Endangered Sea Turtles at Risk from Gulf Oil Spill

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

Endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to be affected by the oil spilling from the broken Deepwater Horizon wellhead during their peak migration to nesting beaches, warn scientists and conservation workers who have invested decades in the sea turtles’ recovery.

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Earthlings, you are not alone,there is Life on Mars

Posted on May 1, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

Earthlings, you are not alone. Scientists from Nasa have reportedly found “compelling” new evidence of life on Mars. A special mission to the Red Planet has revealed the presence of a form of pond scum — the building blocks of life as we know it, reports the Sun. Experts from Nasa put forward the claim as they unveiled the results of the recent Opportunity and Spirit probes, which were sent millions of miles through the solar system to discover signs of extraterrestrial life. The researchers say that the results are so promising that the agency has already planned a host of other missions to discover whether there is extraterrestrial life in the universe. The recent missions have gathered evidence of sulphates on Mars, a strong indication there is water on the planet and, therefore, life. Previous missions to Mars have concluded there is probably water on the planet. But the Nasa researchers said the recent missions have gone further than any others in proving there is life on Mars. They were particularly excited about the discovery of a sulphate called gypsum which, it has emerged recently, is found in large quantities among fossils in the Mediterranean. “One, thanks to Opportunity and the rovers and orbital imaging it is clear that there are literally vast areas of Mars that are carpeted with various sorts of sulphates, including gypsum.,” the Sun quoted Bill Schopf, a researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles, as saying. Almost 30 Nasa missions to discover life in space – including one to bring back rocks from Mars — have already been planned.

Source(s) :Times of India

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Animal Clean-Up After Oil Spill

Posted on May 1, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

When it comes to organizing efforts to rescue wildlife affected by oil spills like the one in the Gulf of Mexico that made landfall in Louisiana late Thursday, timing is everything.

The first step is to search for, and collect, both live and dead oiled wildlife in the area. Next, the animals are given a full physical examination. The animals are warmed, fed, hydrated and rested for a period of around 48 hours before they are washed in a series of tubs filled with a mixture of diluted cleaning agent and hot, softened water.

The cleaned animals are then placed in outdoor pools, or other appropriate housing. This “pre-release conditioning” can take anywhere from three days to several months, depending on the condition of the animal. The animals then receive another medical examination and are banded or tagged before released back into a clean habitat. The final step is a post-release assessment, which often entails tagging the animals with radio devices and monitoring them.
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Giant NASA Balloon Crashes, Destroys Telescope

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

A gigantic NASA balloon designed to carry science instruments to the edge of space crashed during takeoff from Australia’s Alice Springs launch site, destroying a multimillion-dollar telescope.

The Nuclear Compton Telescope (NCT), owned by University of California at Berkeley, was designed to study the polarization of gamma rays and other astrophysical phenomena. It was serving as a test bed for instruments being developed for the Advanced Compton Telescope, scheduled to be launched in 2015, according to the project’s website.

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