Recent posts by Rick Pantaleo:
Science Scanner: NASA Finds New Planets with Twin Suns
Remember when Luke Skywalker watched the double sunset of Tatooine’s twin suns in 1977’s Star Wars “Episode IV: A New Hope?” Well, reality took a page from fiction today as NASA astronomers announced the discovery of two new “twin-sun” planets in Nature. According to NASA’s Kepler Mission, planets which orbit two stars – like the […]
Voyager Goes Where No Human-Made Vehicle Has Gone Before
No human-made object is further out in space than NASA’s Voyager I, which is currently near the edge of our Solar System, more than 33 lighthours – the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in one hour – roundtrip light time from the sun. Its twin, Voyager II, is also headed toward the tip […]
Science Scanner: New Year, New Calendar?
Pope Gregory XIII introduced the calendar we use today back in 1582. His namesake Gregorian calendar replaced one instituted back in 46 BC by Julius Caesar. As you can see, our method of keeping track of the days, months and years has remained pretty constant. Although ideas for new calendars have been introduced over the […]
Higgs Boson Mystery Could Be Solved Soon
A definitive answer on whether or not the so-called “God Particle” exists could come in 2012, according to a scientist involved in solving the mystery. The search for the subatomic particle called the Higgs boson went into overdrive in 2008, when the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Switzerland switched on its sophisticated […]
Science Scanner: Discovery Could Explain Color of Pluto
Researchers have found new evidence pointing to the possibility of complex hydrocarbon and/or nitrile molecules lying on the surface of Pluto. Using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, which was installed aboard the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009, the researchers found a strong ultraviolet-wavelength absorber on the distant dwarf planet. The researchers point out that such chemical […]
Comet Survives Fiery Brush with Sun
Late last week scientists witnessed something they wouldn’t have considered possible if they hadn’t seen it for themselves. At about 7:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 15, an icy comet flew right through the multimillion-degree atmosphere of the sun – and survived fully intact. As Comet Lovejoy passed through the solar corona, it came within […]
Clues to Life on Mars Found on Earth
Scientists think they’ve uncovered clues to what life might exist on Mars – from a discovery made right here on Earth. The team from Oregon State University collected microbes from ice within a lava tube found in the Cascade Mountains in America’s Northwest. They found the little life forms not only live, but can actually […]
Science Scanner: Zeroing in on Elusive ‘God Particle’
Scientists might be zeroing in on just where the Higgs boson – the hypothetical sub-atomic particle believed to be a building block of the universe – may be hiding. Many expected CERN scientists to announce the discovery of the mysterious Higgs boson at a Dec. 13 seminar. Observers didn’t hear what they had hoped to […]
Walking Fish Puts Chink in Evolution Chain
When you look at an African lungfish, you see an aquatic animal with an eel-like body and what appear to be small, scrawny limbs, which are actually pelvic fins. A new study suggests this creature could up-end what we thought we knew about the evolution of life on Earth as it made its way from […]