[Unmuseum_newsletter] UnMuseum Newsletter for May 2007

[A Monthly Update on the World of Science]

The UnMuseum Newsletter for April 2007

Science Over the Edge

A Roundup of Strange Science for the Month

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In the News:

*T-rex Cousin to a Chicken Little? - Scientists have established that the 
mighty Tyrannosaurus rex was a distant relative of today's humble chicken. 
Mary Higby Schweitzer, of North Carolina State University, was able to 
isolate some very rare soft tissue from the thighbone of a 
68-million-year-old T-rex which John Asara, a Harvard Medical School 
researcher, used to determine amino acid sequences the animal possessed. 
Most of the amino acid sequences Asara found matched that of a chicken. In a 
separate study Schweitzer was able to show that extracts of T. rex bone 
reacted with antibodies to chicken collagen, further supporting Asara's 
results by demonstrating the presence of birdlike proteins in the dinosaur's 
bone. Scientists have long speculated that dinosaurs were close relatives of 
birds, but this is the first genetic proof for the theory.

*Earth-like Planet Found that May Harbor Life - European astronomers have 
found a planet only 20.5 light years away so similar to Earth it might be 
able to harbor life. The planet, which circles the red dwarf star, Gliese 
581, is only 1.5 times bigger than Earth with a gravity 1.6 times as strong. 
The temperature is very similar with an estimated range between 32 and 104 
degrees F. According to theory this could mean the plant has a rocky surface 
covered with liquid water which scientists believe is the prerequisite to 
life.

Though astronomers have discovered over 220 planets outside our solar system 
they have all been too hot, too cold or just plain too big and gaseous to 
make good candidates to host life. Though the new planet is very similar in 
to Earth in many ways, there are also some startling differences. The red 
dwarf that acts as its "sun" is much cooler and smaller than the real sun 
and the planet has a much closer orbit. The "sun" would appear to be 20 
times the size of our moon and hang forever over one portion of the sky 
leaving haft the planet in perpetual darkness and the other half in 
perpetual daylight.

The planet was discovered using a telescope at European Southern 
Observatory's telescope in Chile equipped with a special instrument that can 
detect wobbles in different wavelengths of light.

*Higher Sea Levels May Could Affect Over a Half Million People - A new 
report shows that millions of people could be affected by a sudden surge in 
the sea level. The study, led by a U.S. Geological Survey team, indicates 
that a rise of just 16 feet would affect 669 million people and cover 2 
million square miles of land. A rise of 100-feet would cover 3.7 million 
square miles of land worldwide. While scientists are concerned that sea 
levels are slowly rising due to global warming, of more immediate concern 
are storms surges and tsunamis that can temporary force sea level higher in 
a matter of minutes. In 2004 a tsunami forced sea levels nearly 100 feet 
higher in places and killed 230,000 people. "A 30-meter [100 foot] surge in 
Florida would leave the whole state covered except for a little plateau 
area," one of the authors of the study concluded. The study uses a new 
mapping technique that was previously unavailable and allows researchers to 
see how much land would be lost at various sea levels by just clicking a 
mouse.

*New Fish Eating Dino Found - Excavations around a giant lake in Utah that 
existed some 200 million years ago have yielded the remains of an enormous, 
previously unknown carnivorous dinosaur, a new shark species and at least 
three other new fish all now extinct. The dinosaur, a relative of the 
crested Dilophosaurus, had long, sharp teeth at the front of the its mouth 
which suggest it specialized in catching and eating fish, including sharks 
and huge bony fish. The fish back then were armored and it would have been 
"like biting through chain mail," said James Kirkland a Utah state 
paleontologist. "The only other meat-eating dinosaurs with teeth worn like 
that are the spinosaurs Spinosaurus and Suchimimus from North Africa where 
large...fish dominated," he added.

*Mammoth Goes for Record Price - The skeleton of a 12-foot-tall, 
16-foot-long, prehistoric mammoth was sold by Christie's auction house last 
month for a world record sum of $421,200. The mammoth was just one of a 
number of archeological curiosities previously owned by private collectors 
sold during the special action. Other items sold included the 
10,000-year-old skeleton of a 13.5-foot-long rhinoceros that sold for 
$162,000 and the remains of a 7.5-foot-high prehistoric cave bear from the 
Russian Urals which brought in $63,180. The Siberian mammoth nicknamed the 
"The President," had been expected to sell for only about $199,000. 
Altogether the auction grossed more than $1.53 million.


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What's New at the Museum:

*The Mysterious Tower at Newport - In the center of one of the most popular 
and ritzy seashore resorts on the eastern shore of the United States stands 
a small tower. The vast majority of tourists that pass by it never realize 
that it has been the center of an archeological controversy that is over a 
century old. (http://www.unmuseum.org/newporttower.htm)

*Notes from the Curator's Office: Home Movies - There was a time when home 
movies meant an eight millimeter black and white film of people's kids 
playing on the beach. Now technology is letting them create Hollywood 
productions in their backyards 
(http://www.unmuseum.org/notescurator/homemovies.htm)


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Ask the Curator:

*Very, Very Cold - Is it possible to attain 0° Kelvin? -Feloxi

Zero on the Kelvin temperature scale is often referred to as absolute zero. 
To get an idea of what absolute zero is, we first need to know a little bit 
about heat and temperature. All atoms and molecules "vibrate" with thermal 
energy. The more vibration, the more heat the atom or molecule has. As the 
atoms and molecules of a material are cooled, the vibration slows down and 
the energy decreases. The point at which all heat energy has been removed 
from a material is called absolute zero. This is approximately -459.67 °F on 
the Fahrenheit scale or 0° on the Kelvin scale.

According to the third law of Thermodynamics you can never completely 
achieve absolute zero but only approach it, but scientists have come darn 
close. In September of 2003 scientists at MIT managed to get a small group 
of sodium atoms down to 240 millionths of a degree above absolute zero. 
Larger objects are harder to cool, but another group at MIT managed to get a 
mirror about the size of a dime down to just 0.8 °K above absolute zero. 
They did this by shooting laser pulses at it to "trap" and "damp" the 
molecular motion.

These laboratory temperatures are just a bit colder than any reported in 
nature. The coldest known place is about 5,000 light years away from Earth 
in the Boomerang Nebula located in the constellation Centaurus. Astronomers 
think the temperatures there run around 1°K. If you ever visit it, better 
bring a jacket.

Scientists are very interested in the behavior of objects very close to 
absolute zero. It may give them the chance to observe quantum physics 
effects that normally are too small to see because the are lost in the heat 
motion of the material. Just a final note: There is also something called a 
negative temperature (less then absolute zero on the Kelvin scale) but 
negative temperatures are actually hotter then absolute zero.

Send your questions to: askCurator at unmuseum.org


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In History:

*A Whale of a Surprise - In 1937 whalers off the coast of Queen Charlotte 
Island in Northern British Columbia cut open the stomach of a Sperm whale a 
got a surprise: Inside were the semi-digested remains of a ten-foot-long, 
creature with a body like a snake and a head like a horse. Unfortunately, 
due to its poor condition, the strange animal, which also has a hump-like 
back, was thrown back into the sea. What it the long sought after 
sea-serpent?


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In the Sky:

*View Saturn - If you own a telescope this month is a good time to take a 
look at the planet Saturn just in the Southern sky after sunset. It will be 
at eastern quadrature, 90 degrees east of the Sun. Because of the angle the 
light is coming from the planet's shadow across its rings will look almost 
"three dimensional" in telescopes.


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Observed:

*Scientist Discovers Superman's "Kryptonite" - A mineral found by a 
geologist in Serbia has the same chemical composition as the fictional 
kryptonite from the film "Superman Returns." Chris Stanley, a mineralogist 
at London's Natural History Museum was analyzing the new material and did an 
Internet search to see if the formula - sodium lithium boron silicate 
hydroxide - turned up anywhere. "I was amazed to discover that same 
scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by 
Lex Luther from a museum in the film 'Superman Returns,'" Stanley said. 
Unlike the movie version, Stanley's mineral is white and powdery, not the 
radioactive green crystals seen in comic books and movies. The substance, 
which has been confirmed as a new mineral after tests at the Natural History 
Museum, is on exhibit. Its official name will be Jadarite.


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On the Tube:

Currently we are only able to give accurate times and dates for these 
programs in the United States. Check local listings in other locations.

*Newton's Dark Secrets - Centuries-old manuscripts reveal the hidden 
pursuits of a scientific genius. On PBS: May 1@ 8 pm; ET/PT.

Starship Orion: The Future of Space Travel - NASA has taken the lead in 
designing the new space exploration vehicle, ORION, with which man will go 
back to the Moon; go on to Mars, and beyond. On The Science Channel: May 08@ 
9:00 pm; May 09@ 12:00 am; May 09@ 4:00 am; May 09@ 10:00 am; May 12 at 10:00 
pm; May 13@ 1:00 am; May 13@ 5:00 am; May 15@ 5:00 pm; May 22@ 10:00 pm; May 
23@ 1:00 am..

*Riddle of the Polar Sky - Join a quest to unravel the mystery of the Aurora 
Borealis. Scientists and citizens working on the most current scientific 
theories live in six months of extended darkness. On The Science Channel: 
May 01@ 8:00 pm; May 01@ 11:00 pm; May 02@ 3:00 am; May 02@ 9:00 am; May 05@ 
8:00 pm; May 05@ 11:00 pm; May 06@ 3:00 am; May 06@ 4:00 pm; May 08@ 5:00 pm 
, ET/PT.

*What Really Killed the Dinosaurs - Sometimes a discovery forever changes 
what we think we know, altering our perspective and re-writing history. This 
is the story of a mystery dinosaur called Jane, that baffled the greatest 
minds in paleontology from the moment she was unearthed On The Science 
Channel: May 14@ 5:00 pm, ET/PT.

*Moon for Sale - After forty years, man is going back to the moon. Across 
the world scientists are gearing up to take part in what's been called a 
second moon race. Behind it lies a prize some believe could change the face 
of the world. On the Discovery Channel: May 05@ 8:00 pm; May 06@ 12:00 am; 
ET/PT.

*Killer Squid - In Mexico's Sea of Cortez fishermen talk of a monstrous 
carnivorous squid. These killer squids are among the most dangerous and 
least known of oceanic predators. Follow Scott Cassell and Jacquie Cozens on 
their quest to film these awesome killers. On the Discovery Channel: May 03@ 
9:00 pm; May 04@ 1:00 am ; ET/PT.

*Knights Templar - For nearly two centuries, the Knights Templar were the 
medieval world's most powerful order, a fearsome and unstoppable Crusader 
militia. Then came accusations of unspeakable crimes. Who were the Templars, 
really? How did they become so powerful, so fast, and why did they fall just 
as quickly? Evidence hints that the Templars excavated under Jerusalem's 
Temple of Solomon. What did they find there? Was it, as The Da Vinci Code 
suggests, the true identity of the Holy Grail--the bloodline of Christ? Or 
an unimaginable treasure, documented in the Dead Sea Scrolls, buried 1,000 
years before Christ's birth? We explore the Templar's origin, how they 
lived, trained, fought and became a medieval world power, and the suspicious 
circumstances behind their sudden downfall. Plus, we reveal why these 
warriors, dead for seven centuries, and their treasure still populate 
Hollywood blockbusters. Narrated by Ed Herrmann and featuring preeminent 
Templar authors. On History Channel: April 10 @ 08:00 PM, April 11 @ 12:00 
AM; ET/PT.


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*LGM: Check out the antics of Meep and Zeep as they try to find their flying 
saucer! (http://www.unmuseum.org/soearch/over.htm#lgm)

Copyright Lee Krystek, 2007.