Research into motion-sensitive proteins could allow space suits to generate power from the astronauts’ movements in the space…

They are focusing on a protein called prestin, which is found in the outer hair cells of the human ear. In the cell membranes of these cells, prestin converts electrical voltage into motion, elongating and contracting the cell. This movement amplifies sound in the ear.

Source : New Scientist Via: SlashDot

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), whose launch is planned for 2013, will be able to see further and better than Hubble currently does, and will study the first stars and galaxies that formed just after the Big Bang.

When scientists are looking into space, the more they can see, the easier it is to piece together the puzzle of the cosmos. The James Webb Space Telescope’s mirror blanks have now been constructed. When polished and assembled, together they will form a mirror whose area is over seven times larger than the Hubble Telescope’s mirror.

Source: Science Daily

NASA has announced that the selection of astronauts was going to undertake closer scrutiny after the embarrassment of the current court case of one space traveller.

NASA will review the way it screens astronauts for mental or medical problems after the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak on charges she tried to kill a romantic rival, the U.S. space agency said on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters

Life on Earth would never had been possible without liquid water and new evidence shows that CO₂ helped maintain the temperatures above freezing at a time when the young Sun was too weak to warm the surface of our planet. This gas, now considered a nuisance and held responsible for the current observed global warming, was once essential for the apparition of life and for preventing the Earth from suffering the same fate as Mars.

Source: Science Daily

Robbing a geek of his lifelong dreams of space flight? That’s just wrong. It’s like telling Captain Kirk he couldn’t join Starfleet!

For the self-described space buff who has attended space camp and watched shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center, it seemed like a chance to become an astronaut on a dime.

Then reality struck. After some number-crunching, Emmett realized he would have to report the $138,000 galactic joy ride as income and owe $25,000 in taxes. Unwilling to sink into debt, the 31-year-old software consultant from the San Francisco Bay area gave up his seat.

Source: USA Today