Supernovae are a rare phenomenon indeed. Major ones tend to be seen only about once every 10 or 20 years. The most recent supernova, observed by scientists on Earth (before February 2006), occurred in 1998. The supernova (or death of a star) that was seen in 1998 was considered minor by celestial standards.

That explosion didn't even give rise to a black hole, as is common in the case of large exploding stars. A neutron star, common after smaller supernovae, was the final result of the 1998 explosion. The supernova that was observed this February was similar in size to the one in 1998; it was small, if you can call any supernova small.

NASA has a system in place that utilizes available technology to alert scientists as quickly as possible to instances of supernova in the vicinity and quickly pan their instruments and telescopes to gather data about the event. This particular supernova lasted an unusually long time (some 40 minutes); giving NASA's Swift satellite plenty of time to pan over to bring the supernova into view and gather as much data as possible.

"Usually these gamma ray bursts last fractions of a second to a couple hundred seconds," said Alex Filippenko, professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. "This lasted many thousands of seconds. "The Swift satellite finds these things as soon as they go off, but the longer they last the more we can watch in real time, and others can turn their telescopes to it in real time."

Scientists continue to speculate about why this supernova lasted so long and what made it so unique. By getting such a detailed view of this most recent supernova event scientists will be better able to answer questions about supernovae from concerned policy makers and even possibly create technologies or methods to mitigate any possible hazards the Earth may face from gamma ray bursts in the future.

Inventors working at NanoCyte, a US technology company, have discovered a method by which they can use the stinging mechanism of the Jellyfish to treat acne, deliver insulin and apply tattoos. Cnidocysts, are the stinging cells that give Jellyfish their potent sting.

The scientists involved plan to extract the toxin from the Cnidocysts and then use the properties of the material that is left over to deliver drugs and other substances into the human skin. After undergoing an incubation process to remove the harmful toxins that cause pain to humans, the stingers are soaked in a bath of whatever chemical or other substance that you would like to inject into the human.

The entire concoction is placed on the skin in a patch, and the injection is initiated when the doctor or patient applies pressure or a small electric current to the patch. The inventors claim that it is possible to use the new technique to deliver insulin or other drugs and even to give tattoos.

A pre-made tattoo, designed exactly to your specifications, that is free of defects and capable of being completed as quickly or slowly as you can stand? What if you are a diabetic? How about life without being forced to remember when to take your dose of insulin? This idea really has promise. You just have to get past the idea of having a Jellyfish strapped to your arm.

India is beginning to awaken as a mighty economic force; scores of companies from all over the world making huge investments in the country and outsourcing millions of jobs to talented residents eager to take the opportunity.

The marketplace is not the only sign that India is slowly moving out from  the shadows and into the spotlight. India's space program is also making in-roads into territory that has traditionally been reserved for US and European companies.

Commercial and government space flights are planned for the near future that will initiate India into the exclusive club of space-going nations.

Madhaven Nair, one of India's most prominent rocket scientists and leader of India's civilian space agency the ISRO or Indian Space Research Organization, is involved with the Chandrayaan mission which is scheduled to send a satellite to orbit and map the Moon in 2008. This project was designed and undertaken by India to aid NASA in its quest to use the Moon as a stopover on its planned trip to Mars).

India has developed a totally self sufficient space program that will continue to grow in light of the unprecedented cooperation between nations in the uniquely human quest for the stars. The Chandrayaan mission will give us even greater details about every aspect of the Lunar surface once it launches the Chandrayaan-1 orbital satellite to the Moon. This information is something that NASA will need to safely begin making plans for an eventual trip to Mars. NASA's Mars trip would not be feasible without using the Moon as a launching point for the expedition.

Today's military aircraft are expected to withstand the rigors of combat and training sometimes for decades before being retired or undergoing an overhaul. Metal fatigue and tiny cracks found in engine and structural components can lead to disaster if they are not discovered and repaired in time.

Engineers at Southwest Research Institute have developed a new system that monitors the entire structure of the aircraft for any defects that may lead to the failure of critical components. The new method they have developed is non destructive and does not require the use of the external magnets needed for previous flaw detection systems.

An A-10 (Warthog) was used to test the new system and it successfully detected and monitored the growth of microscopic cracks in the aircraft. Southwest Research Institute is a pioneer in the use of this new technology, known as a magnetostrictive sensor.

Previously, the sensors were only used in pipelines to detect cracks and maintain the integrity of the system. Only after they refined the technology to make a, " lightweight, low-profile evaluation sensor that could maintain a residual magnetic field without the need for an external magnet," could it be used inside the tight spaces found in airplanes.

"Magnetostrictive sensors used by the pipeline industry are also limited by a "dead zone" - the distance associated with the time required for the excitation pulses to saturate the receiver. " The problem of "dead zones" was minimized by using a "much shorter wavelength or higher frequency signal."

According to the engineers who developed the sensor system, "with additional development, the new MsS technology will address the need for monitoring the structural components of today's high-cycle aircraft, such as T-37 and T-38 trainers, as well as A-10, F-16, F-15 and other military combat aircraft."

It also has potential for commercial fleets. With the average age of jets in the commercial fleet hovering above 20 years and structural cracks causing fatal crashes on a regular basis technology to detect and monitor stress cracks and other flaws is a Godsend.

As Alaric S. wrote this morning, weather concerns have caused officials to delay the scheduled launch of Shuttle Discovery until July 4th. Unfortunately, new concerns have been discovered since then that bring the future of the program further into doubt.

Officials leaving a high level meeting this morning have recommended one of two paths for NASA to take: the first choice is to do nothing and allow the launch to take place as scheduled with no additional intervention; the second option is to do minor repairs "in the field" that would allow for a larger margin of safety during the launch. At the press conference after the meeting NASA went public with its decision to continue cautiously toward a launch on July 4th.

Many have said that this launch will make or break the Shuttle Program, so a lot is riding on the launch politically. The crack itself is a four to five inch crack in the foam insulation surrounding the external fuel tank near the nose of the Shuttle. Cracks in the foam insulation have been a serious concern of engineers ever since the Columbia disaster that was caused by a piece of this very foam falling off the tank at high velocity during launch.

NASA officials are under intense scrutiny and pressure to complete a successful launch and landing sequence in order to show politicians that NASA is still competent and likely to provide them a return on their investment. If things go badly for the Shuttle this time around some think that it could be a fatal blow for the program.

In the most recent press conference, NASA officials claimed that the missing chunk of foam poses no danger to the orbiter and the launch should go ahead as scheduled. However, to be safe they have also decided to allow the inspection team additional time to look for cracks in the foam, ice formation and other anomalies that could endanger the launch. The eyes of the world will remain focused on the outcome of this launch as the fate of NASA (and its budget) hangs in the balance.