Science
Over
the Edge:
Science
Over
the Edge:
September 1998
In the News:
Man may be able
to do what the great asteroid was unable to
do: make the
coelacanth extinct. Scientists from the Max
Planck Institute estimate there are less than 300 of these "living fossil"
fish left alive in the Mozambique Channel, a decline of 350 fish since 1991.
Fishing may be the cause. Though they are not considered edible the coelacanth
accidentally gets caught in fish nets set for other fish, and die. Until 1938
scientists thought the coelacanths had died out with the dinosaurs.
NASA reports
that two asteroids are headed for Earth. Each is a mile across and have
been labeled by NASA as "potentially hazardous objects." Each, if they
hit, would cause global effects. Fortunately, NASA's Near Earth Asteroid
Tracking (NEAT) system as determined that they will not pose a threat for
at least several decades, though, on their last orbit they came within 2
million miles of Earth.
Want to read about an object that did hit the Earth? Click here!
Scientists may
have discovered most of the "missing mass" of the universe. For decades
scientists knew that the universe had to be more massive than it would seem
to be based on observing all the stars, comets, planets, galaxies, and dust
in space.
There have been many controversial theories to explain this. Now a team
of U.S. and Australian researchers have discovered that space seems to be
filled with billions of "Massive Compact Halo Objects," or MACHOs for short.
There seem to be more MACHOs than stars in the sky (400 billion vs. 200
billion in the Milky Way galaxy) and these may account for almost half of
the "missing mass."
MACHOs were discovered by pointing a telescope at a star and counting the number of times the light from the star "brightens." As the MACHO passes between the star and the observer the mass of the MACHO bends light waves from the star around it and increases the apparent brightness.
Researchers in
Tokyo were surprised to find that the Plesiosaur, an
ancient marine reptile, ate extinct spiral
shelled mollusks known as ammonites. Formally scientists thought that the
reptile's teeth were too slight to crush the thick shells, but a partial
plesiosaur skeleton found on an outcrop along the river in Japan shows that
the creature had the beaks of ammonite jaws in it's stomach. Scientists
think that the plesiosuar may have gotten around the shell problem by swallowing
the mollusks whole.
In History:
September 13,
1913 is thought to be the date of the first published report about the Brown
Mountain Lights. The article appeared in the Charlotte Daily Observer.
Brown Mountain is situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina
and strange lights appearing on, or over, the peak have baffled observers
for years. While some suggest that the phenomena are
"spook" or "earthlights" others think they are
just refractions of distant lights from towns or vehicles.
The days surrounding
Wednesday, September 9th should be an excellent time to observe the Milky
Way. Just find a dark place and go out in the early evening before the moon
rises. This band of billions of stars is the plane of our galaxy. It will
stretch the SSW to the NE in the Northern Hemisphere.
Observed:
What do Loch
Ness, Lake Champlain and the lake in Washington Park, Denver, have in common?
Reports of a lake monster!
The lake, located in an upper class section of Denver, has been the site of several reports of a monster. Park officials speculate that a caiman, a reptile that looks like a small alligator, somehow got into the lake. Perhaps it was a pet someone set free.
There have also been reports that it was a hoax perpetrated with an inflatable alligator, but officials aren't taking any chances and the lake is being drained.
Only shown once
this month: On September 1st at 8PM ET PBS's Nova repeats Doomsday
Asteroid.
Check out the
Discovery Channel's Sci-Trek on September 14 at 9PM ET/PT as it
investigates The Great Siberian Explosion. Also airs on September
19th at 7PM. If you can't wait till then, check out our page with the same
title.
Ancient Inventions
is a short series on the Discovery
Channel that takes a humorous look at modern technology and history. Airs
September 13th 8-11PM and repeats at midnight. Also shown at September 20th
at 3PM ET/PT..
Flying saucers
down below is the theme of Oz Encounters: UFOs in Australia airing
on September 20th at 9PM and repeated at 1AM ET/PT on the Discovery Channel.
Also September 27th at 6PM.
TCL's Science
Frontiers is running Monday-Friday at 10PM and 1AM and repeats on Sunday
from 1-6PM. Of special interest are episodes on Hunt for T-Rex on
September 3rd and 6th and Asteroid Impact on September 30th.
Science over the Edge Archives
Copyright Lee Krystek 1998. All Rights Reserved.
