November 2004 in science
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2004 in science
: October - November - December
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have created a working solar energy device called a photocapacitor. Unlike previous Solar cell
s, this device stores energy internally making it more efficient. physicsweb
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
news.
2004 in science
2004 in science
The year 2004 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Anthropology:*October 27 - Remains of a previously unknown species of human is discovered in Indonesia...
: October - November - December
December 2004 in science
-December 27, 2004:* Newly discovered observations from March 2004 rule out the possibility that asteroid 2004 MN4 will hit Earth in 2029. -December 25, 2004:...
See also: Current science and technology events November 2004 November 2004 in sports
November 2004 in sports
See also: 2004 in sports, November 2004-November 30, 2004:*College football: Notre Dame fires head coach Tyrone Willingham in the third year of a five-year contract. He becomes the first Notre Dame coach to be fired before the end of his contract. The leading candidate to succeed Willingham is...
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Notable EventsNovember 2 - CaliforniaCalifornia California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... votes yes for 3 Billion in 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... research Related pages• 2004 in science2004 in science The year 2004 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Anthropology:*October 27 - Remains of a previously unknown species of human is discovered in Indonesia... • 2003 in science 2003 in science The year 2003 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Anthropology:*March 13 – The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints have been found in Italy.-Astronomy:... • 2002 in science 2002 in science The year 2002 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy and space exploration:* February 19 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.... • 2001 in science 2001 in science The year 2001 in science and technology involved many events, some of which are included below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lands in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.... • 2000 in science 2000 in science The year 2000 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy and space exploration:* May 4 – A rare conjunction occurs on the New Moon including all seven of the traditional celestial bodies known from ancient times up until 1781 with the discovery of Uranus... Other Years in Sci Tech |
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November 25, 2004
- A significant browser vulnerability was announced, affecting most popular web browserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
s on most popular platformsPlatform (computing)A computing platform includes some sort of hardware architecture and a software framework , where the combination allows software, particularly application software, to run...
. The vulnerability affects the Sun MicrosystemsSun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
Java pluginJava Virtual MachineA Java virtual machine is a virtual machine capable of executing Java bytecode. It is the code execution component of the Java software platform. Sun Microsystems stated that there are over 4.5 billion JVM-enabled devices.-Overview:...
, and can be fixed by installing the latest version from Sun here. (Details) (The Register)
- The United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
communications regulator, OfcomOfcomOfcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
, is to loosen control of the radio spectrumRadio spectrumRadio spectrum refers to the part of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponding to radio frequencies – that is, frequencies lower than around 300 GHz ....
, allowing trading on the open market for the first time in 100 years. (BBC)
November 23, 2004
- U.N. report: Half of adults with HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
are women. (CNN Health)
November 20, 2004
- Paleontologists have announced the discovery of fossilFossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
records near Barcelona of an apeApeApes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
species which is believed to be the common ancestor of all apes. This species links chimpanzeeChimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s, gorillaGorillaGorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
s, orangutanOrangutanOrangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
s, and humanHumanHumans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s. (Washington Post) (Guardian) - The SwiftSwift Gamma-Ray Burst MissionThe Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission consists of a robotic spacecraft called Swift, which was launched into orbit on 20 November 2004, 17:16:00 UTC on a Delta II 7320-10C expendable launch vehicle. Swift is managed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and was developed by an international...
satelliteSatelliteIn 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....
is launched into orbit to investigate gamma ray burstGamma ray burstGamma-ray bursts are flashes of gamma rays associated with extremely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most luminous electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe. Bursts can last from ten milliseconds to several minutes, although a typical...
s (GRB) and conduct an all-sky X-rayX-rayX-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...
survey. (BBC) (CNN) - A study has shown that church air is harmful and likely to contain carcinogenic polycyclicPolycyclic compoundIn organic chemistry, a polycyclic compound is a cyclic compound with more than one hydrocarbon loop or ring structures . In general, the term includes all polycyclic aromatic compounds, including the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the heterocyclic aromatic compounds containing sulfur,...
hydrocarbonHydrocarbonIn organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
s when compared to roads travelled by 45,000 cars per day. It also found that church air contained PM10s, a type of air pollutantPollutantA pollutant is a waste material that pollutes air, water or soil, and is the cause of pollution.Three factors determine the severity of a pollutant: its chemical nature, its concentration and its persistence. Some pollutants are biodegradable and therefore will not persist in the environment in the...
, up to 20 times the limit allowed by the European ParliamentEuropean ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. The scientists speculate that the source of the pollution is from burning candleCandleA candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
s. (BBC) - The National Physical LaboratoryNational Physical Laboratory, UKThe National Physical Laboratory is the national measurement standards laboratory for the United Kingdom, based at Bushy Park in Teddington, London, England. It is the largest applied physics organisation in the UK.-Description:...
in the UK has released a new atomic clockAtomic clockAn atomic clock is a clock that uses an electronic transition frequency in the microwave, optical, or ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms as a frequency standard for its timekeeping element...
that is up to 1,000 more accurate than caesiumCaesiumCaesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature...
clocks, or in other words, accurate to 1 second in 30 billion years. (NPL)(Slashdot)
November 18, 2004
- TaipeiTaipeiTaipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
has announced plans to create the world's largest Wi-FiWi-FiWi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
grid, connecting nearly all its residents living in the Taiwan capital to the internet. The service has been announced to cost a user roughly $4.50-$12.00 U.S. per month for use, with the entire construction of the grid to cost the government $70 million U.S. dollars. It is due to be completed at the end of 2005, connecting 90% of the city. (Yahoo)
November 17, 2004
- Privacy InternationalPrivacy InternationalPrivacy International is a UK-based non-profit organisation formed in 1990, "as a watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations." PI has organised campaigns and initiatives in more than fifty countries and is based in London, UK.-Formation, background and...
, a London-based privacy watchdog group is calling for all new camera phones to be built with mandatory flash when taking a picture. (BBC)
November 16, 2004
- A new distributed computingDistributed computingDistributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
project called the World Community GridWorld Community GridWorld Community Grid is an effort to create the world's largest public computing grid to tackle scientific research projects that benefit humanity...
is being announced by IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and other research organizations. The project will use idle time on volunteers' computers to solve medical and environmentalNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
research problems. Reuters - Today is being celebrated as the 100th anniversary of electronicsElectronicsElectronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, which began in 1904 with John Ambrose FlemingJohn Ambrose FlemingSir John Ambrose Fleming was an English electrical engineer and physicist. He is known for inventing the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube, the diode, then called the kenotron in 1904. He is also famous for the left hand rule...
's invention of the thermionic diode. AIP - Flight of X43-ABoeing X-43The X-43 is an unmanned experimental hypersonic aircraft with multiple planned scale variations meant to test various aspects of hypersonic flight. It was part of NASA's Hyper-X program. It has set several airspeed records for jet-propelled aircraft....
Mach 10 test is successful flying under its own power for 10 seconds and reaching Mach 9.7, thus generating positive thrustThrustThrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction on that system....
. NASA
November 15, 2004
- At 2100 GMT, NASANASAThe 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...
will launch its air-breathing X43-ABoeing X-43The X-43 is an unmanned experimental hypersonic aircraft with multiple planned scale variations meant to test various aspects of hypersonic flight. It was part of NASA's Hyper-X program. It has set several airspeed records for jet-propelled aircraft....
HypersonicHypersonicIn aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that is highly supersonic. Since the 1970s, the term has generally been assumed to refer to speeds of Mach 5 and above...
ScramjetScramjetA scramjet is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow...
craft from on top a B52A at 12 km where a rocket booster will take the X-43A to 33.5 km at which point the experimental craft will be on its own to attempt Mach 10 speed. The craft will splash down into the ocean and it won't be recovered. This is the third launch by NASA of a scramjet. In June 2001, the first mission, the craft went off course and had to be disabled. In March 2004, the craft set a speed record of Mach 6.83. BBC NASA space.com- Update: The mission has been scrubbed for today due to technical glitches with X-43A instrumentation. When the issues were addressed, not enough time remained in the launch window. Another flight attempt will be made tomorrow. Tomorrow's launch window for the X-43A/Pegasus combination will be from 2-4 p.m., PST. NASA
November 12, 2004
- The Comparative Toxicogenomics DatabaseComparative Toxicogenomics DatabaseThe Comparative Toxicogenomics Database is a public website and research tool that curates scientific data describing relationships between chemicals, genes, and human diseases....
was launched on the web and revolutionized chemical-gene-disease information for research scientists. - David Awschalom at UCSBUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraThe University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
publishes his experiment that confirms the Spin-Hall effectSpin-Hall effectThe Spin Hall Effect is a transport phenomenon predicted by Russian physicists M.I. Dyakonov and V.I. Perel in 1971. It consists of the appearance of spin accumulation on the lateral surfaces of a current-carrying sample, the signs of the spin directions being opposite on the opposing boundaries. ...
, which is the movement of electrons with opposite spinsSpin (physics)In quantum mechanics and particle physics, spin is a fundamental characteristic property of elementary particles, composite particles , and atomic nuclei.It is worth noting that the intrinsic property of subatomic particles called spin and discussed in this article, is related in some small ways,...
without the presence of a Magnetic fieldMagnetic fieldA magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
. This is different from the Quantum Hall Effect.
November 9, 2004
- Six party talks in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
came to a deadlock over where to place the ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
international fusion project. The 12 Billion USD cost will be a joint undertaking. Two final locations are on the table: one in France, the other in Japan.
November 8, 2004
- Jean-Pierre Maillard (Institute of Astrophysics in Paris, France) have identified a possible second black hole in our galaxyMilky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
with an estimated mass of 1,300 suns. Infrared data from the Gemini ObservatoryGemini ObservatoryThe Gemini Observatory is an astronomical observatory consisting of two telescopes at sites in Hawai‘i and Chile. Together, the twin Gemini telescopes provide almost complete coverage of both the northern and southern skies...
in Hawaii and data from the European Southern Observatory in Chile was used with ChandraChandraIn Hinduism, Chandra is a lunar deity and a Graha. Chandra is also identified with the Vedic Lunar deity Soma . The Soma name refers particularly to the juice of sap in the plants and thus makes the Moon the lord of plants and vegetation. He is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and...
providing X ray evidence. The object, called IRS 13E, is very close to the Milky Way's supermassive black hole Sagittarius ASagittarius ASagittarius A is a complex radio source at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is located in the sky in the Sagittarius constellation...
. Nature space.com
November 4, 2004
Researchers at Toin University in YokohamaYokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
have created a working solar energy device called a photocapacitor. Unlike previous Solar cell
Solar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
s, this device stores energy internally making it more efficient. physicsweb
November 2, 2004
- In an early phase-1 trial, Six of ten renal failureRenal failureRenal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
patients with an 86% chance of immediate death survived more than 30 days on an implantable bioartificial kidney replacement which includes working human cells. med.umich.edu bbc
See also
- http://demo.wikinews.org/wiki/Science_and_technology