Alaska Northern Lights Expedition Wants Your Help to Find Science Balloons

Want to tramp around in Alaska's backcountry, do a good deed for science and snag a free high-definition camera at the same time? If so, a team of northern lights researchers has a job for you.

Members of an expedition called Project Aether: Aurora lofted nearly two dozen instrument-laden weather balloons toward central Alaska's dazzling northern lights displays during the first two weeks of April. The researchers were able to retrieve all but six of the fallen payloads before they had to leave Alaska this past weekend.

They want your help in getting those six payloads back, and they're willing to pay for it. If you find one of the balloons, you get to keep the GoPro camera that launched with it — as long as you send in the SD memory card, along with the payload's GPS device.

Retrieving a balloon won't be easy. While all of them were launched from the vicinity of Fairbanks, the remaining six fell back to Earth in rugged and remote areas that the Project Aether: Aurora team didn't have time to get to. [Photo Journal: Alaska Northern Lights Expedition]

Still interested? Expedition leader Ben Longmier, a plasma physicist at the University of Houston and chief research scientist at Ad Astra Rocket Co., gave SPACE.com the go-ahead to publish the latitude and longitude coordinates of the six payloads' current locations:

1. 65.90440 degrees north, 146.67557 degrees west

2. 65.12816 degrees north, 147.88901 degrees west

3. 65.06421 degrees north, 148.50345 degrees west

4. 65.13792 degrees north, 148.53404 degrees west

5. 64.89979 degrees north, 148.54439 degrees west

6. 64.62183 degrees north, 148.47850 degrees west

Payload No. 3, just northwest of Fairbanks, is the team's highest priority, Longmier said, because it was launched into a particularly stunning northern lights show. (This balloon also carried a SPACE.com T-shirt high into Earth's atmosphere, if that sweetens the pot any. If you find the shirt, feel free to keep it — but please send us a photo.)

Payload No. 4 is the second-highest recovery priority. Number 6 doesn't have a camera, but Longmier said he'd provide a GoPro to anyone who returns that payload's GPS device. He also threw a further piece of mystery and intrigue into the mix.

"One of these payloads contains a Le Petit Prince action figure," Longmier told SPACE.com via email. "The person to recover the payload that contains the Le Petit Prince will receive a special GoPro accessories package. Le Petit is a brave explorer, but he is becoming cold, lonely, and waiting in the darkness surrounded by wolves and other wild Alaskan animals. Please bring him back soon!"

To give you a better idea of what you're looking for, Longmier provided a brief description of the fallen balloons.

"They contain a mixture of GPS [equipment], parachutes, PVC, carbon fiber and modified GoPro cameras," he said. "The most notable feature of the payloads is the bright orange and white 36-inch-diameter parachute, and the burst 3- to 4-foot-long white latex balloon."

Project Aether: Aurora modified its GoPro cameras to make them work better in low-light conditions. If you recover a payload but would like a "normal" GoPro, Longmier said he'd exchange with you. In any case, recovery teams should contact him at blongmier@uh.edu for shipping details.

The expedition launched a variety of other instruments along with the cameras in an effort to gain a unique perspective on the northern lights. Project Aether: Aurora also aims to inspire schoolkids all over the world to get more interested in science, technology and math, and ultimately to consider a career in these fields.

The team hopes it captured stunning aurora footage that will help catch students' eyes, and it's working with GoPro to get these images out to the public.

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Manhattan Project scientist Cowan dies at 92

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Devoted to finding a way for science to help society, not much escaped the influence of chemist George Cowan. From the Manhattan Project and the hunt for evidence of the Soviet Union's first nuclear tests, to the Santa Fe Institute and the iconic Santa Fe Opera, friends recalled the fruits of his visionary ways.

Cowan died Friday at his home in Los Alamos. He was 92.

Friends confirmed his death to The Associated Press, saying it was the result of a fall at his home. Cowan was in good health and was planning to travel and continue working with the nonprofit science institute that he helped found in 1984.

"It's very sudden, very unexpected. An enormous loss," said close friend and institute co-founder David Pines. "The world is diminished for all of us who knew him."

Cowan worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for nearly 40 years. He started in 1949 as a scientist and went on to serve as a director of chemistry and as associate lab director of research.

After doing graduate studies at Princeton, Cowan continued his nuclear research as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. According to the Santa Fe Institute, Cowan was a troubleshooter for the effort at various research sites around the country and was among the few people who had knowledge of the bomb's separate components.

Cowan arrived at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1949 and within weeks began directing efforts to turn up radioactive fallout in samples that were collected near the Soviet border. What Cowan and his team detected indicated the Soviets were in possession of a nuclear bomb.

Cowan was considered one of the world's experts on nuclear weapons diagnostics by 1956, according to a biography from the lab.

"We can truly say that our country lost a true hero today," former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said in a statement. "He cannot be replaced, but let's hope he left footprints for us to follow."

Cowan was appointed to the White House Science Council during the Reagan administration.

It was during one of his meetings with the council that he looked around the room and thought about the need to educate the next generation of scientists to ensure the government would continue to have a valuable cadre of advisers.

Conversations about the formation of the Santa Fe Institute followed, some of them being held in the director's conference room on the fourth floor at Los Alamos Lab.

"He was a superb judge of people," said Pines. "He had a real instinct for who was a promising scientist and who was not and this was invaluable to him as he became a manager at Los Alamos."

Bill Enloe, chief executive of Los Alamos National Bank, which was founded by Cowan, said the chemist had a unique ability to lead people.

"It was not by intimidation or by position. It was because what he said made so much sense," Enloe said. "He accomplished a great deal because people were anxious to help and work with him."

Enloe ticked off a list of Cowan's accomplishments that ranged from his scientific accolades and the start of the scientific think tank to the early childhood development programs in New Mexico that he helped influence.

Then there was Cowan's love of travel, food, wine and music. He sat on the board of the Santa Fe Opera and was the first treasurer of the opera's foundation.

Pines recalled the story Cowan had told him about his role in helping preserve the opera, a venue that today draws thousands of visitors from around the world to its unique outdoor stage.

"He managed to get a loan for them from the bank that tied them over," Pines said. "Otherwise the Santa Fe Opera would have gone under many, many years ago."

Officials at the Santa Fe Opera downplayed the suggestion that the organization was ever on the financial ropes, but they said Cowan was a terrific asset to the opera while he served on the board.

Friends used words such as intelligent and practical to describe Cowan, who lived in the same modest home on Los Alamos' 42nd Street since first moving there with his wife decades ago. His wife, Helen "Satch" Dunham, was also a chemist. She died last year and the couple had no children.

Cowan was a philanthropist, having given most of his wealth to charitable causes that he was passionate about, Enloe said.

"He had a large impact on a lot of people," he said.

___

Follow Susan Montoya Bryan on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM

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Unique 'Green' Service Brings Organic to the Masses

Interest in eating healthy is growing, but accessing locally sourced or organic foods isn't always easy, especially for those living in the inner city or far flung rural communities.

That dilemma presented Matt Ewer and his wife, Elizabeth Blessing, with a business idea. They are co-founders of Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, an online home delivery service that's making it easier than ever for Midwest residents to eat healthy — all year round.

According the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly 5 percent of all food now purchased is organic and more than half of organic food is purchased in traditional grocery or big box stores. It's no longer the domain of health food stores. Still, it's not always easy for people in cities or rural communities to get find it and that's where Green B.E.A.N. Delivery comes in.

The company brings locally grown organic produce and natural groceries directly to consumer's homes in six Midwestern cities. By connecting Midwest food producers with Midwest communities through its year-round home delivery service, the company has created a sustainable network promoting the health of the community, local economy and the environment. More than 10,000 familiesuse Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, the company said.

"We deliver organic produce and natural groceries directly to our members' doorsteps," Ewer said. "Our company makes healthy, local and sustainably grown foods convenient, affordable and accessible to Midwest communities, while providing an avenue for local artisans and farmers to share their food crafts with the local community."

B.E.A.N is an acronym for the larger initiatives the company is pushing forward: Biodynamic, Education, Agriculture and Nutrition. Green B.E.A.N. Delivery has spawned several sister companies that have been developed to strengthen its multi-faceted approach to advocating sustainability within our current food systems.

Those include: Tiny Footprint Distribution, which distributes locally sourced products to retail establishments, Farm to Kitchen Foods, which sells healthy, shelf stable food with a focus on local and organic ingredients, Break Room Bins, which provides healthy food options for people in the workplace and The Feel Good Farm, which is Green B.E.A.N. Delivery's own certified organic, 60-acre farm in Sheridan, Ind.

BusinessNewsDaily asked Ewer to tell us a little bit more about his successful venture and how his original idea has blossomed into a variety of new businesses.

BusinessNewsDaily: How long have you been in business?

Matt Ewer: My wife, Elizabeth Blessing, and I founded the company in early 2007 and currently service areas of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

BND: Did you have a formal business plan or did your business just evolve naturally?

M.E.: I did have a business plan, but in the same breath, there has been a lot of natural evolution from 2007 to present. There was no blueprint for me to follow, so there has been a good deal of trial and error, creativity and, of course, very hard work. We have been fortunate enough to accumulate an incredible set of employees that share in our vision. They have made our company’s vision come to fruition.

[Do you feel 'green guilt'? You're not alone.]

BND: Either way, how close has your business stayed to what you originally envisioned it to be?

M.E.: I often get the question if I expected our company to be where it is today. My short and sweet answer is absolutely. We are on track with what my wife and I envisioned when we started Green B.E.A.N Delivery. That being said, we are at the tip of the iceberg. There is so much for our team to achieve. Right now, I am focused on the agricultural side of our company. We are sowing seeds for the future and establishing "The Feel Good Farm" as a leader in Midwest sustainable agriculture.

My main focus for Green B.E.A.N. Delivery is my favorite department, human resources. We are working to make sure that the success of our company is built through solid design and well thought out technique when it comes to the relationship between employer and employees.

BND: How did you finance your statup?

M.E.: The most important thing that I did to help finance my company is making sure that I understood the business I was entering before I started my company. I took out a very small business loan to start the company and made sound decisions along our growth curve. We are very thankful for the support of the community of Indianapolis. Our members have enabled us to create a dynamic food company. We will continue to diversify our services to the community and educate them about the importance of eating healthy and supporting family farms.

BND: How much did you invest?

M.E.: Everything that I have, both financially and mentally. And, now that we have the farm, you can throw physically in there, as well. At this point, we are investing in the business. We have put everything the company has generated back into the company or the individuals that make the company grow and keep improving.

BND: If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently when starting your business?

M.E.: I wouldn't change anything. Everyone makes mistakes and I have learned from the ones I have made as a company owner. I have learned from mistakes I almost made. I have also learned from our successes and the employees I work with every day. I started the company slow and took a grass roots approach. I have basically performed every position. Now that the company is larger, my managers are starting to teach me lessons about their departments. That is rewarding and shows the power of the culture we have built and are continuing to build upon. I believe that running a company follows a certain evolution. That is often times accompanied by a personal evolution. I learn from my company each day and feel fortunate to have this lesson in my life.

BND: What's your best advice for someone with a great business idea who wants to give it a shot?

M.E.: Have passion for what you choose or don't bother. You have to love your industry and you have to understand why you are entering that mode of business. What impact does it have on community? And, what about that business is going to drive you and the decisions you are going to need to make?

Owning your own business is difficult. There is an endless amount of responsibility and you cannot escape your own business. Love what you do and live what you love. If you have that in you, then go for it. Make conscious decisions and fight your way into the market. Otherwise, continue to clock in and clock out.

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.

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GSK pounces on Human Genome with $2.6 billion bid

LONDON (Reuters) - Human Genome Sciences has rejected an unsolicited bid worth around $2.6 billion from long-time partner GlaxoSmithKline, marking a new takeover battle in a drugs sector recently swept by M&A activity.

The U.S. pioneer of gene-based drug discovery, which sells a new drug for lupus with GSK, said on Thursday the offer of $13 per share, made in a letter on April 11, did not reflect the value inherent in the company.

It has hired Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to help explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. GSK has been invited to participate in that process.

The Rockville, Maryland-based firm was formed 20 years ago with the mission to isolate genes and identify their function in order to develop new drugs. Over the years it has had a rollercoaster ride as hopes for its drugs have waxed and waned.

GSK's offer represents an 81 percent premium to its closing stock price of $7.17 on Wednesday. However, that is still well below the $30 touched a year ago and investors are hoping for more, with the shares doubling to $14.20 by 1930 GMT.

Britain's biggest drugmaker said the rebuff was disappointing as its offer would give investors "immediate and certain value" superior to what Human Genome could achieve as a standalone company.

GSK chief executive Andrew Witty wrote to Human Genome boss Tom Watkins on April 11 setting out the proposal, saying he was prepared to commence a cash tender offer with no financing or due diligence condition.

Buying Human Genome would give GSK full rights to partnered drugs, which include not only Benlysta - the first new drug for lupus in half a century - but also promising experimental drugs for heart disease and diabetes.

Many drugmakers are seeking to do deals to bolster their pipelines, as older products go off patent, and GSK's readiness to buy Human Genome is a sign of confidence in the drugs that the companies have been developing together.

GSK also expects $200 million in cost synergies by 2015, with the acquisition boosting earnings from 2013.

"WHITE KNIGHT" UNLIKELY

Cowen & Co analyst Eric Schmidt said GSK was likely to seal a deal in the end.

"The 81 percent premium versus yesterday's close is a big number, and I'm sure GSK is likely to pay a little bit more to get the deal done. I think it's very likely to be sold to GSK at around $15 or so a share," Schmidt said.

"I doubt anyone else will come in. It's going to be hard for another company to pay that sort of a premium not having the inside scoop on Benlysta or on anything else these two companies are collaborating on."

Tim Anderson of Bernstein said outside interest in Human Genome's drugs was possible but any other non-GSK acquirer would only get partial control, which could deter bidders.

Barclays analysts also see no "white knight" counter-bidder on the horizon, even though the deals between GSK and Human Genome have no tricky change-of-control clauses.

GSK has long been rumoured as a potential acquirer of Human Genome, since it has been in partnership with the firm since 1993 and is already collaborating on a number of medicines.

Still, the decision to pull the trigger on a takeover attempt may surprise some investors because GSK management has tended not to buy out partners it is working with in the past.

BEYOND BENLYSTA

Analysts said GSK clearly saw value beyond Benlysta.

The two companies are also collaborating on a high-profile experimental heart drug called darapladib, which is in Phase III development, and albiglutide for diabetes, which could be filed for approval late this year or early in 2013.

Mark Clark, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said darapladib was the biggest ticket pipeline opportunity, with up to $10 billion annual sales potential, although researchers will not know if it actually works until key trial results in 2013 or 2014.

Benlysta, which is subject to a 50:50 profit share deal between the two companies, has got off to a slow start but is still seen as having potential sales of $2.15 billion by 2016, according to consensus forecasts from Thomson Reuters Pharma. A year or so ago investors had been hoping for $3-4 billion.

Despite disappointment about Benlysta sales to date, investors are likely to be emboldened in thinking they can get a better price for their Human Genome shares by recent developments that show Big Pharma's hunger for biotech assets.

Only on Wednesday, Illumina Inc saw off a $6.8 billion bid from Roche Holding AG.

Roche, too, chose to make an unsolicited offer after Illumina shares had fallen back and Sanofi SA took the same approach in its successful acquisition of Genzyme for $20.1 billion last year.

Human Genome said it had asked for more information from GSK about progress with the experimental drugs the two companies have worked on together, including darapladib and albiglutide.

GSK, which is being advised by Lazard and Morgan Stanley, said the plan to acquire Human Genome would not affect its intention to repurchase between 1 billion and 2 billion pounds ($1.6-3.2 billion) in shares in 2012.

Shares in the British-based drugmaker rose nearly 1 percent. ($1 = 0.6238 British pounds)

(Additional reporting by Sophie Sassard, with Lewis Krauskopf and Paritosh Bansal in New York; Editing by David Cowell and Gunna Dickson)

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Valleys May Funnel Tornado Winds

Fans of the TV series "Storm Chasers" may be disappointed — not all tornado scientists race after dangerous weather. Some are more like crime scene investigators, only showing up after the damage has been done.

Such forensic experts can learn a lot from studying the aftermath of a fierce tornado, said Christopher Karstens, a meteorologist at Iowa State University in Ames.

Karstens recently traveled to Alabama to survey the toll of a particularly deadly storm, gaining valuable insights into how cyclones behave when they're forced to churn through mountainous territory.

Tornado trail

In April 2011, hundreds of tornadoes ripped through the Southeast U.S., killing more than 300 people. One particularly savage twister, which at one point swelled to about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide, careened tore its way 60 miles (97 kilometers) from Tuscaloosa, Ala.60 miles (97 km) northwest to Birmingham, leaving a trail of rubble in its wake. Karstens rushed to the scene not long after. [5 Deadliest Tornado Years in U.S. History]

Like an expert tracker, the young meteorologist followed the footprints of the tornado as it wound through the thick forests near Tuscaloosa. It was tough going. This stretch of Alabama — which sits at the southern edge of the Appalachian Mountains — is marked by steep ridges that rise close to 490 feet (150 meters) high, then plummet into narrow valleys.

But Karstens didn't mind the trek. In fact, he was interested in how tornadoes themselves are able to cross such terrain. Most tornado research, he explained, is done where it's flat — think the plains of Oklahoma or Kansas — but tornadoes don't just touch down on even ground.

"If you talk to people in Alabama, they'll probably tell you that they have tornadoes as frequently as people in Oklahoma," Karstens told OurAmazingPlanet. So far, however, it hasn't been clear how such rugged terrain can affect tornado winds.

Valley vortex

Lucky for Karstens, his cyclone left behind telling clues — namely, snapped twigs and broken branches. The trick was to observe the wreckage, then "try to understand the winds that produced that damage," he said. Karstens discovered during his first visit and several to follow, for instance, that trees lying in low valleys took a much more severe beating than those resting at the tops of ridges. Trees right in the path of the severe winds even had their bark completely stripped off.

Karstens suspects, but can't yet prove, that as a twister drops into a narrow valley, the winds escaping from its vortex may become trapped by the ridges to either side. Then, similar to gusts in a wind tunnel, these rushes of air surge away from the tornado and down the valley — and quickly. That could make such channels a very dangerous place to be during a storm. It's an interesting observation for twister buffs, but it may also help to keep people safe, said Partha Sarkar, a structural engineer at Iowa State and one of Karstens' colleagues. For instance, once scientists know how tornadoes behave in hilly territory, they may be able to warn people living in particularly wind-prone locales, say at the bottoms of valleys.

This story was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to LiveScience.

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8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World

Over the last 100 years, global temperatures have warmed by about 1.33 degrees Fahrenheit (0.74 degrees Celsius) on average. The change may seem minor, but it's happening very quickly — more than half of it since 1979, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Though it can still be difficult to tease out how much climate change plays in any given weather event, changes are occurring.

In the spirit of Earth day, here's a look at our marvelous blue marble and the ways people and other living things are responding to global warming. [50 Amazing Facts About Earth]

1. Moving the military northward

As the Arctic ice opens up, the world turns its attention to the resources below. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 30 percent of the world's undiscovered natural gas and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil are under this region. As a result, military action in the Arctic is heating up, with the United States, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Canada holding talks about regional security and border issues. Several nations, including the U.S., are also drilling troops in the far north, preparing for increased border patrol and disaster response efforts in a busier Arctic.

2. Altering breeding seasons

As temperatures shift, penguins are shifting their breeding seasons, too. A March 2012 study found that gentoo penguins are adapting more quickly to warmer weather, because they aren't as dependent on sea ice for breeding as other species.

It's not just penguins that seem to be responding to climate change. Animal shelters in the U.S. have reported increasing numbers of stray cats and kittens attributed to a longer breeding season for the felines.

3. High-country changes

Decreased winter snowfall on mountaintops is allowing elk in northern Arizona to forage at higher elevations all winter, contributing to a decline in seasonal plants. Elk have ravaged trees such as maples and aspens, which in turn has led to a decline in songbirds that rely on these trees for habitat.

4. Altered Thoreau's stomping grounds

The writer Henry David Thoreau once lovingly documented nature in and around Concord, Mass. Reading those diaries today has shown researchers just how much spring has changed in the last century or so.

Compared to the late 1800s, the first flowering dates for 43 of the most common plant species in the area have moved forward an average of 10 days. Other plants have simply disappeared, including 15 species of orchids.

5. Changed "high season" at national parks

When's the busiest time to see the Grand Canyon? The answer has changed over the decades as spring has started earlier. Peak national park attendance has shifted forward more than four days, on average, since 1979. Today, the highest number of visitors now swarm the Grand Canyon on June 24, compared with July 4 in 1979.

6. Genetic changes

Even fruit flies are feeling the heat. According to a 2006 study, fruit fly genetic patterns normally seen at hot latitudes are showing up more frequently at higher latitudes. According to the research, the gene patterns of Drosophila subobscura, a common fruit fly, are changing so that populations look about one degree closer in latitude to the equator than they actually are. In other words, genotypes are shifting so that a fly in the Northern Hemisphere has a genome that looks more like a fly 75 to 100 miles (120 to 161 kilometers) south.

7. Hurting polar bears

Polar bear cubs are struggling to swim increasingly long distances in search of stable sea ice, according to a 2011 study. The rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic is forcing bears to sometimes swim up to more than 12 days at a time, the research found. Cubs of adult bears that had to swim more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) had a 45 percent mortality rate, compared with 18 percent for cubs that had to swim shorter distances.

8. More mobile animals

Species are straying from their native habitats at an unprecedented rate: 11 miles (17.6 km) toward the poles per decade. Areas where temperature is increasing the most show the most straying by native organisms. The Cetti's warbler, for example, has moved north over the last two decades by more than 90 miles (150 km).

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

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NASA Launches Earth Day Video Contest

This Earth Day, NASA is launching a competition for anyone who's ever wanted to send the planet a love letter.

The U.S. space agency announced this week that beginning this Earth Day (April 22), it will start taking submissions for its second annual Earth Day video contest. Planetary science buffs-turned-shutterbugs, or vice versa, will get the chance to produce and edit short videos showing off their creative perspectives on our home planet — all to win a uniquely NASA prize.

In a press release, NASA said that its science "has changed how we think about exploring the Earth or even how we see the Earth."

To celebrate the Blue Marble, the agency is asking video producers to shed a little light on just how that science may have influenced their own views. That might mean viewing the Earth with a little humility, such as regarding it as a pinpoint of light as seen billions of miles away by the Voyager probes. Or maybe with a sense of the planet's constant change, such as appreciating the churning winds of an El Niño event.

Last year's winning video, for instance, meditated on Earth's seemingly unique ability, at least as far as this solar system is concerned, to host life.

NASA directs participants to keep their entire video short, no more than two minutes long. They also ask that those that enter draw from its wide catalog of visualization tools, which include videos shot from the International Space Station in orbit around the Earth and computer simulations of weather events.

The winner of the contest, who will be announced after the competition's close on May 31, will have the chance to watch NASA science unfold firsthand during the launch of a new rocket in January 2013, part of the agency's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). Think of it as a gala Hollywood event just for space nerds.

This story was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to SPACE.com.

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