May 2005 in science
2005 :
January -
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December-
→*The
Space Shuttle Discovery is moved back into the
Vehicle Assembly Building at the
Kennedy Space Center,
Florida to be attached to a different tank assembly.
(BBC)*Scientists announce that
Voyager 1, the most distant man-made object, has entered the
heliosheath and is on the cusp of leaving the
Solar System and entering the
interstellar medium.
(BBC)*The
Colima volcano in
Mexico erupts, shooting ash up to 2
miles into the air. This is the most severe activity of this volcano since
1991.
(CBSNews) (San Diego Union Tribune)*
South Korean
scientists led by
Hwang Woo-suk of
Seoul National University announce the creation of eleven
stem cell lines from
cloned embryos. The stem cells were custom-made from the
DNA of sick and injured patients. (It was
later discovered to be fraud. [
1])
*The first account of a newly identified species of
monkey was published in the journal
Science. The species called the
Highland Mangabey (
Lophocebus kipunji) was discovered in
Tanzania. This is the first new
African monkey discovered in 20 years.
(EurekAlert!)* For the first time, a
helicopter lands on top of the world's highest mountain,
Mount Everest in Himalaya. The standard production model
Eurocopter Ecureuil/AStar AS350 B3, piloted by Eurocopter ex-
test pilot Didier Delsalle, landed at the summit at 07:08
NPT (01:23
UTC). After staying for two minutes (to qualify the landing as an official world record), Delsalle lifted off and returned to the base camp at
Lukla,
Nepal.
(MountEverest.net)* Microsoft has officially unveiled the
Xbox 360 video game console system to the public.
(CNet)* A new version of the
Firefox web browser is released, fixing the flaws announced two days ago.
(Wikinews)*The first MARSIS
radio boom of the
Mars Express Orbiter was deployed successfully after some initial difficulty. Using the
Sun's heat to expand parts of the antenna, all segments are now locked into place. This deployment had been delayed due to concerns that the boom might damage parts of the spacecraft during its unfolding.
(ESA)* Two "critical security flaws" are found in the
open-source Firefox web browser. The announcement initiates intensive work by volunteers to fix these problems.
(Wikinews) (BBC)*
Motorola has created a
carbon nanotube prototype panel of 4.7 inches that can be a part of a
HDTV with a 1,280 x 720 resolution. The
nanotube emitting displays (NED) are less expensive, bright, fast response time, wide viewing angle, and color almost as good as
CRT's. NED's can be in production in two years if adopted quickly by industry.
(CNET)*The
Mars Global Surveyor probe currently in orbit around
Mars finds the landing site of the
Viking 2 mars lander and possibly also the landing site of the failed
Mars Polar Lander mission.
(Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS))*
India's space agency
ISRO, using its
PSLV-C6 rocket, successfully launches two satellites into orbit from the
Sriharikota launch site: the 1560 kg
CARTOSAT-1 stereoscopic IRS series Earth observation satellite, and the 42.5 kg
HAMSAT amateur radio communications satellite.
(SpaceDaily)*
Norwegian-American engineer and philanthropist
Fred Kavli has created three million-
dollar prizes in
nanotechnology,
neuroscience and
astrophysics. The
Kavli Prizes will be awarded every two years from
2008 onwards.
(Nature)*Twelve new moons of
Saturn are discovered. All but one are circling the
planet in the opposite direction to its large moons.
(Wikinews) (BBC)*A new
Therizinosauridae dinosaur named
Falcarius utahensis is found in
Utah. The
fossil reveals that the species was
omnivorous, which is unusual for the group of predatory dinosaurs that it belongs to.
(Nature)*
Philanthropist Fred Kavli intends to sponsor three new prizes for
scientific achievements, starting in
2008. They will be awarded for the fields of
Astrophysics,
Neuroscience, and
Nanotechnology.
(LA Times)*
Astronomers have directly
confirmed the existence of an extrasolar
planet orbiting the
brown dwarf numbered
2M1207a. The team says that this is the first-ever infrared view of an
exoplanet.
(Seattle Times) (ESO) (CP)* Students from
Brown University have invented a device that monitors brain functions in order to wake up its owner only when he has emerged from deep sleep. The clock, called
SleepSmart, measures the
sleep cycle and waits until its owner is in his lightest phase of sleep before rousing him.
(Independent Online) (New Scientist)See:
Wikipedia:Current science and technology events sources.
*
Science and technology at Wikinews
