Mystery impact leaves Earth-size mark on Jupiter

An amateur astronomer in Australia noticed the new mark -- seen through telescopes as a dark spot -- on the planet early Monday and tipped off scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, who then confirmed it was the result of a new impact, NASA said.

It's not clear what the object was that crashed into Jupiter's poisonous atmosphere.

Glenn Orton, a JPL scientist, told the magazine New Scientist that it could have been a block of ice from somewhere in Jupiter's neighborhood, or a wandering comet that was too faint for astronomers to have detected before impact.

The object created a mark on Jupiter that has the about same diameter as Earth, though the object itself was probably only 50 to 100 miles across, said Anthony Wesley, the amateur astronomer who first noticed the scar.

The mystery object was likely moving at speeds of about 50 to 100 kilometers (31 to 62 miles) per second when it struck near Jupiter's south pole, Wesley told CNN.

"That generates an unbelievable amount of energy when it collides with pretty much anything, but especially with something the size of Jupiter," he said.

It is only the second time scientists have been able to observe the results of such an impact on Jupiter. The first happened 15 years ago, when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke into 21 pieces and hit the planet's atmosphere.

"Given the rarity of these events, it's extremely exciting to be involved in these observations," JPL astronomer Leigh Fletcher said in a NASA interview.

Thermal images taken by NASA show the scar as a bright spot, which means the crash warmed the lower atmosphere in that area, New Scientist said.

Researchers also found hints of higher-than-normal amounts of ammonia in the upper atmosphere. The Shoemaker-Levy comet also churned up extra ammonia, the magazine said.

Jupiter's new spot isn't likely to last long -- probably just one to two weeks, Wesley said. He pointed out the impact scars from the Shoemaker-Levy debris lasted only two to three weeks before disappearing.

Seeing an Earth-sized spot appear so tiny on Jupiter's surface led to some to wonder Tuesday whether our planet might be in danger of a similar collision.

But Wesley said that shouldn't be a concern because Jupiter functions almost like a celestial vacuum cleaner, sucking up any objects that would be of danger to Earth and its neighbors.

"Jupiter is doing a very good job in scooping up a lot of this material that's still floating around in the solar system," he said.

"It's just got so much gravity as it swings around the outer part of the solar system, it can really pull in and swallow up many of the cometary objects and debris left over from the formation of the solar system.

"So it's doing a good job in keeping us safe by cleaning out a lot of these bits and pieces."

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and the largest in our solar system.

Its colorful atmosphere is 86 percent hydrogen and 14 percent helium, with tiny amounts of methane, ammonia, phosphine, water, acetylene, ethane, germanium, and carbon monoxide. The chemicals are responsible for producing the different colors of Jupiter's clouds.

The temperature at the top of those clouds is about 230 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (145 degrees below zero Celsius), but it is far hotter near the planet's center. The core temperature may be about 43,000 degrees Fahrenheit (24,000 degrees Celsius), hotter than the surface of the sun.

The most outstanding feature on Jupiter's surface is the Great Red Spot, a storm of gas that swirls at a speed of about 225 miles (360 kilometers) per hour at its edge. The spot -- which has been shrinking -- has a diameter equal to about three times that of Earth.

Solar Thermal Heats Up

The hitch with solar power has always been its sky-high cost: the sun may be free, but the materials and the equipment needed to convert rays into electricity certainly aren't. That's why entrepreneurs have long been searching for a way to create a solar company with an economic model that resembles a software startup--selling a sophisticated computer program that drives cheap, commodity hardware.

Bill Gross, founder of the startup incubator Idealab, based in Pasadena, CA, believes that he's got it: an enterprise designed to kick off what he calls a "disruptive revolution" in carbon-free energy. A serial entrepreneur who has launched more than 30 tech companies, Gross is CEO of eSolar, a Pasadena-based solar thermal venture that will go live with a five-megawatt test bed of its utility-scale technology on the grid later this summer.

But that's only a tiny fraction of what's to come. The privately held eSolar and its power plant operating partner, NRG Energy, have announced agreements with three electric utilities to install 500 megawatts of thermal solar capacity over the next few years.

To put that into perspective, that is more than the current 450 megawatts of solar thermal capacity that's online in the United States today, says Daniel Englander, a solar energy analyst with GTM Research, in Cambridge, MA. And it's a significant fraction of the total of 1.5 gigawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity currently installed nationwide.

The agreements--with Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and El Paso Electric--are aimed at producing power beginning in 2011. While the utilities aren't disclosing the target price for the electricity in the contracts, Gross claims that he can deliver it at about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour--less than the typical rate for wind power or even a natural gas plant.

ESolar's thermal power technology has only a few basic components. Giant fields of tabletop-sized glass panels track and reflect the sun. The beams shoot at towers where water is boiled to make steam that can drive a traditional turbine. Meanwhile, special software that costs $100 million to develop runs on a bank of Dell servers. The software coordinates with cheap video cameras that continually monitor the angle of the panels as the sun rises and sets.

Other companies, such as Brightsource Energy, have also developed solar thermal technology using central towers and boilers. But what's new about eSolar's approach, says Daniel Englander, is that the mirrors are smaller and cheaper to make and install, thus requiring more sophisticated control software.

Utility-scale thermal solar plants have been around for decades, the largest of which is the set of Kramer Junction plants in the Mojave Desert that produces 350 megawatts of peak power for Southern California Edison. But its massive trough-shaped panels, which harness the sun, are expensive to make and install, in large part because they require so much steel to support the parabolic-shaped glass panels.

However, a large amount of new thermal solar power capacity is being planned using newer technology. Currently, there's more than eight gigawatts of thermal solar capacity being promised to U.S. utilities; how much of that will actually get built is unclear. "A lot of these contracts in California that the utilities are signing aren't with an eye to actually building," Englander says. "A lot of times, it's just a good-faced effort to show that they're engaged with renewable energy."

Later this month, eSolar's 24,000-panel plant in Lancaster, CA, is set to begin supplying its power for the grid. However, since the plant is self-financed and company operated, no one outside eSolar will be able to verify the real costs of producing the electricity.

From then on, though, eSolar won't be building its own plants. NRG Energy, based in Princeton, NJ, will purchase eSolar's technology and build, finance, and operate the planned 500 megawatts. NRG currently operates 24 gigawatts of power capacity at dozens of plants powered by a full range of energy sources. Michael Liebelson, NRG's chief development officer for low carbon technology, says that he chose eSolar because "it is the lowest cost of all solar solutions."

Biotech Bacteria Could Help Diabetics

Friendly gut microbes that have been engineered to make a specific protein can help regulate blood sugar in diabetic mice, according to preliminary research presented last week at the American Chemical Society conference in Washington, D.C. While the research is still in the very early stages, the microbes, which could be grown in yogurt, might one day provide an alternative treatment for people with diabetes.

The research represents a new take on probiotics: age-old supplements composed of nonharmful bacteria, such as those found in yogurt, that are ingested to promote health. Thanks to a growing understanding of these microbes, a handful of scientists are attempting to engineer them to alleviate specific ailments. "The concept of using bacteria to help perform (or fix) human disorders is extremely creative and interesting," wrote Kelvin Lee, a chemical engineer at the University of Delaware, in Maryland, in an e-mail. "Even if it does not directly lead to a solution to the question of diabetes, it opens up new avenues of thought in a more general sense," says Lee, who was not involved in the research.

People with type 1 diabetes lack the ability to make insulin, a hormone that triggers muscle and liver cells to take up glucose and store it for energy. John March, a biochemical engineer at Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY, and his collaborators decided to re-create this essential circuit using the existing signaling system between the epithelial cells lining the intestine and the millions of healthy bacteria that normally reside in the gut. These epithelial cells absorb nutrients from food, protect tissue from harmful bacteria, and listen for molecular signals from helpful bacteria. "If they are already signaling to one another, why not signal something we want?" asks March.

The researchers created a strain of nonpathogenic E. coli bacteria that produce a protein called GLP-1. In healthy people, this protein triggers cells in the pancreas to make insulin. Last year, March and his collaborators showed that engineered bacterial cells secreting the protein could trigger human intestinal cells in a dish to produce insulin in response to glucose. (It's not yet clear why the protein has this effect.)

In the new research, researchers fed the bacteria to diabetic mice. "After 80 days, the mice [went] from being diabetic to having normal glucose blood levels," says March. Diabetic mice that were not fed the engineered bacteria still had high blood sugar levels. "The promise, in short, is that a diabetic could eat yogurt or drink a smoothie as glucose-responsive insulin therapy rather than relying on insulin injections," says Kristala Jones Prather, a biochemical engineer at MIT, who was not involved in the research.

Creating bacteria that produce the protein has a number of advantages over using the protein itself as the treatment. "The bacteria can secrete just the right amount of the protein in response to conditions in the host," says March. That could ultimately "minimize the need for self-monitoring and allow the patient's own cells (or the cells of the commensal E. coli) to provide the appropriate amount of insulin when needed," says Cynthia Collins, a bioengineer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, NY, who was not involved in the research.

In addition, producing the protein where it's needed overcomes some of the problems with protein-based drugs, which can be expensive to make and often degrade during digestion. "Purifying the protein and then getting past the gut is very expensive," says March. "Probiotics are cheap--less than a dollar per dose." In underprivileged settings, they could be cultured in yogurt and distributed around a village.

The researchers haven't yet studied the animals' guts, so they don't know exactly how or where the diabetic mice are producing insulin. It's also not yet clear if the treatment, which is presumably triggering intestinal cells to produce insulin, has any harmful effects, such as an overproduction of the hormone or perhaps an inhibition of the normal function of the epithelial cells. "The mice seem to have normal blood glucose levels at this point, and their weight is normal," says March. "If they stopped eating, we would be concerned."

March's microbes are one of a number of new strains being developed to treat disease, including bacteria designed to fight cavities, produce vitamins and treat lactose intolerance. March's group is also engineering a strain of E. coli designed to prevent cholera. Cholera prevention "needs to be something cheap and easy and readily passed from village to village, so why not use something that can be mixed in with food and grown for free?" says March.

However, the work is still in its early stages; using living organisms as therapies is likely to present unique challenges. More research is needed to determine how long these bacteria can persist in the gut, as well as whether altering the gut flora has harmful effects, says MIT's Prather.

In addition, recent research shows that different people have different kinds of colonies of gut bacteria, and it's unclear how these variations might affect bacterial treatments. "This may be particularly challenging when it comes to determining the appropriate dose of the therapeutic microbe," says Collins at Rensselaer. "The size of the population of therapeutic bacterial and how long it persists will likely depend on the microbes in an individual's gut."

Escherichia coli

What are E. coli?

Escherichia coli are Gram-negative bacteria that belong to the g-proteobacteria. As they primarily live in the mammalian gut they have been grouped with other related bacteria as 'enteric' bacteria. They are straight rod shaped cells of about 2 µm long and 0.5 µm wide, which can grow and divide rapidly by binary fission.

There are many different types of E. coli and the chief way they are distinguished is immunologically using serotyping. The current typing system is based mainly on three types of antigen: the somatic (O) antigen which corresponds to terminal sugars on the cell surface lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the capsular (K) antigens and the flagellar (H) antigen. There are over 170 O antigens, over 100 K antigens and over 50 H antigens. Hence, when we refer to pathogenic strain O157:H7, it means that this E. coli has O antigen 157 and H antigen 7. Many other strains cause disease as well, like O26:H11

Why do we use E. coli K-12?

While there is a great diversity of strains in the environment, only a few are used in the lab. The majority are a derivative of a commensal strain called K-12. One of the main reasons why this microbe is a key research tool is that it is safe to handle; you could drink a culture of the stuff and not notice any effect (not to be recommended, however!). As well as being safe to use, K-12 is ridiculously easy to grow. It is usually cultured in the lab on a rich nutrient broth or agar, which supplies plenty of goodies for rapid growth. Whilst it is often said to be able to divide every 20 minutes, that is really only under absolutely optimal conditions. However, it still grows very quickly compared to other microbes. This is a big advantage in school as a culture can be set up one evening and by the following day nice clear and distinct colonies are visible on an agar plate.

Growing E. coli in nutrient broth is a quick and simple way of propagating this microbe, but does not exploit one of E. coli's most important properties. Unlike humans and many other microbes, it doesn't need lots of complex chemicals, like vitamins, to grow. Just provide a solution of some sugar (glucose is best), ammonium sulphate, salt and phosphates and grow it aerobically at the 37oC used in research laboratories and it's perfectly happy. Such incubation temperatures are not allowed in schools, but even at the permitted maximum of 25oC, K-12 still grows well. Basically, it can synthesise everything it needs to make a completely new cell from these few simple molecules, which is a seriously impressive feat.

All E. coli are not the same.

While K-12 and B strains are safe microbes, we know that there are other E. coli out there like O157:H7 that can kill people. However, these are quite different from K-12 even though they have the same species name. This is illustrated very clearly when the DNA sequences (genomes) that make up K-12 and O157:H7 are compared. They are 25% different from each other! As humans share about 99% of their DNA with chimps, this gives an indication of how much evolution and movement of genes have occurred in the environment since these 2 strains of E. coli last had a common ancestor.

Scientists now know why K-12 is not harmful. Many of the known properties of the bacteria that allow them to cause disease, called virulence factors, are seen in pathogenic strains but not in K-12. In fact, the K-12 strain used in the laboratory is even less dangerous than a commensal strain living in your own gut that you might isolate from your stools. K-12 has been grown in the lab for many generations and so has adapted to live there rather than the intestine. It wouldn't stand a chance in the hugely competitive environment that is your gut where bacteria are constantly evolving to keep their 'cutting edge' and not be pushed out by other microbes. Getting K-12 to establish itself in the gut would be like trying to qualify for a Formula 1 race with a car from 1922 (which is when K-12 was taken from the somebody's gut)! It was competitive at the time, but is now way off the pace.

E. coli K-12 is a friendly bacterium

Some studies that suggest E. coli could be used as a probiotic, but when you browse the web for information about commensal E. coli you will find a statement something like 'E. coli is a friendly bacterium as it can produce vitamins that we require, especially vitamin K'. Not trusting the internet as a particularly reliable source, I searched for experimental data that supports this assertion.

Vitamin K is essential in humans and most animals as we cannot synthesise the compound ourselves. In humans, vitamin K is used by the liver to synthesise prothrombin, which in turn is processed to form the enzyme thrombin; a key enzyme involved in the blood clotting process and there is increasing evidence that vitamin K has additional roles in maintaining in bone health. There are two forms of vitamin K, vitamin K1 and vitamin K2. Vitamin K1 is called phylloquinone and comes from our diet. It is found in some oils, especially soybean oil, and in dark-green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli. Vitamin K2 is menaquinone, which can come from the bacteria in the gut and indeed E. coli can synthesise menaquinone because it uses it during respiration. As E. coli lives and dies in the gut, the dead cells release vitamin K2, which can then, theoretically, be absorbed and utilised by the body.

Evidence suggesting vitamin K derived from E. coli can improve diet

A number of studies have given support to the idea that vitamin K2 produced by the gut flora, and specifically by E. coli, has an important function in keeping us healthy. One study looked at rats that were born and raised in a sterile environment in the absence of any bacteria (gnotobiotic). They infected different rats with different bacteria, including E. coli, and found that the ones that were known to make menaquinone in the lab also made it when they were growing in the rats. They also showed that the concentration of the menaquinone in the liver (a site where vitamin K functions) was increased in the rats that had been infected with bacteria that made menaquinones. Hence, in rats at least, there is evidence that menaquinone made by E. coli can be taken up by the host organism and concentrated in the liver (Kindberg et al., 1987).

A second more recent study looked at the reverse process. This study was in humans that had a normal fully formed gut flora (of which E. coli only makes a tiny proportion). Like the study above, they measure d the concentration of menaquinone in the livers of patients who had just died. They compared the amount of menaquinone in individuals who had been taking broad spectrum antibiotics before they died (in whom most of the gut flora would have been absent) to individuals who had not (who should have had a normal gut flora). They found that individuals who had been treated with antibiotics had a much reduced menaquinone content in their livers. The authors suggest that a reduction in the gut flora responsible for menaquinone production (which includes E. coli) leads to reduced stores of this form of the vitamin in the liver (Conly and Stein, 1994).

While both these studies demonstrate that menaquinone produced by E. coli can be utilised by humans neither demonstrate that this is i) giving a benefit to health and ii) that E. coli is really contributing to this in the mixed population of the gut. Also, it is clear that the majority of the vitamin K that we obtain is as vitamin K1 from our diet and so the often quoted benefit of E. coli in our guts does still seem a possibility but has no real experimental support.

Contribution of some scientists in Microbiology

contribution of Alexender fleming
Alexender fleming is famous for discovery of antibiotics penicillin .In 1929, fleming did one experimrnt .He cultivated staphylococcus aereus in nutrient agar plate was contaminated with a mold.He noticed that there was clear zone around the mold .He thought that mold inhibited the growth of bacteria so there were no bacteria around the mold .Then he did analysis of this mold & found that moldwas penicillium notatum.penicillium notatum have produced one anti-bacterial chemical that killed the bacteria around the mold. He name this chemical as 'penicillin' later this chemical become very famous & usebul drugs to prevent wound infection .This discovery lead to the discovery of many other antibiotics by other scientist.

contribution of joseph lister
Joseph lister is famous for development of antiseptic technique.Antiseptic technique is removing of microorganism from material such as surgical dressing by using various chemical .Joseh lister for the first time used carbolic acid solution towards the surgicalinstruments & surgical dressing when lister use carblic acid treated surgical dressing to protect wound,wound helling occured faster then the wound whichis protected by dressing that are not treated by carbolic acid .From this experimrent lister concluded that such antiseptic technique is necessary for the microbiological & surgical work.So Joseph lister is famous for estsblishment of antiseptic surgical technique.

contribution of Elie -Metchnikoff
Elie-Metchnikoff described the process of phagocytasis.Phagocytosis is a process in which certain white blood cells ingest the bacteria in the body & kill it. Thesse WBC thateat bacteria are called the phagocytes .Thesephagocytes protects the body from these disease causing bacteria .Metchnikoff for the first time describe how these WBC ingest & kill the bacteria .He also exlain that this phagocytes cell provide first line of defense against such bacteria.
contribution of Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner have give the contibution in the field of immunology for the first time ,practise of immunization as done by Edward Jenner in 1978. At first time he isolated the fluid from the cow which is infected by small pox disease.Then he injected the old culture thin fluid into the child name james phipps .After innoculation he found that the child become resistance to the small pox injection .The vaccination practice now a days is also based on same pprinciple that Edward Jenner applied several years ago.Edward Jenner this experiment suggest that when inactivated organism or innoculated into the same organism in the future .Therefore the word vaccination is derived from the Jenner's experiment i,e vacca means cow in latin word.

Tanzania’s national tree brings hope for future

Sebastian Chuwa, an Associate Laureate of the 2002 Rolex Awards, has been working to save the forests of northern Tanzania and in particular the national tree, the African blackwood or mpingo.


Chuwa’s massive environmental education programme has encouraged Tanzanians, including thousands of schoolchildren, to plant tree seedlings to restore the nation’s dwindling forests. The total of young trees planted over the 15 years that he has led this work has reached 1,445,000, with the 1.5 million figure expected early in 2009.



In Tanzania, one of the world’s poorest countries, people are often tempted to cut down valuable, indigenous trees like the mpingo. Despite this, thanks largely to the replanting programme, “there is more forest than there was five or 10 years ago”, Chuwa says. While his campaign needs many years of further planting and environmental education to succeed fully, the 54-year-old Laureate says “the sight of trees growing since I planted them when I was young gives me hope”.

Over the past two years, the African Blackwood Conservation Project (ABCP), set up to support Chuwa’s project, has gained funding from the UK-based Good Gifts Catalog, which enables individuals and organizations to make gifts to environmental and humanitarian programmes around the world. Thanks to this funding, mpingo trees are being replanted at locations in northern Tanzania: at Makayuni, two full-time workers are now employed by ABCP to plant trees, while a school in Kilindini has agreed to plant 5,000 mpingo trees. Thousands of seedlings are being planted at other locations, bringing the 1.5 million mark steadily closer.

A key element of the ABCP programme is ensuring that seedlings receive plenty of attention in the first few years of growth to ensure their survival.

How to beat the ban of humans on Mars

For NASA and Mars, it’s no humans allowed. As reported by the Mars Society and other space enthusiasts, Congress is finally clamping down on the menace of human life on Mars (see “Why ‘Save Mars’ is worth the effort”, The Space Review, November 12, 2007). The House of Representatives version of HR 3093, the bill that determines NASA’s funding for 2008, effectively bans the study of an entire planet:
Provided, That none of the funds under this heading shall be used for any research, development, or demonstration activities related exclusively to the human exploration of Mars.
The House committee report mentions the proposed prohibition:
Finally, bill language is included prohibiting funding of any research, development, or demonstration activities related exclusively to the human exploration of Mars.

In 2006, there was an attempt to implement a Mars ban by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA):
None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for a manned space mission to Mars.

Frank was also arguing against humans and Mars back in 2005:

I agree about what was said about aeronautics; it is so important. I agree with space experimentation, primarily unmanned. But sending human beings to Mars, which this bill unfortunately endorses, is an extravagance…

The chief motivation behind the ban is the old, predictable anti-human-spaceflight routine. Robots are better for science, therefore we should have a robot-only space policy. The counter-arguments are ignored: that establishing human/Earth life beyond Earth is progress for humankind, and that a both-robots-and-humans policy is fair to all sides.

Mars was targeted because banning other places is not yet politically feasible. If the lunar exploration program wasn’t already established, the ban would have included all destinations outside Earth orbit. The long-term objective is to emulate the old British model and eliminate all human spaceflight, even though Britain is considering relaxing its astronaut ban.

The bill is still in Congress, and hasn’t made it into law yet, but it’s worthwhile to be prepared for a prohibition on Mars. There are ways for NASA to continue its human spaceflight research and development without technically breaking the law…
Human exploration of places very close to Mars
The Mars ban would draw a legal border between Mars and the rest of the universe. Exploring the rocky surface of Mars would certainly be illegal, and being in the Martian atmosphere would also presumably break the law, but the ban says nothing about orbiting Mars. If the Mars ban becomes law, it should be accompanied by a mysterious surge of interest in the human exploration of the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos. As long as the astronauts keep clear of the Martian atmosphere, they can explore Phobos and Deimos to their hearts’ content.

Humanoid exploration of Mars
The ban permits robots to explore Mars. But the law does not specify the exact size and shape of the robot concerned. If the robot just happened to have the same physical dimensions as a human being—if it was a humanoid robot, or android—then it could be sent to Mars using the same launch vehicles and modules as the human mission. The robot could be equipped with biochemical functions to test the mission’s life support systems. And if legislators decide to lift the Mars ban, NASA could simply swap the humanoid robot with an actual human, and immediately begin a manned mission.
Inclusive exploration of Mars
The wording of the Mars ban may provide another loophole. The ban covers activities that are “related exclusively to the human exploration of Mars”. The word “exclusively” was necessary, otherwise activities ranging from the human exploration of the Moon to the robotic exploration of Mars could be linked to humans on Mars, and subsequently banned. The exclusive language helps narrow down the ban.

But the exclusive nature of the law allows a human mission to Mars to take place, if the mission also does something else. If the hardware used to explore Mars was also used to explore the Moon, then that’s acceptable. Most importantly, if the mission to Mars included both humans and robots, then that could also go ahead. A humans-and-robots mission would not violate the law because it is not exclusively human. So the law intended to enforce an anti-human, robot-only space policy may end up enforcing a both-humans-and-robots policy, which is what NASA and space enthusiasts have wanted all along.

If the anti-human-spaceflight community is serious about eliminating humans in space, it should write a better law. And no messing around this time:

Provided, That no funds shall be used for anything that has, does or will directly result in humans, human-derived beings or human-like objects existing at an altitude higher than 100 kilometers above sea level on planet Earth.