Monthly Archives: April 2017

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Physicists excited by LHC anomaly The latest in a series of anomalies spotted in 5-year-old data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could point to a new elementary particle, physicists hope. The oddities, in the decay of short-lived particles called Bmesons, were announced on 18 April by the LHCb experiment at CERN, Europes particle-physics lab near Geneva, Switzerland. So far, the statistical significance of the results is below 2.5 sigma, falling short of the 5-sigma threshold usually needed to claim a discovery. It could fade as more data are analysed. However, the anomalies chime with previously reported peculiarities, and match predictions that some theorists had made on the basis of those reports.

CERN

Detector elements of the LHCb experiment.

Google health study Googles life-sciences spin-off, Verily, launched an in-depth health study of 10,000 people on 19April. Project Baseline, in development since 2014, will track participants health for at least four years, to identify risk factors for developing disease. Data will be collected from wearable sensors, smartphones and regular clinic visits. The firm, in South San Francisco, California, is running the study with researchers at Stanford University in California and Duke University in Durham, NorthCarolina.

US malaria cases Malaria cases have been rising in the United States since the 1970s and could be more common than realized, according to a study published on 24 April (D. Khuu et al. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. http://doi.org/b597; 2017). Between 2000 and 2014, 22,029 people were treated in hospital for the disease, the study found more than was estimated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; treatment costs came to US$555 million. Transmission of malaria in the United States was wiped out in the 1950s, and the rise in cases probably results from an increase in visits to malaria-endemic areas, the authors say. They also highlight an apparent trend among travellers of avoiding preventive medications and measures.

March for Science Tens of thousands of people turned out across the globe for the March for Science on 22April, probably the largest-ever demonstration in support of scientific research and evidence-based policymaking. The main demonstration took place in Washington DC, with protests in at least 600cities around the world. The march was organized shortly after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January, largely in response to widespread alarm about his administrations attitude towards science.

Green bank sold The UK governments Green Investment Bank has been offloaded to Macquarie, a finance firm based in Sydney, Australia, for 2.3billion (US$2.9billion), ending a controversial sale process. The bank was set up to fund clean-power projects and energy-efficiency schemes, and at the time of sale was Europes largest green-energy investor. The sale had been expected for months and had been plagued by criticism; some fear the privatization could set back investment in green technologies.

Fake peer review Academic publisher Springer said on 20 April that it is retracting 107 papers from its journal Tumor Biology after finding that they had been accepted on the basis of fabricated peer-review reports. The problem has affected publishers including Springer before: investigations in 2015 and 2016 into irregularities in Springers peer-review process led to 122 retractions in various journals, including Tumor Biology. The latest papers were identified through extra screening processes put in place after those investigations. Springer stopped publishing the journal at the end of 2016; it is now published by Sage Publishing in Thousand Oaks, California. The latest retractions, all of papers by Chinese authors, have led to soul-searching in China. The state-run Peoples Daily newspaper blamed a lack of serious punishment for academic misconduct and pressure on overworked clinicians to publish. (Springer is part of Springer Nature, which also publishes Nature.)

China space station China has for the first time resupplied a space station in orbit. A Tianzhou1 cargo module automatically docked with the Tiangong2 station on 22April; the operation will be repeated several times to test different procedures, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Tiangong 2 was launched last September without a crew, with the aim of developing technology and expertise for a permanent space station that China plans to start assembling early next decade. Two astronauts were sent on board a month later for a one-month stay; the craft also carries multiple science experiments. Tianzhou 1 weighs in at 13.5 tonnes, 6tonnes of which are supplies, making it heavier than the 8.6tonne Tiangong2.

Spaceport accord Europes main spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, has resumed operations following a month-long shutdown during widespread social unrest over living and working conditions in the overseas territory. An agreement reached on 21April with the French government will bring some 2.1 billion (US$2.3billion) in aid to French Guiana. The space centre, near the town of Kourou, had been caught up in the protests, with its roads blocked and three commercial launches delayed. The spaceport is also the location for research satellite launches, including the James Webb Space Telescope planned for next year.

Jody Amiet/AFP/Getty

Kourous mayor Franois Ringuet speaks to the crowd after leaving the rocket-launching space centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais CSG) that he occupied with other protest leaders, on 5 April, in Kourou.

Atmosphere study A fleet of 28 atmosphere-studying CubeSats, including Australias first three research satellites since 2002, soared into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 19April. The miniature satellites are part of the QB50 international mission to study Earths lower thermosphere. This poorly studied part of the atmosphere, at between 200and 380 kilometres altitude, is where cosmic radiation can affect space weather and satellite communications. When released from the International Space Station next month, the CubeSats will provide the first detailed 3D glimpse into these processes.

Geoengineering The United Kingdom unveiled an 8.6-million (US$11million) programme of research into geoengineering the science of altering the planets systems to counter global warming on 20April. The Greenhouse Gas Removal Research Programme will fund around 100 researchers working on projects that range from combining tree planting with farming in agroforestry schemes to using weathering of mining slag to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The government-funded scheme could eventually help Britain to meet its commitment under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to try to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Drug regulators fate Senior figures from the worlds leading pharmaceutical companies have warned of dire consequences for the European Union if the future of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) currently based in London is not swiftly resolved. The agency is almost certain to move from London when the United Kingdom leaves the EU, but no formal decision has been made on a new home. Presidents and vice-presidents of companies including GSK, Merck, Sanofi and Novartis said in an open letter on 24April that a decision on the EMAs new location should be taken as soon as possible preferably in June. Otherwise, crucial work on approving new medicines and monitoring drug safety may be disrupted, they say.

Weather research The US Congress has passed its first major legislation involving weather research in more than two decades. Among other things, the law instructs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to focus on forecasting high-impact weather events such as strong, damaging storms, and to improve its temperature and precipitation forecasts on the timescale of two weeks to two years. The bill also authorizes the agency to continue developing the use of commercial satellite data. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on 18April.

The quest to wipe out Guinea worm is heading in the right direction again. The parasite is left in just four African countries, but an epidemic in dogs in Chad that emerged in 2012 threatened eradication efforts. The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, which is leading the global eradication campaign, reports that dog infections are down by 37% in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year. It credits better health education and the tethering of infected dogs.

Source: Carter center; go.nature.com/2ohtfng

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March for Science, climate engineering and China's space station ... - Nature.com

A stunning time-lapse video of Earth captured from the International Space Station shows a lightning storm flashing over the U.S. and "possible satellites" orbiting overhead.

The European Space Agency (ESA) created the video using images taken by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, a member of the Expedition 51 crew on the orbiting complex.

"Time lapse over California with a thunderstorm on the horizon," Pesquet wrote in a caption posted with the video on Flickr. "These time lapses are made on Earth by taking many pictures and playing them one after the other. There are usually around 25 pictures for a second of video." [Photos: Earth's Lightning Seen from Space]

About halfway through the video, you may notice some small, bright objects streaking through the sky. ESA officials told Space.com that these are "probably functioning satellites," though scientists were unable to confirm which satellites they were. "The giveaway is the fact that the lights are not tumbling, which indicates they are actively controlled," ESA communications officer Daniel Scuka said in an email.

ESA's Space Debris Office determined that the objects are most likely not space junk, because "the objects' brightness in the video is consistent with intact objects," officials said. And they're probably not meteors, either, said Detlef Koschny, a scientist in ESA's Space Situational Awareness Program office who studies near-Earth objects.

Koschny explained that a bright meteor burning up in the atmosphere typically has a duration of a second or less, possibly 2 or 3 seconds for larger objects. This movie, however, runs 25 times faster than real time, he said, meaning the objects are bright for several tens of seconds.

The objects' altitude doesn't fit that of meteors, either, he added. "The typical altitude of a meteor is around 80 to 110 kilometers [50 to 68 miles]. This corresponds to the height of the airglow, which is visible curving above the Earth as a brightish band," Koschny said. "These objects are higher, at least 300 km [186 miles]. Meteors would not be visible in that height."

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet takes photos through a window at the International Space Station.

When lightning illuminates the sky, it is considered an indication of strong updrafts before or during a thunderstorm, according to the National Weather Service. As air swirls around in a turbulent, stormy atmosphere, the friction generates electrical charges in the clouds. As those charges build up, it leads to electrification and lightning that can be seen both from the ground and in space.

Looking through the windows of the International Space Station (ISS) may seem like a convenient way to monitor storms from space, but astronauts at the orbiting lab don't spend much time storm-watching. Also, their vantage point is limited. The ISS flies roughly 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, and astronauts on board cannot see Earth's north or south poles due to the station's orbit. And because it travels at about 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h), the ISS doesn't stay over the same place for very long.

Last year, however, NASA launched the most powerful lightning mapper yet; it's on the GOES-16 satellite (previously known as GOES-R), which is in geostationary orbit above the Americas. The instrument, called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), can view lightning beneath it to a resolution of about 6.2 miles (10 km).GLM beamed back its first photo of lightning from space in March.

Space.com senior producer Steve Spaleta contributed to this report. You can follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebookand Google+. Original article onSpace.com.

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Lightning and Mystery Objects Spotted by Space Station (Video) - Space.com

A spacecraft manufactured by Dulles-based Orbital ATK successfully docked at NASA'S International Space Station Saturday.

The S.S. John Glenn which keeps with Orbital ATKs tradition of naming its Cygnus spacecraft in honor of those who made significant contributions to human spaceflight -- delivered approximately 7,600 pounds of cargo, including supplies and scientific experiments.

The Cygnus spacecraft launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station April 18. Orbital ATK said the spacecraft executed a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit and reach the space station.

Just after 6 a.m. on April 22 crew members aboard the International Space Station used a robotic arm to grapple the spacecraft. It was then guided to a berthing port on the stations unity module. The installation concluded at 8:39 a.m.

Known as OA-7, the mission marks Orbital ATK's seventh cargo delivery mission under NASAs Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract.

This is our fourth successful trip to the space station in little over a year and the third time we will use Cygnus as a platform for conducting scientific experiments, Frank Culbertson, Orbital ATK space systems group president, said in a statement.

Cygnus' cargo includes a NanoRacks cubesat deployer, food, clothing, crew supplies, spare parts, packaging materials and lockers that resemble freezers. Each locker carried critical science samples, experiments and laboratory equipment for the crew.

The crew planned to open the hatch this week and begin unloading the pressurized cargo. The spacecraft will remain berthed with the orbiting laboratory for three months before departing with close to 3,300 pounds of disposable cargo.

During its time in space, Cygnus will be used as a scientific platform, executing a series of secondary payload missions, according to company officials. Cygnus will carry the Saffire-III payload experiment to study the behavior of a large scale fire in microgravity and release. In addition, a NanoRacks deployer will release four cubesats used for weather monitoring and global ship tracking. For the final experiment, Cygnus will use three reentry data collection flight recorders to provide crucial data about the extreme conditions a spacecraft encounters when reentering the Earths atmosphere.

Once these missions are complete, Cygnus will conduct a safe, destructive reentry into Earths atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

Orbital ATK is viewed as a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. Although headquartered in Dulles, Orbital ATK employs approximately 12,500 people in 18 states across the U.S., and in several international locations.

Comments express only the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this website or any associated person or entity. Any user who believes a message is objectionable can contact us at [emailprotected].

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Orbital ATK spacecraft docks at International Space Station - Loudoun Times-Mirror

As far as toilet problems go, the location perhaps could not be worse.

The International Space Station was reportedly at the centre of loo plumbing problems in recent days after power issues caused issues processing urine.

The problem occurred on the American side of the facility, Russian media reports.

The claims have emerged only days after US President Donald Trump joked during a video conference with the ISS that he wouldn't want to re-use human urine as drinking water after hearing it was a practice common in space.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson had explained to Mr Trump in the Oval Officer how human waste was repurposed for consumption because resources such as water were so scarce.

With the urine processing problems, reports claim experts have been discussing options for replacing the power connection.

This may have required a spacewalk or "remote manipulator", Interfax reports.

"On Sunday, the urine recycling system is out of order, it specialists understand a problem with distiller," a space industry source told the outlet.

"Perhaps the unit will be replaced as part of the planned May 12, spacewalks, but may be required and unscheduled exit."

NASA tonight confirmed to The Mirror there was a "momentary" issue with the urine processing system.

However, the problem had been resolved and no astronauts were affected, a NASA spokeswoman said.

In 2012, The Mirror reported that three astronauts on board the ISS used a bag-like collection system to manage since the problem which concerns the collection of urine, not solid waste first occurred.

Wrenches, a spare part for the space station's oxygen generator, and a microbe-killing device for use in the space lab have all had to make way for the pump that should fix the Russian-built toilet.

"Clearly, having a working toilet is a priority for us, so some of these things that we didn't need for the next six months or so could wait," said payload manager Scott Higginbotham.

During a video call with NASA astronauts Monday, President Donald Trump joked that he wouldn't want to re-use human urine as drinking water.

It is a common practice in US spaceflight as astronauts "clean" the urine and reuse it.

Mr Trump responded that he would rather the space travelers drink it than himself.

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Americans on International Space Station left unable to process URINE, say Russia - Mirror.co.uk