Overview
The moon is Earth’s closest celestial neighbor. It has a huge influence upon our lives, governs the tides (the sun plays a small part, but not nearly as much as the Moon), and is responsible for eclipses. Some biologists say, the moon is even responsible – in part – for life on Earth, for without the tides causing currents and mixing of chemicals, that life might never have formed.
The moon lies, on average, 384,400 km (238,900 miles) away and takes 27.3 days to orbit the Earth. Strange as it may seem, its rotation period is exactly the same as its orbital period, something that scientists call tidally locked. Therefore, one half is always facing the Earth while the other half is always facing away. This means that there isn’t really a “Dark Side” of the moon. Also, contrary to popular opinion, there have been people on the far side, and it has been extensively photographed and mapped.

Surface and Atmosphere
The moon has a very heavily cratered surface, which tells the tale of solar system. Earth would be the same way if it had no atmosphere or water to erode the craters, the lunar landscape has remained relatively constant for billions of years.

It is through these craters that we can actually tell some of the solar system’s history. Through dating the craters, planetary scientists have been able to determine that most of the craters were made in the early days of the solar system, approximately 3.8-45 billion years ago. This means that early in the solar system, there was a period of heavy asteroid bombardment. This is most likely due to all of the extra material left over from the solar system’s formation. After approximately 1.2 billion years, most of the material had formed into the Asteroid Belt, been ejected from the solar system, or hit the planets and moons.

If you look at the moon closely, you can see dark patches. After the period of heavy asteroid bombardment, the moon’s surface cracked in many places. The lowlands of the moon filled with volcanic material, which then cooled. This lasted for approximately 750 million years. They are called maria (singular is mare) due to their resemblance to dark oceans.

The moon has remained relatively static (unchanging) for the last 2.5 billion years, with the occasional asteroid impact.

Creation
There are four main theories about the creation of the moon, although only one is generally considered to give an accurate description of what actually occurred.

The first theory states that the moon was created the same way the planets were – through the coalescing of gas and dust during the solar system’s formation. The second theory says that the moon is a captured asteroid. The third theory says that when the Earth was first formed it was spinning so rapidly that it split in two; this is often referred to the “fission” theory. The fourth theory is the one that most scientists currently believe is correct. It states that when the Earth was quite young, a Mars – sized planet crashed into it. The planet crashed with such speed that it was completely destroyed, and almost destroyed the Earth. The planet was coming in with such force that when it was destroyed, the molten iron in its core continued to travel through Earth, to eventually be included in its core. This explains why the moon has very little iron. The crash comically dubbed the “Big Splash,” sent tons of rock and debris into orbit. These fragments eventually coalesced to form the moon. The tidal and rotational forces in play also account for why moon’s day is exactly the same as it’s “year”.

The writer is a student of
STD VI, The Ark Int’l School

Wanna Commit Social Network suicide?
Are you very crazy about facebooking? Does it kill much of your time? Do you feel sometimes to leave facebook and all friends, just like committing suicide? Well, here is a way for you: web 2.0 Suicide Machine. It’s nothing but a software to make you disappear from Facebook or Twitter immediately. The software is released in December 19, last year and till now, it has helped more than 1000 virtual deaths, serving more than 80,500 friendships on Facebook and removing some 276,000 tweets from Twitter.
To commit suicide you have to log-in your details and after clicking ‘commit’, all the information, Twitter tweets, facebook friends, LinkedIn connections, MySpace contacts – all will be deleted methodically. Only your cyberskeleton will be remained means a profile with no data at all. It seems that thousands of users are waiting for their own cybercoffing because the Suicide Machine co-creator says that the server is busy with handling requests.
However, like real life, resurrection is impossible. So, decision is yours!

Digital Fundraising for Haiti people
The idea of digital fundraising is new but it is powerful, more than imagination. The fact has been revealed only few days through the incident took place in Haiti. More than 2 lacs people have been died in the recently occurred massive earth quake in Haiti.
Digital fundraising is made possible through the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Red Cross officials were stunned when they came to know the total amount – it is more than $8 million. The amazing fact is the campaign collects more than $3 million within 48 hours. The amount is reposted on the Red Cross account and the fund raising activity is still going on.
The fundraisers also use mobile text for fundraising. Twitter plays great role in this fundraising. Celebrities like actor Ben Stiller, Singer Adam Lambert and Actress Lindsay Lohan used twitter feeds to plead for earthquake relief donations. This reveals the good site of social networking again.

]]> http://www.youthwavebd.com/sci-tech-news-4/feed/ 0 http://www.youthwavebd.com/sci-tech-news-3/ http://www.youthwavebd.com/sci-tech-news-3/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:00:50 +0000 Youth Wave http://www.youthwavebd.com/?p=409 Microsoft launches beta versions of Office 2010
Microsoft has launched its beta version of free Office 2010 suit recently. The specialty of this version is that it includes Ad supports. The office starter will include on-screen advertisements that will be appeared in a limited space in the lower-right-hand of the applications’ windows. Although the beta version is free, it will deliver some paid version for “streaming technology”Office starter will include word processor and spreadsheet, Word and Excel, with limited functionality. The company will introduce some more price-varied versions for the students and businesses. However, the price of the office suit is not fixed yet. So, let’s get prepared to pay for ads while using Office suit.

Google OS replaces the need of hard drive!
Google has revealed more details about its Chrome OS that would be a lightweight, browser based operating system for Notebooks. The first Chrome OS notebooks will be available in late 2010, but it will be an extraordinary. The company promises a high speed in boot time, 7 seconds, more or less. “The users will get their notebooks very fast, as fast as a television” – expressed by vice president of Google.
Google OS notebooks will not have traditional hard disk drives because they will rely on flash memory and Internet based storage for saving data. Even all the applications will be web based, that means the users won’t have to store data or install applications in the hard disk drives. It will eliminate the necessity of using anti-virus also. Everything will stay on cloud, so nothing to be worried about the PC.

Mummies reveal heart disease of the Egyptians
Heart diseases plagued ancient Egyptians- ancient mummy reveals this fact after thousands of years. The scientists have examined about 22 mummified bodies and found that 16 of them had heart or arteries problems. Nine had evidence of blockage from atherosclerosis. “This disease has been around since before the time of Moses,” said Randall Thompson, one of the specialists.
Some of the preserved mummified bodies that received full-body computed tomography scans reveals the fact. It was first noticed by some scientists while visiting the museum that Merenptah, one of the pharaohs who ruled around 1200 B.C. had suffered from atherosclerosis and this encouraged them to further investigate.

More Feature in I-Pod Nano

More features in the same size iPod Nano
Apple Inc. has revealed the new version of iPod Nano with more features to give the old gadgets a fresh look. The new device includes a video camera, FM Radio, microphone, speaker and even a pedometer – all in the same size. It signifies a triumph of engineering and design that has made possible to pack all the new features including the old ones. “This sleek, elegant device must provide you much pleasure” – said a spokesperson while introducing the product in a company event. Moreover, all the new features are not like add-ons, they are quality instruments that perform quite nicely and the size is not much bigger than a couple of sticks of gum, side by side. The new Nano is $149 for the 8-gigabyte model and $179 for the 16 GB version. Given that you’ll be tempted to take a lot of off-the-cuff videos, you’re probably better off with 16 GB.

Facebook Lite: Free from tens of external applications

Faster Facebook

Every day when you open your facebook, you will find the news of lots of applications added your friends in your news fed. However, you use Facebook Lite. Through designing the simpler version, Facebook actually takes a risk because it doesn’t contain thousands of external applications build for main site. Although its available only in US right now, facebook Lite has been originally built for the countries with low bandwidth users. People are using simple online services like google and twitter, so it will be interesting to see what percentage of Facebook members will adopt Lite as their preferred Facebook site. However, Facebook considers opening Lite to the third party application, so that developers don’t lose access to a big segment of Facebook users. More than 1 million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries have created about 350,000 active applications for Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world.

Most ancient colored twine found
The researchers have discovered microscopic fibres accidentally while searching for pollen samples in a Georgian cave. The scientists

Most ancient colored twine

say that it is the earliest examples of human making cords, around 30,000 years old. It is thought that the ancient humans used the plant fibres to carry tools, weave baskets or make garments. Some of the fibres are even colored and dyed. A researcher from Harvard University expressed his opinion, “This is a very old principle of making rope and cord.”

Groups are key to good health

Groups are Key to Health

Researchers of a University of Australia reveals that membership of social groups has a positive impact on health and well-being. Even they can have greater impact than diet and exercise. The work emphasizes on belonging to a range of social groups, engaged in social activities and expressed that this can reduce the risk of conditions like stroke, dementia and even the common cold. Depending on some of the previous studies along with some new ones, the researchers find the truth.

Nokia Enters PC Market with Mini-Laptop Launch

The mobile handset giant Nokia enters into PC Market and launched a portable mini-laptop computer last month. According to a spokesperson of Nokia, the mini computer will use Microsoft’s Windows software and contains a high speed mobile internet access capability. The Nokia Booklet 3G will be a full function personal computer supported by an efficient Intel Atom processor and a glass 10.1 HD display. It has integrated A-GPS with a copy of Ovi Maps, a rated 12 hour battery life, and the usual Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, all in a 2cm (.78 inch), 2.7lb aluminum body. Although the company remains the dominant producer of mobile phones with a 38% share of the global marker, it has faced competition from Apple’s iPhone and RIMM’s Blackberry. The move to computer business highlights increased consumer demand for products that fuse portable computing, telecommunications and music listening technology.

‘Most dangerous’ celebrities to search for online

Be cautious if you plan to Bing Jessica Biel or Google Brad Pitt. A new report says you might get a virus. According to a report by the computer security company McAfee, the Hollywood actors are among the top 10 celebrity searches online that can lead to computer problems. Your searches related to “Jessica Biel” lead you to a webpage, photo, video or piece of spam that contains a cyber security threat, the report said. The former “7th Heaven” star and girlfriend of singer Justin Timberlake is followed on the”most dangerous” list by singer Beyonce, actress Jennifer Aniston and football hunk Tom Brady. Singer and reality TV star Jessica Simpson rounds out the top five. Brad Pitt, who was top in the list last year, is in the tenth position. The hackers use pop culture trend to spread virus and malicious software. So, be very careful while browsing and better use a well defense system.

Human Remains Believed to Be 1000 Yrs Old Discovered

The remains of three people have been discovered during the excavation for a new wastewater treatment plant in Alaska. It is believed that they were the members of a tribal group that lived in Alaska more than 1000 years ago. The archeologists are not certain until radiocarbon dating is done. The discovered bodies are believed to be members of Ipiutak, a tribal group that lived in Alaska from about 500 to 900.

Multitaskers are worst at managing multiple tasks

The researchers from Stamford University revealed surprising news: those who multitask the most are the ones who are worst at it. The researchers studied 262 college undergraduates and concluded that multitaskers are more easily distracted and less able to ignore irrelevant information than people who do less multitasking. The researcher divided the students into high and low multitasking groups and comparing such things as memory, ability to switch from one task to another and being able to focus on a task and reached to their decision.

Sakib Shahrier