NASA recommends 'No-Fly Zones' on the Moon

By the end of the month, it is said that NASA will come up with a list of 'recommendations' for any spacecraft or astronauts what will be going to the moon. They include the landing sites for the Apollo 11 and 17 lunar landers. Now, these recommendations will not be legally binding because of a treaty that was made in 1967 that states that the Moon has no real owner, but are still there to try and preserve the more than 30 historical sites that have been made on the moon by the U.S.

What made NASA make these recommendations to begin with was the Google Lunar X contest that consists of landing a robot on the Moon, having it travel 500 meters and take a picture or video of the lunar surface. Since taking pictures of one of the landing sites would most likely win the grand prize, NASA decided to try and stop the teams from doing so since it might ruin the original landing sites. Now, not everyone will want to follow these recommendations. For example, studying bacteria in the feces and food left by astronauts on the moon will show if the bacteria died out or how it mutated to survive the harsh radiation from the sun. Any metallic objects will show how they have degraded over time due to all the radiation exposure from the sun. NASA remains hopeful that people will try and respect these limits and that they try and preserve such historic artifacts.

How Big Can A Black Hole Be? Correct Answer: 50 Billion Suns.

Researchers have determined the mass of the largest object that can exist in our universe. The winner in this category, without question, is the black hole at being at its most 50 billion suns.

While, theoretically, there is an upper limit of the size of a black hole, how much information we were able to develop until now. The universe exists only for a finite period of time and even the "hungry" dark matter black hole can absorb only at certain speeds. As the black hole is larger, the greater becomes the gravitational field, and this is directly proportional to the immense amount of radiation they emit.

Based on this information, researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts in collaboration with the European Southern Observatory in Chile, were able to calculate the upper limit of the table you can achieve this giant of the Universe: 50 billion suns or in other words, 100.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000 kilograms, three times the size of the largest black hole known now, OJ 287.

Do You Think Faith Is Genetically Programmed Into Our Minds?

Religious beliefs as part of human nature are deeply embedded in the human brain and to a point are genetically programmed like everything from our appearance as a species, say researchers at the Yale University.

The clearest evidence is found in children's perception of life and their belief that the mind is separated from the body. Such a distinction is what allows us to believe in the supernatural, the gods or imaginary friends. "All people have these beliefs. They are located in the brain circuits and never change." said Professor Paul Bloom, a psychologist at the prestigious American university.

As we age, we begin to focus more on the moral dimension of faith and less on its supernatural aspects, says the authors. However, in periods of heavy stress, we tend to approach the supernatural aspects of our life, as evidenced by the large number of people who return to faith in times of crisis.

"Sharing of the same religious belief helped our ancestors enormously, especially when they must work together to hunt, to defend or care for those communities suffering. So that's how we managed to surpass other species in the evolutionary race." concludes Paul Bloom.

The Source Of Life On Earth - A Poisonous Substance ?

 A new study shows that formaldehyde, a poisonous chemical, could be one of the factors that led to the creation of organic compounds that gave rise to life. 

Formaldehyde formed from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, is a common molecule found in the Solar System. This chemical compound is commonly used on Earth in conservation actions such as anointing or biological samples. 

The organic molecules, in the composition of which is carbon is found, are found in solid forms on asteroids and comets. Scientists have been puzzled by the source of these organic molecules, professionals wanting to understand how they occurred. The answer they found recently is that they probably were created from formaldehyde in the primitive Solar System. 

George Cody and his co-researchers, Conel Alexander and Larry Nittler Carnegie at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, studied the carbon content of the meteorites to obtain information on the original organic compounds. "It is ironic that it is very likely that life appeared to be due to formaldehyde, a substance that is poisonous to living organisms on Earth," they said. 

To test the hypothesis that formaldehyde was the origin of life, scientists have developed a chemical process to produce organic compounds with formaldehyde as a starting point. They left the reaction to proceed, then the results are analyzed. 

Organic molecules obtained in the laboratory showed a striking resemblance to those found in meteorites and other organic material collected in the solar system (samples collected from comet 81P/Wild 2, interplanetary dust particles and other asteroids or comets). 

From the knowledge gained from research our primitive solar system, it appears that the chemical reaction produced in the laboratory may explain how organic compounds from outer space occurred naturally.

This study was published online on April 4, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Planet Venus And The End Of The World

Slovak researcher Pavel Smutnej issued a very interesting theory about the astronomical alignment of planets. He believes that in particular the alignment of Venus with the Sun has very strong influences on the Earth. The researcher carefully followed the transit of Venus and observed that every time Venus is close to the Earth, devastating volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. There is a period of about 6-9 months after the transit of Venus in which occur earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami occur in the world. One of the Venus transits is in the range of 2004-2012. But what effect does this have ? Smutnej believes disasters on Earth. Thus, the great earthquake in Indonesia in December 2004, who subsequently produced a huge tsunami that caused hundreds of thousands of victims would be due to the transit of Venus on June 8, 2004. At that time, Earth, Venus and the Sun were on the same line and this line was oriented towards the constellations Taurus, Orion and Gemini.

The previous transit of Venus took place between 1874-1882. A similar disaster with that from 2004 occurred on august 1883, where there was a great volcanic eruption of the volcano Krakatoa, who produced a tsunami which killed tens of thousands of people.

According to observations made by the Slovak researcher, Venus transits occur in pairs and are rather rare, so the next will take place in June 6, 2012, about 6 months before the date of December 21, 2012, the date on which so much has been written as will coincide with the end of the world. Is this just a coincidence, is this a fact? What do you think ?

Is Time Travel Possible ?

As much as it seems, in light of recent scientific theories in which thought could incredibly become reality : we might, at least in theory travel in space-time "tricking" the known laws of physics. Maybe not even tomorrow, after tomorrow, but definitely in a day when we overcome the stalemate putting in place the necessary technology.

The idea of time "flows" irreversible is so deeply rooted in human consciousness that we think we cant move back and forth in the fourth dimension it seems like only one scenario in Star Trek. 

"And yet, today's science fiction is often tomorrow's science. That is why it is our duty to study physical theorems fantasist applied by the crew of Star Trek. If i had to study only earthly matters, we further reduce our human potential". These words belong not an avid science fiction,but the most famous living physicist Stephen Hawking.

Russia Will Explore A Mysterious Lake In Antarctica

For 15 million years a lake closed in ice like in a capsule remained isolated in the deep crust of Antarctica. This lake is probably hiding prehistoric life forms unknown to us. Russian researchers are on track to reach this lake and uncover the secrets. The lake lies at a depth of 3750 meters below the ice cap and it took several weeks of drilling. Russian scientists are very excited and eager to reach the lake because it may provide informations about how our planet looked before the ice age. It can also offer information about possible conditions of life offered by similar places such as planets like Mars and Europe ( Jupiter's moon ). The lake was named Vostok and is about the size of the Siberian lake Baikal. It is the largest and deepest of the 150 sub-glacier lakes isolated in Antarctica. It is saturated with oxygen and does not resemble any other known place on the Earth. Russian research team had to leave the site on February 6 and at the last contact with them made public on February 4, they said they have to drill just 5 more meters, at a temperature of minus 40 Celsius degrees.

NASA Puts Us On Guard For 2012

Experts predict that Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, will shine and will be observed in 2012 at the highest level in the last 50 years. Since 2007, the phenomenon of lights grew in intensity and according to NASA scientists, will reach its climax in less than two years. The Aurora Borealis could be more than a delightful spectacle for the eyes if in 2012 the Northern Lights will be at the expected magnitude, they could cause disruptions of GPS and mobile phone networks and electrical networks could affect several countries.

The event will be challenged by what is known as Solar Maximum - a process whereby the magnetic field in the equatorial zone of the Sun rotates faster than a polar region of the planet. The solar cycle requires, on average,about 11 years to go from a maximum to the next one, this time varying between less than 9 and not more than 14 years. The most recent Solar Maximum occurred in 2000 and NASA scientists believe that the next will be the most "prolific" from 1958 until today. Then, over half a century ago, The Aurora Borealis stunned the people of Mexico when it appeared across the sky. NASA experts believe that the Northern Lights that could occur in less than two years may become visible to the South all the way, to the City of Rome. Additional evidence in support of the theory of solar wind intensifying is by Icelandic photographer, Orvar Thorgiersson from Reykjavik. He been shooting Northern Lights from 2007, and from year to year, the snapshots obtained illustrates a coloring and a propagation more and more accentuated. Orvar believes that in 2012 scenes in the sky would not be able to be described in words.

Lightning produces antimatter ?

Scientists have detected particles of antimatter over lightning on Earth, an unknown phenomenon, informs NASA. Researchers at NASA detected Gamma radiation with Fermi telescope's help. They believe that antimatter particles were formed inside the storm and lightning associated with them. 

"These signals are the first direct evidence that storms produce antimatter particles", said Michael Briggs,a member of the study team from the University of Alabama. The Fermi telescope is designed to monitor gamma rays, the highest given by light energy. When antimatter particles collide with normal matter, both particles are annihilated and converted into gamma radiation.