November 2004 in science
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Science and technology news.
2004 in science : October - November - December
See also: Current science and technology events November 2004 November 2004 in sports

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November 25, 2004

• A significant browser vulnerability was announced, affecting most popular web browsers on most popular platforms. The vulnerability affects the Sun Microsystems Java plugin, and can be fixed by installing the latest version from Sun here. (Details) (The Register)

• The United Kingdom communications regulator, Ofcom, is to loosen control of the radio spectrum, allowing trading on the open market for the first time in 100 years. (BBC)

November 23, 2004

• U.N. report: Half of adults with HIV are women. (CNN Health)

November 20, 2004

• Paleontologists have announced the discovery of fossil records near Barcelona of an ape species which is believed to be the common ancestor of all apes. This species links chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and humans. (Washington Post) (Guardian)
• The Swift satellite is launched into orbit to investigate gamma ray bursts (GRB) and conduct an all-sky X-ray survey. (BBC) (CNN)
• A study has shown that church air is harmful and likely to contain carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons when compared to roads travelled by 45,000 cars per day. It also found that church air contained PM10s, a type of air pollutant, up to 20 times the limit allowed by the European Parliament. The scientists speculate that the source of the pollution is from burning candles. (BBC)
• The National Physical Laboratory in the UK has released a new atomic clock that is up to 1,000 more accurate than caesium clocks, or in other words, accurate to 1 second in 30 billion years. (NPL)(Slashdot)

November 18, 2004

• Taipei has announced plans to create the world's largest Wi-Fi grid, connecting nearly all its residents living in the Taiwan capital to the internet. The service has been announced to cost a user roughly $4.50-$12.00 U.S. per month for use, with the entire construction of the grid to cost the government $70 million U.S. dollars. It is due to be completed at the end of 2005, connecting 90% of the city. (Yahoo)

November 17, 2004

• Privacy International, a London-based privacy watchdog group is calling for all new camera phones to be built with mandatory flash when taking a picture. (BBC)

November 16, 2004

• A new distributed computing project called the World Community Grid is being announced by IBM and other research organizations. The project will use idle time on volunteers' computers to solve medical and environmental research problems. Reuters
• Today is being celebrated as the 100th anniversary of electronics, which began in 1904 with John Ambrose Fleming's invention of the thermionic diode. AIP
• Flight of X43-A Mach 10 test is successful flying under its own power for 10 seconds and reaching Mach 9.7, thus generating positive thrust. NASA

November 15, 2004

• At 2100 GMT, NASA will launch its air-breathing X43-A Hypersonic Scramjet craft from on top a B52A at 12km where a rocket booster will take the X-43A to 33.5km at which point the experimental craft will be on its own to attempt Mach 10 speed. The craft will splash down into the ocean and it wont be recovered. This is the third launch by NASA of a scramjet. In June 2001, the first mission, the craft went off course and had to be disabled. In March 2004, the craft set a speed record of Mach 6.83. BBC NASA space.com
  • Update: The mission has been scrubbed for today due to technical glitches with X-43A instrumentation. When the issues were addressed, not enough time remained in the launch window. Another flight attempt will be made tomorrow. Tomorrow's launch window for the X-43A/Pegasus combination will be from 2-4 p.m., PST. NASA

November 12, 2004

• David Awschalom at UCSB publishes his experiment that confirms the Spin-Hall effect, which is the movement of electrons with opposite spins without the presence of a Magnetic field. This is different from the Quantum Hall Effect.

November 9, 2004

• Six party talks in Vienna came to a deadlock over where to place the ITER international fusion project. The 12 Billion USD cost will be a joint undertaking. Two final locations are on the table: one in France, the other in Japan.

November 8, 2004

• Jean-Pierre Maillard (Institute of Astrophysics in Paris, France) have identified a possible second black hole in our galaxy with an estimated mass of 1,300 suns. Infrared data from the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and data from the European Southern Observatory in Chile was used with Chandra providing X ray evidence. The object, called IRS 13E, is very close to the Milky Way's supermassive black hole Sagittarius A. Nature space.com

November 4, 2004

Researchers at Toin University in Yokohama have created a working solar energy device called a photocapacitor. Unlike previous Solar cells, this device stores energy internally making it more efficient. physicsweb

November 2, 2004

• In an early phase-1 trial, Six of ten renal failure patients with an 86% chance of immediate death survived more than 30 days on an implantable bioartificial kidney replacement which includes working human cells. med.umich.edu bbc

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See also

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