Fifty Years On

It's been a busy week in science. Here are some of the highlights:

The University of Alabama's got a brand-new microscope capable of seeing atoms in 3-D. Far out.

The results from a round of testing indicate that X-ray colonoscopies are just as good as the traditional kind at detecting polyps. The procedure is also less invasive than current endoscope methods.

Geologists are closer to understanding the mechanics of the San Andreas Fault. This week, U.S. Geological Survey scientists held a press conference to discuss the latest core samples recovered by the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). Those samples came from a depth of 2.5 miles and may shed light on earthquakes as far back as the 1906 temblor that decimated San Francisco.

Finally, it's been fifty years since the launch of Sputnik 1, the Soviet satellite that jumpstarted the Space Race. National Public Radio has assembled a page of special reports on Sputnik at 50, all of which are worth a listen.

And we couldn't escape Sputnik Fever over at the Chanty, either. Read my editorial on the promise (and disappointment) of fifty years of space exploration.