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2010 Haiti is struck by a devastating earthquake On 12th January 2010, a 7.0-magnitude quake occurred in Haiti, devastating the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. With a death toll of more than 230,000, it was one of the deadliest on record.* Many notable landmark buildings were damaged or destroyed - including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main prison. Among those killed were Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot and the opposition leader, Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) collapsed, killing many including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi. Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed, with many tens of thousands of bodies having to be buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, with looting and sporadic violence being observed. On 22nd January the UN noted that the emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on the following day the Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors.
The longest solar eclipse of the 3rd millennium occurs On 15th January 2010, a solar eclipse occurred in the Indian Ocean. It was the longest eclipse of this millennium, with a duration of 11 minutes, 8 seconds. It was first visible as a partial eclipse over Central Africa, before entering the Indian Ocean, where it reached greatest eclipse. It then passed over the Maldives, remaining at totality when passing over the capital city, Malé, at 12:20:20 UTC. The path continued over India and into Myanmar, finally ending after reaching China. The next eclipse of a longer duration will not occur until December 3034.
Apple
debuts the iPad The iPad has a 9.7-inch (25 cm) LED backlit multi-touch display with a pixel resolution of 1024x768, 16 to 64 gigabytes (GB) of flash memory, a 1-gigahertz (GHz) Apple A4 processor, Bluetooth 2.1, and a dock connector to sync with iTunes and connect wired accessories.
The
Constellation Program is essentially cancelled
The worst marine environmental disaster in US history On 20th April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and injuring 16 others. The rig was owned and operated by Transocean and was drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field, about 40 miles (60 km) southeast of the Louisiana coast. The explosion caused the Deepwater Horizon to burn and sink, and started a massive offshore oil spill. This became the second largest environmental disaster in American history - behind the Dust Bowl of the 1930s - and the worst marine accident on record. On 15 July 2010, the leak was stopped by capping the gushing wellhead, after it had released some 4.9 million barrels (780,000 m³) of crude oil. An estimated 53,000 barrels per day (8,400 m³/d) were escaping from the well just before it was capped. The daily flow rate diminished over time, starting at 62,000 barrels per day (9,900 m³/d) and decreasing as the reservoir of hydrocarbons feeding the gusher was gradually depleted. On 19 September 2010, the relief well process was successfully completed, and the federal government declared the well "effectively dead". The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats - and to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. In late November 2010, 4,200 square miles (11,000 km²) of the Gulf were re-closed to shrimping after tar balls were found in shrimpers' nets. The amount of Louisiana shoreline affected by oil grew from 287 miles (462 km) in July to 320 miles (510 km) in late November 2010. In January 2011, an oil spill commissioner reported that tar balls continued to wash up, oil sheen trails were seen in the wake of fishing boats, wetland marsh grass remained fouled and dying, and crude oil lay offshore in deep water and in fine silts and sands onshore. A research team found oil on the bottom of the seafloor in late February 2011 that did not seem to be degrading. Skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored barriers, sand-filled barricades along shorelines, and dispersants were used in an attempt to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil. Scientists also found immense underwater plumes of dissolved oil not visible at the surface, as well as an 80-square-mile (210 km²) "kill zone" surrounding the blown well. The US Government named BP as the responsible party, and officials committed to holding the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage. After its own internal probe, BP admitted that it made mistakes which led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Scientists create synthetic life In May 2010, a giant leap was achieved in biotechnology as a team of scientists led by DNA pioneer Dr Craig Venter successfully created the first artificial lifeform. Mycoplasma laboratorium was an entirely new species of bacterium, with a man-made set of genetic code - originating on a computer - and placed on a synthetic chromosome inside an empty cell. Using its new "software", the cell could generate proteins and produce new cells. This breakthrough raises profound questions about the essence of life, with concerns about scientists "playing God". Instead of having a genetic relative that it evolved from, the parent of this cell is a computer. Some believe the technology may fall into the wrong hands and be used to make biological weapons. However, the potential benefits of synthetic genomics will arguably outweigh the dangers. The ability to rewrite the software of life will revolutionise the field of biology - leading to radical new vaccines and medicines, clean water technology, advanced biofuels and much more.*
One-fifth of Pakistan is flooded In July 2010, Pakistan experienced one of the worst floods in modern history, following heavy monsoon rains which affected the Indus River basin. At one point, approximately one-fifth of the country was underwater. According to Pakistani government data, the floods directly affected nearly 20 million people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure. Although the death toll was relatively low (2,000 according to reports), damages from loss exceeded $43bn; almost one quarter of Pakistan's GDP. Over 60,000 troops were involved in relief operations.*
Solar power is plunging in cost
Augmented
Reality (AR) is entering the mainstream This concept has already been used in military training (to display imaginary aircraft and vehicles for example), but is now spreading to mainstream uses - such as travel, outdoor pursuits, communication, gaming and entertainment. Other applications include architecture and interior design (to show virtual objects in a room, for example, or to view buildings before they are constructed). In the coming years, this technology will be available in sunglasses and even contact lenses. The market for mobile AR services is expected to reach $732 million by 2014, with revenues derived from a combination of paid-for app downloads, subscription based services and advertising.
Macular
degeneration is curable
The
first demonstration of solar-sail technology The craft will spend six months traveling to Venus, then begin a three year journey to the Sun. A second, far larger version of IKAROS will be launched later in the decade, with a 50m (160 ft) sail. This will travel to Jupiter and the Trojan asteroids. The advantage of solar sail compared with conventional rocket technology is that it gets low acceleration constantly, because photons keep hitting the membrane as long as the solar sail is in space. Although this acceleration is very small, the speed of the solar sail increases day by day. Therefore, solar sails are suitable for extremely long flights - including missions to the very edge of the solar system. Also noteworthy is that the lack of propellant and ultra-lightweight structure greatly reduces both the manufacturing and launch costs.
Scientists
trap antimatter
Speech-to-speech
translation is common in mobile phones
Major
breakthrough in robotics
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References 1
Deadliest earthquakes on record, Wikipedia: 2
First Self-Replicating Synthetic Bacterial Cell, J Craig Venter Institute: 3
Continuing Pakistani floods, Boston.com: 4
U.S. Solar Market to Double in the Next Year - Government incentives
and lower solar prices are starting to pay off, Technology Review: 5
FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Approval of VisionCare's Implantable
Telescope for End-Stage Macular Degeneration, VisionCare: 6
Antimatter atom trapped for first time, say scientists,
BBC: 7
Researchers enable a robot to fold towels, University
of California, Berkeley: |
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