Moon walk or Death Star? China’s lunar plans a mystery

An artist's conception of China's Chang'e 3 robot on the moon.ESA

A Chinese satellite has entered lunar orbit and should drop a robotic probe on the moon as early as Friday -- the first such moon landing in nearly four decades. But China's ultimate plans are unclear, whether simply scientific or the first steps toward a military base on the moon.

The Chang’e 3 satellite was launched from southwest China on Dec. 2 and entered orbit around the moon on Dec. 6. It will deposit a robotic rover on the moon as early as Dec. 14. China’s long range goals are murky, according to Thomas Reiter, director for human spaceflight and operations with the European Space Agency (ESA). Yet militarizing the moon would be a shame, he said.

“I could not imagine that human exploration is getting … pushed by military consideration,” Reiter told FoxNews.com. “It would really be a pity.”

'It could indicate interest in the next decade in bringing humans to the lunar surface.'

- Thomas Reiter, director of human spaceflight and operations at the ESA

The ESA is helping China to the moon, a landing that will be the first controlled descent since Russia’s Luna-24 landed in 1976. The space agency’s worldwide network of satellites are tracking the science mission while expert teams on the ground are lending technical assistance. But not even the ESA knows exactly what China has planned.

“The strategic long-term goals of China in human exploration … are not very clear yet,” Reiter said. China’s goals could include landing men on the moon, a feat only the United States has managed to do, the last time 41 years ago, he said.

“I believe they are taking a clear path with some first steps, and I could imagine yes, this could be interest in the next decade in bringing humans to the lunar surface.”

Russia also has shown interest in the moon, Reiter said. Yet the ESA, like NASA, has no concrete plans to do more than help when it comes to lunar exploration.

“NASA is not going to the moon with a human as a primary project probably in my lifetime,” NASA administrator Charles Bolden said at an April panel in Washington. NASA spokesman David Weaver echoed that sentiment, telling FoxNews.com that it is working with international partners to plan missions to the moon and elsewhere.

“We are deeply involved in lunar science, with two satellites currently orbiting the moon,” he said. “The global community is committed to working together on a unified deep-space exploration strategic plan, with robotic and human missions to destinations that include near-Earth asteroids, the moon and Mars. 

Reiter also put the moon on a short list, including low-Earth orbit and Mars. But due to budgetary restrictions, the ESA has no plans of its own to visit the moon.

“For the moment, we do not have a dedicated lunar exploration program,” he told FoxNews.com. At a recent conference in Naples, the space agency proposed a program for a European lunar landing mission to the south pole.

“Due to the overall economic situation of the member states, this could not be approved,” Reiter said. “We are looking into a cooperative mission with the Russian partners.”

Yet Reiter said the agency remains focused on the moon, despite a decades-long dry spell in lunar landings.

“I believe the moon is still a very important destination,” he said. “If we really intend to take a human mission to Mars … in two decades or maybe a little more, this way leads by the moon.”

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Scientists test skeletons for Black Death bacteria

LONDON (AP) — Scientists digging a new railway in London have uncovered 13 skeletons that will be tested to see if they died from the Black Death plague in the 14th century.

The lead archaeologist of the Crossrail project, Jay Carver, says the location of the bodies and historical records suggest that the skeletons were found in a burial ground that opened at the start of the plague. Carver says scientists will study the bones to establish cause of death, and hope to map the DNA signature of the plague bacteria.

The plague began ravaging Europe in 1347, spreading quickly and killing an estimated 30 percent to 60 percent of the European population. Some 75 million people in all are believed to have died in the four-year pandemic, including 25 million Europeans.

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Science lacking on whether death penalty deters murder

Scientific research to date provides no useful conclusion on whether the death penalty reduces or boosts the murder rate, said a report by the US National Academy of Sciences on Wednesday.

A committee of scientists reviewed research done over the past 35 years and found it was "not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates," said the report.

"Consequently, claims that research demonstrates that capital punishment decreases or increases the homicide rate by a specified amount or has no effect on the homicide rate should not influence policy judgments."

The report was issued by the NAS's National Research Council, which convened a Committee on Deterrence and the Death Penalty to look at available evidence on how the death penalty may affect murder rates.

A previous report by the NRC in 1978 found that "available studies provide no useful evidence on the deterrent effect of capital punishment."

In the decades since that report, "a considerable number" of studies have attempted to judge how well it works, or does not, and have reached "widely varying conclusions," the latest report said.

"Fundamental flaws in the research we reviewed make it of no use in answering the question of whether the death penalty affects homicide rates," said Daniel Nagin, professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University and chair of the committee that wrote the report.

"We recognize that this conclusion may be controversial to some, but no one is well-served by unsupportable claims about the effect of the death penalty, regardless of whether the claim is that the death penalty deters homicides, has no effect on homicide rates or actually increases homicides."

Until now, a key flaw in the research has been the failure to account for how punishments such as life in prison without the possibility of parole may affect homicide rates.

Also, a number of assumptions have hobbled previous studies, particularly by assuming that potential murderers actually consider the risk of execution and respond accordingly.

Instead, researchers going forward must perform more rigorous studies that assess how potential criminals view the death penalty and its likely effect on their actions, the report said.

Better methods for future research include collecting data that consider both capital and non-capital punishments for murder and doing studies on how potential murderers perceive a range of punishments in homicide cases, it said.

Just 15 percent of people who have received the death sentence since 1976 have been executed, "and a large fraction of death sentences are reversed," added the report.

The members did not examine the moral arguments for or against capital punishment, or the costs involved.

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"Noah" may mean difference between life and death

1 of 5. Cosmo Power President Shoji Tanaka speaks as he stands next to the company's personal flotation device named ''Noah'', which could survive both an earthquake and the tsunami that might follow, at a port in Hiratsuka, south of Tokyo October 3, 2011. It's not quite a yellow submarine, since it's destined for travel on top of the water, not under it. But the round yellow pod, christened ''Noah'' for the maker of the ark, could mean the difference between life and death in the case of another killer earthquake and tsunami like the one that hit Japan seven months ago, said its inventor, Tanaka. Picture taken October 3, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Oh Hyun

By Hyun Oh

TOKYO | Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:23am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - It's not quite a yellow submarine, since it's destined for travel on top of the water, not under it.

But the round yellow pod, christened "Noah" for the maker of the ark, could mean the difference between life and death in the case of another killer earthquake and tsunami like the one that hit Japan seven months ago, said its inventor, Shoji Tanaka.

After the March 11 disaster, which devastated a wide swath of Japan's northeastern coast and left 20,000 dead or presumed dead, Tanaka decided to create a personal flotation device that could survive both an earthquake and the tsunami that might follow.

"At the beginning, I made it as a hemisphere, which I thought to be the best shape to survive earthquakes, but it was vulnerable to tsunami because it capsizes," said Tanaka, president of Cosmo Power, an equipment maker.

"So I changed it to a perfect sphere and made it also easily carried by men and easily accessible."

"Noah" is about 1.2 meters -- or four feet -- in diameter, with one hatch, one glass window and two holes for drainage and ventilation. It's made out of fiber reinforced plastic, which Tanaka said is lighter but also stronger than steel.

It keeps water out and its occupants afloat, all the while protecting them from floating debris. Its bright yellow color was designed to attract the attention of rescuers.

And if all of that wasn't enough, it's small enough to fit into an average Japanese home.

"Kids will love playing inside it, and those who are anxious about earthquakes will find peace of mind just by keeping it in their house," Tanaka said.

The company said it already has orders for 700 of the four-seater pods, mainly from families, waterfront businesses and fishermen. It sells for 288,000 yen ($3,800) for a standard model and $4,500 for one with interior cushions that help absorb shocks.

"At least, people sheltered inside this ark will have some time to take a breath and get ready for the worst to come," said Yuichi Ashisawa, a Cosmo Power employee.

(Editing by Elaine Lies)

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