Astronomers have directly observed the mysterious dark companion in the Epsilon Aurigae star system that has puzzled skywatchers since the 19th century.

Scientists captured close-up pictures of Epsilon Aurigae during its eclipse, which happens every 27 years. "Close up" in this case is a relative term, but the images zoom in enough to show the shape of the dark object's shadow. A new paper in Nature describes the images in detail.

In the midst of ordering PCB boards for my satellite, I read about a neat UK "CubeSail" satellite.  It's a sweeper for space, to clear out all the space junk that we're cluttering low earth orbit with.  It's basically a solar sail in reverse-- instead of propulsion, you use it to capture junk.



Now, this isn't needed for Project Calliope.  We will responsibly biodegrade in the most natural way possible-- flaming burn-up as our orbit decays into the atmosphere.  So we're tidy (and firey!)

There’s a good chance that you’re listening to music while reading this, and if you happen not to be, my bet is that you listen to music in the car, or at home, or while jogging. In all likelihood, you love music – simply love it.

Why?  What is it about those auditory patterns counting as “music” that makes us relish it so? 

The Unscientists 2010 awards



Shamelessly stealing the Festival Of Idiots central theme and with no proper credit given to its originator, The Rugbyologist, the Chatter Box proudly announces

The Unscientists 2010 Awards.


The rules, hereinafter known as 'the rules':

Now be it known that:

Although beneficial for health in general, a diet high in fruits and vegetables probably won't reduce your risk of cancer, according to a study led by researchers at Mt Sinai Hospital.

The analysis, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, looked at over eight years of dietary data from more than 400,000 people and found that the relationship between high consumption of fruits and vegetables and a reduced risk of cancer is not nearly as strong as previously reported.

Many studies have tested the idea and the results have been mixed; but none of the research so far has been able to confirm a link between fruit and vegetable intake and cancer resistance.

Last year, several studies suggested that individuals in Canada who had previously been vaccinated against seasonal influenza faced an increased risk of pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1).

Those studies have undergone further peer review and researchers writing in PLoS Medicine say their conclusions may be valid, though more research needs to be done to confirm the results.

Russian and US physicists have created a superheavy element made of atoms containing 117 protons that is roughly 40% heavier than lead.  The achievement fills in the final gap on the list of observed elements up to element 118.

The team produced the elusive element 117 by fusing together atoms of calcium and another rare, heavy element known as berkelium. The research will appear in a forthcoming issue of the  Physical Review Letters.

Using CT scans to measure blood flow in the lungs of people who smoke may offer a way to identify which smokers are most at risk of emphysema before the disease damages and eventually destroys areas of the lungs, according to a new study published in PNAS

The study found that smokers who have very subtle signs of emphysema, but still have normal lung function, have very different blood flow patterns in their lungs compared to non-smokers and smokers without signs of emphysema.This difference could be used to identify smokers at increased risk of emphysema and allow for early intervention.

Eating eggs for breakfast reduces hunger and decreases calorie consumption at lunch and throughout the day, according to a new study published in Nutrition Research.

 University of Connecticut researchers found that men who consumed an egg-based breakfast ate significantly fewer calories when offered an unlimited lunch buffet compared to when they ate a carbohydrate-rich bagel breakfast of equal calories.

The authors say their study supports previous research which revealed that eating eggs for breakfast as part of a reduced-calorie diet helped overweight dieters lose 65 percent more weight and feel more energetic than dieters who ate a bagel breakfast of equal calories and volume.

Archaeologists have begun excavating a proto-urban settlement situated where the Balikh River joins the Euphrates River in Northern Syria. The location was at the crossroads of major trade routes across ancient Mesopotamia that followed the course of the Euphrates River valley.

Known as Tell Zeidan, the town may have been one of the largest Ubaid temple towns in northern Mesopotamia, as large or larger than any previously known contemporary Ubaid towns in the southern alluvial lowlands of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is today southern Iraq.