Hasta La Gadget!

Most folks are familiar with the International Space Station (ISS). However, what you may not know is that the national lab on board the ISS is available to anyone to conduct research, provided that research is deemed worthy enough to make the trip into orbit. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is a non-profit tasked by NASA to find and promote those worthy proposals, and it’s teamed up with the MassChallenge startup accelerator to find the next great entrepreneurial space research project — and they want YOU, dear readers to hit them with your ideas. Want to know more? Join us after the break to find out what it takes to get your research in orbit.

Filed under: Misc, Science

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Source: MassChallenge, CASIS

Scientists have discovered a new species of bacteria from water samples obtained from the ancient Lake Vostok. Lake Vostok had been isolated from the world for over 17 million years, and was protected by a thick sheet of ice. Scientists began drilling through the ice since 1989, and have been collected water samples from the lake. The scientists stated that the bacteria did not belong to the “40-plus known sub-kingdoms of bacteria.”

Sergei Bulat, a researcher at the Laboratory of Eukaryote Genetics at the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, stated,

“After excluding all known contaminents…we discovered bacterial DNA that does not match any known species listed in global databanks. We call it unidentified and ‘unclassified’ life.”

The bacteria’s DNA only had an 86% match to any other known organism on Earth. While 86% seems like a high figure, any figure below 90% is an indicator of a new species.

The scientists will need more samples in order to confirm their research, however they believe that no matter how much they research, they’re sure they’ve found a new species of bacteria. The scientists were able to take the water frozen on the drills at Lake Vostok to do their research, and because there was recently a new drilling session at the lake, more samples should be making their way to the scientists as we speak.

Last year, the scientists were eager to find unique species in Lake Vostok, but all of their samples showed no signs of new life forms. These new results provided them with the much needed boost and reassurance they needed to prove that their efforts were not in vain. It took the researchers 23 years to finish drilling through the 3.5 kilometer thick sheet of ice protecting the lake and the discovery of the new species of bacteria was worth it. Bulat stated,

“If it were found on Mars, people would call it Martian DNA. But this is DNA from Earth.”

[via RIA Novosti]

Scientists discover unidentified life near South Pole is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

What once was a haven for illegal downloading is now just an afterthought. After the shutdown of Megaupload last year, it seems users are starting to resort to legal downloading means, according to a study from Carnegie Mellon University. The study suggests that studios saw a boost in digital movie and music sales since the shutdown.

The 18-week study consisted of 12 countries, and revenues from digital sales and rentals for two movie studios were anywhere from 6% to 10% higher than they would have been if Megaupload hadn’t been shut down. Unsurprisingly, the countries that featured the most Megaupload users were the countries that experienced increased usage in legal downloads.

It’s interesting to note that most Megaupload users would think about just switching to a new service to illegally download copyrighted content, but with the movies and music easier to obtain legally, it seems a lot of users have decided to think twice after the Megaupload shutdown and have switched over the legal means.

Countries such as France, Spain, Mexico, and Belgium saw the most growth in legal downloads, while Canada, Australia, and Ireland saw the least impact. The study suggest that the number of users using legal means of obtaining digital content could rise if studios made their content more readily available.

Megaupload shutdown increased legal movie downloads, according to study is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A debate has raged among historians and archaeologists for decades over how the Vikings were able to navigate their ships. There have been some reports in ancient literature of a navigational aid used by Vikings called a “glowing sunstone.” However, no firm evidence of the existence of such a device has ever been discovered.

That has all changed now after an example of a Sunstone described as a “near-mythical” navigational aid was discovered in the remains of a shipwreck from 1592.

Viking Ship Image via ShutterStock

The shipwreck was first discovered about 30 years ago, and is believed to have been dispatched by Queen Elizabeth I – though it sank before reaching its destination near the island of Alderney.

The navigational aid is described as an oblong crystal used to find the sun on a cloudy day or in fog. Researchers have long believed that this device was used by Vikings to navigate their ships in fog or mist. They say that the crystal was discovered in the shipwreck alongside of navigational dividers. The researchers believe that the crystal could have been used as a backup to a magnetic compass.

The stone has now been confirmed as calcite, known as a Iceland Spar. The crystal discovered is discolored from being under the ocean for so many years, but researchers tested the crystal using one with similar properties. The researchers say using the crystal, they were able to locate the sun in poor light conditions and after sunset with accuracy.

[via Digital Journal]

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