Nov 6 1997
From The Space Library
A group of astronomers announced that they had used NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer to observe a black hole "literally dragging space and time around itself as it rotates." The discovery confirmed the existence of frame dragging, an extrapolation of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. According to the findings, the black hole had such a massive gravitational field that nothing nearby, not even light, could escape its pull. To make the discovery, the team of researchers brought together academic scientists from Italy and the United States, as well as NASA personnel. By studying x-ray emissions, the astronomers were able to find a pattern of forces that clearly revealed the strength of the black hole's gravitational pull. Alan N. Bunner, Director of the Structure and Evolution of the Universe Program at NASA Headquarters, called the discovery "exciting work," encouraging scientists to test the findings. Before the discovery, frame dragging persisted as one of the last unverifiable theories of relativity, which scientists had suspected but had been unable to observe. Popular press reports touted the breakthrough as another victory for Einstein.
NASA announced that lighting technology developed to grow plants in space might help treat cancerous brain tumors in children. According to a series of trials, some tumor-fighting drugs performed more proficiently when illuminated with the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) created for NASA's Shuttle plant experiments. To gauge further the effectiveness of LEDs in assisting cancer-fighting drugs, Dr. Harry Whelan of the Medical College of Milwaukee obtained permission from the Food and Drug Administration to use the LEDs on a limited number of children with cancer. Whelan's method involved injecting his patient with cancer-fighting drugs and then placing an LED probe near the affected area. Whelan believed that the light focused the drugs on the dangerous tumors only, leaving the rest of the patient's brain unaffected. NASA's Small Business Innovation Research program, allowing small businesses to adapt NASA's technologies for extended public uses, initiated the trial of LEDs to fight cancer.
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