Mercury’s Surface ‘Painted’ With Carbon from Comets
A first glance, the planet Mercury looks a lot like our Moon, both gray and pockmarked with craters after being bombarded with meteorites and blasted by the solar wind over the millennia. Some take the similarity further, referring to them as “twins.” The color of Mercury’s surface though is much darker than the moon, so […]
Unique Carbon-Based Molecule Found in Deep Space May Indicate Origins of Life
Astronomers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, and the University of Cologne found an unusual carbon-based molecule called isopropyl cyanide in a gas cloud some 27,000 light years away. Those involved with the discovery say the finding suggests the type of complex molecules needed for life may have […]
Curiosity Rover Finds Water on Mars
The first scoop of Martian soil analyzed by Curiosity Rover’s built-in laboratory has revealed a high amount of water in the soil, according to NASA. “One of the most exciting results from this very first solid sample ingested by Curiosity is the high percentage of water in the soil,” said Curiosity researcher Laurie Leshin, of […]
Scientists Discover Planet Covered in Diamonds
Scientists have found a planet outside of our solar system which could be a true diamond in the rough. This gem of a planet is twice Earth’s size, according to the US-Franco team that found it, and its surface appears to be covered in graphite and diamond. Researchers estimate that at least one-third of the […]