An experimental aircraft using 12,000 solar panels and 210 foot wings flew for 26 hours under its own power. The single seat plane averaged 26 miles per hour. When sunlight is available, the many solar panels produce electricity, which is stored in lithium batteries. The batteries power the plane at night so it can fly continuously [...]
July 6, 2010
The first image of the entire universe taken from Europe’s Planck telescope has been published. The satellite, costing 600m euros, was launched last year by the European Space Agency to survey the oldest light in the cosmos. It was sent nearly a million miles into space to record the origins of the universe. The Planck observatory’s job [...]
July 6, 2010
Dr. Maria New has a new strategy for treating unborn fetuses: the use of a potentially dangerous steroid aimed at preventing a rare congenital disorder that affects the adrenal gland, potentially consigning the future child to a lifetime regime of drugs. It also prevents “some of the symptoms of [this disorder] in girls, namely ambiguous genitalia. [...]
July 5, 2010
The Bulwer-Lytton award is given annually for the worst first sentence of a novel. Contestants craft deliberately bad opening lines. Molly Ringle took the 2010 prize with this gem: For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity’s affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss — a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and [...]
July 5, 2010
Scientists have long wondered why the sherpas of the Tibetan Highlands can negotiate with ease elevations that cause some humans to become life-threateningly ill. Tibetans live at altitudes of 13,000 feet, breathing air that has 40 percent less oxygen than is available at sea level, yet suffer very little mountain sickness. The reason, according to [...]
July 4, 2010
Independence Day fireworks generally elicit compulsory “ooohs” and ahhhs.” After perusing this post, you should be able to refine your appreciative exclamations: “Oooh, a peony” and “ahhh, a kamuro.” The peony is one of the most common kinds of aerial pyrotechniceffects. It is named for a variety of plants with large, showy flowers. This firework has a starlike explosion that quickly [...]
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July 9, 2010
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