Current science and technology events

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March 12, 2005

• Mission members monitoring the Spirit rover on Mars report that a lucky encounter with a dust devil has cleaned the solar panels of that robot. Power levels have dramatically increased and daily science work is anticipated to be expanded. (space.com)

March 11, 2005

• Apple Computer backs the Blu-Ray optical disc format in the next generation DVD format war. (Slashdot)

March 10, 2005

• The Inmarsat 4 was launched successfully today covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the Indian Ocean. The first of three satellites that will be offering 3G (third-generation) compatible broadband (up to 432 kbit/sec) data services to mobile users. (PC World)

March 8, 2005

• A very high plume of ash and steam is seen coming from the direction of active volcano Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. The plume is visible as far away as Portland, Oregon. (Wikinews) (ABCnews)
• A CT scan of King Tutankhamun revealed that he may have died of complications from a broken leg. (BBC)
• Bone protein osteocalcin extracted from a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave, Iraq dating to approximately 75,000 years old, was sequenced. This is the oldest fossil human protein ever sequenced. (EurekAlert!)

March 7, 2005

• The first superconducting dipole magnet for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was lowered into place at the CERN lab, near Geneva. Physcists hope to recreate the conditions that followed just after the big bang using the LHC. (BBC)

March 6 2005

• Stanford University will create a chimera mouse with some brain cells derived from stem cells that are 100% human. If the mice show significant increases in cognitive ability the experiment will stop. (Telegraph)

March 5, 2005

• The world's oldest early bipedal human skeleton has been found in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The skeleton is between 3.8 and 4 million years old, which means that it predates the fossil Lucy. (Voice of America) (ABC News)
• Scientists flock to an area about 300 miles off the coast of U.S. state of Washington to study what appears to be an ongoing undersea volcanic eruption. Accompanying earthquakes measuring up to magnitude 4.0 have numbered thousands per day. (Seattle Times)

March 4, 2005

• The Rosetta space probe executes its first Earth flyby of a total of three on its way to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This one comes closest to the Earth's surface with an altitude of 1954.7 km. (ESA)
• Hydrothermal vents in the mid-Atlantic, named Lost City, support diferent types of microorganisms than black-smoker vents. Black smoker vents release carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and metals that are metabolised by lifeforms, the Lost City vents release methane and hydrogen. (EurekAlert!) (Nature)
• The smallest star to emit light has been discovered in the Carina constellation. The star named OGLE-TR-122B is the size of Jupiter. (BBC)

March 3, 2005

• Pilot Steve Fossett successfully landed the round-the-world jet aircraft GlobalFlyer, becoming the first person to fly solo, non-stop around the world, without refuelling. (BBC)
• A recreation of the brain cavity of Homo floresiensis the miniature human, or "hobbit" found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004. shows that the skeleton was not a pygmy or a microcephalic human. This analysis carried out at Florida State University provides more evidence that H. floresiensis is a new species. (BBC) (Nature)
• Scientists have recovered 100 000 atoms of solar wind from the crashed NASA spacecraft Genesis. (ABC News)

March 1, 2005

• Yahoo! celebrates its tenth Birthday. (BBC)

Past science and technology events by month

2005 in science: January February
2004 in science: November December

(For earlier science and technology events, see October 2004 and preceding months)

News collections and sources

See: Wikipedia:Current science and technology events sources.

See also

• Science and technology at Wikinews

nl:In het nieuws - Wetenschap & Technologie