It`s wet out there
TANTALISING signs of water have been found in the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars. If the discovery is confirmed, it will fuel speculation that the Galaxy is teeming with life. "This would be a historic discovery- the first detection of a prebiotic molecule in an extrasolar planet," says Cristiano Cosmovici of the Institute for... view more... (2002-09-20)
The greenhouse gas that saved the world
When Planet Earth was just cooling down from its fiery creation, the sun was faint and young. So faint that it should not have been able to keep the oceans of earth from freezing. But fortunately for the creation of life, water was kept liquid on our young planet. view more (2009-08-18)
Scientists Model a Cornucopia of Earth-sized Planets
In the Star Wars movies fictional planets are covered with forests, oceans, deserts, and volcanoes. But new models from a team of MIT, NASA, and Carnegie scientists begin to describe an even wider range of Earth-size planets that astronomers might actually be able to find in the near future. view more (2007-09-25)
Scientists snap images of first brown dwarf in planetary system
Scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered and directly imaged a small brown dwarf star, 50 times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting with a planet around a Sun-like star. view more (2006-09-19)
How Special Is The Solar System?
On the evidence to date, our solar system could be fundamentally different from the majority of planetary systems around stars because it formed in a different way. If that is the case, Earth-like planets will be very rare. After examining the properties of the 100 or so known extrasolar planetary systems and assessing two ways in which planets... view more... (2004-08-03)
Milking it
A Northumbria University graduate plans to milk a new technique he has devised to turn recycled plastic milk bottles into furniture. Currently the recycled bottles are made into plastic block type outdoor furniture but designer Richard Liddle, 24, has developed a technique to mould and laminate the material to create curves - something never... view more... (2003-01-15)
Basque Country University researchers publish two articles in Nature on latest discoveries on Venus
Nature journal has published a series of articles devoted to the new discoveries by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Venus Express space probe made on our neighbouring planet. view more (2007-12-03)
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there? Probably not, according to a scientist from the University of East Anglia. A mathematical model produced by Prof Andrew Watson suggests that the odds of finding new life on other Earth-like planets are low, given the time it has taken for beings such as humans to evolve and the remaining life span of Earth. view more (2008-04-17)
Icy Jupiter Moon Throws a Curve Ball at Formation Theories
Scientists studying data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft have found that Jupiter's moon Amalthea is a pile of icy rubble less dense than water. Scientists expected moons closer to the planet to be rocky and not icy. The finding shakes up long-held theories of how moons form around giant planets. view more (2005-06-01)
COROT surprises a year after launch
The space-borne telescope, COROT (Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits), has just completed its first year in orbit. The observatory has brought in surprises after over 300 days of scientific observations. view more (2007-12-21)
New definition could further limit habitable zones around distant suns
As astronomers gaze toward nearby planetary systems in search of life, they are focusing their attention on each system's habitable zone, where heat radiated from the star is just right to keep a planet's water in liquid form. view more (2009-06-11)
Madagascar`s lost wilderness @ the London `Catastrophes` conference
In the last 2000 years Madagascar has lost its entire endemic megafauna. This includes giant lemurs, pygmy hippos, elephant birds, and giant tortoises. This loss is the planet`s most recent prehistoric extinction event affecting a region with continental-scale diversity. view more (2002-08-17)
Timing is critical as launch windows approach
There will be greater tension than usual among engineers and scientists at Europe`s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, in January 2003, as they gather to see ESA`s comet-chasing spacecraft Rosetta departing on its long journey. If it is to keep its rendezvous with Comet Wirtanen in 2012, Rosetta must lift off on its Ariane-5 launcher no sooner... view more... (2002-09-05)
Setting stars reveal planetary secrets
Watching the stars set from the surface of the Earth may be a romantic pastime but when a spacecraft does it from orbit, it can reveal hidden details about a planet's atmosphere. view more (2007-11-06)
NASA/University team develops new method to find alien oceans
NASA-sponsored scientists looking back at Earth with the Deep Impact/EPOXI mission have developed a method to indicate whether Earth-like alien (extrasolar) worlds have oceans. view more (2009-05-27)
Venus Express has reached final orbit
Less than one month after insertion into orbit, and after sixteen loops around the planet Venus, ESA's Venus Express spacecraft has reached its final operational orbit. view more (2006-05-10)
Texas A&M prof to predict weather on Mars
Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. view more (2009-11-05)
Finding Twin Earths: Harder Than We Thought!
Does a twin Earth exist somewhere in our galaxy? Astronomers are getting closer and closer to finding an Earth-sized planet in an Earth-like orbit. NASA's Kepler spacecraft just launched to find such worlds. view more (2009-03-23)
Plutoid chosen as name for Solar System objects like Pluto
Almost two years after the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly introduced the category of dwarf planets, the IAU, as promised, has decided on a name for transneptunian dwarf planets similar to Pluto. view more (2008-06-12)
Dartmouth researchers part of the team to discover similar planetary system to our solar system
Two Dartmouth researchers are part of the team that has discovered a planetary system where the two largest planets are very similar to Jupiter and Saturn, in terms of mass and distance from their host star. view more (2008-02-15)
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