Scientific American - 60-Second Science Blog

Sunspot activity ramping up out of deep slumber

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:19:00 EST

It wasn't quite fireworks, but the sun's activity, coming out of a long, deep lull, picked up a bit over the July 4th weekend. A group of sunspots, which mark intense magnetic activity, appeared in the past few days--a patch larger and more populous than any yet this year, according to data from the Space Weather Prediction Center. [More]

Voyage to the Pacific Ocean's garbage patch: Tangoing with a ghost net while finding trash (and shallow-water fish) in unexpected places

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST

Editor's Note: Scuba instructor and underwater videographer Drew Wheeler is traveling on board the Algalita Marine Research Foundation's 50-foot (15.2-meter) Ocean Research Vessel, Alguita, on a two-month voyage to sample and study portions of a 10-million-square-mile (25.9-million-square-kilometer) oval known as the North Subtropical Gyre (aka "Pacific garbage patch"). Wheeler and the rest of the Alguita crew left Long Beach, Calif., on June 10 with a plan to cross the International Date Line and investigate regions of reported high plastic concentrations, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. This is his fourth blog post for Scientific American.

July 2, 2009 [More]

New dino species discovered in the land Down Under

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:35:00 EST

Paleontologists have dug up not one but three new dinosaur species in Australia, a continent that has turned up few large fossil finds. The mid-Cretaceous giants include two massive plant-eating titanosaurs--Witonotitan wattsi and Diamantinasaurus matildae--and a fearsome carnivorous theropod--Australovenator wintonesis--reported in a PLoS ONE study last week. [More]

Bombs bursting in air: What's in those Fourth of July fireworks, anyway?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST

Red, white and blue aside, how green will this weekend’s firework festivities be? Not very, argue some. [More]

For your health, steer clear of the hospital on July Fourth weekend

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:30:00 EST

A word to the wise: stay out of the emergency room this long weekend. [More]

Students imitate penguins to set people-powered sub records

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

University of Quebec's Team OMER found inspiration in nature--penguins, actually--as they set two international speed records last week at the International Human-Powered Submarine Races held at the U. S. Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock test tank in Bethesda, Md. [More]

Tennessee physicist sentenced to 4 years for sharing drone plans with foreign students

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST

John Reece Roth, 71, a prominent plasma physicist was sentenced to four years in prison for 18 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and violations of the Arms Export Control Act, after he allowed a Chinese graduate student to see sensitive information on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones. [More]

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter snaps its first images of the moon

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:20:00 EST

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached its destination just last week, is already showing its stuff.

The space agency switched on the LRO's cameras two days ago and today released the first images from the orbiter's mission, which is intended to pave the way for the return of astronauts to the moon. [More]

Green Dam Web filter delayed, but not dropped

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST

Although China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) earlier this week granted PC makers a reprieve from having to include the Green Dam-Youth Escort Internet filtering software with every PC sold in the country, the government today made it clear that it's only a matter of time before the mandate is reinstated. [More]

Desert plant plucks water from thin air

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST

The arid Negev Desert in southern Israel is no match for the desert rhubarb, which plant researchers say has found a unique way to water itself. [More]

Higher temperatures may be shrinking Scottish sheep

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST

Bigger had always been better for sheep living on the remote, windswept Scottish island of Hirta. [More]

Ant colony crosses continents

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST

Those ants crawling across your picnic table this weekend might be members of a massive, transnational ant mafia, recently reported by researchers in Japan and Spain. [More]

Perennial problems loom large for threatened species

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:01:00 EST

Forget about climate change for a moment, the biggest threats to the world’s imperiled species are deforestation, pollution, poaching and invasive species.

[More]

Bald eagles succumb to poison in rat eradication on Alaskan island

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:47:00 EST

Last month we reported on bald eagles and other birds found dead after a rat eradication project in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., has confirmed that the birds were casualties of brodifacoum, the poison used in bait scattered around Rat Island by helicopter.

“Every one of the liver samples tested positive for brodifacoum,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Bruce Woods told Scientific American. Fish and Wildlife law enforcement agents are investigating whether there were any egregious errors and to assess that the poison drop was conducted according to an approved protocol, Woods said.

[More]

Happy birthday, Walkman! You don't sound a day over 30

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST

On this day three decades ago, Sony's original blue-and-silver Walkman went on sale in Japan, launching an era of personal, portable music and generations of oblivious subway riders and pedestrians. [More]

Catch you later, BlackBerry-toting skier

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:26:00 EST

Advances in memory and processing power have transformed mobile phones from bricklike boxes to gadgets about the size of a deck of cards. [More]

Indonesia gets debt relief for preserving Sumatran forests

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST

The United States has agreed to cut what Indonesia owes Uncle Sam by nearly $30 million over eight years in exchange for increased protection of Sumatran forests that are home to endangered rhinos, tigers and orangutans.

This debt-for-nature deal, orchestrated by Conservation International and the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation, creates a trust to preserve 18.29 million acres, including Way Kambas National Park.

[More]

Space shuttle Endeavour's hydrogen leak appears fixed

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:58:00 EST

Will the third time be a charm for space shuttle Endeavour? NASA successfully tested a troublesome gas-venting system this morning, green-lighting the twice-delayed launch of the shuttle to the International Space Station. [More]

Ocean researchers developing robotic laser network to map the seabed

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:00:00 EST

When it comes to mapping the ocean floor, lasers can capture fine details even better than the sonar. However, while sound waves excel at cutting through dense materials, light waves move best through empty space, making it difficult for lasers to penetrate the ocean's murky depths. [More]

Celiac disease is on the rise

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

Frozen blood samples collected more than 50 years ago reveal that celiac disease, an intolerance to the wheat protein gluten, was less than a quarter as common then as it is today. [More]