Whats News in Science?A dvanced Tactical Laser (ATL)

The Advanced Tactical Laser is an innovative concept for airborne ultra precision strike mission that uses high energy laser weapon mounted on an Aircraft, usually the C-130 aircraft. On board are visible and infrared surveillance and acquisition sensors provide the weapon operator scene images of increasing resolution for finding and engaging targets. The ATL uses a close-cycle, chemical oxygen-iodine laser with an appropriate beam control. It can demonstrate its power from a moving platform by slicing a metal plate in half from about nine miles away. It can be so far away and still observe that it cannot be attacked by small arms fires keeping the soldiers at a safe range. The safe distance can be seen in this video.

The ATL does have other benefits besides killing. It can provide powerful capabilities for both lethal and non-lethal ultra-precision engagements of threats with little or no collateral damage. This weapon is very critical in Urban environments and congested areas that are vulnerable to terrorist activities or insurgent operations. It provides a laser weapon that can also be used for less than lethal engagements that can help control high risk purposes for both the military and the humanitarian purposes. Its high resolution can make observations and surveillance capabilities much more possible in highly density areas. In order to be used in the field however, it must pass some certain requirements. The ATL is required to be a sealed exhaust chemical oxygen iodine laser that eliminates the soldiers exposure to chemical materials. Boeing has met most of the requirements and is almost ready to be used. The ATL will be available around 2009. The prime contractor for the ATL is the Boeing Companies Rocketdyne Division. The ATL is expected to cost 180 million dollars. 

Sources

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/systems/atl.htm                       

   Global Security. Org 

http://www.popsci.com/bown/2008/product/boeing-advanced-tactical-laser

Pop Sci.com

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.spacewar.com/images/advanced-tactical-laser-atl-sunset-bg.

  Space war.com

What's News in Science-Depression in Space

Currently Nasa is developing a computer program called "The Virtual Space Station" that will help astronauts deal with depression in space. Depression is a very common symptom for astronauts due to long missions, isolation, and altered sleep cycles. Other issues they often have are interpersonal conflict, anxiety, and stress. Astronauts cant simply speak to a psychiatrist due to limited time with communication links to Earth.

The Virtual Space Station itself is very interactive with video of real psychiatrists. The method it uses to relieve stress and help deal with depression is called the problem solving method. It is a multi-step method that helps the user figure out their problems one by one and deal with them individually. It is meant to isolate and simplify problems. For example one thing the program might have you do is physically list out all your problems or tasks and figure out the best approach for each one in an organized manner.

This program is going to help astronauts a great deal during long missions and make it easier for people to deal with stress. However, the plans for the program are not only for astronauts and space. The developers of the program, Dr. Jay Buckley and Dr. James Cartrine, have plans to implement it on Earth for everyday people. This would be a great psychiatric advancement and bring psychiatric help to people who don't have the time and or the money to see a real psychiatrist. Soon psychiatric help will be only a mouse click away.

Works Cited:

Original Article

Problem solving method
More Info

Space Elevator Development

In November Japan will be hosting a conference to discuss developments on “space elevator” concepts. According to CNN, the concept is achievable and the elevator may be a created within the century.Currently, the elevators design concept calls for a cable anchored to Earth that will reach over 25,000 miles high to a satellite docking station orbiting in space. On the opposite end there will be a counterweight added for balance.

The concept was developed following the physical theory of inertia--matter retains its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force. Therefore because of the elevators counterweight and the rotation of the earth, the elevator cable will stay taught (much like if you were attach a ball to the end of a string and swing it in a circle motion).

So far, some of the suggested uses for the elevator include:
- Transporting payloads to space stations.
- Transporting people into space.
- Disposing of nuclear waste.
- Placing solar panels in space to power homes on Earth.

Japanese and European engineering organizations have been working together with a U.S. organization called The Spaceward Foundation on the elevator design. They have been developing smaller 1 km high elevators since 2004.
According to these organizations, once the elevator cable built, electric cars can travel on it using designs similar those found on ski lifts and trains.

The fact that this project could become a reality says a lot about how far science has come. With so many promising uses, the elevator could be a revolutionary mechanism. Proposals for its uses in waste disposal and harnessing solar energy could further develop transformation into a ‘green’ environment.

WORKS CITED

Elevator developers website: **This website does not seem to be working anymore... It may be under construction**

SPACEWARD.COM

News article: CNN.COM

Reversing Alzheimer's Symptoms Using Enbrel - Dwight Stannard

Alzheimer’s is a brain disorder named after German physician, Alois Alzheimer. It is a PROGRESSIVE and FATAL form of dementia which is currently without a cure. Alzheimer’s destroys brain cells, causing severe memory problems. As cells die, they no longer support other areas of the brain, so these areas break down as well rapidly increasing loss of memory. As many as 5 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s. 

“Cytokines” are important soluble proteins in the brain. “Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha” (TNF) is a critical Cytokine that works in the brain’s immune system. TNF finely regulates the transmission of neural impulses in the brain. 

Elevated levels of TNF in Alzheimer’s interfere with the neural impulse regulation. Excess TNF-alpha have been documented in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer’s.

An experiment was performed in 2007, in which scientists injected an anti-TNF therapeutic called “etanercept”(trade name Enbrel) to reduce elevated TNF levels in patients. Enbrel is most commonly used for rheumatoid and arthritis. Results were documented as dramatic, unprecedented therapeutic effect: improvement within minutes of spinal injection. 

Many other patients with mild to severe Alzheimer’s have been treated with Enbrel and have all shown sustained and marked improvement. 

Visit www.alzheimer.ca to donate to Alzheimer’s Research!

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76P6Xm3WsEM

Works Cited: 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109091102.htm 

- Science Daily 

http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp#early 

- Alzheimer’s Association 

http://www.alzheimer.ca/english/help/intro.htm 

- Alzheimer’s Society

Invisibility (sort of)

The concept of invisibility has long been thought to be entirely for movies of monsters and magic, but recent developments in science may bring this into the realm of possibility. The researchers at UC (university of California) Berkeley have created materials which have the ability to bend light in unnatural directions. These materials are called metamaterials, which are man made materials which derive their unusual properties from their structure as opposed to composition. This is to say that the literal form of the materials is what gives them their unusual characteristics.
What these materials do specifically is achieve negative refraction. Negative refraction is the term used to describe what happens when light is bent. No material in nature has negative refraction, and a simple example of what it would do if it were in nature involves fish. When you look at a fish underwater you know instinctively that it is not precisely where it appears to be, that it is skewed by the refractive quality of light when entering or exiting water. If negative refraction were taking place you would see the fish upside down and floating above the water.
So while the researches at UC Berkeley have figured out a way to bend light they have yet to make it widely applicable, such that the materials they have at the moment are simply too small and too fragile to be used in any sort of invisibility cloak. What they have been able to do with these materials, however, is put them to use in making stronger lenses for magnification purposes, cutting out interference in antennas, and reversing the Doppler effect.

For the actual source of this information go to this website

Scotch tape producing x-rays

Within the last month at UCLA researcher Seth Putterman and his students, Carlos Camara, Juan Escobar, and Jonathan Hird have discovered that scotch tape can produce X-rays. Similar to the visible light emitted by biting wintergreen LifeSavers in the dark, when the scotch tape is pulled in a vacuum it emits light. The reason this happens is because of triboluminesces, it is the separation of charges during the rubbing of two materials together or in this case the separation of the tape. When the charges reunite, light and X-rays can be produced, just like in a lightning strike. The X-rays created when the tape is pulled is produced in nanosecond bursts containing about 1 million X-ray photons apiece. This is equivalent of about a tenth of a milliwatt of energy. That was enough energy to produce an X-ray image in a second. Sandwhiching a finger between the vacuum containing the tape and X-ray film allows the image to be recorded.
To watch the scientists do this - http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/x-rays/

WIlliam Harvey's Conclusions of The Circulatory System

ABSTRACT

Your body is a factory.  Every part of you is flowing with life.  This life is a substance that is a major contributor to the circulatory system.  Some call it blood (well, everyone calls it blood). Ideas are multiplying.  People are beginning to voice themselves.  Although discouraged, new scientific ideas are flourishing.  The church has a tight grip on society and its functions.  William Harvey will disprove the previous belief about where this blood comes from and what it does for your body. William Harvey discovered the circulatory system made up of the heart, lungs, and the blood flow to the rest of the body.

For more information visit: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/redgold/innovators/bio_harvey.html