Science & Technology
GREENBELT, Md. - New observations from Suzaku, a joint Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA X-ray observatory, have challenged scientists' conventional understanding of white dwarfs. Observers had believed white dwarfs were inert stellar corpses that slowly cool and fade away, but the new data tell a completely different story.
The crystal structure of a molecule from a primitive fungus has served as a time machine to show researchers more about the evolution of life from the simple to the complex.
Despite more than a decade of winter darkness, Saturn's north pole is home to an unexpected hot spot remarkably similar to one at the planet's sunny south pole. The source of its heat is a mystery. Now, the first detailed views of the gas giant's high latitudes from the Cassini spacecraft reveal a matched set of hot cyclonic vortices, one at each pole.
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| ©John Debes |
| Red and near infrared wavelengths from the dust disk surrounding the star HR 4796A (masked in false-color image to make fainter disk visible) suggest the presence of complex organic molecules. The inner "hole" of the ring-shaped disk is big enough to fit our entire solar system and may have been swept clean of dust by orbiting planets. |
Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution have found the first indications of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red dust surrounding a distant star. The eight-million-year-old star, known as HR 4796A, is inferred to be in the late stages of planet formation, suggesting that the basic building blocks of life may be common in planetary systems.
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| ©REUTERS/Handout |
| An image of Saturn taken by the Cassini-Hudgens mission. Saturn's chilly north pole boasts a hot spot of compressed air, a surprising discovery that could shed light on other planets within our own solar system and beyond, researchers said on Thursday. |
Saturn's chilly north pole boasts a hot spot of compressed air, a surprising discovery that could shed light on other planets within our own solar system and beyond, researchers said on Thursday.
The possibility of an asteroid walloping the planet Mars this month is whetting the appetites of Earth-bound scientists, even as they further refine the space rock's trajectory.
The space rock in question - Asteroid 2007 WD5 - is similar in size to the object that carved Meteor Crater into northern Arizona some 50,000 years ago and is approaching Mars at about 30,000 miles per hour (48,280 kph).
Whether the asteroid will actually hit Mars or not is still uncertain.
The space rock in question - Asteroid 2007 WD5 - is similar in size to the object that carved Meteor Crater into northern Arizona some 50,000 years ago and is approaching Mars at about 30,000 miles per hour (48,280 kph).
Whether the asteroid will actually hit Mars or not is still uncertain.
Astronomers from Heidelberg discover planet in a dusty disk around a newborn star
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg have discovered the youngest known extrasolar planet. Its host star is still surrounded by the disk of gas and dust from which it was only recently born. This discovery allows scientists to draw important conclusions about the timing of planet formation.
How do planetary systems form? How common are they? What is their architecture? How many habitable earth-like planets exist in the Milky Way? In the past decade, astronomers have clearly come closer to finding answers to these exciting questions. With the discovery of the first planet orbiting another Sun-like star in 1995, the field of extrasolar planet research was born.
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg have discovered the youngest known extrasolar planet. Its host star is still surrounded by the disk of gas and dust from which it was only recently born. This discovery allows scientists to draw important conclusions about the timing of planet formation.
How do planetary systems form? How common are they? What is their architecture? How many habitable earth-like planets exist in the Milky Way? In the past decade, astronomers have clearly come closer to finding answers to these exciting questions. With the discovery of the first planet orbiting another Sun-like star in 1995, the field of extrasolar planet research was born.
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| ©Max Planck Institute for Astronomy |
| The newly discovered giant planet orbits around its young and active host star inside the inner hole of a dusty circumstellar disk (artist view). |
Cell phone usage is being blamed for several problems this week as a University of Utah study found that cell phone usage on highways causes traffic jams.
In addition, the French government said mobile handsets can be bad for children, and Massachusetts law enforcement authorities said a hit-and-run fatality was caused by a man text messaging on his cell phone.
In addition, the French government said mobile handsets can be bad for children, and Massachusetts law enforcement authorities said a hit-and-run fatality was caused by a man text messaging on his cell phone.
Selling sex is said to be humankind's oldest profession but it may have deep evolutionary roots, according to a study into our primate cousins which found that male macaques pay for intercourse by using grooming as a currency.
A breed of Frankenfood is being introduced into human diet and cosmetics with potentially disastrous consequences, experts said last night.
Comment: Let's do something fun. Here's a true/false question.
Are cell phones...
1. Harmful to children
2. Sources of traffic delays
3. Causes of traffic accidents
4. Not really necessary since we've managed without them for ages
5. A reason to put up a cellular infrastructure for potentially nefarious uses
The answer will be revealed when your children get older.