May 19 News Items

Researchers Can Modify Internal Clock to Aid Space Explorers (Source: BBC)
Our natural daily 24-hour cycle could be stretched by an extra hour safely and simply by exposure to pulses of bright light, research suggests. Experts say it could prove useful for astronauts adapting for long-term missions to Mars - where a day lasts an extra 40 minutes. The team, from universities in the US and France, tested the light treatment successfully on 12 volunteers. Scientists already know that it is possible to interfere with the human circadian "pacemaker" by controlling exposure to light. The latest research project, shared between Lyon University in France, and Harvard University and Medical School in the US, looked at whether it was possible to "fine-tune" these alterations to achieve a precise result.

After allowing test subjects to sleep and wake normally for a few days, a new regime was imposed, with artificial "days" produced by a combination of low light and very bright pulses of light near the end of the intended "wakeful" hours. After 30 days, scientists found that a combination of light brightness and pulses was able to manipulate the circadian rhythm, over time adding approximately one hour to each subject's day. One possible application might be during long space missions - and to allow astronauts to adapt to longer days on Mars. "In these situations, sleep and circadian disruptions could have serious consequences on the effectiveness, health and safety of astronaut crews," the team told the PNAS journal. For this to work, you have to able to avoid light sometimes, which is more difficult in a real-life situations. The scientists suggested that the light "treatment" could be administered as Mars astronauts tended crops at the appropriate times of day in a brightly lit greenhouse module.

Scotty's Ashes Recovered (Source: MSNBC)
The rocket payload containing samples of cremated remains from "Star Trek" actor James Doohan, pioneer astronaut Gordon Cooper and 200 other dearly departed has been found in a surprising place, more than two weeks after its rise to - and fall from - outer space. Teams had been looking for it in remote mountainous terrain within the White Sands Missile Range. But it turned out that the payload actually came down in a flat area of the range, less than a mile from the rocket's aim point. The intensive search in the mountains, two miles away from the actual landing site, ended up being little more than a "wild goose chase." The search got on the wrong track because the four tiny radio transmitters that were attached to the payload's parachute apparently had fallen off during the descent and landed in the mountains.

Putin Makes Glonass Navigation System Free for Customers (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the Glonass navigation system to provide the service free for customers. Glonass is a Russian version of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which is designed for both military and civilian use, and allows users to identify their positions in real time. The system can also be used in geological prospecting. In line with the decree, satellite navigation equipment bought for Russian government bodies of executive power and organizations subordinate to them should operate using Glonass signals. Putin charged the Federal Space Agency with coordinating work to maintain, develop and use the system for civilian and commercial needs. The head of the space agency said in April Russia will bring the number of satellites comprising its Glonass navigation system to 18 by the end of 2007.