Does vitamin C stop colds?

The answer is kinda, but not so much. Consuming 200 mg of vitamin C per day (the recommended daily allowance is between 60 and 90 mg), was found to reduce the duration of a cold by only 8% in adults. The vitamin did not reduce the likelihood of getting a cold, except in soldiers, marathon runners, and others under extreme external stress. Given that the average adults only gets one cold per year, it doesn't make sense to swallow 200 mg per day of vitamin C. Humans are unlike most animals in that they can not make their own vitamin C.

Better luck next time for solar sail

The unmanned solar sail spacecraft Cosmos 1is most likely lost. The spacecraft was launched from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea on June 21. Once deployed by a rocket, this spacesraft was to be the first to use its eight-panel solar sail to catch the gentle push of the steady flow of particles from the sun (the solar wind) to propel it through space at high speeds. The project was organized by The Planetary Society, an independent and privatley-funded space research organization. It is still uncertain whether the spacecraft is adrift in an unknown orbit or has crashed to earth.

Scientists fear Martian microbes

NASA scientists are quite worried about the possibility that the Martian atmosphere or soil might contain living microorganisms. President Bush's plan to send humans to Mars could be delayed as a result. If living microbes from Mars were carried back to earth from the Mars mission, they could quickly wipe us out if they are harmful to humans. The likelihood that Mars has micrbes is low, and that the likelihood that they're harmful is even lower. The chances are slim, but the risks are high, and that's why NASA wants to send a robot to Mars that can return atmosphere and soil samples to earth. NASA also requests a highly secure biological facility to store the Mars samples. All this could delay the manned Mars mission by 10 to 15 years. Link.

Rocky planet found

"This is by far the most Earth-like planet ever found," said Dr. Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Marcy used one of the giant 10-meter diameter Keck telescopes in Hawaiii to discover a small extra-solar planet. (An extra-solar planet is a planet located beyond our solar system.) This new planet is about 7 times the mass of earth; even so, it's the smallest planet extra-solar planet we've found. It's probably made of rock, and this makes it different than any other extra-solar planet. All of the other 150-or-so extra-solar planets that have been identified are large spheres of gas, like our neighbor Jupiter. "This is a really cool result,"says Dr. David Spergel, a Princeton University scientist who is building a planet hunting satellite for NASA.

Flying cell phones interfere with radio telescopes

FCC and FAA regulators have been considering re-allowing cell phone use on commercial airline flights. During the 9-11 terroist attacks, passengers with cellphones were able to communicate to the ground, and in light of this, cellphones on planes become an important safety tool. But there's a problem. Cellphones that broadcast at high altitutes interfere with sensitive radio telescopes on the ground. These telescopes are used to search for extra-terrestrial life and perform other research. This problem, caused by too much technology, can be solved by more technology. The strength of the broadcast signal of a cellphone is controlled automatically based on the location of the nearest cell tower. A device can be installed on commercial planes that can fool a cellphone to trim down its signal as if there is a nearby tower, keeping signals from bugging the radio telescopes. Link.

The planetology of Star Wars

I know, I know... it's only a movie. But there's a lot of good science to discuss when an expert on planets speaks with a National Geographic reporter about the planets located in a galaxy far, far away. Link.

Mars rover on the move again

The Mars rover Opportunity was cuising the Martian landscape at almost 200 m per day, until it got stuck in loose sand on April 25. Since then it's been creeping backwards at about 2 meters per day, its wheels at least half buried in loose sand. I was reported today that the Opportunity has freed itself. The next plan is to analyze the sand it was trapped in. Link.

Embattled ozone layer hangs in there

The ozone layer over the Antarctic is usually the focus of environmental concern; it generally gets more damage than the Arctic ozone layer. But this winter, the ozone loss over the Arctic was at near-record levels. Fortunately, stratospheric winds transported ozone-rich air from earth's middle latitudes into the Arctic, replacing most of the lost ozone. As a result, only a small rise in ultraviolet radiation was observed at ground level. Link.

South Korea Cloning

"I never destroy any life during my process," said South Korean laboratory director Dr. Woo Suk Hwang, as he looks at a black-and-white screen. Magnified 250 times, the screen shows him the probe he uses to to inject the DNA of a skin cell into a human egg. Dr. Hwang recently reported that he had created new colonies of stem cells that matched the DNA of their donors. This is a major step towards growing replacement tissues to possibly treat spinal cord injuries, juvenile diabetes, and immune deficiencies.
By generally accepted definitions, Dr. Hwang is cloning. Many say Dr. Hwang is tampering with human life. But this is not the opinion of British, Japanese, Swedish, and Spanish researchers have all come to Seoul to see Dr. Hwang's work. American research institutions that are seeking collaborations with Dr. Hwang include Cornell, Johns Hopkins and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Link.

Brian Greene: This he believes

Brian Greene, U Columbia Physicist and author of The Elegant Universe, said the following on a National Public Radio feature on 5-30-05. Quote:

I believe we owe our young an education that captures the exhilarating drama of science.
I believe the process of going from confusion to understanding is a precious, even emotional, experience that can be the foundation of self-confidence. I believe that through its rational evaluation of truth and indifference to personal belief, science transcends religious and political divisions and so does bind us into a greater, more resilient whole.
I believe that the wonder of discovery can lift the spirit like Brahms' Third Symphony.
I believe that the breathtaking ideas of science can nourish not only the mind but also the soul. Link.