Funded through a partnership between the U.S., Canadian, and French governments, the $10.5 million Genomics of Sunflower research project has embarked on an ambitious plan to map the DNA sequence of the sunflower. The project hopes to locate the genes most important to agricultural applications while at the same time mapping out future plans of cross breeding and hybrid production. A possible non-agricultural “bonus” could be thicker and more sugar-laden sunflower stalks which could be converted to ethanol for fuel use.
At the heart of the study is the Silverleaf sunflower most prevalent in Texas; a wild flower known for hearty stalks and resistance to drought. Silverleafs can grow as high as 15 feet with a diameter of nearly four inches. Scientists believe the Silverleaf makes the ideal candidate for research due to its close relation to the cultivated sunflower.
Project leader Loren Riesberg said in an interview, “Since it’s the closest relative of the cultivated sunflower, it should be perhaps reasonably straightforward to move some of the traits.”
Currently the world’s ethanol production relies mainly on corn, prompting an outcry among farmers and cattle ranchers whose livelihood is heavily dependent on corn. The sunflower’s ethanol potential is seen as good news in helping to alleviate the pressure on the corn crop.
Three astronauts have landed safely on the International Space Station floating 220 miles away from Earth. The newest residents of the space station are NASA astronaut T.J.
Creamer, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov. The crew met up with Jeff Williams and Maksim Suraev, who have been on board the ISS since October 2009.
The crew has several projects planned during their stay on the ISS over the next several months. The newest crew is slated to stay until May 2010. Kotov and Suraev are scheduled for a space walk in January with the others beginning work on various other projects.
Williams and Suraev are scheduled to return to Earth in March. Three more crew members from various space agencies around the world will land on the ISS in April bumping the space crew total to six.
The newcomers brought plenty of Christmas cheer aboard the ISS. They brought a Christmas tree and Santa hats for a family photo aboard the ISS. The astronauts will have the Christmas holiday off before jumping back into work.
Virgin Galactic, owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, transforming the space into a tourist destination. SpaceShipTwo, a shuttle can carry two pilots and six passengers, will be unveiled Monday in the Mojave desert in California, by officials of Virgin Galactic.
This trip across land borders will however reserved for a privileged few. Customer SpaceShipTwo to be able to pay $200 000 for a 2:30 flight, including takeoff and landing. The sale also will be limited: only 50 travel agencies have been selected in the United States to sell these galactic stays.
The price and the adventure does not seem to frighten everyone. Virgin Galactic claims to have received $40 million advance from 300 tourists, determined to launch into space.
The concept is simple: the shuttle will be carried into space by rocket Eve, then at 50 000 feet, they will separate, leaving the tourists in weightlessness for five minutes in a cab breakthrough portholes. For now, the first trials are planned for 2010 and the first commercial flights between 2011 and 2012.
It’s always important for kids to be interested in important subjects in this world, like space. So NASA has gotten the famous Dwayne Johnson, aka ‘The Rock’, to teach kids the importance of space.
Dwayne is appearing in the new movie, “Planet 51,” a cartoon about aliens and space, so NASA feels that he is a perfect candidate for helping children learn more about the technologies of NASA. He’s letting them know how cool it is to learn about the planets and the technology used to research more of the planets.
In the latest Public Service Announcement, he tells everybody details of the latest going on with NASA, and even a bit of history. He promotes their website, and makes it seem like the newest ‘cool’ thing going on in the world.
The question going around isn’t why did NASA sign up The Rock to do this commercial, but rather why they needed to do the commercial in the first place. Maybe they are losing the sponsorship and recognition of kids around the world, and this is there way of bringing space technology back into peoples lives.
But as Dwayne states in the latest commercial, “There’s no space like home.”
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.