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Artist's impression of Galileo's arrival at Jupiter

The Galileo project was an American robotic space program that studied Jupiter and its moons (including Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), as well as several other Solar System bodies. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Galileo spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and an atmospheric entry probe. It was launched in 1989 by the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-34 mission. Despite suffering major antenna problems, Galileo achieved the first asteroid flyby (of 951 Gaspra), discovered the first asteroid moon (Dactyl, around 243 Ida), and observed Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9's collision with Jupiter. After gravity-assisted flybys of Venus and Earth, Galileo became the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter. It then launched the first probe to directly measure Jupiter's atmosphere. In 2003, the mission was terminated by sending the orbiter into Jupiter's atmosphere to eliminate the possibility of contaminating the Jovian moons with terrestrial bacteria. (Full article...)

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In chemistry, an amino acid is a molecule containing both amine and carboxyl functional groups. In biochemistry, this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H₂NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent.^[1] In the alpha amino acids, the amino and carboxylate groups are attached to the same carbon, which is called the α–carbon. The various alpha amino acids differ in which side chain (R group) is attached to their alpha carbon. They can vary in size from just a hydrogen atom in glycine through a methyl group in alanine to a large heterocyclic group in tryptophan.

Beyond the amino acids that are found in all forms of life, many non-natural amino acids have vital roles in technology and industry. For example, the chelating agents EDTA and nitrilotriacetic acid are alpha amino acids that are important in the chemical industry. (more...)

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Did you know

Ferrari FF

... that the Ferrari FF (pictured) was, upon its release, the world's fastest four-seater car?
... that a Paralympic gold medalist originally did not know that she qualified for parasports?
... that Karan Aujla's Hindi-language single "Tauba Tauba" from the 2024 film Bad Newz became a Canadian Hot 100 top-25 song ahead of the film's release?
... that Dani Sanchez-Lopez wanted to be an actor but switched to cinematography after realizing that actors deliver others' lines?
... that in UnMetal, the player has to heal any enemies whom they shoot?
... that manga artist Shinichi Ishizuka was told that becoming a manga artist would be "absolutely impossible"?
... that two Wisconsin radio stations purchased and reassembled the Wisconsin Pavilion from the 1964 New York World's Fair for use as their studios?
... that the extension to the Yumeshima Station was originally supposed to be opened in 2008 for when the Osaka Olympics was being bid for?
... that Tonia Ko once composed a three-part concerto played on bubble wrap?

In the news

Daron Acemoglu

Yahya Sinwar, the acting leader of Hamas, is killed in a firefight with Israeli forces in Gaza.
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded to Daron Acemoglu (pictured), Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson for their comparative studies of prosperity between nations.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft is launched to investigate Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter.
Kenyan Ruth Chepng'etich breaks the women's marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the Japanese atomic bomb survivors group Nihon Hidankyo.

On this day

October 18: Alaska Day (1867)

Bob Beamon

1565 – The first recorded naval battle between Europeans and the Japanese occurred when a flotilla of samurai attacked two Portuguese trade vessels at the Battle of Fukuda Bay in Nagasaki.
1748 – The War of the Austrian Succession ended with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
1873 – Renton defeated Kilmarnock 2–0 in the opening match of the inaugural Scottish Cup.
1968 – At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, American athlete Bob Beamon (pictured) achieved a distance of 8.90 m (29.2 ft) in the long jump event, setting a world record that stood for 23 years.

John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter (d. 1361)
Mehmet Esat Bülkat (b. 1862)
Maria Antonescu (d. 1964)
Bess Truman (d. 1982)

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Krishna's Butterball is a large granite balancing rock that rests on a short incline in the coastal resort town of Mamallapuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is approximately six metres (20 ft) high and five metres (16 ft) wide, with a mass of around 250 tonnes. It is balanced on a slope on top of a 1.2-metre-high (4 ft) plinth that is a naturally eroded hill. Krishna's Butterball is part of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built during the 7th and 8th centuries as Hindu religious monuments by the Pallava dynasty. It is now a popular tourist attraction.

Photograph credit: Timothy A. Gonsalves

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