SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS: August 2000
home > space
& science news > space & science news: August 2000
| Fresh evidence for watery
ocean on Europa |
Aug 25, 2000 |
| Alien communication, dolphin
style |
Aug 24, 2000 |
| Hubble survey sheds new light
on brown dwarfs |
Aug 24, 2000 |
| Mountains on Titan? |
Aug 16, 2000 |
| Two Mars rovers for 2003 |
Aug 10, 2000 |
| Best ever images of Titan show
possible continent |
Aug 7, 2000 |
| Largest life-form on Earth
discovered |
Aug 7, 2000 |
| Nine new planets and a
secondary planetary system |
Aug 7, 2000 |
| Planet found around Epsilon Eridani |
Aug 4, 2000 |
| Microbes survive harsh UV in
space |
Aug 2, 2000 |
| Funding for new SETI array |
Aug 2, 2000 |
| UK researchers cast new doubt
on Martian "fossils" |
Aug 2, 2000 |
Fresh evidence for watery ocean on Europa
(Aug. 25, 2000)
Magnetic field data obtained by the Galileo spacecraft during its
most recent close pass of Europa
have provided the most persuasive evidence yet for a conducting layer
– most likely a global, saltwater ocean – about 7 kilometers
below the moon's surface. For more, go here. |
Alien communication, dolphin style
(Aug. 24, 2000)
Vincent Janik at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, has found
that wild dolphins
greet each other with individual whistle signatures. Communication
between dolphins seems to be quite sophisticated yet no one really
knows what they're trying to convey (go here
to learn more about dolphin language). Janik has concluded that, in
these signature whistles, dolphins are responding to each other by
mimicking an individual's call back. Such interactions with learned
signals are thought to be a first step toward the evolution of real
language. In his report, published in this week's Science, Janik said
that the greetings might not necessarily be a simple friendly "hello";
they could equally be an aggressive warning.
For more on this story, go here. |
Hubble survey sheds light on brown dwarfs
(Aug. 24, 2000)
A census of brown dwarfs
carried out by scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope provides
the best evidence yet that brown dwarfs form in the same way as stars
and are completely distinct from high-mass planets. The survey reveals
that free-floating brown dwarfs, whose mass ranges from about 15 to
80 times that of Jupiter, are common in the Galaxy, with lower-mass
dwarfs outnumbering their higher-mass cousins.
For more, go here. |
Mountains on Titan?
(Aug. 16, 2000)
Researchers at the University of Arizona have suggested that a bright
feature found recently near the equator on Titan (for earlier story,
go here) may be a large
range of ice mountains that is being continually eroded by a methane
rain. For more, go here. |
Two Mars rovers for 2003
(Aug. 10, 2000)
NASA has announced it will be sending two rovers
to Mars in 2003. The vehicles, each of which is a larger version of
the successful Pathfinder,
equipped with optical and infrared cameras and instruments to search
for signs of water on Mars, will be launched on May 22 and June 4,
2003, respectively. For more, go here. |
Best ever images of Titan show possible
continent
(Aug. 7, 2000)
Astronomers working with the 3.6-metre Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope in Hawaii have obtained the clearest views yet of Saturn's
large moon Titan. They
provide further evidence that a bright continent may straddle Titan's
equator and be surrounded by a methane
sea. For more, go here. |
Largest life-form on Earth discovered
(Aug. 7, 2000)
Scientists have found what may be the biggest living thing on Earth:
a fungus that is growing
under and around the roots of trees in the Malheur National Forest
of eastern Oregon. The enormous plant, a specimen of Armillaria ostoyae,
or honey mushroom, is thought to have started from a single spore
at least 2,400 years ago and now covers about 2,200 acres (890 hectares).
For more, go here. |
Nine new planets and second planetary
system found
(Aug. 7, 2000)
A flurry of announcements about newly found extrasolar
planets is to be made today at the International Astronomical
Union (IAU) General Assembly being held in Manchester, England. The
nine new planets bring the total known to 50. A second planetary system,
to join that of Upsilon
Andromedae, has come to light with the discovery of two Saturn-sized
planets around HD 83443, the inner one orbiting at the shortest distance
known from its central star. Debra Fischer of the University of California,
Berkeley, has begun to find evidence of smaller extrasolar planets.
Looking at data for 12 stars around which single large planets are
known, she is seeing patterns indicating that, in at least 5 cases,
these worlds may have smaller siblings. Commented Greg Marcy of San
Francisco State University: "We're now at a stage where we are finding
planets faster than we can investigate them and write up the results."
NASA astronomers will also be announcing evidence for massive planets
imprinted in the dust disks of Beta Pictoris and Vega.
For more, go here
and here. |
Planet found around Epsilon Eridani
(Aug. 4, 2000)
A planet slightly more massive than Jupiter has been found orbiting
the nearby star Epsilon
Eridani at a distance of about 500 million km (300 million miles)
– roughly the distance of the asteroid belt from the Sun. The
proximity of Epsilon Eridani (just over 10 light-years away) means
there is chance the new planet might be visible through existing telescopes,
such as the Hubble Space Telescope. This landmark discovery was made
by William Cochran, of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory
and will be officially announced at an astronomical conference in
Manchester, England, on Monday. It is exciting news for astrobiologists
because the planet is at a conventional distance for a gas giant,
suggesting it might be part of a solar system like our own, and the
central star, though slightly less massive and cooler than the Sun
is of a similar age.
For more, go here. |
Funding for new SETI array
(Aug. 2, 2000)
The SETI Institute's
plans to build the first telescope array dedicated to the search for
extraterrestrial intelligence has just received a massive boost thanks
to a private donation of $12.5 million from Microsoft executives Paul
Allen and Nathan Myhvold. The funds will go toward setting up what
was previously known as the One Hectare Array but has now been renamed
the Allen Telescope Array.
For more, go here. |
Microbes survive exposure to harsh UV
in space
(Aug. 2, 2000)
On July 26, two hardy species of microbe were sent on a sub-orbital
flight, similar to that of Alan Shepard in 1960, to test their to
resistance the vacuum and extreme ultraviolet radiation of space.
Back in the lab at the University of Maryland, scientists found that
the specimens of an archean taken from a hot spring in Yellowstone
appeared to have been completely wiped out by the harsh ultraviolet,
although signs of regeneration from a few survivors appeared to be
taking place later. The other microbe, also an archean, Deinococcus
radiodurans, fared much better. Although it suffered a 1,000-fold
reduction in cell numbers during the flight, recovery was rapid after
the return to Earth. Further research will be directed toward determining
how the DNA of the organisms may have been affected by the UV exposure. |
UK researchers cast new doubt on Martian
fossils
(Aug. 2, 2000)
Researchers at the University of Greenwich, England, have published
fresh evidence that the supposed fossilized microbes in the Martian
meteorite ALH 84001
could be crystals of calcium carbonate that formed inorganically.
Aron Vecht and Terry Ireland argue in a new paper that the structures
they generated in the lab bear a close resemblance to those seen in
ALH 84001. For more, go here. |
BACK TO TOP
|
You
are here:
Home
> Space & Science news
> August 2000
Other news sections
Latest science news
Archeo news
Eco news
Health news
Living world news
Paleo news
Strange news
Tech news
Also on this site:
Encyclopedia of Science
Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy
and Sustainable Living
News archive
Bookshop
Contact
|
