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Today, though, scientists believe that with the help of multi-billion-dollar tools, they are closer than ever to piercing the mystery – and the first clues may be unveiled just weeks from now.

"We are so excited because we believe we are on the threshold of a major discovery," said Michael Turner, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, at an annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Dark matter throws down the gauntlet to the so-called Standard Model of physics.

Elegant and useful for identifying the stable of particles and forces that regulate our daily life, the Standard Model only tells part of the cosmic story.

For one thing, it does not explain gravity, although we know how to measure gravity and exploit it for our needs.

And the Standard Model has been found to account for only around 4 or 5 per cent of the stuff in the universe.

The rest is dark matter, making up 23 per cent, and dark energy, an enigmatic force that appears to drive the expansion of the universe, which accounts for around 72 or 73 per cent.

"On the cosmology side we now understand that this mysterious dark matter holds together our galaxy and the rest of the universe," said Turner.

"And the tantalising thing on the cosmology side is that we have an airtight case that the dark matter is made of something new ... there is no particle in the Standard Model that can account for dark matter."

The dark matter theory was born 80 years ago when Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky discovered there was not enough mass in observable stars or galaxies to allow the force of gravity to hold them together.

According to some theorists, dark matter is fleetingly formed by exotic particles called WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) that, as their name implies, have only weak interactions with the visible matter identified under the Standard Model.

But, again, this could only be part of the picture.

"The real question is why dark matter has six times the energy that is in ordinary matter," said Lisa Randall of Harvard University.

"It could be 10 trillions times bigger ... this is an intriguing sign that there is maybe some other interaction we can detect."

High-powered instruments track cosmic particles

To track these phantom particles, physicists rely on several methods and tools.

One is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer aboard the International Space Station, which captures gamma rays coming from collisions of dark matter particles.

The first results will be published in two to three weeks, according to Samuel Ting, a Nobel laureate and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is the mastermind of the two-billion-dollar project.

Ting declined to give details, only suggesting these highly anticipated results would give humans a better idea about the nature of dark matter.

Another tool used by the scientists is the South Pole Neutrino Observatory, which tracks subatomic particles known as neutrinos, which, according to physicists, are created when dark matter passes through the sun and interacts with protons.

Another big weapon is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, the biggest particle smasher in the world.

Its power, they insist, could allow them to break-up electrons, quarks or neutrinos to uncover dark matter.

Last July, LHC physicists announced they had discovered a particle believed to be the Higgs boson, which confers mass. The Higgs was the key missing piece in the Standard Model.

"The dark matter particles are very heavy. It is one of the reasons we have made the LHC, not only to look for the Higgs boson," said Maria Spiropulu, professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology.

Source  http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/scientists-sense-breakthroughs-in-darkmatter-mystery-20130219-2eo6g.html

The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide. The FBI is investigating.

The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."

The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.

Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors. Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.

The FBI's Richard McFeely, executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, said in a statement that "we were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation. We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person's or government agency's network."

Source  http://www.thepublicopinion.com/news/associated_press/science_and_technology/article_247d9bf4-bb85-5e8c-924f-7f4cfcf37c8b.html

The State Government has awarded $900,000 worth of research grants as part of its shark mitigation strategy. 

It follows an unprecedented number of attacks off the WA coast over the past few years. 

One of the successful applicants is Associate Professor Nathan Hart from the University of Western Australia's Ocean Institute, who is looking at lights, sound waves and so-called 'bubble curtains' as a way of deterring the animals from popular beaches. 

"Just like us, we're afraid of certain things which are unpleasant to our senses, so if you think of a bright strobe light going off unexpectedly, you'll often recoil from that," he says. 

"The bubble curtain is a similar sort of process, a lot of animals are very wary of going somewhere they can't see or sense.

"So imagine a long pipe running along the bottom of the ocean putting out a field of bubbles... The idea is to develop something robust that could be turned on and off to protect a defined area."

Another team of researchers is taking a slightly more technical approach - developing computer algorithms to try to improve shark detection. 

"It's quite similar to face recognition technology," says Dr Ferdous Sohel from UWA. 

"First of all we'll capture images and then we'll filter them to find out if there are any mammals or any big objects.

"We'll have our shark models built in so if we get a match we'll be able to alert patrols." 

Funding has also been granted to test and improve shark shield technology and develop sonar imaging systems. 

WA's Chief Scientist Lyn Beazley is the chair of the Shark Hazard Advisory Research Committee and helped to assess the applications. 

Professor Beazley says the research will strengthen WA's position as a leading centre on shark research.

"I think this will make a material difference and allow science to play a real part in making our beaches safer," she says. 

"We have attracted the best teams in the world here. The world is now looking to us for the very best answers and I think we will provide them."

The Science and Innovation Minister John Day agrees WA is attracting world class research.

"Unless we try these things we will never know but we are certainly using the expertise of excellent scientists here in Western Australia," he says.

"The research will take either two or three years, these sort of things do need to be done thoroughly and carefully."

Mr Day says the government would share any intellectual property with the other partners. 

"Given there is tax payer funding being invested in this, the state would have some continuing interest but it's a partnership with the universities and also with industry," he said. 

Another $1 million worth of grants will be made available mid next year. 

Source  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-07/lights2c-sounds-and-bubble-curtains-to-deter-sharks/4415756?section=wa

SURPLUS rainwater should be stored underground instead of in dams to prepare for drought, a scientific study says. 

 

The National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training has made the recommendation as the federal government tables Australia's first national Murray-Darling Basin plan in parliament.

Researcher Andrew Ross says Australia should be "banking" its water underground as an alternative to traditional dams during times of heavy rain.

"There is enormous national potential to store surplus water in aquifers, ensuring sufficient water is available for cities, homes, industry, farming and the environment when drought strikes," he said in a statement.

"Historically, Australians have relied on dams to provide water for agriculture and cities.

"This strategy is not sufficient to cope with increasing climate variability or droughts as demand for food and water grows."

Up to 3000 billion litres (GL) of water a year evaporates from the Murray-Darling Basin, he said.

That level of evaporation almost matches the 3200 billion litres a year the government is hoping to flush back into the Murray-Darling Basin, under its plan unveiled last week and tabled in parliament on Monday.

Mr Ross, who has researched integrated surface water and groundwater management, said storing water underground would ensure sufficient was available for Murray-Darling Basin agricultural production and environmental flows, and avoid the shutdown of irrigation.

Source  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/store-water-underground-scientists/story-fn3dxiwe-1226524436438

China has plans to launch another manned spacecraft -- Shenzhou-10 -- in early June 2013, according to a leading space programme official.

"They will stay in space for 15 days, operating both automated and manual space dockings with the target orbiter Tiangong-1, conducting scientific experiments in the lab module and delivering science lectures to spectators on the Earth," he said, adding that the selection for the crew will begin in early 2013.

In the coming mission, Shenzhou-10 will offer ferrying services of personnel and supplies for Tiangong-1, further testing the astronauts' abilities of working and living in space, as well as the functions of the lab module, he said.

"The success of this mission might enable China to construct a space lab and a space station," he said.

China plans to build its own space station in around 2020. It had initiated the manned space programme in 1992 by sending Yang Liwei, the country's first astronaut, into the orbit on Shenzhou-5 spacecraft in 2003.

Source  http://www.ianslive.in/index.php?param=news/China_to_launch_manned_spaceship_in_June-390567/SCIENCE%20and%20TECHNOLOGY/36

A RUSSIAN billionaire has a plan to make himself, and others, live forever. 

 

Dmitry Itskov, a 31-year-old media mogul, implored other magnates to fund cybernetic immortality and the artificial body - basically transferring human consciousness into a robot body.

In open letter to the Forbes richest list he wrote, "Currently you invest in business projects that will bring you yet another billion."

"You also have the ability to finance the extension of your own life up to immortality. Our civilisation has come very close to the creation of such technologies: it's not a science fiction fantasy. It is in your power to make sure that this goal will be achieved in your lifetime."

According to Mashable, his timetable is tight:

1. By 2025, scientists will be able to transfer the human brain into a robotic skeleton.

2. By 2035, an avatar brain will be created and your personality inserted within.

3. By 2045, humans will walk around in holographic avatars that will never die.

Indeed, Wired magazine reported that the Russian wants to end the need for surgery and troubleshoot our robo-bodies instead.

Itskov has said that he has already assembled a team of scientists for the job but still needs more funds to continue the project, reported the National Turk.

Source  http://www.news.com.au/national/invest-in-immortalitybillionaire/story-fndo4bst-1226442044299

The existence of the Higgs boson particle has been a hypothesis for several decades, yet much of what we know about the universe has been formed around the assumption that it does in fact exist.

The results of what scientists call a potentially "revolutionary" and extremely important experiment regarding its existence will be announced simultaneously in Geneva and Melbourne - where the international High Energy Physics conference is taking place - from 5pm (AEST).

The findings may, or may not, confirm existing theories of the way the universe - and our world - are held together.

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) has been leading the search for the Higgs boson, an elusive sub-atomic particle dubbed by some as the "God particle", which is believed to confer mass.

The Higgs has led scientists on a chase since 1964, when British physicist Peter Higgs helped lay the conceptual foundation for it.

If the particle exists, it would vindicate the so-called Standard Model of physics, which identifies the building blocks for matter and the particles that convey fundamental forces.

On the eve of the announcement, rumours are flying about what CERN has in store.

"Whether or not the Higgs has been found, tomorrow will be exciting," Professor Sir Peter Knight, president of Britain's Institute of Physics, told AFP overnight.

"If the Standard Model is confirmed via the discovery of the Higgs boson, or whether we need to abandon and start re-writing the textbooks, it's a historical day in science that we should all be proud of."

A big question concerns the degree of probability scientists need to make a claim.

CERN physicists have said they will not make an announcement until they have proof - from two laboratories working independently at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - that the risk of a statistical fluke is vanishingly small.

In scientific parlance, the goal is "five sigma," meaning that there is just a 0.00006 per cent chance that what the two laboratories found is a mathematical quirk.

In a news report, the British science journal Nature said CERN will announce that the two labs saw signals of a new particle with a probability of between 4.5 and 5 sigma.

But CERN will stop short of calling it the Higgs until more is known about what the particle does, Nature said.

"Crucially, they will want to know whether it behaves like a mass-giving Higgs, and more specifically whether it behaves like the Higgs predicted in the Standard Model," the journal said.

Last week, CERN boss Rolf Heuer cautioned about the need for verification.

"It's a bit like spotting a familiar face from far. Sometimes you need closer inspection to find out whether it's really your best friend, or your best friend's twin."

Because the Higgs cannot be seen, its existence - or not - has to be inferred.

This is done by smashing protons together in an underground tunnel, providing a tiny but fierce collision that causes sub-atomic debris to fly into detectors built into the 360-degree walls of a car-sized lab.

The trick then is to sift through the signals from this smash up and look for a pattern that points to the Higgs.

The boson has been so slippery because it is believed to decay almost instantly after it interacts with other particles to endow them with mass.

Over the years, tens of thousands of physicists have been thrown into the search for the Higgs, and billions of dollars have been spent on colliders.

A US machine, the Tevatron, came agonisingly close before it was mothballed in 2011 after 26 years of operations.

Its vanguard role was supplanted by the far bigger LHC, a behemoth that comprises four labs dotted around a ring-shaped tunnel, 27 kilometres long, straddling the Franco-Swiss border. 

In a presentation on Monday of data that was analysed after the closure, physicists at Fermilab said they had strong hints that the Higgs exists, but the signal was 2.9 sigma, which falls short of the five-sigma threshold.

According to Nature, the signature occurred at a mass of around 125 gigaelectronvolts, when a Higgs-like particle decayed into two photons, or particles of light.

The Tevatron and the LHC carried out exhaustive experiments to narrow down the mass field and to identify potential Higgs patterns, a task "much worse than [seeking] a needle in a haystack," Fermilab physicist Joe Lykken said.

Source  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-04/cern-prepares-to-deliver-higgs-particle-findings/4108622?section=vic