Richard Leis

Horror Writer & Poet

Month: December 2004

  • Tsunami 2004

    Tectonic activities create beautiful landforms that can be captured by cameras (like many of the images found in The Frontier Channel’s planetary science entries) but on a planet teeming with life forms such activity can be devastating. During the morning of December 26, 2004 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocked the Indian Ocean off the west…

  • Huygens Heads to Titan

    On December 24, 2004 the Huygens probe separated from the Cassini spacecraft and began a three week journey to Titan, when it will parachute through the moon’s thick atmosphere and snap images on its way to the surface. Cassini recently imaged the probe as a bright spot of light against a background of stars. Scientists…

  • Heart Disease Vaccination in Development

    According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease and cancer are the two leading causes of death [PDF] in the U.S., making up over half of the 2,443,387 deaths that occurred in 2002. Could the top two killers of Americans eventually be eradicated (along with many of the other…

  • Opportunity Looks Back and Heads South

    Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is heading south after spending the better part of its mission inside “Endurance Crater” on Meridiani Planum. Within the crater, Opportunity observed bedrock and discovered strong evidence for past surface water over an extended period of geologic time (and perhaps more than once in Martian history.) The rover also looked up…

  • The Hills Have Spirit

    Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is climbing into the Columbia Hills and up the slope of “Husband Hill”. Spirit has also discovered possible evidence for water in the region during the distant past, though the water was likely not as extensive as it was on Meridiani Planum. The Columbia Hills and surrounding terrain all sit within…

  • Titan’s Dynamic Atmosphere

    One of the highlights of the recent Cassini flyby of Titan was a detailed analysis of the moon’s atmosphere. New images reveal a complex atmosphere filled with distinct haze layers, each layer possibly composed of a different hydrocarbon. During a previous flyby, Cassini snapped images of cloud formations near Titan’s south pole. Clouds over mid-latitude…

  • Sony Releases OLED Display PDA

    Sony recently released a new Clie PDA in Japan with a 3.8-inch OLED display. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays require less energy, do not require a backlight, are cheaper to produce, and can provide more vivid colors and deeper blacks at a wider viewing angle than competing technologies. Sony does not immediately plan to…

  • Dione and Saturn

    Cassini recently flew by the Saturnian moons Titan and Dione and sent back some beautiful images. In the background image Dione is seen against the background of Saturn. What a remarkable vista if one could stand on the tiny moon and see Saturn filling up the entire sky. White streaks across the surface of Dione…

  • Eppur Si Muove – Life Expectancy

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. 19 December 2004 Correction: Dr. Aubrey de Grey [defunct link], mentioned below, is not in fact a gerontologist. He is a computer scientist and research associate in the Department of Genetics with an interest in biogerontology. He and his ideas about life extension were…

  • AMN107: Leukemia Wonder Drug

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. A compound called AMN107 has been found to cause remission [defunct link] in 86 percent of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who do not respond to the other wonder drug Gleevec (in use since 2001). The human trial is only in Phase I (compound…

  • Return to Titan

    Cassini-Huygens is nearing Titan for another pass. The last orbit returned the best pictures ever of Titan but deepened the mystery of this smog-covered world. Are answers forthcoming? What will the new images reveal? What new mysteries are in store? Stay tuned!