Top Five Experiments to Look For in 2009

Continuing the success in 2008, this year is just as important to astronomers involved in the study and research about the planet Mars. Hope of finding life forms on the Red Planet lies in Mars Science Laboratory, the U.S. rover set to land on a special mission to detect, analyse and take any evidence regarding life forms. The first step will take place on Earth and involves choosing a site which increases your chances to achieve the objective. Currently, NASA is considering four locations, and setting them will take place this year. One of them is Mawtrh Vallis, a valley rich in clay soil. The second option is the Gale crater, located in the central mountains, with a height of 5 kilometres. It contains layers of clay with sulfur. A third possibility is the exploration of another crater, Holden, which is a sediment alpine lake with an age of 3 billion years. Finally, another possible location would be Eberswalde, a former river delta, which contains clay.

4. Immunization against Alzheimer's

Vaccines that stimulate the immune system's response against the effects associated with Alzheimer's disease are currently undergoing clinical testing. Research on Alzheimer's disease might finally offer a drug effective in the preservation of neurons and the cognitive state of patients. Currently, approximately 15 clinical experiments are conducted in different countries to test different treatments against the wound formed in the brain, caused by accumulation of small protein called beta-peptide amyloids. One approach is a curative vaccine, which involves injecting the peptides in the blood, so that the immune system will produce antibodies against them. Passive immunization consists of injecting the patients with antibodies that fight against amyloid-beta peptides. Results presented until now have significantly increased the chances of getting the first effective treatment against Alzheimer's.

3. The primitive land

In Hudson Bay, in northern Quebec, there is a region called the Nuvvuagittuq Belt, which hosts the oldest rocks found on Earth. Tests on the rocks indicate an age of 4.28 billion years. They are complementary to the primordial mantle rocks identified in Greenland in 1992. They could also be the first remains of the terrestrial crust, formed by mantle differentiation, about 4.4 billion years ago. This summer, a team of mixed American-Canadians will perform new tests that will confirm or refute these rocks belong to the first terrestrial crust. A positive result will lead to other studies of the atmosphere, because elements contained in this evidence could provide valuable information about the atmosphere at the beginning and the evolution of living organisms.

2. The background of the Universe

In April 2009, the European Planck satellite will be launched from the Kourou space base, in French Guiana. For three years, it will measure the temperature fluctuations of the cosmological diffusion's background. The satellite mission is the detailed study of large structures of the universe, galaxies. Having a sensibility at least 20 times higher than its predecessor, or WMAP, launched in 2001, Planck will identify a number of cosmological parameters, including speed of expansion, exact age or density of the Universe.

1. The first collisions of the LHC

In 2009, the most powerful particle accelerator ever built will enter the world of physics. Entry into service is scheduled for this summer and next experiments will provide essential information on gluons, particles that allow the cohesion of quarks in the protons' nuclei, thus interacting with each other. These first collisions might lead to observations on supersymmetry particles.