ISRO,India announces launch of Oceansat-2 in September
Posted: August 31, 2009 Filed under: India, Satellites Leave a comment »
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch Oceansat-2, a unique integrated satellite to track marine life and identify potential fishing zones in September, disclosed Y V N Krishnamurthy, Director of ISRO’s Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre.The integration of the satellite, designed to identify potential fishing zones, assists in forecasting marine trends and coastal zone studies will also provide inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies.All pre-launch tests on the functional aspects of the satellite have been successfully completed.Oceansat-2 would blast off on board India’s indigenous workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota located on the Indian east coast. The satellite will be an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, which was launched by ISRO in May 1999 to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography.Oceansat-2 would carry an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer – for the first time, besides a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA).
source:http://www.gisdevelopment.net
India loses contact with its first moon mission
Posted: August 30, 2009 Filed under: India' Moon Mission 2 Comments »The PSLV-C11 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), Chandrayaan-1 sits on the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota, about 100 km (62 miles) north of the southern Indian city of Chennai, in this October 11, 2008 file photo.
India has lost all contact with an unmanned spacecraft conducting its first moon mission, the national space agency said on Saturday.Communications with the Chandrayaan-1 craft broke down early on Saturday. “It is a serious problem. If we do not re-establish contact we will lose the spacecraft,” said S. Satish, spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).The $79-million mission was launched amid national euphoria last October, putting India in the Asian space race alongside rival China, reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power.A probe vehicle landed on the moon a month later and sent back images of the lunar surface.But a critical sensor in the main craft, orbiting the moon, malfunctioned in July, raising fears that the two-year mission may have to be curtailed.One of the mission’s main aims was to look for Helium 3, an isotope which is very rare on earth but could be an energy source in the future in nuclear fusion.ISRO has plans to send a manned mission to space in four years’ time and eventually on to Mars.
Sun Spot-Climate Link
Posted: August 29, 2009 Filed under: climate change Leave a comment »Small changes in the energy output of the sun can have a major impact on global weather patterns, such as the intensity of the Indian monsoon, that could be predicted years in advance, a team of scientists said.Using a century of weather observations and complex computer models, the international team of scientists led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in the United States showed that even a small increase in the sun’s energy can intensify wind and rainfall patterns.
Suicidal planet seems on death spiral into star
Posted: August 28, 2009 Filed under: Solar System Leave a comment »
Astronomers have found what appears to be a gigantic suicidal planet.The odd, fiery planet is so close to its star and so large that it is triggering tremendous plasma tides on the star. Those powerful tides are in turn warping the planet’s zippy less-than-a-day orbit around its star.The result: an ever-closer tango of death, with the planet eventually spiraling into the star.
Trifid Nebula: A Massive Star Factory
Posted: August 28, 2009 Filed under: Solar System 2 Comments »
A new image of the Trifid Nebula, shows just why it is a firm favorite of astronomers, amateur and professional alike. This massive star factory is so named for the dark dust bands that trisect its glowing heart, and is a rare combination of three nebula types, revealing the fury of freshly formed stars and presaging more star birth.
Atrazine in US Drinking Water Found Widespread
Posted: August 27, 2009 Filed under: Ecosystem, Environment Leave a comment »
A widely used pesticide known to impact wildlife development and, potentially, human health has contaminated watersheds and drinking water throughout much of the United States, according to a new report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Banned by the European Union, atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide in U.S. waters and is a known endocrine disruptor, which means that it affects human and animal hormones. It has been tied to poor sperm quality in humans and hermaphroditic amphibians.
Scientists look skyward to locate weeds
Posted: August 26, 2009 Filed under: BIODIVERSITY, Remote Sensing 101, Satellites 1 Comment »
Queensland scientists are using satellite technology to pinpoint the locations of some of the most invasive weeds, including prickly acacia, cactus and rubber vine. Biosecurity Queensland and the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) are working together to map some of the state’s worst weeds to further improve control efforts.The QuickBird satellite image with its high resolution used in the project can detect objects on the ground as small as individual trees. The technology gives accurate coordinates of likely weed infestations which allows the project team to find the weeds using GPS. The joint project is funded under Biosecurity Queensland’s Reclaim the Bush: A Pest Offensive, a program under Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries’ (QPIF) Blueprint for the Bush initiative. The groups involved in the project include DERM, QPIF, the University of Queensland; and the Southern Gulf, Desert Channels and Burnett Mary regions’ natural resource management groups.
source: http://www.gisdevelopment.net
India, Russia complete design of new lunar probe
Posted: August 24, 2009 Filed under: India, India' Moon Mission 3 Comments »
India and Russia have finished the design of a second unmanned lunar orbiter to be sent to the Moon in 2011-2012, quoted the Indian Express newspaper.”Right now, the design has been completed. We had a joint review with Russian scientists here”, said Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Bangalore.Russia is responsible for the design and construction of a lander and a rover, which could collect samples of the lunar soil, analyze them and send the data back to Earth.The ISRO and the Russian Federal Space Agency signed in November 2007 an agreement to work together on the Chandrayaan-2 project. The work started following the launch of India’s first unmanned mission to the moon, the Chandrayaan-1, in October last year.During the two-year mission, the remote-sensing satellite is expected to create a detailed three-dimensional map of the Moon’s surface and investigate its chemical composition. The primary goal is the discovery of water, along with magnesium, aluminum, silicon and titanium, and the radioactive elements radon, uranium and thorium.
source:http://www.gisdevelopment.net
Little Known Type Of Cholesterol — Oxycholesterol — May Pose The Greatest Heart Disease Risk
Posted: August 23, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 2 Comments »
A little known type of cholesterol, oxycholesterol, may pose the greatest heart disease risk, researchers say. Shown is a diagram of a heart attack. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Health-conscious people know that high levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the so-called “bad” cholesterol) can increase the risk of heart attacks. Now scientists are reporting that another form of cholesterol called oxycholesterol — virtually unknown to the public — may be the most serious cardiovascular health threat of all.
Fried and processed food, particularly fast-food, contains high amounts of oxycholesterol. Avoiding these foods and eating a diet that is rich in antioxidants, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, may help reduce its levels in the body, the researchers note.
Scientists have known for years that a reaction between fats and oxygen, a process termed oxidation, produces oxycholesterol in the body. Oxidation occurs, for instance, when fat-containing foods are heated, as in frying chicken or grilling burgers or steaks. Food manufacturers produce oxycholesterol intentionally in the form of oxidized oils such as trans-fatty acids and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils. When added to processed foods, those substances improve texture, taste and stability. Until now, however, much of the research focused on oxycholesterol’s effects in damaging cells, DNA, and its biochemical effects in contributing to atherosclerosis. Chen believes this is one of the first studies on oxycholesterol’s effects in raising blood cholesterol levels compared to non-oxidized cholesterol.
Agents of Erosion
Posted: August 22, 2009 Filed under: earth 6 Comments »
Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA.
Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA.Erosion is the removal of solids (sediment, soil, rock and other particles) in the natural environment. It usually occurs due to transport by wind, water, or ice; by down-slope creep of soil and other material under the force of gravity; or by living organisms, such as burrowing animals, in the case of bioerosion.
Erosion is distinguished from weathering, which is the process of chemical or physical breakdown of the minerals in the rocks, although the two processes may occur concurrently.
Main agents of Erosion Are Water, Wind, Ice, and Waves.
Erosion by Water
Water is the most important erosional agent and erodes most commonly as running water in streams. However, water in all its forms is erosional. Raindrops (especially in dry environments) create splash erosion that moves tiny particles of soil. Water collecting on the surface of the soil collects as it moves towards tiny rivulets and streams and creates sheet erosion.In streams, water is a very powerful erosional agent. The faster water moves in streams the larger objects it can pick up and transport.
Fine sand can be moved by streams flowing as slowly as three-quarters of a mile per hour.Streams erode their banks in three different ways: 1) the hydraulic action of the water itself moves the sediments, 2) water acts to corrode sediments by removing ions and dissolving them, and 3) particles in the water strike bedrock and erode it.The water of streams can erode in three different places: 1) lateral erosion erodes the sediment on the sides of the stream channel, 2) down cutting erodes the stream bed deeper, and 3) headward erosion erodes the channel upslope.
Wind Erosion
Erosion by wind is known as aeolian (or eolian) erosion (named after Aeolus, the Greek god of winds) and occurs almost always in deserts. Aeolian erosion of sand in the desert is partially responsible for the formation of sand dunes. The power of the wind erodes rock and sand.
Ice Erosion
The erosive power of moving ice is actually a bit greater than the power of water but since water is much more common, it is responsible for a greater amount of erosion on the earth’s surface.Glaciers can perform to erosive functions – they pluck and abrade. Plucking takes place by water entering cracks under the glacier, freezing, and breaking off pieces of rock that are then transported by the glacier. Abrasion cuts into the rock under the glacier, scooping rock up like a bulldozer and smoothing and polishing the rock surface.
Wave Erosion
Waves in oceans and other large bodies of water produce coastal erosion. The power of oceanic waves is awesome, large storm waves can produce 2000 pounds of pressure per square foot. The pure energy of waves along with the chemical content of the water is what erodes the rock of the coastline. Erosion of sand is much easier for the waves and sometimes, there’s an annual cycle where sand is removed from a beach during one season, only to be returned by waves in another.
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