Telescope Solves Mystery After 2,000 Years

Two NASA telescopes helped discover a supernova in space that has been a mystery for over 2,000 years. In 185 AD, CHinese astronauts witnessed a "guest star" appear in the sky for over 8 months. In 1960 scientists determined that this was an observation of a supernova that signaled the violent death of a distant star. Views from NASA'S Spitzers Space Telepscope and Wide-field Infared Survey Explorer determined that the star's explosion detonated inside a gas free and dust free region in space. This allowed the supernova to travel much farther away.

I chose to write about this even because it seemed interesting that over 2,000 years scientisits, with the help of telescopes, could solve a mystery of a supernova. It is cool to see that activity in space can take place for a long period of time. Although the supernova took place a far distance away, its neat to learn that we have the teachnology to see these types of things far, far away form us.

The Broadcom MASTERS-Middle Schoolers and Their Passion for Science.

I found this article to be especially interesting because it is about middle-schoolers and their accomplishments in science. It talks about the Broadcom MASTERS which stands for Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars. This program is designed for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders who are inspired in the sciences.

The winner of the MASTERS, 14-year-old Daniel Feeny, decided to study the waves on the beach in Pescadero, California. His research consisted of making a rig of springs and balls in a homemade tide pool to demonstrate the force of waves and their relationship with marine life close to the shore. Second place was awarded to 14-year-old Benjamin Hylak who built and programmed a robot that can be operated over the Internet for those who don't live close to their relatives and loved ones. I-Chun Lin, also 14, was awarded third place in the competition for studying solar cells, coated in organic dye, testing their efficiency with dyes from blackberries and raspberries.

I've stated before that I am not that completely interested in science or am very good at understanding all that's involved in the wide world of science. This competition involving these middle schoolers, however, has made me realize how science can not only be practical but extremely fun! I think that you'll be as impressed as I was with these young scientists. You can read more about the Broadcom MASTERS and about the different winners here, if you're interested. I also found that there is a Kids' Science Challenge for 3rd-6th grade children who must submit a problem for a scientist or an engineer to solve-you can read up on that here.

Black Death DNA puzzle no longer plagues scientists

In this article scientist were able to reconstruct an entire genome taken from ancient skeletons to find information about the Black Death. DNA was taken from teeth of plague victims buried in London over 600 years ago. The DNA was then used to recreate the genome. The study showed that the medieval bacteria has remained unchanged compared to modern day strain. The German and Canadian scientists who constructed the study believe that the bacteria is Yersinia pestis, which is the ancestor to all circulating bacteria. Scientists had to sequenced the DNA first to create a genome. When they did this they found that increase of virulence of the bacteria during the Black Death that showed that not only was the there genetics factors but also environmental factors. Famine and poor living conditions help the disease to spread rapidly.

This study is expected to begin a new era of infectious disease research, according to lead scientist Dr. Hendrik Poinar of McMaster University of Canada.

New species of Giant Mollusc discovered

I found this article to be extremely interesting because of the fact that even to this day whether it is a plant or animal species, we still continue to find these new species after all these years of existence. According to Cristian Aldea (a co author of this study) she explains "this genus belongs to a group which we know very little about. This group is made up of 14 species..." Given this information I find it pretty cool now that they have discovered this Mollusc because now maybe we can get a better understanding and knowledge of this species considering the fact that we only know very little about it. It is said that we have yet to discover even half of all the species out there in the world and as amazing as it is that just this one discovery is considered important there are still a multitude of species out there waiting to be discovered. Whether you really care about science or not you just kind of have to appreciate these scientists do every day discovering all of these different kinds of species and increasing our knowledge of our own world more and more as each and every day passes.

I choose to blog about this article because I always thought the idea of discovering new species was always so cool. We are increasing the number of identified species more and more thanks to the time and effort some of these scientists put into there work and I look forward to more species of animals to be discovered as life progresses.

Three Scientists share Nobel Medicine Prize

I was listening to NPR the other day and they were talking about the three scientists who won this year's Nobel Peace prize in Medicine. On NPR's website, they have a brief article about their accomplishments. You can read about it here. Due to the shortness in length of that article, I sought after a longer, more detailed news report when I found this. Turns out, one of the scientists that shared the Nobel Prize in medicine passed away a couple days before he was awarded the prize.

According to the article in the New York Times, Dr. Ralph M. Steinman discovered a new class of cell back in 1973. His work did not receive much praise at first due to skeptic observers but Dr. Steinman prevailed in the end and received one half of this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine involving the immune system. It goes against the rules to award someone who has passed away, but because news of Dr. Steinman's death reached the committee too late, they decided to go ahead with honoring him with the award.

The other half of the award has been awarded to two science partners, Dr. Bruce Beutler and Dr. Jules A. Hoffman. Their accomplishments "concerning the activation of innate immunity" won them much praise. According to the article, all three individuals' discoveries "enabled the development of new methods for treating and preventing diseases, including improved vaccines and in attempts to help the immune system to attack tumors."

I'm not much of a "science fanatic" but it sounds like what these guys have done and discovered are going to be extremely important in years to come. Also, for those of you who are interested in learning more about all of the various Nobel Prizes, here's a link to the official website. The site talks about past and present winners, the different kinds of Nobel Prizes and even Alfred Nobel-the creator of the Nobel Prize.