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POPSViruses can catch colds, says study that redefines life itself Prof La Scola and his colleagues were surprised to spot a smaller type of virus attached to the virus-making factory inside infected cells. The new virus - Sputnik - was unable to infect cells by itself but seemed to hijack the larger to achieve its infectious aims. By regulating the growth and death of plankton, giant viruses - and satellite viruses such as Sputnik - could be a major influence on ocean nutrient cycles and climate. "These viruses could be major players in global systems," Nature is told by Prof Curtis Suttle, an expert in marine viruses at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
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POPSSpace debris Our message to outer space: Hey, we're done with polluting Earth, now its your turn!
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POPSSpace debris: evolution in pictures Between the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957 and 1 January 2008, approximately 4600 launches have placed some 6000 satellites into orbit, of which about 400 are travelling beyond geostationary orbit or on interplanetary trajectories. Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational - roughly 45 percent of these are both in LEO and GEO. Space debris comprise the ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or otherwise become abandoned. About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than 10).
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POPSThe World Has Plenty Of Oil Mr. Saleri, president and CEO of Quantum Reservoir Impact in Houston, was formerly head of reservoir management for Saudi Aramco. This benchmark, established over the past century, is poised to change upward. Modern science and unfolding technologies will, in all likelihood, double recovery efficiencies. Even a 10% gain in extraction efficiency on a global scale will unlock 1.2 to 1.6 trillion barrels of extra resources -- an additional 50-year supply at current consumption rates.
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POPSChina seen winning space race against US "Americans will not like it, but they will have to not like it." ( Unless someone gets the idea there is life on the moon, and needs to make a pre-emptive strike to prevent it evolving in a threatening manner) NASA says the aim is 2020. Where does the money come from ? NASA's spending is frequently classified as military, it might benefit from the overdraft. There is a great deal of a helium isotope that has prospects as a means of warm fusion energy generation. Whoever gets there first owns it, but that would no doubt be subject to some heated discussions, and much more research..
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POPSSecrets of Sputnik revealed That famous blipping sound was apparently not the satellite but the booster rocket, which was an outgrowth of the nuclear arms race, not a Communist mission to claim space superiority.
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POPSSecrets of Sputnik finally revealed What people saw was a booster rocket stage, when Sputnik was launched, but it's the thought that counts. It's also a story of what can be done with the most primitive basic ingredients, if somebody is sure it can be done
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POPSTariff Walls -- Basta! In fact there are all sorts of reasons that the1946-73 economy performed well. Let's leave Smoot-Hawley and its successors out of this, but start with the jolt of new investment after World War II, of GIs coming home and pitching in, the massive military buildup of the Cold War, the tech push in the post-Sputnik era. Also, when we say the 40s-70s economy "vastly outperformed" the 70s-2000s economy, just how exactly? We have the highest standard of living today that the world has ever seen, the most advanced technology and the best-educated workforce. To what do we attribute that? Smoot-Hawley? I think NOT. What the world really needs now is a workable Doha agreement and a WTO that is not a sham. ---David A. Andelman
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POPSWhy Iran feels threatened and defiant...some insights Here's the last bit from this insightful,witty poster Prinzowhales: "It is important to note, as the SCOTSMAN article of a few days before reported...there is economic disatisfaction in Iran. If there were not the necessity of increasing the conspicuous consumption of military spending in the face of the American threat, more effort could go towards bettering the lives of the working class in Iran. This is in line with Amadenijad's inclinations. This would be anathema to the "Merchants of Death" in the New World Order camp."
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