Alien technology can save the planet from global warming. A story quite right out of a comic book? Not really, says a former Canadian Defense Minister.

83-year old Paul Hellyer, who served in Prime Minister Lester Pearson's cabinet and oversaw the integration of the Canadian Armed Forces, says "we need to persuade governments to come clean on what they know. Some of us suspect they know quite a lot, and it might be enough to save our planet if applied quickly enough."

Though the idea seems like it was taken right out of Conspiracy Theory, it does have some solid grounding based on facts and logic. Hellyer points to alien spacecraft sightings and crashes such as the mysterious incidents in Roswell, New Mexico, and other suspected cover-ups.

He says that for UFOs to reach Earth, they must have traveled extraordinary distances. This would only have been possible if the alien technology carries some kind of advanced propulsion methods or special fuels. If this is the case, he says, the technology "could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation ... that could be a way to save our planet."

Hellyer's statements may have been spurred by the clamor for a reduction in fossil fuel reduction after the dramatic disintegration of ice shelves in Antarctica. He also made news in Canada after telling the press that he saw a UFO.

Your Name Into Space, an "aerospace initiative of MIT and Georgia Tech", is a program that seeks to launch a small unmanned research spacecraft designed by students into low Earth orbit in 2010. The science on board will help pave the way for humankind to explore our solar system.

Now, why the name? That's the cool thing about this project. The proponents are inviting everyone (yes, you too, Mr. Facial Dandruff guy) to participate in the mission by uploading content to be printed on the spacecraft.

The content here can be anything from your name, your signature, a corporate logo, a picture, or any other MIT-approved imagery. Hopefully, a picture of Pauly Shore will not pass MIT's rigorous image-screening process.

The four packages you can have for exorbitant amounts of cash after the jump!

Before Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott braved the harsh environment of the South Pole, it pretty much equated to one of those areas on old maps where the only description is, "Here Be Dragons."

A recent article from NASA reveals that the situation on the sun is much the same today. According to solar physicist Arik Posner of NASA headquarters, "The sun's south pole is uncharted territory." It can barely be seen from Earth, and most of NASA's sun-studying aircraft have a poor view of it. Except for Ulysses, that is, and today the spacecraft is making a rare South Pole flyby.

"On February 7th, the spacecraft reaches a maximum heliographic latitude of 80oS—almost directly above the South Pole," says Posner who is the Ulysses Program Scientist for NASA. The spacecraft, a joint mission of NASA and the European Space Agency, has flown briefly over the sun's poles only twice before--in 1994-95 and 2000-01.

Ulysses's south pole flyby will attempt to bring solar physicists closer to solving the following mysteries:

• The sun's north magnetic north pole sticks out the south end of the sun. Magnetically, the sun is upside down. The Earth actually has the same situation. On the sun, the flipping happens every 11 years on the sun in synch with the sunspot cycle. On Earth, it happens every 300,000 years or so, but scientists have no idea yet what the flipping is in synch with. They that studying the sun's polar magnetic field will lead to a better understanding of the Earth's own magnetic field.
  

• There are holes over the sun's poles--"coronal holes." These are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. "Flying over the sun's poles, you get slapped in the face by a hot, million mph stream of protons and electrons," says Posner. Ulysses is experiencing and studying this polar wind right now.
  

• There is evidence from earlier flybys that the north pole and the south pole of the sun have different temperatures. "We're not sure why this should be," says Posner, "and we're anxious to learn if it is still the case." Ulysses will also be flying over the sun's north pole in early 2008 for a direct comparison of the sun's two poles.

NASA's Science Mission Directorate dedicates its efforts during the Ulysses' South Pole flyby to Ronald Amundsen, Robert F. Scott and Richard E. Byrd - brave explorers who dared to defy nature and the elements and learn more about the South Pole. Much like Scott, whose entire team - including him - never made it home again after reaching the South Pole, Ulysses will never come home either. It will remain in space when its internal power sources fail.

Based on a report from Space.com, NASA wants to make a "slight" detour on the way to the Moon. NASA is now analyzing plans to use the Constellation system, including the Moon-bound Orion spacecraft, to be the first to land a man on the Moon an asteroid and get him back safely.

Of course, this is all in the name of science, and the said mission might involve taking back samples of space rock back to Earth for analysis. And the physics of an asteroid precludes man actually setting foot on one; the astronauts are more likely to pilot a remotely-operated spacecraft to study the said lump of space rock.

But the name of science often gets morphed into practical applications, and here the story writers for Deep Impact and Armageddon should pat themselves on the back. In view of the threat that large near-Earth objects (NEOs) pose to Earth, NASA is also looking at such a mission as a sort of "tech demo" in the endeavor to flying a crew to an asteroid, which may probably turn out to be the first step in stopping one. Next step: call up Bruce Willis and whistle up a couple of nukes.

It appears as though it isn't only the rings of Saturn that are a sight to behold. Images were released last Thursday of a huge vortex by the planet's South Pole. The image, taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, shows the first storm of its kind documented on another planet.

Running for about 350 miles per hour, the winds blow steadily around the eye of the storm. That's definitely some strong winds right there. Here on Earth, a hurricane containing more than 156 miles per hour would already be in Category Five. Saturn's Storm, however, is undoubtedly much, much stronger than those we experience her. And with a diameter of about 5,000 miles, with clouds casting a shadow in the center of the vortex extending from 20 to 45 miles above the surface, we can tell you right now, we sure aren't envious of Saturn.

More images and info on the storm after the jump!

The sun's just way too hot to be able to take pictures really up close...right? Not. Thanks to the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode spacecraft of Japan, we now have a "first light" image taken on October 23rd. The images you see below are actual solar granules, or those hot gas masses, whose movements are like that of boiling water sitting atop a hot stove. Those granules, every one of them, is reported to be as big as a terrestrial continent.

According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), they now have confirmation that the "SOT is achieving a very high angular resolution of 0.2 archseconds, a primary objective of the instrument. How much is an archsecond? One is equal to 1/3600 of a degree. Putting it in a more visual perspective, it's approximately the "width of a human hair held thirty feet away".

The Hinode spacecraft set off to space on September 22nd from the Uchinoura Space Center, Kyushu, Japan. Carrying the Japanese term for sunrise, the Hinode's mission is to study the sun, particularly sunspots, the ones responsible for powerful flares and solar storms. Stashed on the Hinode are three advanced space telescopes: the SOT, the X-ray telescope (XRT), and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS).

The banner image above is the first solar image taken from Hinode's X-ray telescope on October 28th.

Those of us here on Earth are protected from deadly radiation by magnetic fields known as the "Van Allen Belts." Once we leave that protective field, however, we are exposed to their full effects. This has serious implications for future space missions, if recent lab experiments are any indication.

It hasn't been much of a problem so far, because astronauts  have never been that far from the Earth for more than a week at a time. However, when it comes to Moon colonization or the proposed journey to Mars, we're talking about several months. In fact, a Mars mission could take as long as three years. Meanwhile, heavy-particle radiation that is found in the void between planets appears to have detrimental effects on cognitive processes.

Bernard Rabin of the University of Maryland has been performing experiments on rats indicating that when exposed to heavy particle radiation perform find it more difficult to navigate mazes and learning to press a button to get a food pellet. They also are more easily distracted deal and are more prone to stress. Astronauts could suffer similar effects, according to Rabin. Specific brain functions that were affected were those controlling spatial reasoning and anxiety levels.

"If you've got to locate an object in space and you can't, that presents some problems," Rabin said, adding  "If there's an increase in the level of anxiety, for example, the astronauts are not going to be willing to explore as much. Or if there's a decrease in anxiety, they might be taking chances that aren't wise."

The effects of the radiation is similar to those suffered during the aging process. Heavy particle radiation appear to create highly reactive oxygen-containing molecules in the body, similar to cell-destroying "free radicals." The One solution may lie in the use of compounds found in foods rich in anti-oxidants, such as blueberries and strawberries.

The next phase of Rabin's study will focus on short-term memory functions, and look for resultant genetic mutations as well. Scheduled to start early next year, the new study will take place at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory in Upton, New York.

The worlds of Entertainment, Finance, Gaming and Politics seem to have a new "Top Ten" list of their hot, young up-and-comers just about every other week. With the planet falling apart and technology our best hope for reversing the trend, it's refreshing to see a "Top Ten" list of the Science world. Here then, without further ado, are the top ten stars of research science:

NAME: Sara Seager
FIELD: Astrophysics
CONTRIBUTION: Aiding the discovery of Earth-like planets outside the solar system by studying the appearance of Earth from similar distances

NAME: Erich Jarvis
FIELD: Animal Linguistics
CONTRIBUTION: Research suggesting that vertebrate animals other than primates have innate language ability.

The full list awaits after the jump!

The breakup of the Soviet Union was thought to be the last nail on the Russian's space program's coffin. But news of its impending demise was greatly exaggerated. There's no denying Russia hit some major bumps right after the Iron Curtain fell, but its position as a major global space power is intact and thriving.

While its true that Russia took a back seat for the past 15 years, there are signs that the country is ready to grab the wheels and fend off challenges from China and other emerging space powers.

Take a look at Russia's uber-busy sked after the jump.

Virgin Galactic's budget $200,000 space trip ticket is not dirt-cheap, but compared to the estimated $20 million dollars Soyuz charges for its space tourists, it's a bargain. Space travel for non-astronauts is expected to become big business in the not-so-distant future.

Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites are working on a fleet of SpaceShipTwo spacecraft capable of taking passengers into sub-orbital space starting 2008. While not as high as NASA and Soyuz space travel, Virgin Galactic passengers will get to experience zero gravity. The company's upcoming fleet will be housed in Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico which is 4,700 feet above sea level. The company chose the site for its "open land and vacancy" and great weather conditions. Plus at that elevation, the trip is not only shorter, it also requires less fuel.

The man behind Virgin Galactic is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, a British entrepreneur whose business interests include Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Records and Virgin Cola and Vodka.