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February, 2005 Archives | Homepage
The Invisible Galaxy
It is there, but cannot be seen. Yet, it has been found. MSNBC.com reports that astronomers have discovered an invisible galaxy called VIRGOHI21. Located in Virgo (50 million light years away) the galaxy has no visible stars. Astronomers used radio telescopes to detect the galaxy since regular telescopes cannot see it. Scientists believe the galaxy may be made of up dark matter, which cannot be seen with the naked eye. Space.com offers an explanation of dark matter in this article.
Posted on February 28, 2005
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World Population To Soar
A new report from the United Nations Population Division finds
that the global population is projected to soar 40% to 9.1 billion by 2050. The majority of the population growth will occur in third world countries. The U.N. report
also indicates that India's population will overtake China's.
"We must take more urgent action to promote access to reproductive
health, including family planning, and fight HIV/AIDS to save
millions from AIDS and maternal death, as well as to reduce poverty
in developing countries," said UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive
Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said after reading the figures.
Posted on February 27, 2005
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Seeing is Believing
Peter Jennings hosted a very interesting UFO special on ABC News called, Peter Jennings Reporting: UFOs -- Seeing Is Believing. Jennings covered recent UFO sightings, Roswell, alien abductions, the possiblity of extraterrestials and the difficulties of space travel.
It was great to see a succinct example of advanced space travel
by a renowned physicist from City College who simply folded a piece of paper in half to show that the quickest distance between two points is not a straight line -- but a worm hole. On alien abductions, Jennings, to his credit, picked abductees who
were very credible. As for Roswell, Jennings is clearly not a
believer and he left out some information. The most interesting part of the show was a feature on the National UFO Reporting Center, which record UFO sightings. Jennings said that the military, National Weather Service and NASA routinely direct UFO-related calls to the Center. The nonprofit National UFO Reporting Center is run by Peter B. Davenport. The center only makes money from the newsletter, video sales and discussion fees. Video sale revenues help the center so if you
would like to help you you can by the video here:
http://www.nuforc.org/Video.html
Jennings said that 80 million people believe in UFOs and over 40
million people believe they have seen one. About the project itself
Jennings said, "I began this project with a healthy dose of skepticism
and as open a mind as possible. After almost 150 interviews with
scientists, investigators and with many of those who claim to have
witnessed unidentified flying objects, there are important questions
that have not been completely answered -- and a great deal not fully
explained."
Posted on February 24, 2005
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Tsunami Uncovers Ancient Indian City
The Tsunami that ravaged the coasts of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and killed over 200,000 people also revealed the relics on an ancient Indian city in Mahabalipuram, India. CBC news reports that the structures include carvings of animals like elephants, horses and lions. T. Satyamurthy, a senior archeologist with the Indian government, told the Associated Press that the structures could be part of the legendary seven pagodas.
Posted on February 23, 2005
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CDC: Bird Flu World's Top Threat
Dr. Julie Gerberding, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) said that Avian Flu currently poses the biggest
threat to the world. Bird Flu (H5N1) has been spreading in Southeast Asia over the past couple years beginning with an outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997. The disease has led to culls of chickens, ducks and other birds to try and stop the spread. In humans the disease has killed at least 45 people to date -- according to the latest numbers from the World
Health Organization. Reuters reported that Gerberding also said that 72% of those diagnosed with Avian Flu have perished. What is most worrying is that lately the disease has shown possible signs of spreading from person to person -- although only through close contact. Also, BBC reports that Oxford Scientists found that the Avian Flu can ravage many organs in the body and not just the lungs as previously thought. CDC and WHO officials are concerned that the virus will mutate and spread rapidly from person to person like the flu does during flu season. If this were to happen Bird Flu could potentially kill hundreds of millions worldwide according to some experts -- like the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918 which killed tens of million. Read The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History by
John M. Barry for more information about the deadly influenza outbreak of 1918.
Posted on February 22, 2005
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Star Explosion Rocks Milky Way
The BBC reports that astronomers have recorded a huge star explosion 50,000 light years away. The explosion occured on the surface of SGR 1806-20, a magnetar -- a massive, rapidly rotating neutron star. Dr. Rob Fender, of Southampton University, UK, told the BBC, "We figure that it's probably the biggest explosion observed by humans within our galaxy since Johannes Kepler saw his supernova in 1604." Magnetars were "born" on March 5, 1979 when a massive gamma-ray burst swamped detectors.
Posted on February 21, 2005
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