In the News:
Dolphins Use Names - A new study published in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says that
bottlenose dolphins can call each other by name. If so, they are the only
other species besides man capable of recognizing each other by a moniker.
To make sure that the marine mammals just weren't responding to the calls
of close relatives, researchers used computers to synthesize the calls
removing inflections and other vocal cues. In addition to responding to
their own names, scientists found that two dolphins may refer to a third's
name during their communications. While the researchers are now sure that
the animals use these "signature whistles" to refer to each other, they
stop short of saying that dolphins have a human-like language.
Geronimo's Skull at Yale? - Did members of the
Yale's secret skull and crossbones society steal the famous Native American
leader Geronimo's skull? This has long been a legend around Yale University,
but was given little credence until recently when a professor discovered
a letter written by alumni in 1918. "The skull of the worthy Geronimo
the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club... is now
safe inside the (Tomb)…" the letter, written by Winter Mead, says. The
remains of Geronimo were supposed to have been buried at Fort Sill in
1909. Some scholars are skeptical of this claim, but Harlyn Geronimo,
a descendent for the famous warrior, is seeking to sue the U.S. army for
holding the remains and letting them be removed.
Find May be Alchemy Tool - Scientists excavating
at the remains of a British Cistercian abbey have found a cone shaped
container 8 inches tall and 6 inches across at the base. It is thought
that the container might have been used by alchemists in an attempt to
turn base metal into gold. The device, known as an alembic, had a pipe
running out of its top and down to a condenser. Alchemy is considered
by many researchers as the forerunner to the science of chemistry. According
to the theories of Aristotle it was possible to convert cheaper metals
to the desirable gold by the process of "transmutation." It had been thought
that certain Cistercians, as with other monks, did experiments in alchemy.
Though there are no traces of chemicals left on the alembic to prove that
it was used in an attempt to make gold, the fact that it was found near
a urinal may support the idea. Urine and quicksilver were considered important
ingredients for alchemy.
Remains of Cook's Endeavour Found? - Scientists
think they may have found the remains of the ship of one of the most well-known
explorers in the world: Captain James Cook. Cook, considered by historians
as one of the greatest navigators of all time, took an epic journey sailing
the Pacific Ocean and mapping the coasts of New Zealand and eastern Australia
in the late 1700's. His ship the "Endeavour" was later renamed "Lord Sandwich"
and was sunk on purpose along with 12 other British ships in an attempt
to close Newport Harbor in 1778 during the Revolutionary War. Researchers
with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project have found the remains
of four of those ships at the bottom of Narragansett Bay, but they cannot
be positive which one, if any of them, are the Endeavour. They are now
trying to determine where the other ships are and if there is any way
to tie one of them to Captain Cook's voyage.
Man Not Responsible for Missing Mammoths - A
study published in the journal Nature indicates that humans were
not responsible for the extinction
of the great mammoths as had been suggested. Scientists radiocarbon
dated over 600 bones from bison, wapiti, moose, humans, wild horses, and
mammoths that had been recovered from Alaska and the Yukon Territory.
The results indicate that certain species had already died out, or were
in decline, before humans arrived in North America. The study cites climate
change as the most likely culprit for the deaths of the large animals.
Samples of preserved pollen show that sedge, upon which these animals
fed, disappeared as the climate warmed and was replaced by grasses which
is a food more useful to wapiti and bison, which then became the dominant
species.
What's New at the Museum:
UnMuseum Library - Our newst hall leads you
to our free on-line graphic novels and some links to classic literature
across the web . >Full
Story
The Lost World: Chapter Seven - The conclusion to
our graphic novel presentation of the Aurthur Conan Doyle classic. >Full
Story
From The Curator's Office: A Close
Encounter of the Snake Kind - Would somebody be road kill today?
>Full Story
Ask the Curator:
Making Gold - How is gold formed and why does
gold turn up on turbine blades? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you. Regards - Diana
After the big bang the universe consisted of lot of hydrogen and helium. No gold. No lead. In fact, no metals of any kind. It was only when the first generation of stars were born that metals began to form deep within their fusion furnaces. Under the intense pressure and heat caused by the gravity of a star the light hydrogen atoms are fused together to form heavier helium. If the star is of medium size (such as our sun) or larger, the fusion can also create heavier elements including heavy metals like gold and lead. The lighter atoms in a fusion reaction have slightly more mass then the resulting heavier atoms and the mass that is lost is turned into energy according to Einstein's famous formula E=mc2. This energy is what makes a star give off heat and light and is the same process at the heart of a Hydrogen Bomb.
This means that almost everything you see around you - your watch, the computer you're are reading this on, the gold ring you're are wearing, and even yourself - were formed in some distant past in the depth of a star. As the late Dr. Carl Sagan was found of saying, we are all "star stuff."
Eventually this material was scattered about the galaxy and became part of new stars and solar systems. Rocky planets like our own Earth are formed mostly of these heavier materials. Gold is one of the more uncommon metals that was generated in the stars. Although it is scattered widely throughout the planet and can be found almost anywhere, it is almost never concentrated enough to make it worth recovering. For example, it is estimated that a cubic kilometer of sea water contains 6 kilograms of pure gold, but nobody has figured out an economic way of getting at it.
Sometimes by natural processes gold is concentrated into "seams" or "veins" and this is what miners are looking for. Because gold is highly soluble compared to other minerals it is almost always the last to crystallize out as water disappears and the first to dissolve when water returns. This has a concentrating effect. The vein a miner finds is usually the remains of an underground flow of water that carried a highly concentrated solution of gold.
As the water disappeared the material crystallized into nearly pure gold. As to the appearance of gold on turbine blades: I have been unable to find any reference to this, however, since gold is so highly soluble in water, it could be that turbine blades operating a river, or ocean or with steam, could somehow cause the some of the gold in solution to be deposited on the blades. A similar issue happens with copper deposits and certain types of power plants if there is copper present in the water being used. What the mechanism for this effect is I don't know, but perhaps one of our knowledgeable readers can help us out.
Eagle Abduction - Can an eagle carry away a child?
Legends and folklore are full of such tales, though modern science says
that it is impossible. One such story occurred in June of 1932 when Svanhild
Hansen, a 42 pound, five year-old little girl from Leka, Norway, was supposedly
abducted by an Eagle that carried her more than a mile to a high ledge.
The girl, with the exception of a few scratches was unharmed. Zoologist
Hartvig Huitfeldt-Kass, who investigated the story at the time, decided
it was "completely reliable."
In the Sky:
Finding Mercury - Early in June is a great time
to observe the solar system's innermost plant: Mercury. Find a location
with a clear view of the west-northwestern horizon and watch where the
sun sets. Come back with binoculars 30 to 45 minutes and look for a peach-colored
dot in the twilight sky just above where the sun went down.
Observed:
British Government Says "There Are No Aliens"
- The British Ministry of Defense will release a secret report from 2000
stating there is no credible evidence that "UFOs" are anything but natural
phenomena like meteors or unusual atmospheric conditions. "No evidence
exists to suggest that the phenomena seen are hostile or under any type
of control, other than that of natural physical forces," the report said,
according to quotes from the BBC. The 400-page commentary, "Unidentified
Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defense Region," is being released under
freedom of information laws and will be available on the Ministry of Defense
(MOD) website.
On the Tube:
Currently we are only able to give accurate times and dates for these programs in the United States. Check local listings in other locations.
NOVA - Kaboom! - Explore the science
of explosions—from fireworks to building demolitions. On the PBS: June
6 at 8 pm ET/PT
Mount St. Helen's: Forecast for Disaster - Scientists
are using new robotic probes to monitor the core of Mount St. Helen's.
Over the past several months the volcano has emitted smoke plumes and
spewed molten lava. With the probes scientists hope to predict the next
eruption before it strikes. On the Science Channel: JUN 05 @ 09:00 PM;
JUN 06 @ 12:00 AM; JUN 06 @ 04:00 AM; JUN 06 @ 10:00 AM; JUN 06 @ 02:00
PM; JUN 10 @ 05:00 PM; ET/PT
When Yellowstone Erupts - A super volcano lies
beneath the beauty of Yellowstone Park. Scientists are challenged with
predicting when the next super-eruption might take place and describing
what will happen if this cataclysmic event occurs. On the Science Channel:
JUN 05 @ 08:00 PM; JUN 05 @ 11:00 PM; JUN 06 @ 03:00 AM; JUN 06 @ 09:00
AM; JUN 06 @ 01:00 PM; JUN 10 @ 04:00 PM; ET/PT
Most of Our Universe is Missing - We can only
account for four percent of our universe. Join us as we visit the worlds
most powerful telescopes, fly through outer space, and travel inside the
deepest mines to find the other 96% of what makes the universe home. On
The Science Channel: JUN 13 @ 09:00 PM; JUN 14 @ 12:00 AM; JUN 14 @ 04:00
AM; JUN 14 @ 10:00 AM; JUN 14 @ 02:00 PM; JUN 18 @ 05:00 PM; ET/PT.
Coolest Science Museums - Coolest Science Museums
explores the coolest exhibits at five of the top science centers in the
United States. On The Science Channel: JUN 23 @ 09:00 PM; JUN 24 @ 12:00
AM; JUN 24 @ 04:00 AM; JUN 24 @ 11:00 AM; ET/PT.
Egypt's New Tomb Revealed - A new tomb is found
in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, with 28 jars and 7 coffins and only Discovery
is inside. What lies sealed inside the jars? Are there mummies in the
coffins? And, if so, are they tied to King Tut's tomb? The answer may
change history... On The Discovery Channel: JUN 22 @ 09:00 PM; JUN 23
@ 01:00 AM; ET/PT.
Building the Great Pyramid - Of the many myths
surrounding the construction of the Great Pyramid, none is more difficult
to eradicate than the belief that it was built by slaves. Find out the
truth as to how and why this extraordinary human monument was made. On
The Discovery Channel: JUN 04 @ 08:00 PM; JUN 05 @ 12:00 AM; JUN 22 @
08:00 PM; JUN 23 @ 12:00 AM; ET/PT.
Secret Allied Aircraft of WWII - At WWII's outset,
US and UK military aircraft designs were woefully behind Germany's and
Japan's technologically superior planes. But the genius and ingenuity
of innovators on both sides of the Atlantic closed the gap. For America,
it was a handful of visionaries and their teams; for Great Britain, a
creative and thoughtful spirit emanated from the top leadership on down.
In this hour, we recount the untold stories of their cutting-edge designs
and solutions, some of which proved decades ahead of their time. On History
Channel: June 2 @ 6pm ET/PT.
UFO Files: Russian Roswell - Welcome to the
remote, top-secret military base Kapustin Yar, the Soviet "Area 51"--where
the wreckage from no fewer than eight UFO crash incidents and their occupants
were transported and studied between 1945 and `91. We expose this never-before-seen
installation through interviews, on-camera tours, dramatic reenactments,
and extensive recreations. We also explore the many Russian UFO crashes
over the decades and show the ways in which Soviet UFO research scientists
at Kapustin Yar used and processed the wreckage...and the alien bodies.
Join us as we investigate the facts and myths surrounding Kapustin Yar,
as well as the many UFO crashes that still circulate in the lore and consciousness
of the Russian people. On History Channel: June 5 @ 8pm ET/PT.
Ancient Marvels Japan's Mysterious Pyramids -
Most historians and archaeologists maintain that civilization as we know
it began about 5,000 years ago with the emergence of the earliest Egyptian
dynasty. But, a small yet persuasive number of scientists believes that
a highly advanced civilization, nearly twice as old, flourished during
the last Ice Age. Solid evidence of this 10,000-year-old civilization
is difficult to produce, but some feel a recent discovery off the coast
of a tiny Japanese island, Yonaguni, may be the proof they seek. On History
Channel: June 8 @ 8pm ET/PT.
LGM:
Science over the Edge Archives
LGM Archive 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Copyright Lee Krystek 2006. All Rights Reserved.