Galileo to Turing: The Historical Persecution of Scientists
Turing was famously chemically-castrated after admitting to homosexual acts in the 1950s. He is one of a long line of scientists who have been persecuted for their beliefs or practices
After admitting to “homosexual acts” in early 1952, Alan Turing was prosecuted and had to make the choice between a custodial sentence or chemical castration through hormone injections. Injections of oestrogen were intended to deal with “abnormal and uncontrollable” sexual urges, according to literature at the time. He chose this option so that he could stay out of jail and continue his research, although his security clearance was revoked, meaning he could not continue with his cryptographic work. Turing experienced some disturbing side effects, including impotence, from the hormone treatment. Other known side effects include breast swelling, mood changes and an overall “feminization”. Turing completed his year of treatment without major incident. His medication was discontinued in April 1953 and the University of Manchester created a five-year readership position just for him, so it came as a shock when he committed suicide on 7 June, 1954. |  |
June 22 2012
Moon Mystery Solved? Hovering Soil Linked to Glass Bubbles
Soil on the moon can hover over the surface, and the temperature six feet (two meters) deep can be more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit (167 degrees Celsius) colder than the topsoil.
Now researchers in Australia think they've solved the puzzle of moon soil's odd behavior: nanosize particles of lunar glass. Small bubbles of glass form on the moon when micrometeorites hit the lunar surface. Since the moon has no atmosphere to slow the projectiles, each one, no matter how tiny, "wreaks havoc," said Paul Warren, a research geochemist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wasn't involved in the new study. |  |
June 22 2012
Researchers Estimate Ice Content of Crater at Moon's South Pole
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater located on the moon's south pole.
The team of NASA and university scientists using laser light from LRO's laser altimeter examined the floor of Shackleton crater. They found the crater's floor is brighter than those of other nearby craters, which is consistent with the presence of small amounts of ice. This information will help researchers understand crater formation and study other uncharted areas of the moon. The findings are published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature. |  |
June 22 2012
Extensive water in Mars' interior
Until now, Earth was the only planet known to have vast reservoirs of water in its interior. Scientists analyzed the water content of two Martian meteorites originating from inside the Red Planet. They found that the amount of water in places of the Martian mantle is vastly larger than previous estimates and is similar to that of Earth's. The results not only affect what we know about the geologic history of Mars, but also have implications for how water got to the Martian surface. The data raise the possibility that Mars could have sustained life.
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June 22 2012
Ancient Africans Made Cheese, Settled Down
More than 7,000 years ago, prehistoric people in the African Sahara were making dairy products, such as butter, yogurt and cheese.
The discovery, based on the identification of dairy fats on ancient pottery shards found in Libya, is the first to provide a definitive date for early dairy farming in Africa. Adding to findings from Europe and the Middle East, the study points to milk products as a main reason why people in many places may have chosen to give up the hunter-gatherer lifestyle in favor of a more settled existence. |  |
June 22 2012
Can the Dutch do reality TV in space?
A Dutch entrepreneur is on a mission to send a bold gang of explorers - aka reality show contestants - to Mars.
It's either one of the biggest hoaxes in history conjured up by a group of richly deluded young fantasists or a brave attempt to challenge the boundaries of space travel and beat Nasa and co at their own game. The Mars One online statement explains that by using the $6bn (4.7bn euros; £3.8bn) generated through the biggest-ever television spectacle, the team will have enough knowledge and resources to set up a permanent colony on Mars. |  |
June 22 2012
Planets worlds apart orbit one distant star
IT’S an alien world worthy of a science fiction movie.
Two very different planets that are very near to each other have been discovered orbiting the same distant star. One is a rocky Earth-like planet, probably seething on the surface with molten lava. The other is a hot gas giant, more like Neptune. About every three months, the sight from the smaller planet would be spectacular. As the two reach closest approach, the gassy giant would rise above the horizon, filling three times more sky than the moon does here. |  |
June 22 2012
Euclid telescope to probe dark universe
Europe has given the final go-ahead to a space mission to investigate the "dark universe".
The Euclid telescope will look deep into the cosmos for clues to the nature of dark matter and dark energy. These phenomena dominate the Universe, and yet scientists concede they know virtually nothing about them. European Space Agency (Esa) member states made their decision at a meeting in Paris. Euclid should be ready for launch in 2020. |  |
June 22 2012
US government to seize $1m Mongolian Tyrannosaurus bataar
A 70 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus bataar, unearthed in the Gobi Desert, is to be seized by the US Department of Homeland Security.
A New York court has issued a warrant forcing an auction house to return the fossil to modern-day Mongolia, where it was discovered about seven years ago. The dinosaur was sold at auction in New York last month by Heritage Auctions, for more than $1m (£600,000). But the court says it was illegally imported to the US via the UK in 2010. |  |
June 22 2012
Mass grave found of giant wombats - each the size of a RHINO
Wombats might have a reputation as comical, clumsy creatures - but you would not be laughing if you came across an oversized, 2.8-tonne version.
Australian scientists unveiled the biggest-ever graveyard of an ancient rhino-sized mega-wombat called diprotodon, with the site potentially holding valuable clues on the species' extinction. The remote fossil deposit in outback Queensland state is thought to contain up to 50 diprotodon skeletons including a huge specimen named Kenny, whose jawbone alone is 70 centimetres (28 inches) long. |  |
June 22 2012
Expansion of Forests in the European Arctic Could Result in the Release of Carbon Dioxide
Carbon stored in Arctic tundra could be released into the atmosphere by new trees growing in the warmer region, exacerbating climate change, scientists have revealed.
The Arctic is getting greener as plant growth increases in response to a warmer climate. This greater plant growth means more carbon is stored in the increasing biomass, so it was previously thought the greening would result in more carbon dioxide being taken up from the atmosphere, thus helping to reduce the rate of global warming. |  |
June 22 2012
Why Homo erectus Lived Like a Baboon
Call someone a baboon, and you might have to prepare for a fight. But if you called Homo erectus a baboon—and if one were alive today—he or she might say, “Yep.”
That’s because H. erectus probably lived in complex, multilevel societies similar to those of modern hamadryas baboons. At least, that’s the case anthropologists Larissa Swedell and Thomas Plummer, both at Queens College, City University of New York, make in the International Journal of Primatology. Swedell and Plummer argue that a dry environment led both species to evolve intricate social structures. |  |
June 22 2012
Allergic to Meat: Lone Star Tick May Make Vegetarians of Some
There's a new weapon in the war on meat: a tiny tick, whose bite might be spreading meat allergies up the East Coast.
A bite from the lone star tick, so-called for the white spot on its back, looks innocent enough. But University of Virginia researchers say saliva that sneaks into the tiny wound may trigger an allergic reaction to meat -- agonizing enough to convert lifelong carnivores into wary vegetarians. |  |
June 22 2012
21st Century Alchemy: Fruit Peel to Help Produce Silver Nanoparticles
Food waste is a growing problem in many parts of the world, but discarded fruit peel, in the case of pomegranates, could be put to good use in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology.
The pomegranate, Punica granatum, is native in northern India and has been cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region since ancient times. The fruit extract is a rich source of highly potent antioxidants. |  |
June 22 2012
All-carbon solar cell harnesses infrared light
About 40 percent of the solar energy reaching Earth’s surface lies in the near-infrared region of the spectrum — energy that conventional silicon-based solar cells are unable to harness. But a new kind of all-carbon solar cell developed by MIT researchers could tap into that unused energy, opening up the possibility of combination solar cells — incorporating both traditional silicon-based cells and the new all-carbon cells — that could make use of almost the entire range of sunlight’s energy.
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Acid rain all but eliminated over Britain
A new report on Britain's environment found that levels of sulphur in our atmosphere have dropped 90 per cent compared with their peak level in the 1950s, thanks to measures to control emissions from coal-fired power stations in the 1980s.
Now a similar political drive is needed to tackle the problem of nitrogen emissions from cars, power stations and farms and prevent the pollution from killing off wild flowers, experts said.
Having too much nitrogen in the atmosphere over-fertilises the Earth and allows grasses and weeds such as nettles to flourish, causing the disappearance of wild flowering plantsl.
Now a similar political drive is needed to tackle the problem of nitrogen emissions from cars, power stations and farms and prevent the pollution from killing off wild flowers, experts said.
Having too much nitrogen in the atmosphere over-fertilises the Earth and allows grasses and weeds such as nettles to flourish, causing the disappearance of wild flowering plantsl.
Computer Program 'Evolves' Music From Noise
From Mozart to the Beatles, music evolves as listeners get used to sounds they initially find strange or even shocking. As trailblazing music becomes mainstream, artists strike out in new directions. But in a new study, a computer program shows how listeners drive music to evolve in a certain way. Although the resulting strains are hardly Don Giovanni, the finding shows how users' tastes exert their own kind of natural selection, nudging tunes to evolve out of noise.
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