SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: December 2008
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Collider 'needs warning system'
(Dec 8, 2008)
An official investigation into the accident at the Large
Hadron Collider has recommended that an early warning system be
installed. This system would detect the early stages of a helium leak,
following an incident that has shut down the LHC until June 2009.
The collider is built to smash protons together at huge speeds, recreating
conditions moments after the Big Bang.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Hunting new Earths and the edge of the
universe
(Dec 7, 2008)
A dream of astronomers is to be able to see planets as small and as
close to their host star as Earth is to the sun. In less than a decade,
a trio of gigantic telescopes will be able to carry off the task with
ease. The 24.5-metre Giant Magellan Telescope, the accurately named
Thirty Meter Telescope and the 42-metre European Extremely Large Telescope
will each collect enough light from these extrasolar planets to allow
astronomers to study the composition of their atmospheres using spectroscopy.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Search for alien engineering comes up
dry – so far
(Dec 6, 2008)
A search for colossal feats of alien engineering called Dyson
spheres has so far found no convincing candidates within 1000
light years of Earth. But some say the prospects for finding the hypothetical
structures, which could cocoon stars in order to collect solar energy
for power-hungry aliens, may be getting brighter.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
NASA orbiter finds Martian rock record
with 10 beats to the bar
(Dec 6, 2008)
Climate cycles persisting for millions of years on ancient Mars
left a record of rhythmic patterns in thick stacks of sedimentary
rock layers, revealed in three-dimensional detail by a telescopic
camera on NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter. Researchers using the High Resolution
Imaging Science Experiment camera report the first measurement of
a periodic signal in the rocks of Mars. This pushes climate-cycle
fingerprints much earlier in Mars' history than more recent rhythms
seen in Martian ice layers.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Large Hadron Collider gears up for July
restart
(Dec 5, 2008)
The Large
Hadron Collider will be back up and running by the third quarter
of 2009 – probably. According to an internal report sent to
the physicists working on the giant particle-smasher at the CERN laboratory
near Geneva in Switzerland, the LHC should be ready to collide proton
beams at the end of July next year.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Universe's dark matter mix is 'just right'
for life
(Dec 5, 2008)
It's not just the nature of dark
matter that's a mystery – even its abundance is puzzling.
But if our universe is just one of many possible universes, at least
this conundrum can be explained.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Next NASA Mars mission rescheduled for
2011
(Dec 4, 2008)
NASA's Mars
Science Laboratory will launch two years later than previously
planned, in the fall of 2011. The mission will send a next-generation
rover with unprecedented research tools to study the early environmental
history of Mars. A launch
date of October 2009 no longer is feasible because of testing and
hardware challenges that must be addressed to ensure mission success.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Venus ultraviolet puzzle 'solved'
(Dec 4, 2008)
One of the many mysteries of Earth's nearest planetary neighbour Venus
has been cracked, Nature journal reports. Scientists have long puzzled
over conspicuous patches in the Venusian
clouds that appear dark at ultraviolet (UV) light wavelengths.
They now think these are solid particles or liquid droplets that get
transported from deep in the atmosphere up to the planet's cloud tops.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Light 'echoes' solve mystery of famous
supernova
(Dec 4, 2008)
The mystery of what kind of star self-destructed to create the supernova
observed by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe
in 1572 has been solved at last. A stellar ember called a white
dwarf exploded after gorging on material stolen from its neighbour.
Previous observations had hinted at such a scenario, called a type
Ia supernova.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Has an alien comet infiltrated the solar
system?
(Dec 3, 2008)
A comet orbiting our
Sun may be an interloper from another star system. Comet Machholz
1 isn't like other comets. David Schleicher of the Lowell Observatory
in Flagstaff, Arizona, measured the chemical makeup of 150 comets,
and found that they all had similar levels of the chemical cyanogen
(CN) except for Machholz 1, which has less than 1.5% of the normal
level.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
World 'must tackle space threat'
(Dec 3, 2008)
The international community must work together to tackle the threat
of asteroids colliding with Earth, a leading UN scientist says.
Professor Richard Crowther's comments come as a group of space experts
called for a co-ordinated science-led response to the asteroid threat.
The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) says missions to intercept
asteroids will need global approval.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Meteorite hunters hit pay dirt in Canadian
prairie
(Dec 3, 2008)
Meteorite hunters are having a field day – literally –
following the discovery of dozens of fragments from a 10-tonne space
rock that exploded over the Canadian prairie on 20 November. A large
search team will scour the area on Wednesday in hopes of finding more
pieces and mapping out the extent of the debris field before the terrain
is covered in snow.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Big bang's afterglow may reveal birthplace
of comets
(Dec 2, 2008)
A vast reservoir of comets that is too far away to see might be detectable
in maps of radiation left over from the big bang, a new study suggests.
Comets that take longer than 200 years to orbit the Sun come from
all directions in the sky. That has long led scientists to believe
that they were nudged out of a bubble-like halo of icy objects that
surrounds the solar system – the Oort
Cloud.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
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