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Home | Science Popularization | Science IN Foucus | Others
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SCIENCE MONITOR NEW INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES
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FINDINGS AND KEEPINGS
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  RENCH archaeologists have found the tomb of the pharaoh Ramses II's chief of staff, dating back to the 13th Century BC. "Necharomes was the chief of staff of Ramses II and his envoy," said the chairman of the Supreme Antiquities Council, Gaballah All Gaballah. "He could have been a member of a delegation sent by Ramses II to the Hittites to conclude a peace treaty." The tomb, which includes a likeness of Necharomes carved into the rock, was found in Sakkar, near Cairo. Ramses, whose rule began in 1304 BC, won a great victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh. The New Kingdom ruler later concluded a peace treaty with the Hittites and married one of the Hittite princesses. Gaballah said Necharomes was also an administrative supervisor of the area of Memphis and of the treasury.
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PURPLE SALT FOR LIFE
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  ETEORITES aren't a big deal as far as the Earth's concerned. But not the ones which plopped down in Monahans, Texa Zag and Morocco. After all they contained purple salt from outer space which could hold the key to understanding life's formation on Earth, and whether it exists anywhere else in the Universe. When cracked open, the meteorites exhibited a purpose area, which turned out to be ordinary table salt, sodium chloride. Cosmic rays had turned the area purple. Upon closer inspection, scientists found droplets of salty water. This was the first time that scientists had access to water that had not originated on Earth. Preliminary dating of the Zag meteorites showed that liquid water was formed within 100 million years after the formation of the solar system, around 4.5 billion years ago. But new dating suggests that the salt crystals and brine formed just two million years after the solar system's birth.
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SUN'S DAY AT EARTH
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  SOLAR flare released by a particularly active sunspot could reach the Earth said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As high-energy particles from solar eruptions like these travel through space, the radiation can cause serious damages to satellite communication, power grids, and even astronauts in space. The eruptions, called coronal mass ejections, are difficult to track as they travel through space. While sun-watchers can see when the ejections happen, they often can not accurately predict where the high-energy particles will go. But a team of researchers at the University of California at San Diego and Japan's Nagoya University is trying a new technique: employing a network of four radio telescopes to infer where the solar eruptions will travel, potentially saving damage to equipment and even lives.
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SKELETONS AT STONEHENGE
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  HE skeleton of a man executed up to 2,100 years ago at Stone henge, Britain's prehistoric monument, was displayed for the first time. The bones, which date between 100 BC and 1000 AD, were unearthed in 1923 and stored in London. It was believed to have been destroyed in the Nazi Blitz in 1941, according to the government conservation body, English Heritage. However, skeleton was later discovered and scientists have concluded that the man did not die of natural causes but was the victim of an execution. There is a small nick on the lower jaw and a cut on the fourth vertebra of the neck, indicating he was beheaded by a sharp sword. English Heritage said, "It is possible that he was singled out for special punishment, as Stonehenge clearly represents a dramatic and important site for the event and the man's burial."
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GECKO FOR ROBOTS
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  CIENTISTS analysing the microscopic hairs on gecko feet have found that it uses a sort of molecular attraction to climb glassy surfaces and not suction or chemical stickiness. Based on this discovery, the researchers are now trying to develop synthetic gecko feet that can be used on search-and-rescue robots to climb sheer walls as well as a dry, self-cleaning glue that would work underwater or in a vacuum. "Our discovery explains why the gecko can support its entire body weight with only a single finger," said Kellar Autumn, associate professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College.
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SEARCH FOR E.T .
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 N AMBITIOUS project that could one day revolutionise the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is approaching an early but critical milestone - the completion of an array of eight small radio antennas that will simultaneously scan every area of the sky with striking precision. Astronomers at Ohio State University, say that within months, they will complete the eight-antenna array, and reach a major step in a plan to combine the sky searching power of 64 radio antennas. The project is named after Argus, the 100-eyed giant in Greek mythology and is funded by SETI Institute, a scientific organisation that searches the sky for signals sent by alien civilisations.
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