AScribe Science News Service articles from April 2004

AScribe Science News Service archives from April 2004

Spirit Finds Multi-Layer Hints of Past Water at Mars' Gusev Site.
April 1, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Clues from a wind-scalloped volcanic rock on Mars investigated by NASA's Spirit rover suggest repeated possible exposures to water inside Gusev Crater,...

Purdue University Team Wins Rube Goldberg National Election.
April 5, 2004... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Purdue University Society of Manufacturing Engineers took home the winning vote - and trophy - for their election-themed entry into today's (Saturday, 4/3)...

NASA Spacecraft Locks the Vault on Its Sapphire, Diamond Payload.
April 5, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- Since October 2001, NASA's Genesis spacecraft has exposed specially designed collector arrays of sapphire, silicon, gold and diamond to the Sun's solar wind....

NASA's Aura Satellite Delivered to Launch Site.
April 5, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Aura spacecraft, the latest in the Earth Observing System series, has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., to begin launch preparations. ...

Robert Detrick Appointed to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Facilities and Operations Post.
April 6, 2004... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., April 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Senior Scientist Robert Detrick has been appointed Vice President for Marine Facilities and Operations at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution...

Scripps Nierenberg Prize Awarded to Renowned Primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall; Annual Award Recognizes Science in the Public Interest.
April 7, 2004... Byline: University of California, San Diego LA JOLLA, Calif., April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- The fourth annual award honoring the memory of William A. Nierenberg, who led Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, as director for more than...

NASA Extends Mars Rovers' Mission.
April 8, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA has approved an extended mission for the Mars Exploration Rovers, handing them up to five months of overtime assignments as they finish their three-month...

Two Storms Caught in the Act on Saturn.
April 8, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Three months before Saturn arrival, the Cassini spacecraft has observed two storms in the act of merging into one larger storm. This is only the second time...

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Unique Center Supports Regional Study of Latin America.
April 8, 2004... Byline: University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee MILWAUKEE, April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- When Peter Fantle enrolled at UWM, he planned to combine geology and archeaology for his graduate degree. Instead, a study abroad course completely changed...

NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Share New Space Vision With Local School.
April 12, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Victor Lebacqz, along with a team member from the Mars Exploration Rover mission, will visit Washington Middle School, a...

Purdue University Professor: Look Past Violence, Differences to Live With Global Neighbors.
April 13, 2004... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- As war and violence continue to displace ethnic groups, a Purdue University anthropologist says the world could learn a lesson about tolerance from the pages of...

Invisible Giants Exposed in New Spitzer Image.
April 13, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Hidden behind a curtain of dusty darkness lurks one of the most violent pockets of star birth in our galaxy. Called DR21, this stellar nursery is so draped...

Chabot Space & Science Center Celebrates Astronomy Day on Saturday, April 24 With Activites, Opening of New Exhibit One Giant Leap: A Moon Odyssey.
April 13, 2004... Byline: Chabot Space & Science Center OAKLAND, Calif., April 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Chabot Space & Science Center joins with Astronomy Magazine, Meade Instruments, Corp., and observatories and planetaria throughout the country to...

NASA Virtual News Briefing: Success With New Planet-Hunting Tool.(Brief Article)
April 13, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- On Thursday April 15, at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT), astronomers will explain how they used a new technique to find an extrasolar planet -- a planet orbiting...

NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Bring Mars to Local Schools.
April 13, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA Assistant Administrator David Saleeba along with team members from the Mars Exploration Rover Mission will visit two NASA Explorer Schools on Thursday,...

Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting 2004: News Conference on Earthquake Prediction.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2004... Byline: Seismological Society of America PALM SPRINGS, Calif., April 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- Due to requests from the media, the Annual meeting of Seismological Society of America is hosting a news conference regarding the prediction made...

Cosmic Magnifying Glass: Distant Star Reveals Planet.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- Like Sherlock Holmes holding a magnifying glass to unveil hidden clues, modern day astronomers used cosmic magnifying effects to reveal a planet orbiting a...

Mars Rover Finds Rock Resembling Meteorites That Fell to Earth.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Opportunity rover has examined an odd volcanic rock on the plains of Mars' Meridiani Planum region with a composition unlike anything seen on Mars...

2004 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award Winners Announced.
April 19, 2004... Byline: The Wistar Institute PHILADELPHIA, April 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- The joint winners of the 2004 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award are Sue Goetinck Ambrose, a science writer for The Dallas Morning News, and W. Wayt Gibbs,...

NASA, GLOBE Launch Worldwide Earth Day Experiment in Celebration of GLOBE's Tenth Anniversary.
April 19, 2004... Byline: National Center for Atmospheric Research BOULDER, Colo., April 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA and an international science and education outreach program called GLOBE are conducting a worldwide experiment on Earth Day, April 22,...

San Diego Supercomputer Center Increases System Performance With Largest Implementation to Date of IBM's High-Performance Switch; Upgraded Computational Power Enables Advanced Scientific Projects.
April 20, 2004... Byline: Ohio Supercomputer Center LA JOLLA, Calif., April 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) today announced that it has completed the largest installation to date of IBM's high-performance switch. As part...

Kids Follow in Parents' Rover Tracks.
April 20, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- When children of JPL employees ask their moms and dads, "What do you do at work?" the answer may be something like, "I work on Mars," or "I study asteroids...

NASA Successfully Launches Gravity Probe B Mission.
April 21, 2004... Byline: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center HUNTSVILLE, Ala., April 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- The NASA space vehicle designed to test two important predictions of Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity launched today from Vandenberg...

Indiana University Helps Dominican Republic Sink Shipwreck Museum.
April 22, 2004... Byline: Indiana University BLOOMINGTON, Ind., April 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Archaeologists from Indiana University Bloomington are helping the government of the Dominican Republic to open a second underwater museum featuring cannons,...

New York City Science and Engineering Fair Winners Announced.
April 22, 2004... Byline: New York Academy of Sciences NEW YORK, April 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Winners of the 2004 New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF) received prizes totaling almost $2,000,000 in cash and scholarships today at Polytechnic...

Arctic Ozone Loss More Sensitive to Climate Change Than Thought.
April 23, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- A cooperative study involving NASA scientists quantifies, for the first time, the relationship between Arctic ozone loss and changes in the temperature of...

Surfing the Cosmos Gets Better.(Brief Article)
April 23, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's award-winning, educational Web site Space Place has been revamped to make it even more out of this world. The site targets elementary school...

Newly Discovered Diary Chronicles Einstein's Last Years; Longtime Friend Took Notes on Daily Conversations, Activities.
April 26, 2004... Byline: Princeton University PRINCETON, N.J., April 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- Librarians at Princeton University have discovered a diary written by one of Albert Einstein's closest friends, a woman who recorded the scientist's day-to-day...

Astronomer Prepares for Two Comets Streaking Toward Earth's Neighborhood.
April 26, 2004... Byline: University of Chicago CHICAGO, April 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- University of Chicago astronomer Patrick Palmer last studied a comet in 2000, but he is the member of research teams that will make scientific observations of two comets...

JPL Open House Takes Visitors to the Planets and Beyond.
April 26, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will hold an open house on Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., taking visitors...

Next Mars Rover News Briefing Is April 28.(Brief Article)
April 26, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., April 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- Members of the science and engineering teams for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project will present a news update on the progress of the rovers Spirit and...

Association for Computing Machinery Honors Innovators Who Changed Scientific World; David Haussler, Judea Pearl Built Bridges Beyond Computer Science.
April 27, 2004... Byline: Association for Computing Machinery NEW YORK, April 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has recognized Dr. David Haussler and Dr. Judea Pearl for separate groundbreaking contributions that have...

Professor and Wife Turn Caddisfly Cases Into One-of-a-Kind Jewelry.
April 29, 2004... Byline: The National Technology Transfer Center WHEELING, W.Va., April 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Many of us who look at Caddisflies think yuck, insects (unless you're a trout, and think yum, dinner). But Kathy and Ben Stout see something...

May 'Star Trak': Venus Will Plunge From the Heights During May.
April 30, 2004... Byline: Indiana University BLOOMINGTON, Ind., April 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- As evening twilight falls during early May, Venus will blaze forth high in the west, dominating everything in sight as it has done for several months. You may be...