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LATEST SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS
Archeo- | Eco- | Health | Living world
Paleo- | Robot diaries | Strange news | Tech-
 Water found in lunar impact likely came from comets
(Nov 20, 2009) The mystery of where the Moon's water came from may soon be solved. Evidence from NASA's LCROSS mission suggests much of it was delivered by comets rather than forming on the surface through an interaction with the solar wind.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Ripples in space divide classical and quantum worlds
(Nov 19, 2009) Why can't we be in two places at the same time? The simple answer is that it's because large objects appear not to be subject to the same wacky laws of quantum mechanics that rule subatomic particles. But why not – and how big does something have to be for quantum physics no longer to apply? Ripples in spacetime could hold the answer.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 How to explore Mars and have fun
(Nov 19, 2009) The US space agency needs your help to explore Mars. A NASA website called "Be A Martian" allows users to play games while at the same time sorting through hundreds of thousands of images of the Red Planet. The number of pictures returned by spacecraft since the 1960s is now so big that scientists cannot hope to study them all by themselves.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 LHC nears restart after repairs
(Nov 18, 2009) The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could restart as early as this weekend after more than a year of repairs. But officials have avoided giving an exact date for sending beams of protons around the 27km (17 mile) circular tunnel which houses the collider. The LHC was first switched on in 2008, but had to be shut down when a faulty electrical connection caused one tonne of helium to leak into the tunnel.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 ALMA antennas collect first data
(Nov 18, 2009) A team working on the ALMA observatory in Chile have made their first measurements from the telescope's site, located 5,000m up in the Andes. Astronomers and engineers took their first "interferometric" measurements of radio signals – so-called "fringes" – of an astronomical source. This is an important technical step for the ALMA project.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Keeping the young Earth cosy
(Nov 17, 2009) Nitrogen now stored in the planetary crust and mantle may have prevented the early Earth from freezing, scientists suggest. The study lends weight to the idea that on geological timescales atmospheric pressure helps to regulate climate and habitability of Earth-like planets.
Read more. Source: Nature |
 Mystery 'dark flow' extends towards edge of universe
(Nov 16, 2009) Something big is out there beyond the visible edge of our universe. That's the conclusion of the largest analysis to date of over 1000 galaxy clusters streaming in one direction at blistering speeds. Some researchers say this so-called "dark flow" is a sign that other universes nestle next door.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Blast off for Atlantis shuttle
(Nov 16, 2009) The US space shuttle Atlantis has blasted off from Florida on a mission to deliver spare parts to the International Space Station. Lift-off took place at 1928 GMT (1428 EST) on Monday from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral. There are just five more shuttle launches scheduled before the planned retirement of the fleet in 2010.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Lunar impact tosses up water and stranger stuff
(Nov 14, 2009) The debate is finally over. Lunar scientists have detected water for certain near the north pole of the Moon, after the impact of a NASA projectile kicked up water vapour along with a plume of dust. But it's not just about the water, say the scientists, who found hints in the plume of other, more exotic molecules, ranging from hydrocarbons to mercury.
Read more. Source: Nature |
'Large amounts' of water on Moon
(Nov 13, 2009) NASA's experiment last month to find water on the Moon was a major success, agency scientists have announced. The agency smashed a rocket and probe into a large crater at the lunar south pole, hoping to kick up ice. Scientists who have studied the data now say instruments trained on the impact plume saw copious quantities of water vapor.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Rosetta makes final home call
(Nov 13, 2009) Europe's Rosetta probe has made its third and final flyby of Earth as it seeks to position itself to chase down a comet in 2014. The spacecraft's whip around the planet will give it the extra speed it needs to take it out to the rendezvous location near Jupiter. Launched in 2004, Rosetta has already flown by Earth twice and Mars once.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Lithium clue for planet-hunters
(Nov 12, 2009) Astronomers may have found a way to identify those Sun-like stars most likely to harbour orbiting planets. A survey of stars known to possess planets shows the vast majority to be severely depleted in lithium. To date, scientists have detected just over 420 worlds circling other stars using a range of techniques.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Propelled by light: the promise and perils of solar sailing
(Nov 12, 2009) Earlier this week, the Planetary Society, a space advocacy group in Pasadena, California, received an anonymous donation to build and launch a small solar-sail driven spacecraft. The Society hopes to launch the sail in about a year as part of a three-stage plan to demonstrate the viability of solar sail propulsion, which has never been tested in orbit.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Backward star ain't from around here
(Nov 11, 2009) A dim star just 13 light years from Earth was born in a cluster 17,000 light years away. Discovered in 1897, Kapteyn's Star is the 25th nearest star system to our sun, but it is no local, says Elizabeth Wylie-de Boer of Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Will probe's upcoming fly-by unlock exotic physics?
(Nov 11, 2009) What's causing spacecraft to mysteriously accelerate? The Rosetta comet chaser's fly-by of Earth on 13 November is a perfect opportunity to get to the bottom of it. The anomaly emerged in 1990, when NASA's Galileo spacecraft whizzed by Earth to get a boost from our planet's gravity and gained 3.9 millimeters per second more than expected.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Colliding white dwarfs may mimic type Ia supernovae
(Nov 10, 2009) Stellar explosions known as type Ia supernovae have proved invaluable to astrophysicists as markers of cosmic distance. But the mechanisms for forming these events are still not well understood. A new simulation suggests that a variety of scenarios could lead to them, including a collision between unbound white dwarfs.
Read more. Source: Scientific American |
 Extraterrestrial rafting: Hunting off-world sea life
(Nov 9, 2009) If life is to be found beyond our home planet, then our closest encounters with it may come in the dark abyss of some extraterrestrial sea. For Earth is certainly not the only ocean-girdled world in our solar system. As many as five moons of Jupiter and Saturn are now thought to hide seas beneath their icy crusts.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 NASA and ESA sign Mars agreement
(Nov 9, 2009) The US and European space agencies have signed the "letter of intent" that ties together their Mars programs. The agreement, which was penned in Washington DC, gives the green light to scientists and engineers to begin the joint planning of Red Planet missions.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 'Space elevator' wins $900,000 NASA prize
(Nov 9, 2009) A laser-powered robotic climber has won $900,000 in a competition designed to spur technology for a future elevator to space. Building a space elevator would require anchoring a cable on the ground near Earth's equator and deploying the other end thousands of kilometers into space.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Was life founded on cyanide from space crashes?
(Nov 7, 2009) Life may have been built on a foundation of cyanide formed in the fiery wakes of asteroids and comets plunging through Earth's atmosphere, high-speed impact experiments suggest. The new experiments show that although impacts destroy the original organic molecules in the colliding objects, they may help create new ones at the same time.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Mars rover plans its escape
(Nov 6, 2009) After being stuck in soft soil on Mars for six months, Spirit, one of two NASA rovers on the red planet, is about to attempt an escape. "It's likely that this process will take months and we don't even know if we'll be successful," says John Callas, project manager for Spirit and its twin rover Opportunity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Read more. Source: Nature |
 Spitzer observes a chaotic planetary system
(Nov 5, 2009) NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a young star with evidence for the same kind of orbital hyperactivity that once existed in the Solar System before the planets found their way into stable orbits. Young planets circling the star are thought to be disturbing smaller comet-like bodies, causing them to collide and kick up a huge halo of dust. The star, called HR 8799, was in the news last November 2008, for being one of the first of two stars with imaged planets.
Read more. Source: NASA/Spitzer |
 MESSENGER spies iron on Mercury
(Nov 4, 2009) Mercury is even more of an "iron planet" than scientists had previously supposed. Richer concentrations of iron and titanium have been seen on Mercury's surface by NASA's MESSENGER probe. Previous Earth and spacecraft-based observations had detected only very low amounts of iron in the silicate minerals covering the innermost world.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Dark-matter test faces obstacles
(Nov 4, 2009) A group of scientists is hoping to replicate a controversial Italian experiment that claims to have detected dark matter. But they might have to do so without the help, or the equipment, of the original group.
Read more. Source: Nature |
 Cassini makes deepest dive yet into Saturn moon's jets
(Nov 3, 2009) NASA's Cassini spacecraft made its deepest plunge yet into the plumes of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Monday. The dive might reveal complex organic molecules that could hint at life. Researchers have been fascinated with Enceladus since July 2005, when Cassini revealed plumes of ice particles and water vapor shooting out from the moon's south pole.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 European water mission lifts off
(Nov 2, 2009) A European satellite is set to provide major new insights into how water is cycled around the Earth. The SMOS spacecraft will make the first global maps of the amount of moisture held in soils and of the quantity of salts dissolved in the oceans. The data will have wide uses but should improve weather forecasts and warnings of extreme events, such as floods.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Rocket booster damaged on return
(Nov 1, 2009) The booster used on the Ares 1-X test rocket on Wednesday was damaged when it fell back into the ocean, the US space agency says. The recovery team sent to retrieve the stage from waters east of the Kennedy Space Center found a large dent in the side of the booster. NASA said the damage resulted from failures in the parachute system.
Read more. Source: BBC |
 Voices of long-dead stars haunt the galaxy
(Oct 30, 2009) Mysterious radio blips that come from apparently empty regions of space may be the voices of long-dead stars. Thirteen unexplained radio blips have turned up in radio telescope observations since the 1980s. They emerged in spots where there are no stars or galaxies to be seen, last anywhere from hours to days, and do not seem to repeat.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
 Stellar blast is record-breaker
(Oct 29, 2009) Astronomers have confirmed that an exploding star spotted by NASA's Swift satellite is the most distant cosmic object to be detected by telescopes. In the journal Nature, two teams of astronomers report their observations of a gamma-ray burst from a star that died 13.1 billion light-years away. The massive star died about 630 million years after the Big Bang.
Read more. Source: BBC |
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