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Deadly Dance: Giant Planet Found Orbiting Huge Star By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer posted: 07:00 am ET 23 January 2003 A large planet recently found orbiting a distant star serves as a preview for the likely frying fate that awaits our own planet. The star, called HD 47536, is more than 23 times the diameter of our Sun. It is the largest star ever found to harbor a planet. The discovery was announced Wednesday. The planet is five to 10 times heavier than Jupiter and orbits the star more than twice as far as Earth is from...

NASA Chief Outlines New Nuclear, Space Plane Efforts By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 06:40 pm ET24 January 2003 NASA chief, Sean O'Keefe confirmed today White House support for the space agency to accelerate work on space nuclear power and propulsion, as well as grapple with the challenges of extended long-duration human spaceflight. O'Keefe discussed a speed up in several space research areas over NASA Television from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He said that President Bush's release on February 3 of the space agency's Fiscal Year 2004 budget will carry "a number of very...

January 28, 2003 Shipwreck in the Gulf Clings Tenaciously to its MysteriesBy KENNETH CHANG BOARD THE RYLAN T, off Louisiana — Those who believe in ghosts might conclude that those aboard a shipwreck at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico do not want to be disturbed. For nearly two centuries, the ship has lain under a half-mile of water, forgotten until ExxonMobil, by infinitesimal chance, bisected it with an oil pipeline two years ago. Marine archaeologists at Texas A&M University saw it as an opportunity to use undersea technology to uncover maritime history. With robotic submarines able to...

Nuclear fusion could power NASA spacecraft   10:29 23 January 03 Duncan Graham-Rowe   The journey time from Earth orbit to Mars could be slashed from six months to less than six weeks if NASA's idea for a nuclear fusion-powered engine takes off. The space-flight engine is being developed by a team led by Bill Emrich, an engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He predicts his fusion drive would be able to generate 300 times the thrust of any chemical rocket engine and use only a fraction of its fuel mass. That means interplanetary missions would no longer...

NASA boosts nuclear propulsion plans 15:08 20 January 03 NewScientist.com news service NASA has requested a "very significant" increase in funding for the development of nuclear propulsion systems for spacecraft, according to Sean O'Keefe, the administration's chief. Existing chemical rocket technologies have restricted missions to the same speed for 40 years, he said. "With the new technology, where we go next will only be limited by our imagination." O'Keefe revealed the significant new emphasis in an interview with Los Angeles Times: "We're talking about doing something on a very aggressive schedule to not only develop the capabilities for nuclear...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 11 Apollo 17: Boulder in Stereo Credit: Apollo 17, NASA (Stereo Image by Patrick Vantuyne) Explanation: Humans left the Moon over thirty years ago, but donning red-blue glasses (red for the left eye) you can share this excellent stereo perspective view of their last stomping ground. Recorded by Eugene Cernan, the scene depicts his fellow astronaut and geologist Harrison Schmitt next to a large split boulder...

From Chapter 1 From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines, Going where I list, my own master total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, Gently, but with undeniable will divesting myself of the holds that would hold me. — Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open Road" Declare Your Independence Of all the outrageous throwaway lines one hears in movies, there is one that stands out for me. It doesn't come from a madcap comedy, an esoteric science-fiction flick, or a special-effects-laden action thriller. It comes from...

  21 - 27 November 2002 Issue No. 613Heritage Current issuePrevious issueSite map Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 Send a letter to the Editor Recommend this page Print-friendly Fruitful seasons Excavations at Karnak Temple complex have been focusing on areas hitherto little explored, with rewarding results. Nevine El-Aref takes a look Priests of the first millennium BC resided in the area beyond the fourth pylon of the Pharaoh Tuthmosis III. It is here and at the temenos (outer temple) wall built by the same Pharaoh, the Osirian zone, and the courtyard between the eighth and ninth...

November 23, 2002 Robot back to Great Pyramid     Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawas said the Robot, Pyramid Rover, will return to the Great Pyramid of Cheops after Eidul Fitr to continue the endeavours to unravel the mystery of the pyramid.     “The Robot will enter the Northern hole in the pyramid, as it entered the southern one earlier,” said Hawas.     Another door is expected to be uncovered, Hawas said, to protect the burial chambers and funeral furniture of the king.     Co-studies are conducted with the U.S. side to explain the...

Sand-covered Huns city unearthed! 10/08/2002 XI'AN: Chinese archaeologists recently discovered a unique, ancient city which has lain covered by desert sands for more than 1,000 years. It is the first ruined city of the Xiongnu (Huns) ever found, said Dai Yingxin, a well-known Chinese archaeologist. The Xiongnu was a nomadic ethnic group, who for 10 centuries were tremendously influential in northern China. The unearthed city occupies 1 square kilometre in Jingbian County, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, adjacent to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north of the country. It is believed that the city was built by more...

NASA digital images discover ancient "Ramayana" bridge between India, Lanka PTI Washington, October 09 2002 The NASA Shuttle has imaged a mysterious ancient bridge between India and Sri Lanka, as mentioned in the Ramayana. The evidence, say experts matter-of-factly, is in the Digital Image Collection. The recently discovered bridge, currently named as Adam's Bridge and made of a chain of shoals, 30 km long, in the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka, reveals a mystery behind it. The bridge's unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man-made. Legend as well as Archeological studies reveal that...

Nebra, Germany - Archaeologists offered a first glimpse on Wednesday of a lost culture's holy site atop a German peak, and confirmed it as the source of the world's oldest map of the heavens. The exact location has been kept secret for weeks, amid fears that treasure-seekers would move in and disturb Bronze Age remains. The site is atop the Mittelberg, a 252m hill in the Ziegelroda Forest, 180km south-west of Berlin. Adding a spooky touch is the discovery that, seen from the Mittelberg, the sun sets every June 22 behind the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany. The...

Exclusive Morien Institute interview with - Dr Paul Weinzweig - Advanced Digital Communications Havana, Cuba On May 28 2002 National Geographic News reported on the many recent discoveries underwater on the coastal shelves around the world. The story focussed on the recent discovery of megalithic ruins some 2,200 ft below sea level off the coast of Cuba, interviewing geologist, Manuel Iturralde, the Director of Research at Cuba's Natural History Museum. He is the Consulting Geologist for the Canadian exploration company, Advanced Digital Communications (ADC), based in Havana, Cuba, which discovered the megalithic formations It has been suggested that what...

Pre-Columbian tunnel complex discovered in southeastern Peru Story Filed: Thursday, August 15, 2002 8:40 AM EST Lima, Aug 15, 2002 (EFE via COMTEX) -- A pre-Columbian tunnel complex has been discovered in southeastern Peru, officials said. Chumbivilcas Mayor Florentino Layme told Panamericana Television that the tunnels were discovered in the southeastern province of Chumbivilcas, some 1,300 kilometers (about 808) miles southeast of the capital. The tunnels apparently were made by the Wari people who lived in the area prior to the emergence of the Inca empire and are located under the village of Lliqui. The walls of the tunnels, or...

Reprinted from ScienceDaily Magazine ...Source:             Washington University In St. Louis Date Posted:    Thursday, July 25, 2002Web Address:   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020724080652.htm Weather In Outer Space? Ask A Brown Dwarf Until recently, "How's the weather up there?" was a question for pilots, NBA stars and friendly giants. Today, however, you might also ask a dwarf. A brown dwarf, that is. Brown dwarfs, which have been described as "failed stars," are celestial bodies more massive than planets like Jupiter but not large enough to sustain the thermonuclear reactions that make a star shine. In the June 1, 2002 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters, Katharina Lodders, a senior research...

2,000-year-old 6ft 6ins warrior giant discovered The remains of an enormous warrior who fought more than 2,000 years ago have been found in Kazakhstan. The soldier was heavily armed and stood around 6ft 6ins tall. Archaeologists believe he was well-built and revered by people who buried him with his weapons. The BBC says the warrior lived around the first century BC. Historians say this may lead them to re-examine the origins of the region's people.

ICAN stands for Ion Compressed Antimatter Nuclear propulsion. Antimatter Spaceships BY STEFANO COLEDAN "Star Trek" fans may have to wait a few more centuries to embark on quick interstellar trips using wormholes and space-time warps as shortcuts. So while bypassing the cosmic abyss is still a subject of debate among physicists, some of them are already experimenting with a different, more practical approach: antimatter propulsion. If it works, unmanned spaceships could be flying throughout the solar system and interstellar space by the year 2040, says Gerald Smith, a retired Penn State University physics professor. And it's all possible under the...