Science Over the Edge

In the News:

Identity of Titanic Victim Established after 90 Years - When the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, sailors from a rescue ship recovered the body of an "Unknown Child" a few days later from the seas nearby. The boy, who was never identified, was later buried along with 120 other Titanic victims in Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax. His identity remained a mystery until producers of the television series "Secrets of the Dead" worked with scientists and other researchers to track down his relatives using DNA. Tests showed that the thirteen-month-old victim was Eino Viljami Panula who was traveling with his mother and four brothers from Finland to join his father, John Panula, who was working in Pennsylvania. To determine Eino was the victim, scientists compared his DNA with that of his relatives that still reside in Finland.

Big Black Holes on Collision Course - 400 million light-years away two huge black holes are on a collision course and when they hit there could be an explosion of energy and gravitational waves that could warp the fabric of space itself. Scientists using the Chandra X-ray Observatory have been carefully studying the pair which are located in a bright, highly active galaxy known as NGC6240. Finding two black holes in one galaxy, say scientists, supports the idea that black holes can grow to enormous masses in the centers of galaxies by combining with other black holes. The two black holes are now about 3,000 light-years apart and will collide some time in the next few hundred million years according to the researchers Guenther Hasinger and Stefanie Komossa of the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The pair have submitted their findings for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

City Destroying Asteroids More Infrequent - New evidence says asteroids large enough to flatten a city hit Earth a little less frequently than originally thought. The revised estimates are the result of an examination of data from secret U.S. Defense Department satellites that watch the surface of the Earth for nuclear explosions. Over the past 8.5 years, the military satellites saw almost 300 detonations high in the atmosphere caused by meteors between one and 10 meters in diameter. Using this information scientists were able to extrapolate the rate at which larger objects should be hitting Earth. Small asteroids hit the atmosphere and release energy equivalent to 5,000 tons of TNT about once a year. Large asteroids creating explosions equivalent to 10 megatons of TNT hit one every 1,000 years. It was previously thought that these large asteroids might arrive as quickly as one every two or three centuries.

NASA to Explore Virtual Planets - NASA intends to explore some planets. Not with spacecraft, a least not yet, but instead with computers. The planets will exist only in cyberspace and be created by scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to find out how real habitable planets might look to future planet-finding probes. The researchers, led by Dr. Vikki Meadows, will try and simulate a number of different habitable planets with life forms. "We're trying to build a terrestrial planet inside a computer," she states. "This will help us determine what the signature of life on an extrasolar planet will look like, once we have the technology to study them." The scientists emphasize that they are not necessarily looking for intelligent life, but more likely microbial "bugs from space."

Island May Reappear - Seismologists in Italy are watching carefully to see if an island, which disappeared 170 years off the coast of Sicily, might suddenly reappear. The isle, which is the tip of a submerged volcano, last emerged in 1831 and disappeared again 6 months later. Currently the volcano's peak is under just 26 feet water and seismic signals indicate a new flow of lava maybe on the way. This might raise the top of the mountain till it can be seen above the water. The island has appeared four times in recorded history starting around 264-241 BC. At its last appearance the isle, which grew to a height of 213 feet and a circumference of about three miles, sparked competing territorial claims among nations including Britain, Spain and the Bourbon court of Sicily.

What's New at the Museum:

Who was the Father of Television? - Ever hear of Vladimir K. Zworykin? How about John Logie Baird? Or maybe you know the name of Paul Nipkow? If not, how about Charles Francis Jenkins? No? Well surely you have heard of Philo T. Farnsworth! Not him either? Well, who are these guys and can any of them take the credit of inventing the television? -Who was the Father of Television?

Ask the Curator:

Pygmy Mummy of the West - Do you have any information on the pygmy mummy found in a cave in Shirley Basin, Wyoming. I'm not sure of the date but have seen it mentioned in different places. - Anonymous

You are probably referring to the "Pedro Mountain Mummy." According to the story, gold prospectors found a 14-inch high figure in a cave in the Pedro Mountains (about 60 miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming) in 1932. The figure appeared to be that of a middle-aged man sitting cross-legged. The object was bought by Ivan T. Goodman, a Casper businessman and later examined by by Dr. Harry Shapiro of the American Museum of Natural History. Though other scientists suspected a hoax, Shapiro X-rayed the figure and declared it was a mummy. Later the mummy disappeared and now its whereabouts are unknown. While some have speculated that the figure was a member of a tribe of pygmy Native Americans, Dr. George Gill, professor of anthropology at the University of Wyoming, apparently examined the X-ray pictures taken by Shapiro and said that he thought the body was that of an infant or a fetus that had been afflicted with anencephaly, a congenital abnormality.

To tell you the truth I'm a little skeptical of the mummy interpretation. It seems much too convenient that the figure has disappeared completely and is no-longer available for further scientific examination. Perhaps somebody will find it in their attic and researchers can take a closer look at it with modern scientific equipment.

Lobotomy Anyone? - I can't find solid information on Lobotomy. I would be grateful if you could help me out (Don't worry. I won't be trying it on anyone!) -Vaswar

A lobotomy is an operation on the brain where the nerve fibers which connect the frontal and prefrontal cortex to the thalamus are severed. The operation was developed after some scientists observed that animals that had parts of their temporal lobes removed became calmer and easier to handle. Dr. Antônio Egas Moniz, a professor at the University of Lisbon Medical School, was the first to try a form of the operation on mentally disturbed human patients in the 1930's. Because the damage to the brain is permanent, he recommended it only in hopeless cases.

The form of the operation that became widely used in the late 1940s and early 50's was invented by American physician and clinical neurologist, Walter Freeman. Freeman would drive an ice pick though the patients skull and swing it back and forth to sever the necessary nerves. The operation was so simple that it only took a few minutes and could be done outside of a hospital. Despite Moniz's warning that it should only be used on a few desperate cases, the procedure was so favored that between 1939 and 1951, more than 18,000 lobotomies were performed in the United States.

The only problem this was that studies showed that the procedure really didn't work very well. With the development of new anti-psychotic and anti-depressive drugs in the 50's, the lobotomy fell out of favor and is now rarely used.

There is a lot more that can be said about this strange and disturbing episode in medical history and I recommend checking out http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n02/historia/lobotomy.htm for more information.

Green Fireballs - On December 5th, 1948, pilots flying over New Mexico reported seeing two "green fireballs." They appeared more than twenty minutes apart, each lasting on a few seconds. While such observations are usually thought to be meteorites, witnesses insisted that they were not, but appeared to be some kind fo peculiar "flare."

In the Sky:

Brilliant Morning Star - This month Venus may give you a hint at what the Star of Bethlehem may have looked like long ago. If you get up before sunrise you will see it near the east-southeast horizon blazing with amazing power. By December 6th it will be the brightest it will ever be and more brilliant than any object in the sky except the Sun and Moon.

Since it is so bright this month we can expect a rash of false UFO reports. Venus, sometimes called "The Queen of UFOs," has inspired more erroneous sightings than any other cause.

Observed:

The Whales of Lake Michigan- The educational publication "Michigan Studies Weekly," which is distributed to teachers in that state, got spoofed last month by an Internet site with a hoax article on freshwater whales that migrated within Lake Michigan. The article on the website was meant as a joke, but taken seriously by the Utah based publishers. The educational publication company retracted the story after a Michigan teacher called the editor and told him that there are no whales in Lake Michigan.

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: Mystery of the First Americans - The discovery of a 10,000-year-old skeleton embroils scientists in a debate over North America's first inhabitants. On PBS: DEC 10 8:00 PM; ET.

NOVA: Titanic's Lost Sister - Underwater explorer Robert Ballard uses sonar technology to find the Britannic, a ship lost in the Aegean in World War II. On PBS: DEC 17 8:00 PM; ET.

Return to Area 51 - Area 51 is a super-secret testing ground located in the remote Nevada desert. Explore new evidence shows that the Air Force not only tested planes here in the past, but the site serves as a final resting place for failed experimental planes. On the Discovery Channel: DEC 5 10:00 PM and 1:00 AM; DEC 7 4:00 PM; ET.

Crop Circles: Mysteries in the Fields - For the last 300 years unusual shapes have appeared in growing farm crops. Wheat, barley, soy, and maize: nothing seems immune to these spontaneous patterns, called crop circles. These bizarre glyphs are documented on every corner of the globe. On the Discovery Channel: DEC 5 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM; DEC 7 2:00 PM; ET.

The Moby Dick: True Story - Learn the true account of the sinking of the whaleship Essex by an enraged sperm whale, one of the most well-known marine disasters of the nineteenth century. Its enduring infamy is largely a result of Herman Melville's literary classic - Moby Dick. On the Discovery Channel: DEC 9 10:00 PM and 1:00 AM; DEC 14 6:00 PM; ET.

The Death of the Red Baron - The Red Baron was the greatest flying ace of World War I, and probably the world's most famous pilot. After claiming the lives of 120 allied flyers, he died of a single bullet wound that passed clear through his heart. Who shot Manfred von Richthofen? On the Discovery Channel: DEC 18 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM; DEC 21 1:00 PM; JAN 18 2003 1:00 PM; ET.

Hidden Riches - The painting "Madonna and Child" was discovered in a church attic; ordinary people find treasures in ordinary places; learn the value of Champagne found in a 80-year old sunken ship, a chair from Titanic and a collection of comic books and movie posters. On the TCL: DEC 26 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM; ET.

UFO Secrets - Hear personal accounts of UFO sightings from eyewitnesses who are convinced that what they saw was extraterrestrial. Average citizens, military officers and NASA personnel describe encounters that spark fear and controversy in the hearts of many. On the TCL: DEC 10 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM; ET.

Ripper Murders: Case Closed - Explore the bizarre life of American crime writer Patricia Cornwell as she embarks on her most ambitious venture to date - the unmasking of Jack the Ripper. On the TCL: DEC 9 10:00 PM and 1:00 AM; DEC 14 4:00 PM; ET.

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