Current science and technology events

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April 19, 2005

• The American Dietetic Association and the USDA release a new food guide pyramid, called MyPyramid. The aim of the new dietary guidelines, is to guide people to make healthier choices about what they are eating. (EurekAlert!)

April 18, 2005

• Physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory announce that they have created a long sought after state of matter by smashing atoms in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Surprisingly, this new state of matter behaves like a hot and dense liquid made up of basic atomic particles such as quarks and gluons, and not like a gas as expected. Researchers claim that all matter in the universe for a fraction of a second after the Big Bang was in the form of this liquid. (MSNBC), (BNL News)

April 16, 2005

• The NASA autonomous DART spacecraft failed to complete its mission because of lack of fuel and "retires" itself. (BBC)

April 15, 2005

• Soyuz TMA-6 lifts off at dawn from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the Expedition 11 crew to the International Space Station. (Fox News) (Yahoo! News)
• A Saab Gripen fighter aircraft has been undertaking an air-to-air refueling test campaign with a Boeing 707 tanker at Saab's facility in Linköping, Sweden. The campaign had the objective of verifying the Gripen's air-to-air refueling capabilities with a NATO standard compatible tanker. (PrimeZone)
• A fossilised dinosaur pelvis, most likely belonging to a theropod, contaning eggs has been found in Jiangxi Province, China. The dinosaurs reproductive system shares similarities with both reptiles and modern birds. (BBC)

April 14, 2005

• Researchers have identified possibly the oldest stars in the universe. The stars named HE1327-2326 and HE0107-5240 have a very primitive composition, containing very low amount of heavy elements. (ABC) (BBC)
• Microsoft launches a Nupedia-like version of its Encarta encyclopedia where anonymous users can submit their new or edited entries to be approved by a paid staff of editors. Server problems have so far delayed launch until later tonight. (FairfaxDigital) (Business Week)
• Michael D. Griffin takes the helm as NASA administrator after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate the day before. (SpaceflightNow)

April 13, 2005

• The College of American Pathologists asks laboratories worldwide to destroy a flu sample they sent in their testing kits. Canadian National Microbial Laboratory identified it as a strain of Asian flu virus that killed millions in 1957. People born after 1968 would have no antibodies to resist it. WHO supports the plea. (CNN) (Yahoo)
• National Geographic Society and IBM support a project to take DNA samples from various people all over the world to track migration of Homo sapiens from Africa (Reuters) (New York Times)

April 12, 2005

• MareNostrum, Europe's most powerful (and the world's fourth most powerful) supercomputer, is booted up for the first time in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain. (BusinessWeek)
• A German research team have developed a laser that can detect cancerous cells by measuring the elasticity of biopsied cells. Heathy cells have a cytoskeleton making them relatively rigid, cancerous cells have a diminished cytoskeleton and are stretchy. (Nature)

April 11, 2005

• A new transistor speed record has been set by researchers at the University of Illinois. The three material layer transistor can operate at 604 GHz, which is three times faster than the fastest silicon-based device. NewScientist
• NASA announces the third extension to the Mars Exploration Rover program and will support the rovers Spirit and Opportunity for up to 18 months. (BBC)

April 8, 2005

• Scientists have shown that the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum hides from the human immune system by continuously changing the protein PfEMP1 that it deposits on the surface of infected cells. (BBC)
• Researchers at the Australian research institute, the CSIRO, have created transgenic Arabidopsis that can synthesise omega-3 fatty acids. If this technology was incorporated in genetically modified food crops it would have the potential to reduce the demand on world fish stocks. (ABC)

April 7 2005

• Sony has patented an idea of transmitting data directly to the brain. (PhysOrg)
• The space shuttle Discovery is rolled onto its launch platform, in time for a launch in May for the first launch of shuttle since January 2003. A crack was found in the fuel tank's foam insulation, however NASA officials say that it will not prevent the mission. (BBC)
• Researchers at the University of Colorado have created a new model of the Earth's early atmosphere. The model indicates up to 40 percent of the early atmosphere was hydrogen, under these high-hygrogen conditions the formation of organic compounds like amino acids, and ultimately life are more likely. (EurekAlert!)

April 6 2005

• Computer reconstruction of the 7 million year old fossilised remains of Toumaï (Sahelanthropus tchadensis), confirm the fossil as the oldest known hominid. (Nature) (BBC)
• Studies in mice hove shown that a low dose of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in cannabis, can protect blood vessels from the formation of arterial blockages. (Nature)
• The prevalence of nanobacteria is becoming more accepted as evidence mounts for their role in the spread of disease; and perhaps the formation of raindrops in the atmosphere. (EurekAlert)
• Hitachi has increased data density on harddrives to 230Gigabit per square inch using perpendicular recording. This could lead to 1-inch 20 Gigabyte and 1 Terabyte 3.5-inch drives by 2007. (ElectronicNews)

April 5 2005

• The IUCN announced that one in four-of the 625 primate species and subspecies are at risk of extinction. (EurekAlert!)
• NASA researchers show that the Earth's northern and southern polar auroras are not mirror images of each other (EurekAlert!)
• Research has shown that polyethoxylated tallow amine (POEA). the surfactant used in herbicide Roundup, kills tadpoles. The finding could be a reason for the global decline in frog populations since Roundup is widely used and was believed to have no effect on animals . (Science)

April 4 2005

• The Vlog channel -- To kick off product re-branding and positioning efforts, Al Gore and Joel Hyatt appear at the NCTA convention and announce a new TV network, "Current." Current will be a national network "created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience." Formerly known as INdTV, Current is the same idea but with Google branding. (Yahoo!)

April 1 2005

• Scientists studying cyanobacteria 'fossils' at Meishan in southern China propose that the mass extinction that occurred 250 million years ago at the Permian-Triassic boundary happened in two phases. (BBC)

Past science and technology events by month

2005 in science: January February March
2004 in science: November December

(For earlier science and technology events, see October 2004 and preceding months)

News collections and sources

See: Wikipedia:Current science and technology events sources.

See also

• Science and technology at Wikinews