Atlantis Lands - Shuttle Missions Over Forever!
Yes, we watched it 'live'...a memorable moment. The space shuttle 'Atlantis' touched down after its eleven day mission into space at 5.56am local Florida time. It landed at the Kennedy Space Centre. A poignant moment to see this amazing craft land after over 30 missions into space. This signals the end of the 30 year shuttle program. It now leaves the Russians as the only means for the rest of the world to travel to the ISS (International Space Station).
Mammoth Find
A piece of bone with a picture of a mammoth incised onto it has been discovered in Florida. The bone was heavily pregnated by minerals which means it can't be carbon dated but as mammoths (and the similar mastodons) became extinct 13,000 years ago it's thought it must be older than this. By our calculations this means it's from around the Upper Paleolithic era (Old Stone Age). There's risk it could be a forgery so a research team of archaeologists, paleontologists, forensic anthropologists, materials science engineers, and artists all looked at the item carefully and have stated it's legit!. It would have been carved by those hunting these animals at the time so that's quite exciting. It's the oldest find of this type in the Western Hemisphere.
Read more about this find by clicking HERE
Angels and Demons
Remember Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons' where they desperately tracked down a bottle of anti-matter that could destroy the world. Well, CERN have created the real thing. They've managed to store anti-matter (which is made from hydrogen atoms), for a record 16 minutes - 5,000 times longer than their previous attempt. It can't destroy the world though...we can't make enough of it. Well done again to the CERN teams! Want to know more about anti-matter....you can't get better than this CERN site: www.press.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter.
Endeavour Launch Scrubbed...for now!
The launch of the space shuttle 'Endeavour' was today scrubbed due to a faulty thermostat on one of the fuel lines which ensures the fuel doesn't freeze whilst in space. It's believed there is a short on one of the LCA (load control assembly) which is a bit like a switch box. Although there are two heaters, NASA didn't want to risk launching and then having the other fail leaving the shuttle in big trouble. The thermostat could not be activated during launch procedure, so the launch was scrubbed (postponed) for at least 72 hours. The next scheduled launch is possibly on 3rd May.NASA engineers will now drain the fuel, gain entry to the aft (back end) of the shuttle and do some trouble-shooting.
est shuttle in the fleet, yet it's soon to be making it's last trip into space as the 30 year shuttle program is coming to an end.It will have onboard the $2 million Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), a particle physics detector that will stay on the International Space Station and scan the universe for evidence of dark matter and anti-matter. This is the 25th trip for the Endeavour after it first blasted into space in 1992 and will carry six crew members.
The next scheduled shuttle to launch into space will be the Atlantis - the very final shuttle launch. After that, astronauts travelling to the International Space Station will have to rely on Russian space capsules to hitch a ride on.
Endeavour launch: Friday 29th April from NASA Kennedy Space Centre. Launch time: 3.47 local Florida time.
Click HERE to read more about the AMS-02
Click HERE to read more about the NASA Shuttles (includes official countdown clock)
Earth Hour 2011
What are you doing at 8.30 - 9.30pm on Saturday 26 March 2011?
It's Earth Hour, when lights all around the globe will switch off to remind us of the tremendous amount of non-renewable fossil fuels that go into providing our light, heat and power. Our world depends on this energy, but there's much we can reduce. There's also renewable methods we can use to source this energy. It's just one hour which reminds us about how we can do our bit for the other 8759 hours in the year!
Here's five BIG things you can do today to help our wonderful planet!
1. Go to: www.earthhour.org.au and learn more about Earth Hour
2. Take shorter showers (saves water & energy) Click HERE to find out the size of your footprint 
3. Really make the effort to switch off unused appliances
4. Switch to Green Energy or install solar panels
5. Go to: www.planetpatrol.info/100tips.html
In Queensland, a major dugong habitat is set to be disturbed by plans to dredge Gladstone Port which will become the base of one of the world's biggest liquid natural gas exporters.This is really going to affect the dugongs as they're already starving after the Queensland floods which would disturbe their habitats and feeding grounds (they graze on sea grass). Over six million cubic tonnes will be dredged from the basin starting in July by Van Oord and Dredging International Australia.
The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) says the dredging will be the final straw for the dugongs in this area. The Queensland government is conducting a study on the impact the floods had on marine life and want the dredging project to be delayed until the report is finished. Sounds pretty sensible to us! Whilst the Qld government say stringent monitoring of wildlife is taking place, it seems pointless if we know enough to say for certain that we need to let the feeding grounds re-establish and the dugongs recover before even thinking about dredging.
A new dredging project could kill off threatened dugongs that are already starving from the floods in central Queensland, conservationists say.
More info www.theage.com.au/environment/last-straw-for-starving-dugongs-20110304-1bi9g.html
The rocket was carrying the 'Glory satellite' which was to have been on a three-year mission to analyse how airborne particles and solar radiation affect Earth's climate. A duplicate satellite is now planned to be launched in 2013. It's easy to just see this disaster in terms of the millions of dollars wasted, but instead think of the trillions of hours of development, testing and building by scientists, engineers and managers and how they felt when they saw their hopes crash into the Pacific ocean.
A volcano in Iceland called Mount Eyjafjallokull has erupted throwing millions of tons of fine volcanic ash into the sky. This is now being blown across northern Europe and has caused every flight due to pass through it's cloud to be cancelled. In just one day, up to 17,000 flights will be cancelled. Many people are sleeping in airports or have returned home with their holiday plans in tatters. Many people in Iceland are being evacuated from flooding as the volcano has melted some areas of glaciers.
Experts aren't sure how long the ban on flights will be in place. The volcano's last erruption in 1821 lasted for two years! This year's eruption started on 20 March and again on 14 April. Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced 'avah-luerg-kh' ..sort of!) is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an area of seismic activity due to being a 'fault line' (where two or more tectonic plates meet).
Mid-Atlantic Ridge ~ absoluteastronomy.com Eyjafjallajökull ash path ~ fireflyeco.com
Chinese farms most polluting
A study on pollution was held back from being published by the Ministry of Agriculture in China because it showed that Chinese farms pollute more than industry because of all the fertilisers and pesticides that end-up in waterways from the fields. The Ministry had always said that farms only contributed a tiny amount of pollutants, but now the report is out everyone knows the truth. The Ministry says it will reduce pesticide and fertiliser use and expand biogas generation from animal waste to protect the environment.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/09/china-farms-pollution Image:Alex Hofford/EPA
Badger cull
TB (tuberculosis) is a bacteria spread between warm-blooded mammals. This has cost Britain a lot of money as they have to test all the cows and slaughter them if they test positive then compensate the farmer. The British government has been culling (widespread killing in a specific area) the lovely badger as they believe they spread TB. A study showed that after a badger cull, the TB returned and in some places was even worse. Still, they are now about to do a huge cull in Wales. We want to know if it's only badgers who spread the disease. Badgers are beautiful and rare creatures...and about to become a lot rarer!
Read more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/feb/10/badger-culls-fail-spread-cattle-tuberculosis Image: John Connor
Zero-emission car 
Mitsubishi have just developed the 'i-MIEV', a car that doesn't have an exhaust pipe. In fact, it doesn't even have an engine as it's entirely run on electricity. Not a drop of petrol needs pass it's lips. It's being released in Japan and will be available to the public in 2010. Whilst it's very cheap to run, it's quite expensive to buy (AU$40,000)...and that's with a government subsidy for the environment. 
About 80 percent of venture capital investments in 2008 in the US were in the clean energy and energy efficiency sector. These industries known as 'cleantech' were growing strongly before the recession and are expected to take off once consumer confidence return. With pressures on fuel, electricity and water supply it is an area which will continue to be heavily invested in.
Massive volcanic cloud threatens planes.
A massive volcanic eruption on a remote Russian island (Matua Island) north of Japan has created a giant ash cloud presents a threat to passing planes according to geologists. The erruption started Thursday and still continues. The ash cloud is eight kms high and has spread 310 kilometres to the west.
China aims to lead in renewable energy
China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gasses with 80 per cent of its electricity coming from coal-fired powered stations. This has made some of its industrial cities barely habitable with residents suffering from eye, skin and breathing problems from the pollution.
However, China now plans to become the world's leader in renewable energy, throwing massive amounts of money into wind, solar and other environmentally friendly forms of electricity to power this emerging economic giant into the future.