SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: March 2006
home > space
& science news > space & science news: March 2006: 1
| 2 | 3
| 4 | 5 | 6
Black holes: The ultimate quantum computers?
(Mar 13, 2006)
Nearly all of the information that falls into a black
hole escapes back out, a controversial new study argues. The work
suggests that black holes could one day be used as incredibly accurate
quantum computers – if enormous theoretical and practical hurdles
can first be overcome. Black holes are thought to destroy anything
that crosses a point of no return around them called an event
horizon. But in the 1970s, Stephen Hawking used quantum mechanics
to show black holes do emit radiation, which eventually evaporates
them away completely.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Sun storms could bring power cuts
(Mar 12, 2006)
Space storms are heading our way. Astronomers have announced that
the next five or six years will see some of the most intense solar
fireworks witnessed on Earth in recent times. The good news is that
these electrical eruptions will bring intense displays of the Northern
and Southern Lights to low latitudes. Areas, including southern England,
which normally never witness such glories, can expect to see major
auroral events glittering in the night skies. On the down side, solar
storms can also disrupt power generators and electronic instruments.
Read
more. Source: Observer |
Fourth flight for biggest Ariane
(Mar 12, 2006)
Europe's most powerful rocket - the Ariane
5-ECA – has launched two satellites from French Guiana. It lifted
off from Kourou
spaceport at 1932 local time (2232 GMT), carrying satellites for the
Spanish defence ministry and a French telecoms company. The launch
marked the Ariane 5's first flight this year and only the fourth for
the 780-tonne heavy-lift version.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Pluto's moons share a family resemblance
(Mar 11, 2006)
All three of Pluto's
moons are the same colour, reveal new observations with the Hubble
Space Telescope. The finding bolsters the theory that they formed
from the debris of a single large impact more than 4 billion years
ago. Pluto is surrounded by a large moon, Charon,
which at 1200 kilometres wide is about half the planet's diameter.
But in 2005, astronomers using Hubble discovered Pluto is also orbited
by two tiny moons – dubbed S/2005 P1 and S/2005 P2.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Mars orbiter reaches Red Planet
(Mar 11, 2006)
NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has survived a critical phase in
its mission by parking itself in an elliptical orbit around the Red
Planet. News of its success followed a tense period of radio silence
while the spacecraft passed behind Mars.
Over the next six months, the probe will steadily reduce the size
of its orbit until it reaches an optimal position to start scientific
studies.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Three cosmic enigmas, one audacious answer
(Mar 11, 2006)
Dark
energy and dark matter,
two of the greatest mysteries confronting physicists, may be two sides
of the same coin. A new and as yet undiscovered kind of star could
explain both phenomena and, in turn, remove black
holes from the lexicon of cosmology. The audacious idea comes
from George Chapline, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in California, and Nobel laureate Robert Laughlin of Stanford University
and their colleagues.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
NASA's Cassini discovers potential liquid
water on Enceladus
(Mar 10, 2006)
NASA's Cassini spacecraft
may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like
geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus.
The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many
new questions about the mysterious moon. "We realize that this is
a radical conclusion – that we may have evidence for liquid
water within a body so small and so cold," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini
imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
"However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity
of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions
suitable for living organisms."
Read
more. Source: NASA |
Cosmic 'eel' preys on spiral galaxy
(Mar 9, 2006)
A giant space "eel" appears to be chasing after a spiral galaxy in
this newly released image from the Victor M. Blanco telescope in Chile.
The eel is actually a type of small, isolated cloud of gas and dust,
called a cometary
globule because of its resemblance to a comet. Called CG4, it
lies about 1300 light years from Earth towards the constellation Puppis,
at the stern of the ship of the Argonauts (a former constellation
called Argo Navis).
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Record Set for Hottest Temperature on
Earth: 3.6 Billion Degrees in Lab
(Mar 9, 2006)
Scientists have produced superheated gas exceeding temperatures of
2 billion degrees Kelvin, or 3.6 billion degrees Fahrenheit. This
is hotter than the interior of our Sun, which is about 15 million
degrees Kelvin, and also hotter than any previous temperature ever
achieved on Earth, they say. They don't know how they did it. The
feat was accomplished in the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories.
Read
more. Source: LiveScience.com |
Wind tunnel tests for space shuttle successor
(Mar 8, 2006)
NASA researchers have begun wind tunnel simulations for the spaceship
destined to replace the shuttle – the Crew
Exploration Vehicle. The tests are simulating the air flow and
temperature changes the vehicle might experience in atmospheric flight.
The wind tunnel tests are using small-scale models of the crew capsule
and launch vehicles. Following NASA Administrator Mike Griffin's announcement
of the vehicles' basic architecture in September 2005, NASA released
a "call for improvements" for the Crew Exploration Vehicle, a 5-metre-long
crew capsule that Griffin has dubbed "Apollo on steroids".
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
1 | 2
| 3 | 4
| 5 | 6
BACK TO TOP
|
You
are here:
Home
> Space & Science news
> March 2006:
1 | 2
| 3 | 4
| 5 | 6
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
|
