Earth celebrates Sputnik's 50th birthday
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Fifty years ago Thursday -- Oct. 4, 1957 -- the world's first artificial satellite was launched by the Soviet Union, marking the start of the space age.
Called Sputnik, meaning "fellow traveler," it was about the size of a basketball, weighed 183 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth while transmitting a series of rapid beeps.
"As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard," said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, noting many people feared the Soviets' ability to launch satellites might also mean they had the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons to the United States.
Then, on Nov. 3, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik II, carrying a heavier payload including a dog named Laika.
On Jan. 31, 1958, the United States entered the space race by launching Explorer I -- a satellite that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts surrounding the Earth.
The Sputnik launch also led to NASA's creation on Oct. 1, 1958.
Since then, humans have walked on the moon, created the International Space Station, sent robots to Mars and dispatched numerous satellites and spacecraft to explore the universe.
Study may lead to novel diabetes treatment
TORONTO, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists have found a "genetic roadblock" they identified in a recent study could lead to novel treatments for type 2 diabetes.
Researchers at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital have discovered the first genetic evidence that the elimination of the gene for glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) in mice sensitizes the animals to insulin.
In people suffering type 2 diabetes, the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin, or it is not properly used. As a result, sugar accumulates in the blood rather than being absorbed, stored or burned for energy.
The study found by eliminating GSK-3 in mouse models, more sugar became stored in the liver in response to increased insulin sensitivity, indicating insulin had become more effective.
"While potential human treatments are likely still years down the road, this study provides strong evidence that chemical inhibitors of this enzyme will be useful for increasing the effective potency of insulin," said Jim Woodgett, director of the Lunenfeld Institute.
The study, co-authored by Drs. Katrina MacAulay and Bradley Doble, is featured in the Oct. 3 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.
Physicists slow, stop atom movements
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A team of U.S. physicists has discovered a way of slowing or stopping the movement of atoms, allowing a much wider exploration of molecules.
The University of Texas at Austin physicists -- inspired by the coilgun developed by the university’s Center for Electromechanics -- developed an "atomic coilgun" that slows and gradually stops atoms with a sequence of pulsed magnetic fields.
Professor Mark Raizen and colleagues said they ultimately plan on using the gun to trap atomic hydrogen, which Raizen said has been the Rosetta Stone of physics for many years and is the simplest and most abundant atom on the periodic table.
"Precision spectroscopy of hydrogen's isotopes, deuterium and tritium, continues to be of great interest to both atomic and nuclear physics," he said. "Further study of tritium, as the simplest radioactive element, also serves as an ideal system for the study of Beta decay."
Having successfully designed and used an 18-coil device to slow a supersonic beam of metastable neon atoms, the team is developing a 64-stage device to further slow and stop atoms.
The research appears in the New Journal of Physics.
Ancient documents portend major earthquake
TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- An Israeli scientist said ancient documents suggest a major earthquake triggered by the Dead Sea Fault is long overdue in the Middle East.
Although seismologists don’t know when the next big earthquake will occur, Tel Aviv University geologist Shmulik Marco said earthquake patterns recorded in historical documents indicate the region’s next significant quake might be imminent.
Based on the translations of hundreds of ancient records from the Vatican and other religious sources, Marco has helped determine a series of devastating earthquakes occurred across the Holy Land during the last 2,000 years. The major ones were recorded along the Jordan Valley in the years 31 B.C. and in 363, 749 and 1033 A.D.
"So roughly we are talking about an interval of every 400 years," said Marco. "If we follow the patterns of nature, a major quake should be expected any time because almost a whole millennium has passed since the last strong earthquake of 1033.
"When it strikes -- and it will -- this quake will affect Amman, Jordan, as well as Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem," he said. "Earthquakes don’t care about religion or political boundaries."
