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November 27, 2012

Life on Mars: NASA says 'hold on a minute!'
Washington DC (UPI) Nov 25, 2012
When a NASA official said last week data from an instrument on the Mars Curiosity rover suggested something "for the history books," many people thought an announcement was imminent of the possible discovery of life on the Red Planet - until the space agency began to seriously backpedal on the story. It may be a case of once bitten twice shy as NASA has been through this before - a hotly anticipated and heavily hyped bit of news that only disappoints in the end. The current excitement ... read more

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Solar Minimum; Solar Maximum The sun goes through a natural solar cycle approximately every 11 years. The cycle is marked by the increase and decrease of sunspots - visible as dark blemishes on the sun's surface, or photosphere ... more		Cassini Finds a Video Gamers' Paradise at Saturn You could call this "Pac-Man, the Sequel." Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Teth ... more		Astronauts bring back new life It is not every day that astronauts can claim to return to Earth with a new species of life. But when the astronauts on ESA's CAVES underground training course returned to the surface they were carr ... more
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Scientists from Bangalore and Mainz develop new methods for cooling of ions Among the most important techniques developed in atomic physics over the past few years are methods that enable the storage and cooling of atoms and ions at temperatures just above absolute zero. Sc ... more		Curious About Life: Interview with Roger Summons The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has 10 science instruments, and each will be used in the coming weeks and months to help characterize the environment of Mars and determine if the planet ... more		Iran supends cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog Rocket Lab clears key design milestone for SDA low Earth orbit constellation US halting some shipments of military aid to Ukraine		The Surprising Appeal of a Cloudy Eclipse Huntsville AL (SPX) Nov 25, 2012 Astrophysicist and legendary eclipse chaser Fred Espenak has a rating scheme for natural wonders. "On a scale of 1 to 10," he says, "total eclipses are a million." ... more
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