Science and nature year in review
If this were Trivial Pursuit, the category would be Science and Nature. And you would have to answer a question like, "What was the magnitude of the earthquake that struck Kobe, Japan?" But lucky for you, this isn't a game, and you don't have to know the answer. It, and other tidbits like it of the scientific and/or natural kind from 1995 are right here for you to peruse.
June 29, 1995 - Mir, Atlantis link up in space
It was one small handshake and one big accomplishment in space and U.S./Russian relations. On June 29th, the space shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir as both orbited the Earth at a speed of 17-thousand-500 miles per hour.
U.S. astronaut Norman Thagard had been aboard Mir for 107 days. Before returning to Earth, he set an American endurance record of 115 days. The world endurance record of 440 days in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov.
Twenty years earlier, the Apollo and Soyuz capsules linked up during a thaw in the cold war. This latest docking was part of a grand plan to build a new space station, and perhaps a new cooperation, in space.
July 12-17, 1995 - Killer heat wave hits Midwest
It was the deadliest heatwave in Chicago's history. The summer of 1995's record high temperatures claimed the lives of 592 people in Chicago, 41 of whom were unclaimed victims. As the death toll rose, so did criticism of Mayor Richard Daley for underestimating the effect of the sweltering summer temperatures.
In response to the high number of deaths, volunteer centers were set up for all senior citizens, offering assistance or medical attention. Some volunteers and city employees went door to door to check on vulnerable residents.
Record temperatures were set from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. In Denver, athletes at the U.S. Olympic Festival faced 99 degree temperatures. Two sprinters were hospitalized from the heat. Temperatures in Phoenix soared to 121 degrees, beating the July record.
August 10, 1995 - Fat gene discovered
1995 brought some key news in medical research on obesity. For the first time, researchers have discovered a genetic mutation in humans that can trigger obesity and the onset of adult diabetes. In studies published on August 10 in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that those with the mutated genes are more likely to become obese or develop diabetes much earlier than those without the defective gene. Experts say from eight to thirty genes may contribute to obesity.
Another recent discovery of the so-called fat gene was found in mice. That gene was connected to appetite and the storage of fat, whereas researchers in these studies focused on humans and how this mutation relates to metabolism.
Drug companies are racing to turn the discovery of a hormone which controls body weight in mice into products that might help humans battle obesity.
August 24, 1995 - Windows 95 debuts to record sales
Windows 95, Microsoft Corp.'s newest operating system, went on sale around the world. Seattle-based Microsoft is the largest maker of PC software.
A public relations blitz powered Windows' hype. Microsoft used music by the Rolling Stones in commercials and sponsored the entire press run of the Times of London on launch day, the first time such a sponsorship occurred in the paper's 200-year history. Comedian and talk show host Jay Leno appeared at Microsoft headquarters for a Windows 95 event.
Microsoft competitors Apple and IBM claimed their products already do what Windows 95 called revolutionary. Compuserve and several other Internet providers who compete with Microsoft complained that Windows 95 wiped out their customers' links. Compuserve said Microsoft refused requests to supply technical information needed to work around the problem, but a Microsoft spokesman said the Seattle software giant had been forthcoming.
September 20, 1995 - Dengue fever epidemic in Central America
The Pan American Health Organization warned that an epidemic of dengue fever is expanding through Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. More than 35,000 people have been stricken with the disease, at least 24 fatally, the organization said. Health officials in Texas are also watching for dengue cases.
Classic dengue causes splitting headaches, body aches and high fever, but is rarely fatal. But now a much more severe form - hemorragic dengue - is taking hold, causing plasma to leak from the blood vessels. Such internal bleeding normally causes death in 10 percent of cases, but in Mexico, the fatality rate has run as high as 30 percent.
There is no known cure for dengue, which, like yellow fever, is spread by the Aedis Aegypti mosquito. It reproduces at an alarming speed in and around where people live.
October 9, 1995 - Strong earthquake strikes Mexico
Mexico suffered its strongest earthquake in ten years. The 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit a 250-mile stretch of Mexico's west coast. More than 50 people were killed and up to 1,200 buildings were destroyed or damaged in the quake.
Many survivors were reminded of the fragility of life. 20 year-old Carlos Jimenez was honeymooning at the Costa Real Hotel in Manzanillo when the quake hit. The hotel, which had been badly damaged in the 1985 earthquake, collapsed. Married for eight days, Jimenez reflected on their last minutes together as rescue workers searched for his wife, killed in the collapse.
December 8, 1995 - Galileo probe rendezvous with Jupiter
Six years and several technical glitches later, the 750-pound Galileo space probe parachuted into Jupiter's gaseous atmosphere at record speed on Dec. 8. About 2.3 billion miles away, a cheer went up at the project's NASA control room.
Not only had the probe endured the harsh ammonia clouds of the solar system's largest planet, but its radio had begun relaying precious data to the mother ship several thousand miles overhead.
The $1.3 billion Galileo mission may be one of the last of its kind. NASA's plans call for smaller, cheaper missions that will lower the stakes should something go wrong.
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