NASA U-turns enrage planetary scientists

U-turns on ant pheromone trails

Many ant species use branching networks of pheromone trails for orientation between nest and resources [1–3]. Ants on trails make adaptive U-turns for correcting their course using visual cues [4,5] or trail geometry information [2]. However, the role of seemingly non-corrective U-turns on trails is poorly understood. We found that a minority of ants consistently make frequent and seemingly ina...

U.S. astronomy. You make the call, NASA chief tells scientists.

www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 310 21 OCTOBER 2005 425 Faced with problems fixing the space shuttle, finishing the international space station, and winning support for an ambitious exploration effort, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told researchers last week that he was “fed up” with conflicting advice from the science community. Instead of expecting more funds, Griffin explained to the fed...

Development of a New Jughandle Design for Facilitating High- Volume Left Turns and U-turns

Revisiting GNRA and UNCG folds: U-turns versus Z-turns in RNA hairpin loops.

When thinking about RNA three-dimensional structures, coming across GNRA and UNCG tetraloops is perceived as a boon since their folds have been extensively described. Nevertheless, analyzing loop conformations within RNA and RNP structures led us to uncover several instances of GNRA and UNCG loops that do not fold as expected. We noticed that when a GNRA does not assume its "natural" fold, it a...

Surface Systems R & D in NASA ’ s Planetary Exploration Program

In the last several years, since the successful 1997 deployment and operation of the Sojourner rover on the surface of Mars, NASA has entered a new era of space exploration, where the emphasis is on in-situ exploration of planetary surfaces by means of a new class of robotic systems. For example, advanced sample return rovers with demonstrated technology far beyond Sojourner are in preparation ...