June 11, 2011

Good Morning,

The first article goes into some detail about space shuttle Atlantis' Sunday arrival at the International Space Station; the last trip the shuttle will be taking. The successful docking signifies a sentimental end. Check out the first story for details.

Until Next Time,
Erin

Questions? Comments? Email me at: mailto:gizmo@gophercentral.com
Email your comments

P.S. You can discuss this issue or any other topic in the new
Gizmorama forum. Check it out here...
http://gizmorama.gophercentral.com
------------------------------------------------------------

Shuttle docks with station for last time

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Atlantis successfully docked with the International Space Station Sunday morning for the final time in the shuttle program, NASA said. The two spacecraft were about 240 miles above the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand when the maneuver was executed at 11:07 Eastern Time, the U.S. space agency said. "Atlantis, welcome to station for the final time," said American astronaut Ron Garan. Astronauts were to open the hatches Sunday afternoon once they determine the seal is secure. Atlantis' main mission is restocking the station with food and other supplies, USA Today reported. On Monday, the crew will connect the Rafaello supply module to the station, temporarily adding a supply closet. The Atlantis crew is Cmdr. Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. They are joining station Cmdr. Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Sergei Volkov of Russia, Satoshi Furukawa of Japan and Americans Garan and Mike Fossum. This is Atlantis' 12th trip to the station. It was the first shuttle to dock with the Russian space station Mir in 1995.


Skull of giant pliosaur meets its public

DORCHESTER, England - The skull of one of the largest marine reptiles ever found, freed from rocks that held it for millions of years, went on display Saturday in a British museum. Naturalist and TV presenter David Attenborough unveiled the fossil at the Dorset County Museum, the Dorset Echo reported. Only the skull of the pliosaur was discovered by a fossil collector in a cliff at Weymouth, the BBC reported. The area is so rich in fossils it is known as the Jurassic Coast. Scientists estimate the pliosaur may have been up to 60 feet long. The skull is one of the most complete ever found. Kevan Sheehan told the BBC he spent five years between 2003 and 2008 gathering bits of the skull as they worked their way out of the cliffs. "It was sheer luck -- I was sitting on the beach, and saw three pieces," he said. "I had no idea what they were, but I proceeded to drag them back. Then over several years, I'd go back every year and find a new piece. I'm a beach magpie." The discovery was announced in 2009. The museum paid Sheehan 10,000 pounds ($16,000) with the owner of the land where it was found getting the same amount.


Technique can 'harvest' energy in the air

ATLANTA - U.S. researchers say energy transmitted by radio and television transmitters, cellphone networks and satellite systems can be captured and harnessed. Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology say scavenging the ambient energy all around us could provide a new way to power networks of wireless sensors, microprocessors and communications chips. "There is a large amount of electromagnetic energy all around us, but nobody has been able to tap into it," said Manos Tentzeris, a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "We are using an ultra-wideband antenna that lets us exploit a variety of signals in different frequency ranges, giving us greatly increased power-gathering capability." Communications devices transmit energy in many different frequency ranges, or bands, that the researchers' scavenging devices can capture and convert from AC to DC and then store in capacitors and batteries, a Georgia Tech release said Thursday. Experiments utilizing TV bands have already yielded power amounting to hundreds of microwatts, and multiband systems are expected to generate one milliwatt (one-thousandth of a watt) or more -- an amount of sufficient to operate many small electronic devices, including a variety of sensors and microprocessors, the researchers said. The scientists say they have already successfully operated a temperature sensor using electromagnetic energy captured from a television station a third of a mile away.


Simple, fast anthrax detector described

ALBANY, N.Y. - U.S. researchers say a new automatic and portable detector can signal the presence of anthrax in a sample of suspected material in 15 minutes. Scientists at the University at Albany and Cornell University in New York said the new technology amplifies any anthrax DNA present in the sample and can reveal the presence of just 40 microscopic cells of the deadly bacteria. Writing in the International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology this month, the researchers said the detector uses nanofabricated fluidic cartridges to carry out detection of anthrax. The device is a so-called lab-on-a-chip device that has inputs for the sample and reagents and can carry out DNA purification and identification automatically. The system is said to work without manual intervention other than loading a sample droplet into the detector. "The average time required for DNA purification during these experiments was approximately 15 minutes, and when combined with real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) analysis, this resulted in an average time to detection of 60 minutes," the researchers said. "Due to its small size and low power requirements, this system can be further developed as a truly portable, hand-held device," they said.

------------------------------------------------------------
Check out Viral Videos on the Net at EVTV1.com
http://www.evtv1.com/
EVTV1.com