'Eternal' sun-plane still aloft after 7 days, aiming for 14

A British-made solar powered aircraft has been airborne above a US military test range in Arizona for more than seven days continuously, it has been announced.

The "Zephyr", made by controversial MoD boffinry selloff bonanza firm Qinetiq, is still in flight above the US Army Yuma Proving Ground as of publication, having taken off last Friday. At 168 hours as of just before 3pm UK time, this far outstrips the official world record for longest duration unmanned flight (30 hours 24 minutes, set by the RQ-4A Global Hawk in 2001).

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

Baguette 'dropped by bird' causes LHC disruption

A piece of bread dropped on an outdoor electrical installation on Monday caused disruption to the world's largest particle accelerator, according to Cern.

A Cern spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Friday that the research facility believes the bread — a baguette — had been dropped by a bird.

The spokesperson said the bread, which was "naked and unfilled", had caused a short circuit when dropped on an electrical installation that supplies energy to the massive experiment. While the bird was unconfirmed as the definite culprit, it had been spotted beforehand near the substation carrying bread, said the spokesperson.

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

X-ray machine voted most important invention in Science Museum poll

Russell Reynolds had only one wish when in 1896 at the age of 15 he learnt of the discovery of X-rays: to possess his own X-ray machine.

The Westminster schoolboy enlisted the help of his father, John Reynolds, a GP, and set about building one. Within a year the machine was finished, and it is now displayed in the Science Museum in London.

Yesterday Reynolds’s pioneering spirit gained further recognition as the X-ray machine was voted the most important invention in the history of science. In a museum poll nearly 50,000 people voted on ten inventions and discoveries, which included penicillin, the Pilot ACE computer and Stephenson’s Rocket. The X-ray machine was a clear winner, with 9,581 votes.

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

'Magnetic electricity' discovered

Researchers have discovered a magnetic equivalent to electricity: single magnetic charges that can behave and interact like electrical ones.

The work is the first to make use of the magnetic monopoles that exist in special crystals known as spin ice.

Writing in Nature journal, a team showed that monopoles gather to form a "magnetic current" like electricity.

The phenomenon, dubbed "magnetricity", could be used in magnetic storage or in computing.

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

Water Found On The Moon

A surprising amount of water has been found to exist in the Moon's soil.

Data from three spacecraft, including India's Chandrayaan probe, shows that very fine films of H20 coat the particles that make up the lunar dirt.

The quantity is tiny but could become a useful resource for astronauts wishing to live on the Moon, scientists say.



Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

Explorers hope Sumatran ape will yield clues on human development

AN unknown species of Indonesian ape could shed light on how our human ancestors began to walk erect.

The orang-pendek of Sumatra is said to be a powerfully built ape that walks on two legs like a man. Both native people and western explorers, including two noted scientists, have reported the creature from the deep jungle.

This week four English scientists and explorers will brave the rainforest in search of the orang-pendek.

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

Planetary Nebulae Mystery Solved

Astronomers have resolved a 30-year-old argument, ruling out a one-size-fits-all mechanism for shaping some of the most beautiful objects in space – the "planetary nebulae".

Planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets, but are enlarged glowing objects that is stars late in their lives which have shed much of their gas into space. Some appear as round blobs and can look like an eye, an ant or an hourglass.

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

Power From Trees?

In today's world of high-tech portable gadgets, iPods and cell phones, we've become dependent upon readily accessible electric outlets to power our devices and charge our batteries. But now researchers at the University of Washington have discovered nature's alternative to the power outlet: living trees.

That's right, living trees. UW engineers Babak Parviz and Brian Otis have invented an electrical device that can be plugged directly into any tree for power. "As far as we know this is the first peer-reviewed paper of someone powering something entirely by sticking electrodes into a tree," said Parviz.

The research was based upon a breakthrough study last year out of MIT, when scientists found that plants generate a voltage of up to 200 millivolts when one electrode is placed in a plant and the other in the surrounding soil. Those researchers are already designing devices which act as forest sensors powered entirely by this new method. But until now, no one has applied these findings to the development of tree power.

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com

The Cannibal Galaxy

The vast Andromeda galaxy appears to have expanded by digesting stars from other galaxies, research has shown.

When an international team of scientists mapped Andromeda, they discovered stars that they said were "remnants of dwarf galaxies".

The astronomers report their findings in the journal Nature.

This consumption of stars has been suggested previously, but the team's ultra-deep survey has provided detailed images to show that it took place.

Read more here.

weirdnewsroundup.blogspot.com