History books tell us that the planet Neptune was found in the mid-1800s after years of speculation and search.
But in 1613, more than two centuries before Neptune was officially discovered, Galileo Galilei knew he had found it, according to a new theory by University of Melbourne physicist David Jamieson.
Jamieson has been studying Galileo’s notebooks and found some interesting, buried notations that suggest the great astronomer – then working with a crude, early telescope he crafted himself – was onto something big.
It has long been known that Galileo observed Neptune, but it was thought that he discounted the object as a star and gave it no further thought. But it turns out Galileo may have known the “star” had moved in relation to other stars, Jamieson reveals. That sort of movement would have caught Galileo’s attention, since he knew that it was just the sort of thing planets did.
Continue reading ‘Galileo discovered Neptune…’
The world’s largest and most advanced underwater observatory project was launched in a ceremony at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in the western Pacific province British Columbia.
The 100-million-dollar Neptune Canada project will make it possible for life beneath the ocean to go live on the Internet, giving people an unprecedented experience. Led by the University of Victoria (UVic), it will provide 25 years of long-term monitoring of ocean events as they occur.
“At a time when our understanding of the oceans is clearly becoming more essential than ever, Neptune Canada will play a leadership role in advancing our knowledge of the oceans in ways not previously possible,” UVic president, said in a statement.
Continue reading ‘World’s largest live underwater observatory project launched in Canada’
Scientists have found the fossil of a 60-million-year-old creature in Morocco, which is the rabbit sized ancestor of the modern day elephant.
Paleontologist Emmanuel Gheerbrant discovered the rabbit-size proto-elephant’s skull fragments in a basin 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Casablanca, Morocco.
The creature, called Eritherium azzouzorum, bolsters the case that whole new orders of mammals were already around less than 6 million years after global catastrophe ended the age of reptiles some 65.5 million years ago.
Elephant ancestors now join the likes of rodents and early primates as some of the first known mammals to walk the Earth during the Paleocene era, 65.5 to 55 million years ago (prehistoric time line), according to Gheerbrant.
Continue reading ‘60-mln yr old rabbit-sized elephant ancestor found in Morocco’
Round-the-world balloooning pioneer Bertrand Piccard unveiled his solar-powered aircraft in Switzerland on Friday, ready for another trend-setting circumnavigation of the globe powered solely by the sun.
The wasp-shaped prototype of Solar Impulse, with the wingspan of a jumbo jet, was rolled out before some 800 guests at an airfield near Zurich after six years of development.
Ten years after Piccard and Briton Brian Jones achieved the first non-stop flight around the globe in the Orbiter balloon, the Solar Impulse team are aiming to demonstrate that reliance on renewable energy is not a pipedream.
Continue reading ‘Swiss team unveil pioneering solar plane’
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