Solar Eclipse of May 20: How to See the Sun's 'Ring of Fire'

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/solar-eclipse-may-20-see-suns-ring-fire-105219623.html

Summary: On May 20^th, there should be a solar eclipse that can be viewed by most of the Western Hemisphere.  The moon will block out most of the sun but leaves a ring of light visible around the circumference of the moon.  The moon passes between the Earth and the sun every 29.5 days.  There is no solar eclipse when this happens because the moon is either above or below the sun. 

Critique: This will be a very cool thing to experience.  I hope it is not a folk like some of the other things that were said to happen but never did. 

Impact: This is a positive impact because this could be a once in a lifetime event.

Hidden Alien Planet Revealed by Its Own Gravity

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/hidden-alien-planet-revealed-own-gravity-180918022.html

Summary: Astronomers have discovered at least one, if not more, unseen alien planets.  It has the mass of abut Saturn and orbits its sun once every 57 days. 

Critique: I think that this was very interesting to know that there are other planets that are circling the same sun and we didn’t even know it! 

Impact: This is a neutral impact because it can be both good and bad.  It can be good because maybe the planets have an effect on us, but it can be bad because we don’t know very much about the planet, and it was just discovered. What else is out there in our solar system that we haven’t discovered?

Our Sun Is Moving More Slowly Than Thought

Reference:  http://news.yahoo.com/sun-moving-more-slowly-thought-183631909.html

Summary: Researchers thought that the sun was moving fast enough in space for our heliosphere to generate a shock wave for about a quarter of a century.  The shock wave that would have been created was known as a bow shock.

Critique: This is very good because it’s moving slower than researchers thought.  If it were moving faster that would be bad because the huge shock wave would be sooner than expected

Impact: This is a positive impact because now we don’t have to worry about the shock wave and we might even live longer

Far Out! Jupiter-Bound Probe Snaps Photo of Big Dipper

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/far-jupiter-bound-probe-snaps-photo-big-dipper-181720358.html

Summary: A NASA spacecraft was on its way to Jupiter when it snapped a picture of what might be the farthest-flung photo ever taken of the Big Dipper.  When the photo was taken, the Juno Probe was already beyond the orbit of Mars.  NASA released the image on Thursday May 10.  The Big Dipper is one of the most popular Northern Hemisphere celestial landmarks.  In England, the Big Dipper is called “Plough” and in Germany it is called “Great Cart”. 

Critique: I thought this was very interesting because I the Big Dipper is one of my favorite constellations.

Impact: The impact of this is very positive because now, we can see what the Big Dipper looks like from space and what kind of pictures a space probe can take. 

Huge Dead Satellite May Be Space Junk for 150 Years

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/huge-dead-satellite-may-space-junk-150-years-153552260.html;_ylt=Aj6ZHnjveVb259kuAG4xN4.HgsgF;_ylu=X3oDMTRlajcwZm44BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgU3BhY2VBc3Ryb25vbXlTU0YEcGtnAzcxYjRmMGY2LTQxZmMtMzg0Mi04Njk2LWE2MzhiZGRlOTc3OARwb3MDMwRzZWMDdG9wX3N0b3J5BHZlcgNkOWNjNzU4MC05YjgwLTExZTEtYWRmZi0wNjIzODYxNjY3ZDY-;_ylg=X3oDMTFlamZvM2ZlBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

Summary: An enormous spacecraft about the size of a school bus went silent about a month ago, after 10 successful years of working.   It was officially claimed dead on Wednesday May 9^th.  It is predicted that it will stay in orbit for the next 150 years, posing a threat to other spacecrafts zipping around our planet.  It is now one of the biggest pieces of space junk after the announcement was given. 

Critique: This was a very interesting article to read because it has a big effect on other spacecrafts in our orbit as well.

Impact: the dead satellite has a negative impact because it could destroy other satellites in our orbit and that could cause NASA a lot of money. 

Ancient Egyptian Mummy Suffered Rare and Painful Disease

Summary- About 2,900 years ago, an ancient Egyptian man, approximately in his 20s, died after suffering from a rare, cancer-like disease that might have left him with a type of diabetes. Scientists are not really sure what caused the disease, but they do know that it is very rare. it only affects about one in 560,000 young adults, mostly males.

Critique- This is interesting. I wonder if actual cancer existed in ancient Egyptian times.

Impact- We now know that even in ancient Egyptian times they had and died from rare diseases. They may have found the early version of cancer.

Resource- www.foxnews.com

'Iceman' Mummy Holds World's Oldest Blood Cells

Summary- The oldest red blood cells ever discovered were found among the body of Otzi the Iceman, who is a 5,300 year old mummy that was found in the Alps in 1991. This magnificent find was a first for Otzi's mummy, which had been under harsh scientific critique since a group of hikers came across the frozen body in ice on the Austrian-Italian border. This finding found by new research helped confirm how Otzi died.

Critique- I think that this finding is interesting and quite remarkable. It just blows my mind that they were able to determine that this mummy had red blood cells with the condition that he is in.

Impact- Scientists now have red blood cells from a person that is about 5,300 years old. Now they can examine them and get more information on that time peroid.

Resource- www.foxnews.com

Wind Farms are Warming the Earth, Researchers Say

Summary- Recent research found that wind farms are actually warming up the surface of the area underneath them during the night, which could put a damper on efforts to expand wind energy as a energy alternative. Satellite data, that researchers used, from 2003-2011 to examine the surface temperatures across a large area of west Texas, which has four of the world's largest wind farms. The data researchers discovered, showed a direct correlation between night time temperatures increase of 0.72 degress C or 1.3 degrees F and the placement of the farms.

Critique- I don't understand why this is happening at night instead of all day, that is the only thing that is curious to me.

Impact- This will impact all of the states that are home to this form of alternative energy.

Resources- www.foxnews.com