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December 20, 2016
EXO WORLDS
Microlensing Study Suggests Most Common Outer Planets Likely Neptune-mass



Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 20, 2016
A new statistical study of planets found by a technique called gravitational microlensing suggests that Neptune-mass worlds are likely the most common type of planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems. The study provides the first indication of the types of planets waiting to be found far from a host star, where scientists suspect planets form most efficiently. "We've found the apparent sweet spot in the sizes of cold planets. Contrary to some theoretical predictions, we infer fr ... read more

IRON AND ICE
Ceres Offers Insight Into Prospects For Life in Early Solar System
Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, is pocketed with cold, dark craters, several of which are layered in ice, raising the prospects that this frigid dwarf planet once had perhaps an o ... more
SOLAR SCIENCE
Moore Foundation provides libraries with a millione solar-eclipse viewers
The Space Science Institute was awarded a grant from the Moore Foundation that will provide 1.26 million solar viewing glasses and other resources for 1,500 public libraries across the nation. They ... more
EXO WORLDS
Are planets like those in 'Star Wars
In the "Star Wars" universe, ice, ocean and desert planets burst from the darkness as your ship drops out of light speed. But these worlds might be more than just science fiction. Some of the ... more
EXO WORLDS
Astronomers discover dark past of planet-eating 'Death Star'
An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Chicago, has made the rare discovery of a planetary system with a host star similar to Earth's sun. Especially intri ... more
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TIME AND SPACE
Number of known black holes expected to double in two years with new detection method
Researchers from the University of Waterloo have developed a method that will detect roughly 10 black holes per year, doubling the number currently known within two years, and it will likely unlock ... more
EXO WORLDS
New species found near ocean floor hot springs
Researchers have discovered six new species living near hydrothermal vents on the sea floor. ... more
IRON AND ICE
Rosetta's last words: science descending to a comet
On 30 September 2016, at 11:19:37 UTC in ESA's mission control, Rosetta's signal flat-lined, confirming that the spacecraft had completed its incredible mission on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov ... more
IRON AND ICE
Ceres: Water ice in eternal polar night
The American Dawn space probe has been orbiting the asteroid Ceres between Mars and Jupiter since March 2015. Thanks to the two identical onboard cameras from the Max Planck Institute for Solar Syst ... more
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Mystery of super flash solved
When astronomers and astrophysicists observe flashes of light in the dark sky, they assume they have seen a supernova. Possibly a star has burnt up its supply of nuclear fuel and collapsed, throwing ... more


A population of neutron stars can generate gravitational waves continuously

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Newly formed stars shoot out powerful whirlwinds
Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute have used the ALMA telescopes to observe the early stages in the formation of a new solar system. For the first time they have seen how a powerful whirlwind ... more
SOLAR SCIENCE
Preparing for the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse
On Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, a total eclipse will cross the entire country, coast-to-coast, for the first time since 1918. Weather permitting, the entire continent will have the opportunity to view an ... more


Juno Captures Jupiter 'Pearl'
This image, taken by the JunoCam imager on NASA's Juno spacecraft, highlights the seventh of eight features forming a 'string of pearls on Jupiter - massive counterclockwise rotating storms that appear as white ovals in the gas giant's southern hemisphere. Since 1986, these white ovals have varied in number from six to nine. There are currently eight white ovals visible. The image was ta ... more
Juno Mission Prepares for December 11 Jupiter Flyby

Research Offers Clues About the Timing of Jupiter's Formation

New Perspective on How Pluto's "Icy Heart" Came to Be

First Light for Breakthrough Listen at Parkes Telescope
Breakthrough Listen, the 10-year, $100-million astronomical search for intelligent life beyond Earth launched in 2015 by Internet entrepreneur Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking, has announced its first observations using the Parkes Radio Telescope in New South Wales, Australia. Parkes joins the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, USA, and the Automated Planet Finder (APF) at Lick Ob ... more
Search for ET underway with Parkes Radio Telescope

Breakthrough Listen to Search for Intelligent Life Around Tabby's Star

New bacteria groups, and stunning diversity, discovered underground

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Astronomers discover dark past of planet-eating 'Death Star'
An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Chicago, has made the rare discovery of a planetary system with a host star similar to Earth's sun. Especially intriguing is the star's unusual composition, which indicates it ingested some of its planets. "It doesn't mean that the sun will 'eat' the Earth any time soon," said Jacob Bean, assistant professor ... more
Microlensing Study Suggests Most Common Outer Planets Likely Neptune-mass

New species found near ocean floor hot springs

Carbonaceous chondrites shed light on the origins of life in the universe

Bremen robot team successfully simulates Mars mission in Utah
A major challenge in the exploration of Mars by robots is its uneven surface, which is marked by trenches and craters. Whether the systems can withstand the rough terrain on the Red Planet, they have to prove it on the earth first - for example, in the rocky deserts of the American state of Utah. There, scientists from the Robotics Innovation Center of the German Research Center for Artifi ... more
First detection of boron on the surface of Mars

All eyes on Trump over Mars

A Promising Spot for Life on Mars



Lunar sonic booms
The sonic boom created by an airplane comes from the craft's large, speeding body crashing into molecules in the air. But if you shrank the plane to the size of a molecule, would it still generate a shock wave? Scientists such as University of Iowa physicist Jasper Halekas hope to answer that question by studying miniature shock waves on the moon. These sonic boomlets, physicists believe, ... more
India Inc joins hands to bid for moon mission

TeamIndus signs contract with ISRO for lunar mission

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin stable after South Pole health scare

Mystery of super flash solved
When astronomers and astrophysicists observe flashes of light in the dark sky, they assume they have seen a supernova. Possibly a star has burnt up its supply of nuclear fuel and collapsed, throwing off its outer layers into space; or maybe a dense white dwarf siphoned off material from a companion star until it exploded from excess weight. But a flash of light observed on June 14, 2015 did not ... more
Newly formed stars shoot out powerful whirlwinds

Young, thin and hyperactive: That's what outlier galaxies look like

A new light on stellar death

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Critical zone, critical research at the weathering zone
The Earth's critical zone isn't called critical for nothing. Known as our planet's outer skin, it is essential for human survival. The critical zone extends from the top of the tallest tree down through the soil and into the water and rock beneath it. It stops at what's called the weathering zone - or where soils first begin to develop. This zone allows crops to grow well and supports our ... more
Eye-Popping View of CO2, Critical Step for Carbon-Cycle Science

Revolutions in understanding the ionosphere, Earth's interface to space

Researchers dial in to 'thermostat' in Earth's upper atmosphere

Where is the Ice on Ceres
At first glance, Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, may not look icy. Images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft have revealed a dark, heavily cratered world whose brightest area is made of highly reflective salts - not ice. But newly published studies from Dawn scientists show two distinct lines of evidence for ice at or near the surface of the dwarf planet. Researchers are presen ... more
Ceres Offers Insight Into Prospects For Life in Early Solar System

Rosetta's last words: science descending to a comet

Ceres: Water ice in eternal polar night



Moore Foundation provides libraries with a millione solar-eclipse viewers
The Space Science Institute was awarded a grant from the Moore Foundation that will provide 1.26 million solar viewing glasses and other resources for 1,500 public libraries across the nation. They will serve as centers for eclipse education and viewing for their communities. The libraries will be selected through a registration process managed by the STAR Library Education Network (STAR_N ... more
Preparing for the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Giving the Sun a brake

Perspectives on magnetic reconnection

Chinese missile giant seeks 20% of a satellite market
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the largest missile maker in the country, is taking aim at 20 percent or more of the small-satellite launch contracts in the world by 2020, company executives said. "We estimate that from 2017 to 2020, we will send aloft at least 10 solid-fuel carrier rockets each year, to send about 50 small satellites into orbit," said Guo Yong, president of the ... more
China-made satellites in high demand

Space exploration plans unveiled

China launches 4th data relay satellite

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Mystery of super flash solved
When astronomers and astrophysicists observe flashes of light in the dark sky, they assume they have seen a supernova. Possibly a star has burnt up its supply of nuclear fuel and collapsed, throwing off its outer layers into space; or maybe a dense white dwarf siphoned off material from a companion star until it exploded from excess weight. But a flash of light observed on June 14, 2015 did not ... more
Newly formed stars shoot out powerful whirlwinds

Young, thin and hyperactive: That's what outlier galaxies look like

A new light on stellar death

Dental hygiene, caveman style
Bits of wood recovered from a 1.2-million-year-old tooth found at an excavation site in northern Spain indicate that the ancient relatives of man may have use a kind of toothpick. Toothbrushes were not around yet, if the amount of hardened tartar build-up is anything to go by. An analysis of the tartar has now yielded the oldest known information about what our human ancestors ate and the ... more
Neurons paralyze us during REM sleep

Neanderthals visited seaside cave in England for 180,000 years

Sex of prehistoric hand-stencil artists can be determined forensic analysis



Space Network upgrade to double data rates on ISS
The Space Network, the wireless communication system connecting astronauts inside the International Space Station to their colleagues on the ground, is getting an upgrade. The boost will double data rates. Currently, astronauts aboard ISS are limited by a connectivity threshold of 300 megabits per second, about twice the speed of most home WiFi networks. "Fundamentally, this upgr ... more
Spacewalk for Thomas Pesquet at ISS

NASA's Exo-Brake 'Parachute' to Enable Safe Return for Small Spacecraft

Trump sits down with tech execs, including critics

Scientists measure pulse of CO2 emissions during spring thaw in the Arctic
When the frozen Arctic tundra starts to thaw around June of each year, the snow melting and the ground softening, the soil may release a large pulse of greenhouse gases, namely, carbon dioxide and methane. Little has been known about such releases. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with a team of other scientists takin ... more
Landsat provides global view of speed of ice

Global warming is melting mountain glaciers: study

Hottest Arctic on record triggers massive ice melt

The galloping evolution in seahorses
Without a doubt, the seahorse belongs to Darwin's "endless forms most beautiful". Its body form is one of a kind. It has neither a tail nor pelvic fin, it swims vertically, bony plates reinforce its entire body and it has no teeth, a rare feature in fish. Another peculiarity is that male seahorses are the ones to become pregnant. The genome project, comprising six evolutionary biologists f ... more
Earth's Magnetic Fields Could Track Ocean Heat: NASA

Ocean temperatures faithfully recorded in mother-of-pearl

Rain out, research in

LISA Pathfinder's pioneering mission continues
On 7 December, LISA Pathfinder started the extended phase of its mission, an additional six months during which scientists and engineers will push the experiment to its limits in preparation for ESA's future space observatory of gravitational waves. LISA Pathfinder, a demonstration mission to validate important technologies to observe gravitational waves - fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime ... more
Magnetic mirror could shed new light on gravitational waves

A population of neutron stars can generate gravitational waves continuously

Verlindes new theory of gravity passes first test



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