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May 8, 2013 (San Diego's East County) --Our Health and Science Highlights brings you cutting edge news each week that could impact your health and our future.
- Solar-powered aircraft to make first cross-continental flight in U.S. (RawStory)
- Our Very Normal Solar System Isn't Normal Anymore (NPR)
- Quiz: How Much Science Do You Really Know? (Reason)
- Future highways may glow in the dark (BBC)
- Saturn's Hurricane Is a Super Storm on Steroids, Even for the Solar System (Atlantic Wire)
- Hypothalamus controls aging, in mice (U-T San Diego)
- Scammers using QR codes to access private files (U-T San Diego)
- Record-breaking star explosion is most powerful ever seen (Christian Science Monitor)
- Which Internet Companies Protect Your Data from Unwarranted Government Snooping? (Reason)
- Is nuclear fusion power now possible? (Christian Science Monitor)
Scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories.
Solar-powered aircraft to make first cross-continental flight in U.S. (RawStory)
An innovative solar-powered aircraft is set to launch from California Friday on a flight across the United States, aiming to showcase what is possible without fossil fuels. The experimental Solar Impulse plane — with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but the weight of a small car — bears 12,000 solar cells.
Future highways may glow in the dark (BBC)
One of the innovations he dreamt up involves painting road markings with glow-in-the-dark-paint. / The idea is that a "photo-luminising" powder contained in the substance would charge up in the daytime and then slowly release a green glow at night, doing away with the need for lamps.
Saturn's Hurricane Is a Super Storm on Steroids, Even for the Solar System (Atlantic Wire)
Now that we've got our first good look at it, let's put the mega storm on top of the sixth rock from the sun into some perspective: According to NASA, the eye of Saturn's massive hurricane is about 1,250 miles wide — approximately the distance between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.
Hypothalamus controls aging, in mice (U-T San Diego)
Immune-related mechanisms in brain can prolong life, in mice.
Our Very Normal Solar System Isn't Normal Anymore (NPR)
Turns out our solar system — with its medium sized sun, its four small rocky planets, its four big gassy ones farther out — isn't like the others. We are unusual. Very unusual. Says one prominent astronomer, we are "a bit of a freak."
Quiz: How Much Science Do You Really Know? (Reason) The Pew Research Center and the Smithsonian are offering a short 13 question online quiz aimed at finding out what you know about textbook science and science in the news. They compare your results with 1,006 randomly sampled adults asked the same questions in a national poll. So why not take the Science and Technology Knowledge Quiz to see how much you know about some pretty basic scientific facts.
Scammers using QR codes to access private files (U-T San Diego)
Smart phone users should be wary of scanning QR codes. Some many send you to a scammer's phishing site.
Record-breaking star explosion is most powerful ever seen (Christian Science Monitor)
Two NASA space telescopes have captured what appears to be the most powerful star explosion ever detected, a cosmic event so luminous that scientists dubbed it 'eye-wateringly bright' despite being 3.6 billion light-years from Earth.
Which Internet Companies Protect Your Data from Unwarranted Government Snooping? (Reason)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has just published its annual report, Who Has Your Back?, asking which major internet service providers protect your interests against government snooping into your online activities.
Is nuclear fusion power now possible? (Christian Science Monitor)
The quest for nuclear fusion power is well known, Daly writes, having been around since the dawn of the nuclear age, but the physics have precluded significant research. Until now.
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