Science Special News

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Tourist vows to film an Tasmanian tiger

A German tourist who claims to have photographed a Tasmanian tiger, solving one of Australia's enduring wildlife myths, said on Friday he had returned to the country to video the animal and end doubts over his find. The Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine, was a striped, wolf-like native mammal which was hunted to extinction by European settlers. The last one died in a zoo in 1936. But stories of surviving animals persist and yearly unconfirmed sightings have turned the tiger, whose scientific name means pouched dog with a wolf's head, into a holy grail for mystery hunters from across the globe. In February 2005, German tourists Klaus Emmerichs and Birgit Jansen said they had captured two digital photos of the animal in Tasmania's rugged forests while on holiday. "I came from high, and he can't see me. He had his nose down and was snuffing," Emmerichs said on Friday. "I want to prove that it is not extinct, like the people think and the world thinks," Emmerichs told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The couple, he said, had no idea the tiger drinking at a creek was extinct and the animal just loped away. Experts initially believed the night photos showed portions of a Thylacine obscured by foliage, but later examinations led to accusations of a set-up, ending a bid to sell the pictures for A$25,000.

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'Flying' in your sleep may be a paralysis

People who have out-of-body experiences, such as flying along a tunnel towards a heavenly light, are more likely to suffer a strange effect called sleep paralysis, according to a survey that adds to mounting evidence for a biological explanation for the experience. During sleep paralysis, people experience a kind of breakdown between states of consciousness which takes place on the fringe of sleep, either when falling asleep or waking. Because the brain turns off the body's ability to move during dreaming, muscles can lose their tone, or tension, causing paralysis.The details of sleep paralysis vary from person to person. Some hear vague sounds, indistinct voices and demonic gibberish. Others see hallucinations of humans, animals and supernatural creatures. There is a striking inability to move or to speak, or a weight on the chest. Also common are feelings of rising off the bed or flying. In addition, people report out-of-body experiences, sometimes accompanied by "autoscopy" when they look down on themselves. Not surprisingly, these moments are accompanied by fear.Throughout history, there have also been accounts of people having visions on the brink of death - what are now called "near-death experiences". Today, the two odd effects are linked by a study that backs the idea that the near-death experience is a biological experience, rather than anything to do with a spiritual dimension, a glimpse of heaven or the existence of the soul.

People who have had near-death experiences are also likely to have suffered sleep paralysis, according to the survey published by a team in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, by Prof Kevin Nelson, from the University of Kentucky, Lexington.In a survey of 55 people who had a "near-death experience" - defined as a time during a life-threatening episode when a person experienced a variety of feelings, including unusual alertness, seeing an intense light, and a feeling of peace - he found three quarters had an out-of-body experience and half of them had also felt they had left their body during the transition between wakefulness and sleep.

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Scientists find a solar-powered asteroid

For the very first time, astronomers have witnessed the speeding up of an asteroid's rotation, and have shown that it is due to a theoretical effect predicted but never seen before. The international team of scientists used an armada of telescopes to discover that the asteroid's rotation period currently decreases by 1 millisecond every year, as a consequence of the heating of the asteroid's surface by the Sun. Eventually it may spin faster than any known asteroid in the solar system and even break apart. "The Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect is believed to alter the way small bodies in the Solar System rotate," said Stephen Lowry (Queens University Belfast, UK), lead-author of one of the two companion papers in which this work is reported. "The warming caused by sunlight hitting the surfaces of asteroids and meteoroids leads to a gentle recoil effect as the heat is released," he added. "By analogy, if one were to shine light on a propeller over a long enough period, it would start spinning." Although this is an almost immeasurably weak force, its effect over millions of years is far from negligible. Astronomers believe the YORP effect may be responsible for spinning some asteroids up so fast that they break apart, perhaps leading to the formation of double asteroids.

Others may be slowed down so that they take many days to complete a full turn. The YORP effect also plays an important role in changing the orbits of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, including their delivery to planet-crossing orbits, such as those of near-Earth asteroids. Despite its importance, the effect has never been seen acting on a solar system body, until now.

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Robotic age poses ethical dilemma

Submitted by Waspie Dwarf: An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea. The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007. It is being put together by a five member team of experts that includes futurists and a science fiction writer. The South Korean government has identified robotics as a key economic driver and is pumping millions of dollars into research. "The government plans to set ethical guidelines concerning the roles and functions of robots as robots are expected to develop strong intelligence in the near future," the ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said. South Korea is one of the world's most hi-tech societies. Citizens enjoy some of the highest speed broadband connections in the world and have access to advanced mobile technology long before it hits western markets. The government is also well known for its commitment to future technology.A recent government report forecast that robots would routinely carry out surgery by 2018.

The Ministry of Information and Communication has also predicted that every South Korean household will have a robot by between 2015 and 2020. In part, this is a response to the country's aging society and also an acknowledgement that the pace of development in robotics is accelerating. The new charter is an attempt to set ground rules for this future.

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Will biology solve the universe ?

For years, scientists have tried to develop a universal theory of everything. Steven Hawking predicts that such a theory will be discovered in the next 20 years. A new theory asserts that biology, not physics, will be the key to unlocking the deepest mysteries of the universe, such as quantum mechanics."The answer to the universe is biology -- it's as simple as that," says Dr. Robert Lanza, vice president of research and scientific development at Advanced Cell Technology. He details his theory in The American Scholar's spring issue, published on Thursday. Lanza says scientists will establish a unified theory only if they radically rethink their understanding of space and time using a "biocentric" approach. His article is essentially a biological and philosophical response to Hawking's A Brief History of Time, in which he questions how we interpret the big bang, the existence of space and time, as well as many other theories -- assertions that might ruffle the feathers of some physical scientists.But Lanza is used to controversy. The 2005 Wired Rave Award winner has seen plenty in response to his stem cell and cloning work at Advanced Cell. And he's ready for the scientific row his latest work is likely to engender."The urgent and primary questions of the universe have been undertaken by those physicists who are trying to explain the origins of everything with grand unified theories," says Lanza in his article.

"But as exciting and glamorous as these theories are, they are an evasion, if not a reversal, of the central mystery of knowledge: that the laws of the world were somehow created to produce the observer."At several points in his article, he argues that cosmologists are doing work that has been hijacked by creationists."In cosmology, scientists have discovered that the universe has a long list of traits that make it appear as if everything it contains -- from atoms to stars -- was tailor-made for us," he writes. "Indeed, the lack of a scientific explanation has allowed these facts to be hijacked as a defense of intelligent design."

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The Guiness book of the ancient world

There was no annually published Guinness Book of Records to keep track, but the ancient Greeks and Romans were crazy about setting and breaking records. Now two Swedish archaeologists have compiled a selection.Not long after the birth of Christ, when the most debauched phase of Roman history began, the wife of Emperor Claudius -- Messalina, 34 years his junior -- made a name for herself by challenging the city's best known whore to a sex marathon. Who can keep going for longer, the licentious wife wanted to know. She won by holding out for "25 rounds." Details on the wanton competition can be found in the "Book of Ancient Records," compiled by Allan and Cecilia Klynne and published in Germany by the C.H. Beck publishing house. How fat was the fattest snail? What was the price of the most expensive slave? Swedish archaeologists Cecilia and Allan Klynne provide the answers, free of "academic commentary and lengthy footnotes."The scientists combed through hundreds of old texts in their search for superlatives.

Here are some of the results: The tallest man in the ancient world measured 288 centimeters (9 foot 5 inches), while the shortest (60 centimeters -- 2 feet) was barely as tall as a bedside table. Another treat from the book: The naturalist Pliny reports the case of some conserved beans that were forgotten in the cellar and retained their taste for 220 years."Extreme accomplishments and bizarre phenomena have always fascinated mankind," the "Book of Ancient Records" states.

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China's 1st lunar probe ready for launch

China has finished assembling its first lunar satellite probe after three years of research and development, Luan Enjie, chief commander of the country's lunar exploration program, told Xinhua Tuesday. "The carrier rocket, a Long March 3-A, which will be used to push the orbiter, Chang'e I, into the outer space, is currently under testing," Luan said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body. Luan said that almost 10,000 scientists, experts and technicians have joined the program. "Starting from scratch, we developed the Chang'e I lunar orbiter and the whole subsidiary project by ourselves within three years," he said. Another leading scientist, former commander-in-cheif of the launch vehicle system of the country's manned space mission Huang Chunping, told Xinhua early Tuesday that the Chang'e I will be launched later this year. But no date was given for the flight. The orbiter will provide 3D images of the moon's surface, probe the distribution of 14 usable elements on the moon, study lunar microwaves and estimate the thickness of the moon's soil. Huang also said the country's new generation carrier rocket, designed to launch a space station, will be ready in seven to eight years.

The new generation large-scale carrier rocket is likely to be named Long March 5 and its payload capacity can be increased from nine tons to 25 tons, he said. Design of the new generation carrier rocket's engines has been completed. Researchers succeeded in the engine's first testing in mid-2006, said Huang, also a member of the CPPCC National Committee. Huang also told Xinhua that China's goal to land spacemen on the moon can surely be achieved in 15 years. China's moon exploration program will be carried out in three stages. The orbiter will be followed by a remote-controlled lunar rover. In the third phase, a module will drill out a chunk of the moon and bring it back to earth.

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Bohbot tracks Bigfoot

The producer of Bigfoot's Reflection says he was sure of the creature's existence after wrapping the documentary in the wilds of British Columbia and Washington State earlier this year. The hour-long doc, which will be broadcast on Space in May, takes a fair-minded look at Bigfoot hunters. That is, people who are out to prove that the big guy exists. "They make a good case. And there is lots of deep dark forest out there," Frederic Bohbot tells Playback Daily.Bohbot's film, which is directed by Evan Beloff, follows the new generation of Bigfoot hunters, who are more techno savvy and scientifically rigorous than earlier pursuers of the lumbering hairy creature -- also known in various parts of the world as Yeti, the Abominable Snowman and Sasquatch. The HD film, shot for $160,000, takes place in North American Bigfoot country: B.C.'s Harrison Hot Springs and the Yakima Indian Reserve in Washington. Bohbot's team caught up with wildlife biologists, ecologists and forestry people who are convinced that Yeti is alive and well and strolling through the bush on Canada's west coast.

"Most films make fun of these people, but we are trying to take a serious look at their obsession. In the end, this is a film about human obsessions," says Bohbot, founder of Bunbury Films, which is coproducing Bigfoot's Reflection with Ontic Media. "These people are not lying. Whether he exists or not, they believe in what they are saying. I think that's the most extraordinary part."

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Israel unveils portable hunter-killer robot

An Israeli defence firm today unveiled a portable robot billed as being capable of entering most combat zones alone and engaging enemies with an onboard armory that includes a machine-pistol and grenades. The VIPeR, roughly the size of a small television, was invented as part of Israel's efforts to develop weaponry that could reduce the risks to its forces from hand-to-hand fighting against Palestinian or Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.The manufacturer, Elbit Systems Ltd., said that the VIPeR's small size and dual treads enable it to move "undeterred by stairs, rubble, dark alleys, caves or narrow tunnels."As well as bomb-sniffing and bomb disposal equipment, the VIPeR can carry an Uzi machine-pistol or plant a grenade. The weapons would be aimed using an onboard video camera.According to Elbit, which has close links with the Defence Ministry, Israel plans to deploy the VIPeR among its infantry units after field tests. The robot could also be of interest to foreign police units or US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Roman clues found at ancient hill

Submitted by Waspie Dwarf: Archaeologists have found traces of a Roman settlement at a 5,000-year-old landmark man-made hill in Wiltshire. English Heritage believes there was a Roman community at Silbury Hill about 2,000 years ago. The 130ft Neolithic mound near Avebury - one of Europe's largest prehistoric monuments - is thought to have been created some 3,000 years earlier. Experts carrying out a project to stabilise the hill say the site may have been a sacred place of pilgrimage. English Heritage geophysicist Dr Neil Linford said: "We are really excited by this discovery because we had no idea that a Roman village of such a size lay this close to Silbury Hill." The evidence suggests the Roman community was based on an area the size of 24 football pitches at the base of the hill.

The find was made using caesium magnetometers which can detect changes in the ground's magnetic field caused by human activity. The settlement was on the road from London to Bath, which is the modern-day A4, where it crossed the Winterbourne river.