Nomads of the galaxy
Recently, a study was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society proposing planets simply adrift in space may be something of a common phenomenon. View More (2012-05-24)
EARTH: Volcanoes sparked, and prolonged, the Little Ice Age
olcanism is often implicated in periods of abrupt cooling. After the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, for instance, global temperatures dropped by half a degree Celsius due to airborne particulate matter blocking solar radiation. View More (2012-05-10)
Looking for Earths by looking for Jupiters
In the search for Earth-like planets, it is helpful to look for clues and patterns that can help scientist narrow down the types of systems where potentially habitable planets are likely to be discovered. View More (2012-05-08)
Spotlight on Sentinel-2
The vast potential of ESA's upcoming Sentinel-2 satellites came into focus last week at a symposium in Italy on how they will benefit current and future projects that exploit Earth observation data. View More (2012-05-07)
Four white dwarf stars caught in the act of consuming 'earth-like' exoplanets
University of Warwick astrophysicists have pinpointed four white dwarfs surrounded by dust from shattered planetary bodies which once bore striking similarities to the composition of the Earth. View More (2012-05-04)
New UF study shows early North Americans lived with extinct giant beasts
A new University of Florida study that determined the age of skeletal remains provides evidence humans reached the Western Hemisphere during the last ice age and lived alongside giant extinct mammals. View More (2012-05-04)
Science nugget: Lightning signature could help reveal the solar system's origins
Every second, lightning flashes some 50 times on Earth. Together these discharges coalesce and get stronger, creating electromagnetic waves circling around Earth, to create a beating pulse between the ground and the lower ionosphere, about 60 miles up in the atmosphere. View More (2012-05-04)
Report warns of rapid decline in US Earth observation capabilities; next-generation missions hindered by budget shortfalls, launch failures
A new National Research Council report says that budget shortfalls, cost-estimate growth, launch failures, and changes in mission design and scope have left U.S. earth observation systems in a more precarious position than they were five years ago. View More (2012-05-03)
EARTH: North Star loses mass but still shines bright
The North Star, the Pole Star, the Guiding Star, Polaris: Its many names reflect the many centuries humans have gazed northward to it for guidance. View More (2012-05-03)
Scientists discover enzyme that could slow part of the aging process in astronauts -- and the elderly
New research published online in the FASEB Journal suggests that a specific enzyme, called 5-lipoxygenase, plays a key role in cell death induced by microgravity environments, and that inhibiting this enzyme will likely help prevent or lessen the severity of immune problems in astronauts caused by spaceflight. View More (2012-05-01)
Tiny 'spherules' reveal details about Earth's asteroid impacts
Researchers are learning details about asteroid impacts going back to the Earth's early history by using a new method for extracting precise information from tiny "spherules" embedded in layers of rock. View More (2012-04-26)
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter brings 'earthrise' to everyone
Imagine yourself in orbit, your spacecraft flying backward with its small window facing down toward the surface of the moon. You peer out, scouring the ash-colored contours of the cratered landscape for traces of ancient volcanic activity. View More (2012-04-20)
EARTH: Managing the seismic risk posed by wastewater disposal
The debate over hydraulic fracturing has recently focused on the rise in seismicity throughout the primarily stable interior of the United States. View More (2012-04-19)
AGU: Uranus auroras glimpsed from Earth
For the first time, scientists have captured images of auroras above the giant ice planet Uranus, finding further evidence of just how peculiar a world that distant planet is. View More (2012-04-16)
Teamwork: IBEX and TWINS Observe a Solar Storm
On April 5, 2010, the sun spewed a two million-mile-per-hour stream of charged particles toward the invisible magnetic fields surrounding Earth, known as the magnetosphere. View More (2012-04-13)
Copper chains: Study reveals Earth's deep-seated hold on copper
Earth is clingy when it comes to copper. A new Rice University study this week in the journal Science finds that nature conspires at scales both large and small - from the realms of tectonic plates down to molecular bonds - to keep most of Earth's copper buried dozens of miles below ground. View More (2012-04-06)
EARTH: Foretelling next month's tornadoes
Tornadoes are notoriously difficult to forecast, with often deadly results: In 2011, tornadoes in the U.S. killed more than 550 people, a higher death toll than in the past 10 years combined. View More (2012-04-04)
Scientists Find Slow Subsidence of Earth's Crust Beneath the Mississippi Delta
The Earth's crust beneath the Mississippi Delta sinks at a much slower rate than what had been assumed. View More (2012-04-03)
New comparison of ocean temperatures reveals rise over the last century
A new study contrasting ocean temperature readings of the 1870s with temperatures of the modern seas reveals an upward trend of global ocean warming spanning at least 100 years. View More (2012-04-02)
Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as moon's sole parent
A new chemical analysis of lunar material collected by Apollo astronauts in the 1970s conflicts with the widely held theory that a giant collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object gave birth to the moon 4.5 billion years ago. View More (2012-03-30)
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