The U.S. space agency NASA has released its first mobile application on the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, bringing a wealth of information on current missions and future countdowns.
In some cases, such as the ISS (International Space Station), it is possible to see its path around the Earth (at time of writing this news, it was over the Indian Ocean). You can find data on missions around the Earth, Moon or images of Mars missions, all of which can be exchanged with friends via email.
The app also alows you to access the countdowns for NASA, a photo gallery and videos, and many other information uploaded by the agency.
“Making NASA more accessible to the public is a high priority for the agency,” said Gale Allen, director of Strategic Integration and Management forNASA ’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington in a prepared press statement. “Tools like this allow us to provide users easy access toNASA information and progress at a fast pace.”
The application, free for download from the Apple store, was developed by NASA’s New Media Team at the Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California.
“We’re excited to deliver a wide range of up-to-the-minute NASA content to iPhone and iPod Touch users,” said Gary Martin, director of the New Ventures and Communications Directorate at Ames. “The NASA App provides an easy and interesting way for the public to experience space exploration.
Toronto – According to ongoing research, the average family dog is actually a toddler — with a tail and snout.
Stanley Coren, a canine researcher, says that dogs are able to sniff out a problem and solve it and are more like primates than we originally thought.
Studies and behavioral measures indicate that a dog’s mental ability is somewhat like that of a 2 ½ year old child. Dogs can put together pieces of information to a greater extent than anyone ever thought.
Studying at the University of British Columbis, Stanley Coren has written several books on dogs and their behaviors. He has reviewed studies to find out that dogs have ability during play time. They are able to intentionally try to deceive another dog or person in order to receive rewards. They are almost as successful in deceiving humans as humans are at deceiving dogs.
Coren also states that the average dog is able to do basic math, but this is nothing new to the veteran dog breeder John Mitchell. Dogs can count up to either four or five and will notice errors in easy computations such as 1+1=2 or 1+1=3.When dogs communicate; they understand a total of 165 words, signals and sings.
Dogs are great at body language and picking up signals and gestures. For example, a dog knows when you come home and have had a bad day and will sit by your side until he knows you are ok. Dogs create a strong bond with humans through communication and just listening to others around them.
There are three different types of dog intelligence: adaptive (how dogs learn from their environment for problem solving), instinctive (what dogs are bred to do) and working and obedience (‘school learning’). Different breeds differ in their intelligence. Border Collies lead in instinctive and obedience intelligence.
The following smartest dogs are: poodles, German shepherds, golden retrievers, Dobermans, Shetland sheepdogs and Labrador retrievers.
New York – The Phoenix Lander has detected snow falling on Mars, an unprecedented observation on the Red Planet, NASA announced Tuesday.
A laser instrument has detected the snow from clouds at an altitude of 4000m above the landing site of Phoenix, said the U.S. space agency.
According to officials, snowflakes evaporated before reaching Mars soil.
The observations also showed that chemical reactions between minerals in the Martian soil and liquid water occurred in the past, similar to what occurs on land.
Common Plastic Shows Increased Monkey Health Risk
New Haven, CT-Â One of the chemicals that can be found in everyday plastic has been shown in new research to cause health risks to monkeys and primates.
Researchers at Yale University have shown that there is a link to a chemical that can cause brain function disruption in primates and monkeys.
This is the first time that conclusive evidence has been presented that links BPA, or Bisphenol A with actual laboratory research.
Many people were thrown into a high level of anxiety when rumors of plastics such as polycarbonate and other plastics were said to had BPA levels that were harmful to man a few months ago.
In the end, these plastics were found to not have contaminants or chemicals in high enough dose to cause the need for recall, even though research continues.
But this new research deals with research showing that BPA and plastic containing it may has small amounts of effects that could affect human and primate brain function.
There is now currently a high level of uncertainty about the small amounts of BPA and whether or not it could actually in reality be harmful according to the new study results.
The study from the students and professors at Yale University comes at a time when controversy about the efficacy of plastics and plastics containing BPA are under the spotlight.
Many people with young children are now much more aware, and they are voting with their pocketbooks, not choosing to buy products with BPA in their plastics for products for their children.
The Potential Landfall Of Hurricane Hanna Has Officials Cautious
Cape Kennedy, Florida – Officials that are responsible for the movement and placement of the next Space Shuttle launch have announced that they are postponing the move of the Shuttle Atlantis from the protective hanger to the launch pad.
Due to the forecast of possible Florida landfall for Hurricane Hanna, the officials have announced that the movement from the hangar to a coastal launching pad that normally is done just prior to a launch is being postponed.
Hurricane Hanna is expected to come very close to Florida on Thursday and then move along the coast north toward Georgia.
NASA wants to make sure that they know what type of weather is in store before they attempt to move the huge space shuttle to its departure-landing pad.
The next Space Shuttle launch is scheduled for October 8th, on a final repair mission to fix the Space Hubble telescope.
The Hurricane has the potential to damage or even destroy the Space Shuttle Atlantic if it is exposed and outside of the protective cocoon the NASA hangar provides.
The Hangar that Space Shuttle Atlantis currently resides in is designed to take Hurricane force winds, and is reinforced and tough enough to take the strain of hurricane conditions.
If Space Shuttle Atlantic was out in the open, the likelihood is that the Shuttle could fall or be severely damaged and then not be prepared for its next mission flight on October 8th.
Space Agency Examines Possibly Extending Shuttle Service
Cape Canaveral, Florida- With a number of reports from staff and service workers inside of NASA, it appears that the Space Agency is examining if the current Space Shuttle Program should be extended until 2015, when the next era space vehicle, the Orion, will be operational.
“We are examining making sure that there is no gap for travel by US space vehicles to the International Space Station,†said schedule manager and space manifest supervisor for Johnson Space Center John Coggeshall.
President George Bush urged NASA in 2004 to try and complete the International Space Station project and retire the Space Shuttle program by 2010, and continue toward its goals for the next Space Shuttle program and returning to the Moon by 2020.
Congress will meet and discuss with NASA and the President regarding the possible extension of the current Space Shuttle by five years, to 2015 to help provide transportation until the Orion spacecraft is operational.
If the Space Shuttle is retired according to the current plan by 2010, then the only method of travel to the ISS will be by Soyuz capsule, provided and maintained by Russia.
This has not been a problem but with world tension increasing in areas such as the Republic of Georgia, and the battle and combat there, it is an issue of concern, if the relationship between the United States and Russia were to be complicated then there may be no trips to the ISS without either Russian transportation, or some other option.
It is for exactly this reason that officials are looking at possibly extending the Space Shuttle program.
NASA Says ISS Laptops Have Computer Virus
Cape Canaveral, Florida- In a bit of embarrassing technical truth, the International Space Station has announced that it has a virus that is present on several of its computers aboard the Space Station.
It is nearly comical except it points to a vulnerability that should not even exist.
The virus was allowed to get access because the computers on the International Space Station has the feature “Auto run†or auto play enabled.
Scientific people and those in the industry are shaking their heads that the technical ability of the most advanced space agency in the world, NASA, could allow such a thing to happen.
The virus, W32.TGammima.AG, was transported to the Space Station through a flash drive.
When the virus, technically a worm virus, sensed it was on a larger computer, and when the computer triggered the access feature though the use of auto play, it was transferred into the ISS Space Station Computers.
No computer that is used for secure or important Technical issues should have auto play enabled.
Condition And Amount Of Arctic Ice At Dangerously Low Level
Colorado- The state of the Ice in the Arctic is at a near record low, and is nearing a point beyond the September 2005 low, which was the second lowest point on record in history.
Mark Serreze, a senior scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center, says that the Arctic Ice situation may be approaching a tipping point, or a point of no return.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center, which is based in Colorado, has been using satellite and direct observations to track the condition of Arctic Ice.
The Ice in the Arctic is dangerously low, and it is threatening the habitat of polar bears, and other animals and wildlife that live in the Arctic.
Many people around the world are watching the situation, and the ice at the North Pole was recently observed to be open water, which is nearly unheard of.
Scientists and researchers are of the belief that the situation of global warming may be causing a climate shift, and the situation of a lack of summertime arctic ice is only one indication.
Harvard Stem Cell Institute Produces Cells That Are Made To Give Insulin
Boston- Think of taking a blank hard drive, then using a specific operating system to install Windows on it. Then picture taking that same Hard Drive, and re programming it to run Linux and have no trace of the earlier operating system.
This is similar to the breakthrough that the Harvard Stem Cell Institute made recently. They were able to take pancreas cells that normally break down food and transform them using a dominant gene process to produce insulin.
This potentially has a huge impact on the world as there are many research projects being done worldwide to try and find a cure for both Type I and Type II diabetes.
Doug Melton is the co director of the Harvard Stem cell institute, and he states that the process so far has only been used with mice, but it has potential applications with human beings.
Production of insulin in a natural state would allow many people who suffer from diabetes to be able to conduct normal lives, without having to inject or ingest insulin.
Newest NASA Telescope Renamed For Inventor Enrico Fermi
Washington, D.C.- One of the little known and recognized historical inventors was honored on Monday when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided to rename its new Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope spacecraft, the GLAST project after inventor Enrico Fermi.
NASA launched the Fermi Spacecraft on June 11th this year and it has headed off on its space mission to explore the universe in search of high-energy gamma particles and other space phenomenon.
The first person to deal with and suggest that cosmic particles could be accelerated to high speeds, inventor Enrico Fermi has been largely ignored by popular science and history, but he made a number of rich scientific contributions.
The theories that Fermi advanced helps modern scientists with many of their theories and discoveries, the re naming the spacecraft was used as a way to pay homage to the historical inventor.