Archive for February 2012

Children may have highest exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles

published in ACS' journal, Environmental Science and Technology, it provides the first broadly based information on amounts of the nanomaterial - a source of concern with regard to its potential health and environmental effects - in a wide range of consumer goods.

In the study, Paul Westerhoff, Ph.D., and colleagues point out that titanium dioxide is a common additive to many consumer products, from food to paint to cosmetics.

Westerhoff explained that the body releases the nanoparticles in feces and urine, sending them to wastewater treatment plants, which cannot prevent the smallest particles from entering lakes and rivers. Only one previous study, done a decade ago, reported on titanium dioxide content in a few commercial products.

ISS may become Martian flight simulator

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Feb 17, 2012 - Russia's Roscosmos space agency has suggested expanding the length of future expeditions to the International Space Station from the current six months to a year and even longer to provide for the next step in space exploration - manned spaceflights beyond low-Earth orbit. Earlier, the countries involved in the ISS project agreed that the station could remain operational until 2020.

NASA Spacecraft Reveals Recent Geological Activity on the Moon

New images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft show the moon's crust is being stretched, forming minute valleys in a few small areas on the lunar surface. Scientists propose this geologic activity occurred less than 50 million years ago, which is considered recent compared to the moon's age of more than 4.5 billion years.

A team of researchers analyzing high-resolution images obtained by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) show small, narrow trenches typically much longer than they are wide. This indicates the lunar crust is being pulled apart at these locations. These linear valleys, known as graben, form when the moon's crust stretches, breaks and drops down along two bounding faults. A handful of these graben systems have been found across the lunar surface.

- Copyright © Science World - Hatsune Miku - Powered by Blogger - Designed by Johanes Djogan -