Massive mirror to be cast for telescope 10 times sharper than Hubble

Technicians on Saturday will fire up a furnace in Arizona to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit to pour glass to fabricate a mirror 27 feet in diameter that will be part of a giant telescope with 10 times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope. The mirror, which will weigh about 20 tons, will take a full year to polish to within 1/20 the wavelength of light, a tolerance on the scale of about 1 in 10 billion. http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-telescope-mirror-20130823,0,2605489.story Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times/Science Now by Geoffrey Mohan

Air board will start monitoring pollution next to SoCal freeways

Air quality regulators will begin monitoring pollution levels near major Southern California traffic corridors next year, for the first time providing data important to nearly 1 million Southern Californians who are at greater risk of respiratory illness because they live within 300 feet of a freeway. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-freeway-pollution-20130826,0,709429.story Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Tony Barboza

Colo. company tests spacecraft in Calif. desert

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A Colorado company developing a spaceship to take astronauts to the International Space Station has run the craft through a series of tests at a NASA facility in California. http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Colo-company-tests-spacecraft-in-Calif-desert-4754710.php Article courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle-SF Gate

California visitor's rare find: A star-shaped piece of benitoite

Last weekend the 21-year-old karina Ille discovered a rare star-shaped piece of benitoite in San Benito County, where this country's only mining spot for the gem is located. The mine's operators pull the rocks from their open-pit dig and charge visitors $70 each to spend the day searching for the mineral. Once suspected benitoite is discovered, visitors wash the rocks and study them under black lights in a darkened room outside of the mine. They are allowed to take home in quart zip-lock bags what they find. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rare-gem-20130818,0,3304203.story Article courtesy of the Los Angeles Times by Bob Pool

Copper may play key role in Alzheimer's disease

New research finds that copper in amounts readily found in our drinking water, the foods we eat and the vitamin supplements we take likely plays a key role in initiating and fueling the abnormal protein build-up and brain inflammation that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-copper-alzheimers-disease-20130819,0,5977613.story Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Science Now by Melissa Healy

Rim fire near Yosemite grows to more than 63,000 acres

The blaze had consumed more than 63,000 acres of brush and timber in the Stanislaus National Forest, fire officials said. The cost of fighting the fire, which has been burning since Saturday afternoon, was more that $5 million. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rim-fire-yosemite-continues-to-grow-20130822,0,2589194.story Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Robert J. Lopez

Kickstarter project swaps CharlieCard for rings

Sick of fishing through your purse or flashing your wallet every time you ride the MBTA? Sesame Ring is now offering RFID rings that you can tap against CharlieCard readers. http://www.boston.com/business/innovation/blogs/inside-the-hive/2013/08/22/ride-the-bling-line-kickstarter-project-swaps-charliecard-for-customized-rings/GGmrGavznhro8dO4qvzNKL/blog.html Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by Michael Morisy