TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| NASA to try to free stuck Mars rover Spirit LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For NASA's stuck Mars rover, the Spirit may be willing, but the wheels could prove too weak. The space agency on Thursday outlined a rescue plan to try to free the rover Spirit, which has been bogged in a sand trap on the red planet for half a year. The risky operation is expected to last several months.... hosted.ap.org |
GM protest outside Parliament About 60 people have gathered outside Parliament House in Perth to protest against the introduction of genetically modified crops in WA. abc.net.au |
Roll-out for Branson rocket plane Sir Richard Branson shows off the rocket plane he will use to take fare-paying passengers into space. news.bbc.co.uk |
Rare New Year's Eve 'blue moon' to ring in 2010 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.... hosted.ap.org |
Google celebrates Newton's birthday Today, Google has a surprising animated logo to celebrate the birthday of one of the world's greatest scientists, Sir Isaac Newton, who was born on Christmas day in 1642Sir Isaac Newton's birthday* is being celebrated today by a "Google doodle" that shows an apple falling from a tree: an event that inspired him to formulate his theory of gravity, and established him as one of the world's greatest scientists.Google frequently commemorates events by changing the logo on its search page. Newton's doodle is unusual in being the first to include an action – a falling apple – and in having a photographic quality.Newton's idea was that the force of gravity didn't stop at pulling apples to the ground, but extended into space; wouldn't it go as far as the moon? Newton was then able to show by calculation what he already believed: that the moon's orbit could be explained by the gravitational pull of the Earth.The theory of gravity and three laws of motion, described in Principia Mathematica in 1687, went against traditional ideas that must have seemed "obvious" to many non-scientists. First, it was evident that the moon kept circling the Earth without any "motive power" beyond gravity to keep it going. This broke with Aristotelian physics, which assumed that some sort of force was necessary to keep things in motion. Newton's theory of gravity also explained the moon's influence on the tides, "for there will be a stronger attraction upon that part of the water that is nearest to the body, and a weaker upon that part which is more remote," he wrote. Second, gravity was an invisible force that extended over vast distances: its influence could be shown even on the planets in the solar system. To some, this seemed like a supernatural or even an occult idea.Newton's theory of gravity and three laws of motion enabled people to make mathematical models and therefore to predict or confirm physical observations, but how gravity works and what it actually "means", if anything, are different issues. "It is enough," wrote Newton, "that gravity really exists and acts according to the laws that we have set forth and is sufficient to explain all the motions of the heavenly bodies and of our sea."But the implications of this simple statement are profound. Newton is saying that the universe operates in a rational and predictable way, and its workings can be described mathematically without any reference to mythology, theology or religion. Many people still find this idea challenging more than 300 years later.* Newton was born on Christmas day, 25 December 1642 under the Julian calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, and still in use in Britain. We changed to using the Gregorian calendar in 1752, which was after Newton's death in 1727. Google is celebrating the Gregorian date today, but it's not one that Newton would have recognised.Google doodleGoogleIsaac NewtonAstronomyPhysicsMathematicsJack Schofieldguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |