A Blast of Gamma Rays from Halfway Across the Universe Detected
Back in April 2015, a surge of high-powered gamma rays from half-way across the universe crashed into Earth’s atmosphere. But, according to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the burst of gamma rays didn’t put any of us in danger and produced no noticeable effects since the high-energy rays are blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. Astronomers, using […]
New Report Predicts Possible Dip in Global CO2 Emissions
An international collaboration of scientists, in a new report, predicts the percentage of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels may actually dip slightly in 2015 compared to 2014 levels. “In 2014, global CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels grew by just 0.6 percent,” said the report’s lead author Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth […]
Earth’s Atmosphere Got Its Oxygen in Periodic Bursts Over a 100 Million Year Period
For about the first 2.1 billion years of Earth’s history, its atmosphere didn’t have enough oxygen to support complex life. Scientists believe that Earth’s first atmosphere,formed after its creation, was probably made up of hydrogen and helium. Then as a result of volcanic eruptions that spewed gases from Earth’s interior, in a process known as […]
NASA’S MAVEN Solves Mars Atmosphere Mystery
Last month NASA dropped a bombshell when it announced it had found evidence of water flowing on Mars. Yesterday the space agency held a press conference at its Washington headquarters to announce that they may have solved a decades-old mystery of what happened to the Martian atmosphere and its water, when they presented new findings […]
Oxygen Found in Comet’s Atmosphere; Making Robots Walk Like Humans
Scientists Find Oxygen in Comet’s Atmosphere A couple of days ago we told you about the discovery of a boozy comet that dispensed large amounts of alcohol, sugar and other organic compounds as it made its pass by the sun last January. Now, researchers from the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) at the University […]
Where Does Rain Go; Ocean Organics Form Cloud Ice; Hot Peppers May Fight Cancer
What Happens to Precipitation After it Falls to Earth? Have you ever wondered what happens to rain or snow once it falls on Earth? Researchers from the University of Utah and Oregon State University analyzed measurements, taken by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on NASA’s Aura satellite, of the two forms of hydrogen contained within […]
Ultra-Dark Galaxies; Exoplanet With Comet-Like Tail; New Dinosaur Species
Astronomers Find Huge Treasure Trove of Ultra-Dark Galaxies U.S. and Japanese researchers have discovered 854 “ultra dark galaxies” located within the Coma Cluster, about 321 million light years from Earth. Dark galaxies are described as those that are totally composed of or are mostly filled with dark matter, which cannot be seen by telescopes. Nevertheless, […]
Astronomers Observe Exoplanet Temperatures Swinging Wildly
For the first time ever, scientists in the United Kingdom detected temperature fluctuations on a super-Earth exoplanet – 55 Cancri e, the so-called “diamond planet.” Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to study the rocky exoplanet’s thermal radiation over a two-year period, researchers led by the University of Cambridge found that the temperature on the side […]
Science Scanner: Venus Mission Ends, Organic Chemistry on Mars, Hormone Changes in Expectant Dads, New High in CO2 Output
ESA’s Venus Express Mission Ends The European Space Agency (ESA) announced this week that the space probe it sent to orbit Venus back in 2006 has reached the end of its life. Called the Venus Express, the spacecraft ran out of its propellant after executing a number of thruster burns that returned the probe to […]