In the News:
Chicxulub Impact Did Not Extinct Dinos - A paper published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month suggests
that the asteroid that landed in Mexico near Chicxulub and is commonly
blamed for the extinction of the dinosaurs 65.3 million years ago probably
didn't do the deadly deed. A core sample extracted almost a mile below
the crater's surface seems to show that Cretaceous dinosaur fossils were
embedded in rock layers for almost 300,000 years after the asteroid hit.
The scientists suggest that another impact, perhaps one known to have
landed in India, might be the culprit. The Mexican asteroid, however,
along with volcanic activity, probably contributed to the decline of dinosaur
population prior to the final extinction event.
Mars
Was Once Wet - For years scientists debated whether the planet Mars
ever had free flowing water upon it's surface. NASA announced last month
that it had brought this discussion to an end when it's rover, Opportunity,
discovered clear evidence that the place were it stood once was, as a
NASA scientist put it, "soaking wet." The evidence is based
on rocks examined by the rover showing distinct layering and pockmarked
indentation. According to a NASA spokesman, "This distinctive texture
is familiar to geologists as the sites where crystals of salt minerals
form within rocks that sit in briny water." The fact that Mars once
had plentiful water is a sign that it may have once sustained some primitive
form of life.
No
Moon Means No Life? - Richard Lathe, a molecular biologist at Pieta
Research and Edinburgh University, has advanced a theory that without
the moon no life would have developed on Earth. According to Lathe's ideas,
without the tremendous tidal forces that the moon caused early in its
existence, the Earth's seas would not have been stirred up enough to create
sugars, bases, amino acids, and other basic components necessary for life.
Since most scientists think the association of a large moon with a small
planet like Earth is a very rare event, it could mean that life is equally
rare throughout the universe.
Asteroid
has Close Encounter with Earth - An asteroid one-hundred feet in diameter
passed close by Earth on March 18th. The space rock went by at a distance
of 26,500 miles, a very close encounter by astronomical standards. Its
path brought it closest to Earth over the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Even
though the asteroid passed close, there was no danger of a collision with
our planet and such encounters happen on the average of once every two
years. "This particular close approach is unusual only in the sense that
scientists know about it," said a NASA spokesperson.
NASA
Scramjet Test Successful - NASA got an unpiloted aircraft to fly at
speeds in excess of seven times the speed of sound last month. The 12-foot
long X-43A was launched from a B-52 aircraft and was boosted to a speed
of March 5 and a height of 100,000 feet by a rocket. Then craft's experimental
SCRAM jet started and the vehicle achieved a speed of over 5,000 miles-an-hour.
After the test was completed, as planned, the unmanned craft plunged into
the Pacific Ocean.
The SCRAM jet engine being tested may allow aircraft to fly at speeds and altitudes only achievable now by rockets.
What's New at the Museum:
Phantom
Ships - They
come sailing though the night into sailors' nightmares. Some are legend,
some are illusion, but a few of these "ghost" ships are for
real - >Full Story
Ask the Curator:
Bird
Migration - I have got a question. I was studying about migratory
birds and was wondering how can they find the right direction? Do they
use the sixth sense? Thank you Sincerely - Deepesh S.
If you list the ability to sense Earth's magnetic fields with your brain as a sixth sense, I guess you could say that they do. Homing pigeons use this technique. It's a bit like have a built in compass. To prove this is how they navigate scientists put little hats on the pigeons heads with attached magnets designed to confuse the natural magnetic field and the birds flew off in the wrong direction.
Other species use different methods. Some birds navigate by using the sunset and stars. Buntings put in a room with an artificial sky projected on the ceiling will head one way with a fall star projection and the opposite with a spring star projection. Geese use landmarks to do their migration and must learn the route the first time they fly it with their parents. Because of their dependence on seeing the ground geese can get easily confused in fog and land in unexpected places.
It is likely that some species use a combination of the above methods. There may also be methods used by birds to navigate that science has not yet discovered.
Congo
Close Encounter - In April of 1984 a member of a government expedition
was washing himself in a lake near Tele in the Congo when he saw a remarkable
sight: About a thousand feet away in the water was a brownish-black creature
with a long neck, long tail and four legs. Unfortunately, the only camera
available had its film completely exposed so no photograph was taken.
For this reason the incident will go into history as another unproved
close encounter with mokele-mbembe,
the dinosaur-like creature that supposedly inhabits the remote reaches
of the Congo.
In the Sky:
Lyrid
Meteor Shower - On April 21 the Lyrid meteor shower will be reaching
its peak. Expect to see a shooting stars every one to five minutes. Viewing
should be especially good towards midnight after the moon has set.
Observed:
Aztec
Crash Conference - UFO investigators met in Aztec, New Mexico, for
the seventh annual Aztec UFO Symposium last month. Attendees at the conference
exchanged information and ideas about the supposed crash of a UFO in Hart
Canyon about 12 northeast of Aztec in 1948. The spaceship was said to
be 100 feet in diameter and contained 16 dead humanoids. As the story
goes, military personnel removed the bodies to a secret location. Among
the topics at the conference besides the purported crash were contacts
with extraterrestrials, government cover-ups of UFO reports, and the crop
circle phenomenon.
On the Tube:
Currently we are only able to give accurate times and dates for these programs in the United States. Check local listings in other locations.
NOVA: Ancient Creature of the Deep - Meet the coelacanth, a bizarre
fish and "living fossil" that has changed little in its 400 million years
on Earth.. On PBS: April 6 @ 8PM; ET.
NOVA: Lost Treasures of Tibet - A crack restoration team tries to
prevent priceless medieval Buddhist murals from crumbling into dust. On
PBS: April 27 @ 8PM; ET.
Noah's Ark: The True Story- Search for the truth behind the story
of Noah and his ark. Find out how Noah could have built such a structure
and whether or not a great flood took place on the earth. The search for
remains of the ark continues today. On the Discovery Channel: Apr
04 @ 10:00 PM; Apr 05 @ 01:00 AM; ET.
Ancient
Evidence: Viking Voyages - Celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Leif
Ericson's discovery of North America. He sailed from Iceland, via Greenland,
to New Foundland to build the first "European" settlement on the new continent
almost 500 years before Columbus arrived. On Discovery Channel: Apr 15
@ 09:00 PM; Apr 16 @ 12:00 AM; ET.
Ancient Evidence: Building the Impossible - Explore the wide context
of the ancient wonders for the modern world. Revisit the historical significance
of the pyramids, Babylon's hanging gardens, the temple of Artemis, the
statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum, the Colossus and the Pharos of Alexandria.
On Discovery Channel: Apr 22 @ 09:00 PM; Apr 23 @ 12:00 AM; ET.
Great
Sphinx - The brooding figure of the Great Sphinx stands guard over
the pyramids of Giza. With the head of a man and body of a lion, this
240-foot ruin may depict Pharaoh Khafre, son of Khufu, the builder of
the Great Pyramid. But speculation still abounds as to its birth. We'll
use computers to flesh out its possible original face. On History Channel:
April 6 @ 6pm ET/PT.
Bible
Code - Is there a prophetic, highly accurate code locked within the
Bible that outlines past and future events? Does the Code contain hidden
messages about people like Napoleon, Einstein, and Hitler, and key world
events like WWII, the Kennedy brothers' assassinations, and 9/11? More
frightening are references to future events--including Earth's impending
end. We take a balanced look through the eyes of Code supporters and critics
and let viewers determine its accuracy in predicting the future. On History
Channel: April 11 @ 7pm ET/PT; April 15 @ 8pm ET/PT.
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