NASA is thinking over the possibility that launch debris still could damage the shuttle on launch rendering it unable to re-enter. So they are possibly delaying the launch of Discovery.
Shuttle program managers were meeting at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to talk about the likelihood of ice formations on the shuttle's fuel tank and the possible effects if they broke off during the ship's climb and hit the orbiter.
Is this bird ever going to fly again? Should it ever have flown in the first place?
UPDATE:
And no, they're not going until July.
So there you go. It's always going to be better safe than sorry.
Say Cheese For Deep Imapct, Tempel 1
Deep Impact is headed towards Tempel 1 for its slam-into-a-comet-to-see-what-it-does experiment. It has photographed it's target.
The comet appears as little more than a smudge against the vast black of space. But officials said it was the first of many portraits Deep Impact will make of the frozen chunk of water, rock and other materials.
On July 4, a probe released from the Deep Impact mothership will hit the comet, carving a crater and kicking up enough dust that researchers say the event should be visible to backyard stargazers with binoculars or small telescopes. Seasoned skywatchers might even spot the comet with the naked eye as it brightens temporarily.
That's a bit weird. Like taking a photo of somebody before punching them in the face.
Weird Bacterial Science
This is really weird.
Scientists have programmed bacteria to form up in complex shapes as if they were computer programmes. This opens the door to serious biotechnological devices.
The researchers programmed E. coli bacteria to emit red or green fluorescent light in response to a signal emitted from another set of E. coli. The living cells were commanded to make a bull's-eye pattern, for example, around central cells based on communication between the bacteria.
Other patterns produced with this new "synthetic biology" technique include a pretty good semblance of a heart and a rudimentary flower pattern.
The work was led by Ron Weiss, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and molecular biology at Princeton University. Weiss and his colleagues engineer a special segment of DNA, the blueprints for any cell's operations. The segment is called a plasmid.
"You have a segment of DNA that dictates when proteins should be made and under what conditions," Weiss told LiveScience. The plasmid is inserted into a cell, and "the cell then executes the set of instructions."
While most real-world applications of the technique are likely many years away, Weiss said it might be used in three to five years to make devices that could detect bioterrorism chemicals. The bacteria "have an exquisite capability to sense molecules in the environment," he said. "The bull's-eye could tell you: This is where the anthrax is."
Now that would be handy.
- Art Neuro
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