November 2004 in Science - November 20, 2004

November 20, 2004

• Paleontologists have announced the discovery of fossil records near Barcelona of an ape species which is believed to be the common ancestor of all apes. This species links chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and humans. (Washington Post) (Guardian)
• The Swift satellite is launched into orbit to investigate gamma ray bursts (GRB) and conduct an all-sky X-ray survey. (BBC) (CNN)
• A study has shown that church air is harmful and likely to contain carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons when compared to roads travelled by 45,000 cars per day. It also found that church air contained PM10s, a type of air pollutant, up to 20 times the limit allowed by the European Parliament. The scientists speculate that the source of the pollution is from burning candles. (BBC)
• The National Physical Laboratory in the UK has released a new atomic clock that is up to 1,000 more accurate than caesium clocks, or in other words, accurate to 1 second in 30 billion years. (NPL)(Slashdot)