera or chimaera is a single organism that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction. If the different cells have emerged from the same zygote, the organism is called a mosaic...
  
   mouse
  Mouse
  A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
  
   with some brain cells derived from stem cell
  Stem cell
  This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
  
  s that are 100% human. If the mice show significant increases in cognitive ability the experiment will stop. (Telegraph)

March 5, 2005

• The world's oldest early bipedal human skeleton
  Skeleton
  The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
  
   has been found in the Afar Region of Ethiopia
  Ethiopia
  Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
  
  . The skeleton is between 3.8 and 4 million years old, which means that it predates the fossil Lucy
  Australopithecus afarensis
  Australopithecus afarensis is an extinct hominid that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago. A. afarensis was slenderly built, like the younger Australopithecus africanus. It is thought that A...
  
  . (Voice of America) (ABC News)
• Scientist
  Scientist
  A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
  
  s flock to an area about 300 mile
  Mile
  A mile is a unit of length, most commonly 5,280 feet . The mile of 5,280 feet is sometimes called the statute mile or land mile to distinguish it from the nautical mile...
  
  s off the coast of U.S. state
  U.S. state
  A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
  
   of Washington to study what appears to be an ongoing undersea volcanic
  Volcano
  2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
  
   eruption. Accompanying earthquake
  Earthquake
  An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
  
  s measuring up to magnitude
  Richter magnitude scale
  The expression Richter magnitude scale refers to a number of ways to assign a single number to quantify the energy contained in an earthquake....
  
   4.0 have numbered thousands per day. (Seattle Times)

March 4, 2005

• The Rosetta space probe executes its first Earth flyby of a total of three on its way to the comet
  Comet
  A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
  
   67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
  67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
  Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko, officially designated 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, is a comet with a current orbital period of 6.6 years. It is the destination of the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft mission, launched on March 2, 2004....
  
  . This one comes closest to the Earth's surface with an altitude of 1954.7 km. (ESA)
• Hydrothermal vent
  Hydrothermal vent
  A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both...
  
  s in the mid-Atlantic, named Lost City
  Lost City (hydrothermal field)
  Lost City is a field of hydrothermal vents in the mid-Atlantic ocean that differ significantly from the black smoker vents found in the late 1970s. The vents were discovered in December 2000 during a National Science Foundation expedition to the mid-Atlantic. A second expedition mounted in 2003...
  
  , support different types of microorganisms than black-smoker vents. Black smoker vents release carbon dioxide
  Carbon dioxide
  Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
  
  , hydrogen sulfide
  Hydrogen sulfide
  Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
  
   and metals that are metabolised by life-forms, the Lost City vents release methane
  Methane
  Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
  
   and hydrogen
  Hydrogen
  Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
  
  . (EurekAlert!) (Nature)
• The smallest star
  Star
  A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
  
   to emit light has been discovered in the Carina constellation
  Carina (constellation)
  Carina is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the keel of a ship, and it was formerly part of the larger constellation of Argo Navis until that constellation was divided in three.-Stars:...
  
  . The star named OGLE-TR-122B
  OGLE-TR-122b
  |-! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Characteristics|-| Spectral type  | ? /M |- style="vertical-align: top;"| Apparent magnitude  '| 15.61 |- style="vertical-align: top;"...
  
   is the size of Jupiter
  Jupiter
  Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
  
  . (BBC)

March 3, 2005

• Pilot Steve Fossett
  Steve Fossett
  James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
  
   successfully landed the round-the-world jet aircraft GlobalFlyer, becoming the first person to fly solo, non-stop around the world, without refuelling. (BBC)
• A recreation of the brain
  Brain
  The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
  
   cavity
  Cranial cavity
  The cranial cavity, or intracranial space, is the space formed inside the skull. The brain occupies the cranial cavity, which is lined by the meninges and which contains cerebrospinal fluid to cushion blows....
  
   of Homo floresiensis
  Homo floresiensis
  Homo floresiensis is a possible species, now extinct, in the genus Homo. The remains were discovered in 2003 on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Partial skeletons of nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete cranium...
  
  the miniature human (or "hobbit") found on the Indonesia
  Indonesia
  Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
  
  n island of Flores
  Flores
  Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population was 1.831.000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere. Flores is Portuguese for "flowers".Flores is located east of Sumbawa...
  
   in 2004 shows that the skeleton was not a pygmy
  Pygmy
  Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
  
   or a microcephalic
  Microcephaly
  Microcephaly is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which the circumference of the head is more than two standard deviations smaller than average for the person's age and sex. Microcephaly may be congenital or it may develop in the first few years of life...
  
   human. This analysis carried out at Florida State University
  Florida State University
  The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
  
   provides more evidence that H. floresiensis is a new species. (BBC) (Nature)
• Scientists have recovered 100 000 atoms of solar wind
  Solar wind
  The solar wind is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. It mostly consists of electrons and protons with energies usually between 1.5 and 10 keV. The stream of particles varies in temperature and speed over time...
  
   from the crashed NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   spacecraft Genesis
  Genesis (spacecraft)
  The Genesis spacecraft was a NASA sample return probe which collected a sample of solar wind and returned it to Earth for analysis. It was the first NASA sample return mission to return material since the Apollo Program, and the first to return material from beyond the orbit of the Moon...
  
  . (ABC News)

March 1, 2005

• Yahoo!
  Yahoo!
  Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
  
  celebrates its tenth Birthday. (BBC)