New Science

  • A Recent Discovery of Planet-Forming Disc's in Cosmic Construction Zone RCW 49

    For the first time, NASA’s Space Infrared Telescope (the Spitzer Space Telescope) has discovered two of the farthest seen planets that have formed protoplanetary disc's (or planet-forming disc's) within RCW 49. They each surround over 300 newborn stars. This new photo taken by Spitzer displays, in astonishing detail, this nebula for the first time.
  • Archaeologist Claims Spanish Site for Atlantis

    “These rectangular structures are surrounded by concentric circles. This agrees with Plato’s description that the temples were surrounded by concentric circles of water and earth. Even the sizes are correct. According to Plato, the diameter of the largest circle was 27 stades, i.e. 5 kilometres. In the satellite photos, the diameter of the largest circle is between 5 and 6 kilometres,” Kuhne told Discovery News.
  • Discovery May Be Youngest Planet Ever Observed by Astronomers

    The newest U.S. space telescope has found what could be the youngest planet ever observed, less than one million years old. Astronomers are amazed at the apparent speed with which it formed, suggesting that solar systems like ours could come together quickly, and be more common than thought. The telescope has even detected life-creating compounds in the same region.
  • Science and Falun Gong

    Some people have negative opinions of Falun Gong because they find certain passages in the Falun Gong books hard to understand or difficult to accept. A genuine scientist would tolerate other scientists’ theories even if they contradict with his own, because he knows that the purpose of developing science is not to prove others wrong, but to search for the truth.
  • Hubblesite: Fading Supernova Is Producing a Spectacular New Light Show

    Seventeen years ago, astronomers spotted the brightest stellar explosion ever seen since the one observed by Johannes Kepler 400 years ago. Called SN 1987A, the titanic supernova explosion blazed with the power of 100,000,000 suns for several months following its discovery on Feb. 23, 1987. Although the supernova itself is now a million times fainter than seventeen years ago, a new light show in the space surrounding it is just beginning.
  • Scientists Use Unusual Method to Find Newest Planet Outside Solar System

    Telescopes are not yet powerful enough to see planets orbiting distant stars, so astronomers must infer their presence. They have done this by noting a disturbance in a star's movement, a very slight, almost imperceptible wobble, meaning that the gravity of a planet was pulling on it. This technique has led to the discovery of 120 planets in distant solar systems since 1995.
  • Prehistoric African Beads Give Clues to Ancient Symbolism

    In a cave in a mountainous region of South Africa, an international team of archaeologists discovered 41 objects they originally thought were tiny teeth. After closer inspection, the scientists concluded the teeth were actually very small beads made out of snail shells, with holes pierced through one side of them.
  • Study Shows Positive Impact of Meditation on Brain, Anti-bodies

    The research team also tested whether the meditation group had better immune function than the control group did. All the study participants received a flu vaccine at the end of the eight-week meditation group. Then, at four and eight weeks after vaccine administration, both groups had blood tests to measure the level of antibodies they had produced against the flu vaccine. While both groups had developed increased antibodies, as expected, the meditation group had a significantly larger increase than the controls, at both periods.
  • Scientists Use Unusual Method to Find Newest Planet Outside Solar System

    German physicist Albert Einstein predicted gravitational lensing in his General Theory of Relativity. Thirteen years ago, Polish-born astronomer Bohdan Paczynski of Princeton University in New Jersey proposed using the method to detect planets outside our solar system. Now the group of astronomers of which Mr. Paczynski is a member has used the technique to observe a star-planet system 17,000 light years away.
  • Meditation Produces Positive Changes in the Brain

    Earlier research has shown that, in people who are generally positive and optimistic and during times of positive emotion, the left side of this frontal area becomes more active than the right side does. The findings confirmed the researchers' hypothesis: the meditation group showed an increase of activation in the left-side part of the frontal region. This suggests that the meditation itself produced more activity in this region of the brain. This activity is associated with lower anxiety and a more positive emotional state.
  • Petroleum – the Big Mystery

    Generally, scientists of our era believe that petroleum was produced from decomposed vegetation and animal matter that existed during a remote pre-historical time, which was then buried and subjected, through a slow process over a long period of time, to high heat and pressure. However more and more of today’s scientists question this assertion and find the mystery surrounding this premise rather intriguing, given that the quantity of “living matter” required to produce the volume of petroleum found today could not have existed in pre-historic times.
  • Astronomical Gem in the Sky

    It is exciting for astronomers who study white dwarf stars because it is the first empirical test of a theory that we have been using for more than 40 years. Other astronomers may also find it interesting because it affects the ages of the coolest white dwarf stars -- and these provide one method of determining the age of our Galaxy. Some physicists who study high density matter might also be interested.
  • Pollution of Fish Species Reflects Hazard of Modern Science

    In the January 9, 2004 issue of Science magazine, another report points out that “farmed salmon have significantly higher contaminant burdens than wild salmon”. In fact, the concentrations of organochlorine contaminants that pose cancer risks for humans are about ten times higher in farmed salmon than in wild salmon. The study focuses on the following persistent industrial pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, toxaphene and dieldrin. The consumption of farmed salmon may result in exposure to a variety of persistent bioaccumulative contaminants with the potential for an elevation in attendant health risks.
  • Research Report from Taiwan Illustrates the Power of Falun Gong in Improving Physical and Emotional Health While Reducing Health Care Expenses

    Associate professor Dr. Hu Yu-Whuei from the Economics Department of National Taiwan University published a research report today showing that 72% of Falun Gong practitioners use only one health insurance card per year after practicing Falun Gong, a reduction in usage of almost 50%. Cultivating in Falun Gong has a powerful effect in eliminating destructive and addictive habits and in improving emotional heath. For those who have visited hospitals frequently for years, these results are a great blessing.
  • Megastar-Birth Cluster is Biggest, Brightest and Hottest Ever Seen

    The so-called Lynx arc is one million times brighter than the well-known Orion Nebula, a nearby prototypical star-birth region visible with small telescopes. The newly identified supercluster contains a million blue-white stars that are twice as hot as similar stars found in our Milky Way galaxy. It is a rarely seen example of the early days of the universe where furious firestorms of star birth blazed across the skies. The spectacular cluster's opulence is dimmed when seen from Earth only because it is twelve billion light-years away.