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The Fabric of the Cosmos

Astronomy Books

Written by Everything Science

Sep 11, 2004 at 04:00 PM

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By: Brian Greene

Published by: Knopf, February 2004

From Brian Greene, one of the worldâ€™s leading physicists, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.

Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past?

Greene uses these questions to guide us toward modern scienceâ€™s new and deeper understanding of the universe. From Newtonâ€™s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einsteinâ€™s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanicsâ€™ entangled arena where vastly different objects can bridge their spatial separation to instantaneously coordinate their behavior or even undergo teleportation, Greene reveals our world to be very different from what common experience leads us to believe. Focusing on the enigma of time, Greene establishes that nothing in the laws of physics insists that it run in any particular direction and that â€œtimeâ€™s arrowâ€ is a relic of the universeâ€™s condition at the moment of the big bang. And in explaining the big bang itself, Greene shows how recent cutting-edge developments in superstring and M-theory may reconcile the behavior of everything from the smallest particle to the largest black hole. This startling vision culminates in a vibrant eleven-dimensional â€œmultiverse,â€ pulsating with ever-changing textures, where space and time themselves may dissolve into subtler, more fundamental entities.

Sparked by the trademark wit, humor, and brilliant use of analogy that have made The Elegant Universe a modern classic, Brian Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world.

With 146 illustrations

Jacket photograph by DB Image/Brand X Pictures

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Scientists Try to Salvage Solar Particles from Wreckage of Space Probe

Everything Space

Written by Jessica Berman for VOANews.com

Sep 10, 2004 at 03:37 AM

U.S. space agency scientists have began examining the contents of a canister retrieved from the wreck of the Genesis space capsule, which crashed this week in Utah, after its parachute failed to open. Scientists hope they can salvage some particles from space that could reveal information about the origins of the universe.

The Genesis science canister is inside a clean room at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Scientists are hopeful that the recovered Genesis samples will be sufficient to achieve the mission's science goals.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL

On Wednesday, mission controllers watched helplessly as the Genesis capsule tumbled through the air and crashed into the desert. A parachute was supposed to have slowed the descent of the 204 kilogram capsule, so it could be snagged by waiting helicopters and eased to the ground. Instead, the capsule smashed into the Earth at a speed of 310 kilometers per hour.

Among those who watching the Genesis disaster on a TV monitor was astronomer Sten Odenwald of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where he is education manager for the image satellite project.

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Galactic Dynamics

Astronomy Books

Written by Astronuc

Sep 09, 2004 at 07:20 PM

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By: James Binney, Scott Tremaine

Published by: Princeton University Press, January 1998

[The] material is covered with care, rigor, and exemplary clarity; there is nothing obscure, sloppy, or superficial. The authors are, moreover, careful to make clear the limits of present knowledge, and to point out where conclusions cannot yet be drawn.... I expect it to stand as a classic reference for many years to come.

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Capsule from Genesis Space Probe Crashes in Utah Desert

Everything Space

Written by Jessica Berman for VOANews.com

Sep 09, 2004 at 02:16 AM

Scientists with the U.S. space agency NASA have begun investigating the crash landing Wednesday of the Genesis space capsule in Utah. The mission came to a disastrous end when a parachute attached to the capsule did not open, sending the vehicle crashing to the ground. Scientists are hoping to recover as much data as they can from the wrecked space probe.

The science canister from the Genesis spacecraft has been transported by helicopter from its impact site at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to a holding area next to a specially constructed clean room on the Army base.
(Photo credit: NASA)

To avoid a crash landing, NASA devised a bold plan for three helicopters, including one flown by a Hollywood stunt pilot, to snag the 191-kilogram Genesis space capsule in the skies over Utah and ease it to the ground.

But moments after the probe entered earth's atmosphere, with what NASA officials describe as "pinpoint accuracy," mission controllers knew something had gone terribly wrong.

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Medicine & Health

Written by Everything Science

Sep 08, 2004 at 11:40 PM

September 2004 (Newstream) -- If you've been taking aspirin daily to improve heart health, you'll be interested to know about a much tastier way to get the same effects - eat two to three kiwifruit a day.

Like aspirin, eating two kiwifruit a day promotes heart health. (Photo: Business Wire)

Recent research conducted by the University of Oslo in Norway reveals that consuming two to three kiwifruit per day can work to thin blood, reduce clotting and lower fat in the blood that can cause blockage, without negatively affecting cholesterol levels. In short, kiwifruit consumption has similar effects to the daily dosage of aspirin recommended by physicians to improve heart health.

"Platelet inhibitory drugs, such as aspirin, have been shown to reduce the incidence of myocardial infarction, stroke and death from cardiovascular disease," said Professor Asim K. Duttaroy of the Institute for Basic Medical Sciences at the University of Oslo, Norway who spearheaded the research. "Our study shows that consuming two or three kiwifruit per day for 28 days significantly reduced platelet aggregation (blood clotting) in human volunteers. Moreover, plasma triglyceride levels were also reduced in these volunteers."

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