Fresh Scientist Guest #1: Dr. Catia Domingues, CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research.
We chatted on the telephone with Catia who is part of a team of Australian and US oceanographers who determined that during the past four decades the oceans have been soaking up heat, expanding and rising at a rate about 50 per cent faster than previously estimated by the IPCC. The research is published in the journal Nature and corrects errors in ocean temperature data that had led to conflict between observed and simulated changes. The effect of major volcanic eruptions on ocean temperature can even be clearly seen in the data. (More….)
Fresh Scientist Guest #2: Dr Susan Angus, Research Fellow in Quantum Measurement at the University Of Melbourne.
Susan joined us in the studio and described her work on silicon radio-frequency single electron transistors. The odds that a futuristic quantum computer will be built of silicon have received a boost, thanks to new technology recently invented by researchers in the Centre for Quantum Computer Technology (CQCT). They’ve made a silicon chip that can control and observe individual electrons and they are now using this chip to make quantum test chips. The potential speed and power of a quantum computer is known to far exceed even the biggest supercomputers of today. What is still unclear though is the best method to build one. (More….)
NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended — Laboratory tests aboard NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander’s robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples. “We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.” (NASA, Scientific American, Cosmos Magazine)
Russian subs explore world’s deepest lake — Two Russian mini-submarines on Tuesday dove to the bottom of the world’s deepest lake to draw attention to its fragile environment but failed in a record-setting attempt, organisers said. Six crew members descended over 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) to the floor of Lake Baikal in Siberia in a bid to find new life-forms and encourage Russian authorities to take greater care of its pristine waters. But after an initial claim to have made the deepest freshwater dive in history, expedition members admitted they had miscalculated. (The Age, BBC)
NASA Confirms Liquid Lake On Saturn Moon — NASA scientists have concluded that at least one of the large lakes observed on Saturn’s moon Titan contains liquid hydrocarbons, and have positively identified the presence of ethane. This makes Titan the only body in our solar system beyond Earth known to have liquid on its surface. (NASA – Cassini Mission)
Other stories: (listen to podcast)
Danger colours are cultural
How would you convince someone on a train to give you their seat? What’s the magic word?
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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20080803.mp3
Tags: Fresh Scientists, Lake Baikal, ocean warming, Phoenix, quantum computer, single electron transistors, Titan, water on Mars
