Grail shattered on moon

Summary: The GRAIL mission has officially ended as its two satellites, Ebb and Flow, has been commanded to crash into the surface of the moon. It was decided to direct a crash landing when the fuel ran out rather than wait for an eventual, unpredictable fall so as not to destroy any of the historic landing sites like the Apollo site. (Imagine if a satellite fell and knocked over the American flag!)
Most of the data from these two satellites has not been fully analysed yet, but scientists do know that the data from these two provide the most detailed map of the surface of the moon that we have to date. As usual, for for details, check out the original article.




BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20761903

Lake drilling halted

Summary: Drilling in Antarctica that had begun early last week had to be halted on Saturday due to a failure in the backup boiler. The primary boiler had already failed with the same issue. Thankfully there is enough hit water to keep the drill from freezing over.

The objective is to drill through the ice to the lake underneath and analyse the water brought up to see if there is life down there.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20755450

Geminid Meteor Shower Tonight!

The biggest and best meteor shower of the year is tonight!! (Clearly the Universe is celebrating the release of The Hobbit). For info about the shower check out http://www.meteorwatch.org/ where you can find details and pictures from other sky watchers. Furthermore, it is a new moon tonight so they sky should be especially dark. Happy sky watching!

Dark matter

If you do not understand Dark Matter, here is a good blog post comparing the universe to making a cake.

Scienceblogs: http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/12/07/yes-we-really-really-need-dark-matter/#.UMoxBFcfs8I.twitter

Wishy-washy Higgs

Summary: The inconsistencies and weird things in the data that lead scientists to announce the discovery of a new particle back in July, curiously still remain. It seems to be a difference in measurement that makes the difference.

There have also been hints of other weird science occurring that frankly does not make much sense to me, but something about particles flattening and gaining gluons as they reach the speed of light, possibly being observed.

Either way, next week the LHC will shift into a new phase before being shut down for upgrading at the beginning of 2013. Not to worry though, they still have tons of data to analyze.


NewScientist
Higgs:http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23003-higgs-boson-having-an-identity-crisis.html
flat particles: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22556-lhc-sees-hint-of-highspeed-particle-pancake.html

Decay

Summary: Students and scientists at CERN have completed their zombie movie! After three long years of working on it you can watch it at the link below. The premise is that some engineers were down in the tunnels of the LHC when some radiation leaked and turned them into zombies. Now the remaining members must figure out what caused it before they are also dead meat.
To mock Hollywood's atrocious science, they too purposefully made ludicrous claims, only in this case, the actors (also students) kept trying to fix the errors and had to be reminded that it was wrong on purpose.
 I'll update this post after I watch it with a spoiler-free review.



Decay-trailer: http://youtu.be/luNueXoAw3I
Decay-full movie: http://youtu.be/n-NwLUPZWZc

New galaxies examined

Summary: The Hubble telescope has been used to look again in the area of the Hubble Deep Field and has found 7 new galaxies, one of which may be the most distant galaxy observed. We can tell by the redshift. (The further away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from us. Because it is moving so fast, the light gets shifted a measurable amount. Further away=greater redshift.)


SpaceTelescope.org: http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1219/ (I know, a new source!)

Top secret US space plane!

Summary: The US military has successfully launched its super secret space plane. It's so secret, it is unmanned and indicates that it is designed for long term mission, no one knows how long though.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20680253

Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore dies

Sadly, Sir Patrick Moore has passed away. He is most known for his TV show and his his books published on his research. He was 89 and passed away peacefully in his home.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20657939

Multiple Universe Theories

For those of you interested in more than just antimatter and enjoy bizarre theories, here is a link to an article about some theories for multiple universes. Personally, I am hoping that there are multiple universes, but I doubt that we would be able to prove it in any way. But the thought of it is mind-blowing.
And if you don't know about the multiple universe theory, take a look at let it amaze you.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50120363/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.UMQQ-qwRZ8F

Ice on Mercury!!!

Summary: At last, a planet close to home that we can travel to and ice skate on! But actually, the Messenger satellite has discovered that craters at the poles hold ice. The exciting thing is that because of this evidence, all strongly held theories about the formation of Mercury are incorrect. Now scientists will get to rewrite the history of the planet and maybe other inner planets like it.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20553879
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/11/28/science.1229953
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/11/28/science.1231106
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/11/28/science.1229764
Science Podcast: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6111/1233.2.full
SciShow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-b6Q_hbhk0&feature=share&list=UUZYTClx2T1of7BRZ86-8fow

Oversized Black Hole

Summary: Scientists have found a enormous black hole in the middle of a relatively small galaxy. It's been calculated that the black hole accounts for about 15% of the galaxies mass. This is way more than is typical. Scientist are guessing that it was formed a long time ago and then nothing else really started to form. Check out the details below.



Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v491/n7426/full/nature11592.html
BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20528137

Update to Future Space plans in Europe

Summary: Many new things were agreed on as the esa member states concluded their meeting, the biggest news being that not only would the UK supply the propulsion mechanism for NASA's Orion rocket, it would also contribute £2m to the project. The UK has typically stayed out of contributing funds, but as their economy seems to be looking up, they have decided to invest monetarily as well. Check out the article for other decisions that were agreed upon during this meeting.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20424858

Another chance for Mars

Summary: Europe and Russia are teaming up to explore the surface and the atmosphere of Mars with missions set for 2016 and 2018.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20407902

New Oldest Object

Summary: Scientists working with the Hubble and Spitzer telescopes have discovered a new oldest object in the universe. It still has a boring name, but has a very interesting history. It's old.


SciShow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3j4wz31gIM

Rogue Planet

Summary: Scientists working at the Very Large Telescope Array have found a rogue planet! This means it is not orbiting any star. It appears, however, to be drifting with another group of celestial objects. Based on the ages of those objects, it is predicted that the planet was formed between 50 and 120 million years ago. Based on this, they have also guessed that the planet is about 400 degrees Celsius and its mass is between 4-7 times that of Jupiter.
It is unsure whether the planet was a failed star formation or whether it was cast off from its original planetary system and doomed to wander alone.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20309762

SciShow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2kPQ0j_TLo&feature=colike
(As pointed out by Hank, it has a very unpronounceable name. Suggestions for a better name? Discuss.)

New Method of Measuring Dark Energy

Summary: I'm not sure I understand this one. Here's what I understand: there is a new way of measuring the presence of Dark Energy in our universe over time. It involves measuring the scatter of light through hydrogen clouds. The way quasars scatter through those clouds is very specific so it can be measured. It has helped to confirm that the early universe the Gravitational force dominated, causing a deceleration in the expansion of the universe, but then Dark Energy took over and the universe began the phase of rapid expansion we are currently in.
This new method is being employed by the members of BOSS team in the US.



BBC News: ion years into the past.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20303592

Another blow struck at the Standard Model

Summary: The scientists at the LHCb have observed a Bs meson decay into three muons, a decay possibility that is extremely rare. This puts a hole in the Supersymmetry model which attempts to explain some if the inconsistencies in the standard model. As usual, this is not conclusive evidence, but it seems to indicate that our universe is more complicated than a standard model can predict.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20300100

Particle and Wave Simultaneously?

Summary: Somehow, scientists have been able to design an experiment that seeing light as both a particle and a wave at the same time. From what I read the article doesn't say too much, but it nevertheless an interesting read.

http://www.livescience.com/24509-light-wave-particle-duality-experiment.html

Space Internet!

Summary: Internet has become a crucial part of life, especially when it comes to communicating over extremely long distances. But our beloved Internet has been lacking in space. Don't fret though, you future astronauts! NASA and ESA have been working on creating an interplanetary net. While they probably aren't too concerned about whether you will be able to watch YouTube or not, it will allow them better control over their rovers.
The way it is now, each robot is controlled separately and if there is an error in sending data, it it lost forever. This new space Internet hopes to remedy that. It is in testing phase with astronauts on the ISS successfully controlling a robot in Germany. I honestly do not understand how it works but the BBC explains it well for anyone who knows computers well.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20270833

More habitable candidates

Summary: Three more exoplanets have been found orbiting the star known as HD 40307. While the planets are about seven times bigger than Earth, initial signs indicate that the planets may contain liquid water. As is typical, more research will need to be done before we know for sure if the planets could be Earth 2.0.


BBC News: link coming soon

Martian Hula party

After examining its first sample of Martian soil, Curiosity's scientists have noticed that the soil strongly resembles the soil on Hawaii. They've said it was basaltic like the ground near volcanos in Hawaii.
Curiosity also analysed the soil further by shooting X-rays at it. This is a technique well known back here on Earth that allows scientists to learn the chemical make up of a sample by the light it emits.
As always, check out the original article for further details and don't hesitate to ask me any questions you may have.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2015178

Chills down my spine

Summary: it may not directly relate to science, but great scientists. While stranded in Antarctica during the 9 months of winter, British scientists have decided to make a horror film. Because of their long winter, scientists pick up and refine hobbies to keep themselves busy. The film, called "South of Sanity," features 14 scientists being stalked by a killer. One of the main problems was actors (other scientists) getting slight cases of hypothermia because of extended periods if outside and laying in the snow being dead bodies. Unfortunately, this resulted in dead bodies that shivered.
The film will get its premiere in Aviemore on 31 October. (I have no clue where that is.)


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-19980602

New planet around Alpha Centauri B

Summary: Full of new discoveries today, there has been a new planet found orbiting our nearest star. The planet is very close and it probably molten lava. Because the Alpha Centauri system is three stars, there will be times or Earth-like day, Earth-like night, and periods of twilight with a very bright evening star.


Wired: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/earth-exoplanet-alpha-centauri

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19959531

Four suns!!

Summary: The wonderful people at Planet Hunters have discovered a planetary system with four suns. This is the first system of its kind, I'm pretty excited.
"It is thought to be a "gas giant" slightly larger than Neptune - more than six times the radius of the Earth."
Imagine having four sunsets every day! However, as a red-head I would probably burn my skin off.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19950923

Strange rock on Mars

Summary: Curiosity has found a peculiar rock near to its landing sight. While not an entirely new type of rock, it is not a type that was predicted to be in that area. The rock, named Jake Matijevic after a recently deceased scientist, is similar to the types of rocks found near volcanoes on the islands of Hawaii.
"Jake Matijevic was found to be high in elements consistent with the mineral feldspar, such as sodium and potassium, and low in elements such as magnesium and iron."
Further studies will be done with this rock in hopes of learning more about the history of the Gale Crater and Mars as a whole.


BBC News: http://.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19923118

Dragon in flight

Summary: SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral, FL earlier tonight. It's mission is to dock with the ISS and deliver cargo and other necessary supplies. If all goes well, SpaceX will continue to be a space taxi for NASA. I'm excited to see how this goes. The docking will be streamed live on NASA.gov or on their ustream page.


BBC News: ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19867358

Also follow the mission on twitter @SpaceX

New Australian Telescope

Summary: Australia has given us a wonderful new telescope with which to survey the sky! I don't know too many details but I'm excited to see what it has to offer.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19840545

Further evidence for water in Mars' history

Summary: The Curiosity has come to a conglomerate of rocks which gives evidence for water on Mars. The main signs are small rocks that have broken off from a huge rock and have been weathered smooth, like rocks found in a river bed here on Earth. Curiosity will continue to investigate these rocks in hopes of being able to determine the pH level of the water that had passed through this area.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19744131

NASA JPL conference on the finding:
http://t.co/VuxTB6e6

Webb mirrors arrived at NASA

Summary: Some of the mirror segments for the James Webb Space Telescope have arrived at NASA where they will be inspected and stored until the other segments arrive.
The James Webb telescope will be the coolest telescope yet with the ability to see 13.4 billion years into the past. It is designed to study the science surrounding the Big Bang.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19717177

Curiosity Update 9/15/12

Curiosity has examined a rock.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19712033

Curiosity update

Another update on Curiosity.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19654831

Mysterious Meteors

Summary: Streaks of light were seen in the night sky across Britain but no one quite knows what they are. Experts believe it may be space debris though there is currently no concrete evidence. Aliens? Maybe. Highly doubtful though.

Ig Nobel Awards!

Summary: The Ig Nobel awards are hilarious awards for seemingly useless research that stemmed from something with a purpose. It is worth a good laugh to scroll to the bottom of the article and read what the prizes were awarded for. And of course if it interests you, search for the study and be amazed. Congratulations to all the recipients!


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19667664

Endeavour flies one last time

Summary: The space shuttle Endeavour will be flying one final flight on the back of a Boeing 747 above California landmarks before it is moved to its final resting place. Check out twitter or google for pictures popping up of the flight.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19677972

New Dark Energy Camera

Summary: A new camera designed to learn more about Dark Energy has opened its eye. It is designed to learn about this mysterious stuff by studying supernovae and the baryon acoustic oscillations. It will be a collaboration between many countries and should prove to be ground breaking for the study of Dark Matter.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19634700

SciShow: http://youtu.be/2j_H5ZIGR4o

Curiosity Update

Summary: The Curiosity rover is nearly finished with testing its equipment and is scheduled to begin the real experiments this Friday. Read the article for further details on what is forthcoming.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19575796

Planetary cloud set to be devoured.

Summary: A new star with a planetary hole is heading for the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. This will provide scientists a unique chance to study the theorised black hole.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19558443

Dawn departs from Vesta

Summary: NASA's Dawn probe has left the asteroid Vesta but not before looking back to take some pictures of the north pole. The images reveal never before seen craters among other discoveries from the probe.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19495444

Lost BBC archive of Neil's moon landing and more about Neil.

One BBC viewer discovered his old tape from when he recorded the moon landing as it aired on TV. The footage was thought to be lost forever.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19455602

And I thought I'd include some other noteworthy articles and videos here as well.

His funeral service: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19446801

6 reasons Neil Armstrong is awesome: http://youtu.be/TNNOyIKThP8

Neil Armstrong tribute: http://youtu.be/pkqxfpc_Ido

Wise black holes

Summary: NASA's wise telescope has discovered loads of black holes that were previously hidden behind layers of dust.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19421453

The Next Great Adventure

Summary: Astronaut Neil Armstrong has passed away at the age of 82. Most known for being the first man on the moon, he will be dearly missed.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19381098

Curiosity completes its first drive

Summary: Curiosity has successfully rolled 4.5 meters forward, turned clockwise, then reversed 2.5 meters. This took around five minutes. This means it is now ready to complete more difficult maneuvers.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19342994

Next Antimatter experiment

Summary: In this video, scientists at CERN talk about their next big thing, ALPHA 2, and the challenges involved with building a new experiment.

Link: http://youtu.be/pqI9vv4Vfv8

Missing Planets

Summary: A planet has been discovered to have been consumed by the star it was orbiting as it evolved into a red giant. This is the first planet known to have been destroyed by its star.

Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2191896/Is-future-Earth-Scientists-evidence-aging-star-devouring-planets.html?ITO=1490

NASA plans for next Mars rover

Summary: NASA has announced that it plans to send another rover to Mars in the year 2016. It is set to be called Insight and seems to be designed to focus more on measuring the seismic activity of Mars.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19327286#TWEET201215

Surprising Starburst Galaxy

Summary: Astronomers have discovered that the Phoenix Cluster is creating around 740 stars each year. Most galaxies currently observed only produce a few stars. This is the first galaxy seen that appears blue, a predicted state that would yield a high star production rate.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19266284

Curiosity has succesfully used its laser on a rock

Summary: Curiosity has zapped its first Mars rock. Using a laser, the river zaps the rock with a very high energy beam for only five billionths of a second. This releases a flash of light which the camera captures and sends back to Earth. Scientists can then look at the light spectrum to determine what the chemical make up of the rock is.
The first rock is being used as a control to test the instruments. It is expected to be very similar to other rocks on Earth.


BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19314638

Curiosity

If you have been paying any attention to the news lately, you will know that NASA has successfully landed the Curiosity rover on Mars last Sunday night. This rover is full of instruments to test for signs of life on mars and to learn more about the environment of the red planet. (Hopefully so we can establish a base there someday!) NASA's JPL website is probably the best place to look for news or the rover's twitter feed (@MarsCuriosity). I will also direct you to Hank Green's youtube channel SciShow where he has been nerding out over the project. I'll leave you with some of his videos.

The Curiosity Rover Landing: http://youtu.be/a4YqNoLkmxE
Top 5 Coolest Things about Curiosity: http://youtu.be/bB2eB2qH2-A
The Latest From Mars: Day 2: http://youtu.be/U76y7_jO_Ao

NASA wishes Neil Armstrong the best of luck in recovery

A statement from the NASA Administrator regarding Neil Armstrong's recovery from cardiac bypass surgery:

"NASA wishes Neil Armstrong the very best for a quick recovery from surgery," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Neil's pioneering spirit will surely serve him well in this challenging time and the entire NASA Family is holding the Armstrong family in our thoughts and prayers. I know countless well-wishers around the world join us in sending get well wishes to this true American hero."

https://www.facebook.com/NASA/posts/10151122628926772

Astronomer Bernard Lovell dies

Quick summary:

Sir Bernard Lovell, the pioneering astronomer, physicist and founder of Jodrell 
Bank Observatory, dies aged 98.

BBC News:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19164236 

New moon formation theory

Summary: Scientists have proposed new theories of the Moon's formation. Some think that a larger object than previously thought struck the young Earth, probably faster than earlier models predicted. However, only more data will show which theory is correct. BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19011013

Dark Matter going Underground

Summary: A Dark Matter detecting experiment will be moving underground from it's current location at Fermilab in Chicago.

SymmetryMag: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/?p=16324

The passing of a hero

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and one of my heroes, has passed 
away earlier today from pancreatic cancer. She was 61. 

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18963939 

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/ride.html

Dwarf helps form spiral galaxy

Summary: Astronomers have found a well formed spiral galaxy just 3 billion years after the big bang. It is extremely rare for a well formed spiral to appear this early due to how chaotic the universe still was at this point. It was helped along by a small dwarf galaxy orbiting it; this added an extra gravitational pull to form the spiral.




BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18891760

Hubble discovers new Pluto moon

Summary: The Hubble space telescope has discovered a fifth moon around the dwarf planet Pluto. 



BBC News:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18803212

New particle found, possible Higgs

Summary: Scientists at CERN have announced the discovery of what seems to be a new particle. They do not know if it is the Higgs Boson, though it is in the right area, and they don't have a high enough degree of certainty to call it a formal discovery. However it is close enough to yield celebration all over the physics community. BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18702455 Symmetry Mag: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2012/07/04/search-for-higgs-boson-at-large-hadron-collider-reveals-new-particle/ Video of press conference: cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1459604 Follow CERN on twitter for all the latest updates.

Fermilab reveals stronger hints about Higgs

Summary: More data from the Tevatron at Fermilab is narrowing the search for the Higgs Boson particle. Their data is pointing towards the particle being in the same "search region" of the LHC: between 115 and 135 GeV. BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18677808

Water on Saturn's moon

It is possible that new data from Cassini points towards water just below the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20120628.html

Water on Mars?

A new study of fragments from the planet Mars strongly suggest that the interior of the planet may contain an amount of water similar to that of Earth's mantle.
Does this remind anyone else of the Doctor Who episode "The Waters of Mars"? I'm not sure if I want them to colonize anymore.

Smithsonian: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/suprising-science/scientists-discover-that-mars-is-full-of-water.html?c=y&page=1&device=iphone

Dark matter tracks could give earliest view of Universe

Summary: It seems as though scientists have come up with a new way of studying dark matter based on wavelengths. I can't say I fully understood it though.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18521713

Telescope to probe dark universe

Summary: Europe is set to launch a telescope to investigate dark energy and dark matter in the year 2019. The US will have a very small role but some American scientists will be allowed access to the data. 

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18503703

Cracks in the Standard Model?

Summary: "Recently analyzed data from the BaBar experiment show that one type of particle decay happens more often than predicted by the Standard Model.  This excess, seen with a “3.4 sigma” level of certainty, is not enough to claim a definitive break from the accepted theory, but it is a sign that something could well be amiss."
Basically, particles aren't decaying into different particles with the same frequency as predicted. If validated it could point to the Higgs particle having a charge and there would be a huge ripple effect seen in the Standard Model.


Symmetry Magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2012/06/18/babar-data-may-hint-at-new-physics/

The Muon

Ever wanted to learn what a muon is but don't have time for a long explanation? This is a very good 60 second lesson from Symmetry Magazine.

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000955

Voyager 1 is on the edge of interstellar space

Summary:

Voyager 1, a satellite launched by NASA in late 1977, is on the edge of 
interstellar space. Based on an increase of high energy particles, the satellite 
could cross over into interstellar space at any time. 

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18458478 

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20120614.html 

Colossal telescope given go-ahead

Summary: The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is given the go ahead to be built. It will have a primary mirror some 40m in diameter, and will be built on top of a mountain in Chile. When completed it will be the largest optical telescope in the world. It will see in visible and near-infared. It will hopefully uncover some of the mysteries surrounding dark energy. BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18396853 And as always, if you have any questions on the news story or something else that seems up my ally, leave a comment and I will do my best to answer it.

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft

An American company has launched a spacecraft which succesfully docked with the ISS and landed in the ocean.


BBC News: docking - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18195772
landing - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18273811


Off topic: Don't expect any news to be very immediate over the summer due to my
limited Internet access.

Nations to share giant telescope

Summary: South Africa, Australia and New Zealand will host the biggest radio telescope
ever built.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18194984

Majorana particle

Summary: A particle that is the opposite of itself (it does not have an antimatter equivalent) was theorized by the crazy scientist Ettore Majorana. After 75 years it seems as if Dutch scientists may have found this mysterious particle that could hold a key to learning more about dark matter.


BBC News:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17695944


SciShow: http://youtu.be/rOztrDmFFWM
(The above video also includes info on the possible discovery of life on Mars)

More antimatter on youtube

The search for antimatter: http://youtu.be/Oo8a9FCgnfk

CERN on youtube

I just found CERN's youtube channel. If you are interested consider subscribing or just checking often. I will post the ones I find intriguing on here.


Alpha2 Antimatter: http://youtu.be/yY02yPC8BEo


Higgs Search update: http://youtu.be/iK4Qp9l8BG8


Antimatter: http://youtu.be/ayB2HKqB_XM

LHC is back on air!

Summary:

The LHC has reopened with higher energies (4TeV per beam) and scientists look forward to 
renewing the search for the Higgs and continuing on to new physics. 

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17625123 

CERNTV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQfUFi9Gy3Y

Matter vs Antimatter

Summary: A discussion on how supercomputing is/can be used to study the differences between antimatter and normal matter.


Symmetry Breaking: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2012/03/29/supercomputing-the-difference-between-matter-and-antimatter/

Apollo 11 lost engines

Summary:

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says he has found the F-1 engines that carried Apollo 
11 to the first Moon landing, and will try to raise them from the sea bed.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17544565 

Super-Earths 'in the billions'

Summary:

After surveying many red dwarf stars, scientists have concluded that there may 
be hundreds of super-earths within the habitable zones of their respective 
stars. 

BBC News:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17532470

Cassini spies Saturn moon geysers

Summary:

The Cassini spacecraft captures striking images from flying by three moons of 
Saturn, including new pictures of Enceladus's gushing geysers.

BBC News:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17550834

Dead stars 'to guide spacecraft

Summary:

German scientists have hypothesised a way to use pulsars to locate spacecraft 
like a GPS. However the technology is far off until engineers can miniaturise 
the necessary X-ray detecting technology. 

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17557581 

Survey gets a grip on dark energy

Summary:

Astronomers measure the precise distance to over a quarter of a million galaxies to gain new insights into the influence of dark energy on the Universe.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17559286

(These next few posts will probably be summaries from BBC as I have very little time right now.)

C, the speed limit

The Icarus collaboration has proven that neutrinos do not violate the speed of light.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17364682

CERN Press release: http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2011/PR19.11E.html

Symmetry Magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2012/03/16/new-neutrino-measurement-finds-particles-obeying-speed-limit/

Antimatter under a microscope?

Scientists at CERN are extremely close to being able to look at an atom of anti hydrogen under a microscope.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17284822

New data from the Tev

After sifting through more data from the Tevatron, there are hints of a particle between 115 and 135 GeV with a certainty of 2.2 sigma. (Not enough to call it a discovery.) The LHC has found a suggestive "bump" as well at the same mass even though the experiments conducted to get the data were extremely different.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17269647
Quantum Diaries: http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2012/03/07/the-higgs-boson-won%E2%80%99t-be-playing-hide-and-seek-much-longer/

Symmetry Magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2012/03/07/tevatron-experiments-see-possible-signs-of-the-higgs-boson-in-favored-region/

One in a Billion

LHCb, an experiment within the LHC, has further proven that the standard model is correct. (Much to my disappointment.) They have watched B mesons to determine how many decay in which manner. Their data lined up with what the standard model dictated so it seems as if the standard model is gaining validity.

Quantum Diaries: http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2012/03/05/lhcb-finds-a-few-very-special-events-out-of-10-billions/

New antimatter development

Data from the Tevatron has further solidified unexpected data from the LHC regarding how particles decay. It is not quite at four sigmas of certainty but it is enough to make scientists think about the implications.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17200308Fermilab

Updates on Faster than Light Neutrinos

It turns out the particles may not have exceeded the universal speed limit. After further tests it was determined that a glitch in the GPS synchronising may have accounted for the faster time.

Science Mag: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/02/breaking-news-error-undoes-faster.html?ref=hp#.T0U_N0pYVRc.twitter

However later scientists discovered another possible glitch that made the particle appear to travel slower than reality. It is unsure which factor influences the recorded time more. As with most of science, more tests will be needed.

Science Mag: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/02/official-word-on-superluminal-ne.html?ref=hp