stressface: Arctic Bacteria Help in the Search to Find Life On Jupiter’s Moon Europa In a fjord in Canada scientists have found a landscape similar to one of Jupiter’s icy moons: Europa. It consists of a frozen and sulphurous environment, where sulphur associated with Arctic bacteria offer clues for the upcoming missions in the search for traces of life on Europa. It is not easy to find a place on Earth where ice and sulphur come together, supposedly like on Europa, Jupiter’s moon. Nonetheless, this place has been located at Borup Fjord Pass in the Canadian High Arctic. Here the sulphurous yellow emissions contrast with the whiteness of the environment, creating images similar to those captured at Jupiter’s satellite. US researchers have now verified that the sulphur involved in the life cycle of Arctic microorganisms has some characteristics that could help to detect biological remains on Europa. Large space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency are already in the process of preparing missions. Read more here.

stressface:

Arctic Bacteria Help in the Search to Find Life On Jupiter’s Moon Europa

In a fjord in Canada scientists have found a landscape similar to one of Jupiter’s icy moons: Europa. It consists of a frozen and sulphurous environment, where sulphur associated with Arctic bacteria offer clues for the upcoming missions in the search for traces of life on Europa.

It is not easy to find a place on Earth where ice and sulphur come together, supposedly like on Europa, Jupiter’s moon. Nonetheless, this place has been located at Borup Fjord Pass in the Canadian High Arctic. Here the sulphurous yellow emissions contrast with the whiteness of the environment, creating images similar to those captured at Jupiter’s satellite.

US researchers have now verified that the sulphur involved in the life cycle of Arctic microorganisms has some characteristics that could help to detect biological remains on Europa. Large space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency are already in the process of preparing missions.

Read more here.

(via abcstarstuff)

11 hours ago  Notes (33)
cab1729: ‘Schrödinger’s Hat’ Uses Invisibility to Measure Quantum World Mathematicians now suspect quirks in energy-cloaking metamaterials could be exploited to create powerful quantum probes called “Schrödinger’s hats.” image caption: A “Schrödinger’s hat” metamaterial could trap a signal (red spike at center) from an atomic particle while leaving the signal’s source undisturbed. Image: A. Greenleaf et al./PNAS

cab1729:

‘Schrödinger’s Hat’ Uses Invisibility to Measure Quantum World

Mathematicians now suspect quirks in energy-cloaking metamaterials could be exploited to create powerful quantum probes called “Schrödinger’s hats.”

image caption: A “Schrödinger’s hat” metamaterial could trap a signal (red spike at center) from an atomic particle while leaving the signal’s source undisturbed. Image: A. Greenleaf et al./PNAS


(via abcstarstuff)

11 hours ago  Notes (122)
abcstarstuff: NON-BIOLOGICAL ORGANIC CARBON FOUND TO ORIGINATE ON MARS Molecules containing carbon and hydrogen — the building blocks of all life on Earth — have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day. While these molecules have previously been noticed in meteorites from Mars, scientists have disagreed about how this organic carbon was formed and whether or not it came from Mars. Theories about their origin include contamination from Earth or other meteorites, the results of chemical reactions on Mars, or that they are the remnants of ancient Martian biological life. A new paper [http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/05/23/science.1220715] published May 24 in Science Express by Carnegie’s Andrew Steele and a consortium of scientists that includes Planetary Science Institute’s Marc Fries provides strong evidence that this carbon did, indeed, originate on Mars, although it is not of biological origin. These findings give researchers insight into the chemical processes taking place on Mars and will help aid future quests for evidence of ancient or modern Martian life Steele’s team examined samples from 11 Martian meteorites whose ages span about 4.2 billion years of Martian history. They detected large carbon compounds in 10 of them. The molecules were found inside of grains of crystallized minerals. Since these molecules were found in Martian meteorites of such an extraordinary span of ages, their presence means that Mars has been making its own organic compounds throughout its history and apparently continues to do so today. “We knew these organic compounds were in the Martian meteorites, but until we performed this study no one knew exactly where they were in the rocks or how they were formed,” said Fries, a research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. “It was a puzzle, and now we finally have enough pieces in place to say, okay, now we understand what is going on here.” Using an array of sophisticated research techniques, the team was able to show that at least some of the macromolecules of carbon were indigenous to the meteorites themselves and not contamination from Earth. “What this all means is that Mars is making its own organic compounds. Previous to this, we thought that carbon compounds on Mars only fell there in meteorites, or perhaps were bound up in any life forms that might be living there. Now we know that simply finding organic compounds that aren’t from meteorites doesn’t automatically mean that they come from life,” Fries said. “While it sounds like it complicates things, it actually gives us a clearer picture of Mars and will help us build robust conclusions about whether anything is, or has been, alive there.” In a separate paper [http://www.minsocam.org/msa/ammin/AM_Preprints_OA/4148steelLetterPreprintJuly.pdf] going to press in American Mineralogist, Steele and his team studied a meteorite called Allan Hills 84001 that was reported to contain relicts of ancient biological life on Mars. The paper demonstrated that these supposed remnants could have been created by chemical reactions involving the graphite form of carbon, rather than biological processes. Both of these papers reveal a pool of reduced carbon on Mars and will help scientist involved in future Mars missions distinguish these non-biologically formed molecules from potential life.

abcstarstuff:

NON-BIOLOGICAL ORGANIC CARBON FOUND TO ORIGINATE ON MARS

Molecules containing carbon and hydrogen — the building blocks of all life on Earth — have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day. While these molecules have previously been noticed in meteorites from Mars, scientists have disagreed about how this organic carbon was formed and whether or not it came from Mars.

Theories about their origin include contamination from Earth or other meteorites, the results of chemical reactions on Mars, or that they are the remnants of ancient Martian biological life.

A new paper [http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/05/23/science.1220715] published May 24 in Science Express by Carnegie’s Andrew Steele and a consortium of scientists that includes Planetary Science Institute’s Marc Fries provides strong evidence that this carbon did, indeed, originate on Mars, although it is not of biological origin. These findings give researchers insight into the chemical processes taking place on Mars and will help aid future quests for evidence of ancient or modern Martian life

Steele’s team examined samples from 11 Martian meteorites whose ages span about 4.2 billion years of Martian history. They detected large carbon compounds in 10 of them. The molecules were found inside of grains of crystallized minerals. Since these molecules were found in Martian meteorites of such an extraordinary span of ages, their presence means that Mars has been making its own organic compounds throughout its history and apparently continues to do so today.

“We knew these organic compounds were in the Martian meteorites, but until we performed this study no one knew exactly where they were in the rocks or how they were formed,” said Fries, a research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. “It was a puzzle, and now we finally have enough pieces in place to say, okay, now we understand what is going on here.”

Using an array of sophisticated research techniques, the team was able to show that at least some of the macromolecules of carbon were indigenous to the meteorites themselves and not contamination from Earth.

“What this all means is that Mars is making its own organic compounds. Previous to this, we thought that carbon compounds on Mars only fell there in meteorites, or perhaps were bound up in any life forms that might be living there. Now we know that simply finding organic compounds that aren’t from meteorites doesn’t automatically mean that they come from life,” Fries said. “While it sounds like it complicates things, it actually gives us a clearer picture of Mars and will help us build robust conclusions about whether anything is, or has been, alive there.”

In a separate paper [http://www.minsocam.org/msa/ammin/AM_Preprints_OA/4148steelLetterPreprintJuly.pdf] going to press in American Mineralogist, Steele and his team studied a meteorite called Allan Hills 84001 that was reported to contain relicts of ancient biological life on Mars. The paper demonstrated that these supposed remnants could have been created by chemical reactions involving the graphite form of carbon, rather than biological processes. Both of these papers reveal a pool of reduced carbon on Mars and will help scientist involved in future Mars missions distinguish these non-biologically formed molecules from potential life.

11 hours ago  Notes (4)
the-star-stuff: There’s more water on Jupiter’s moon Europa than there is on Earth Based on data acquired by NASA’s Galileo satellite, astronomers think the global oceans sloshing around beneath Europa’s icy exterior are likely 2—3 more voluminous than the oceans here on Earth. Not 2—3 times more proportionally, 2—3 times more in total volume. Illustration by Kevin Hand (JPL/Caltech), Jack Cook (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Howard Perlman (USGS); Spotted on NASA APOD

the-star-stuff:

There’s more water on Jupiter’s moon Europa than there is on Earth

Based on data acquired by NASA’s Galileo satellite, astronomers think the global oceans sloshing around beneath Europa’s icy exterior are likely 2—3 more voluminous than the oceans here on Earth. Not 2—3 times more proportionally, 2—3 times more in total volume.

Illustration by Kevin Hand (JPL/Caltech), Jack Cook (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Howard Perlman (USGS); Spotted on NASA APOD

(via fuchikoma)

1 week ago  Notes (719)
nzayn-astro: The Local Group The Local Group is a cluster of approximately 30 galaxies that spans nearly 2 million light years. The group is dominated by three main galaxies: Andromeda M31, the Milky Way, and Triangulum M33. Each of these major galaxies possess numerous satellite galaxies, and together they form a vast “cloud” known as the Local Group. The structure of the group is most likely unstable.  Calculations suggest these group is highly dynamic, and has probably changed significantly in the past.  It is generally believed that in the distant future, Andromeda and the Milky Way will collide, creating a massive elliptical galaxy containing tens of billions of stars. The Local Group, however, is not isolated. It is instead in gravitational interaction and member exchange with countless nearby Groups. These include: Maffei-1 Group, Sculptor Group, M81 Group, and M83 Group. Combined with the Local Group, these numerous galaxies form immense chains of galaxies that wrap around a much larger structure known as the Virgo Cluster.

nzayn-astro:

The Local Group

The Local Group is a cluster of approximately 30 galaxies that spans nearly 2 million light years. The group is dominated by three main galaxies: Andromeda M31, the Milky Way, and Triangulum M33.

Each of these major galaxies possess numerous satellite galaxies, and together they form a vast “cloud” known as the Local Group.

The structure of the group is most likely unstable.  Calculations suggest these group is highly dynamic, and has probably changed significantly in the past.  It is generally believed that in the distant future, Andromeda and the Milky Way will collide, creating a massive elliptical galaxy containing tens of billions of stars.

The Local Group, however, is not isolated. It is instead in gravitational interaction and member exchange with countless nearby Groups. These include: Maffei-1 Group, Sculptor Group, M81 Group, and M83 Group. Combined with the Local Group, these numerous galaxies form immense chains of galaxies that wrap around a much larger structure known as the Virgo Cluster.

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1 week ago  Notes (29)

"

The Aboriginals had an earthbound philosophy. The earth gave life to a man; gave him his food, language and intelligence; and the earth took him back when he died. A man’s ‘own country’, even an empty stretch of spinifex, was itself a sacred icon that must remain unscarred.

‘Unscarred, you mean, by roads or mines or railways?’

‘To wound the earth’, he answered earnestly, ‘is to wound yourself, and if others wound the earth, they are wounding you. The land should be left untouched: as it was in the Dreamtime when the Ancestors sang the world into existence.’

"

Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines (1987)

(Source: bubblemetropolis)

1 week ago  Notes (7)

(Source: lavvandede, via g0dchild)

1 week ago  Notes (829)
jtotheizzoe: Humanity’s Best Friend: How Dogs May Have Helped Humans Beat the Neanderthals Neanderthals lived and thrived in Europe for 250,000 years. Then humans showed up. Within 10,000 years, they were extinct. How did humans crowd them out, evolutionarily? A new theory says that the beginnings of paleolithic dog domestication could have given early humans an edge: Dogs would help humans to identify their prey; but they would also work, the theory goes, as beasts of burden — like the Blackfeet and Hidatsa of the American West, who bred large, strong dogs specifically for hauling strapped-on packs. (Paleolithic dogs were large: They had, their skeletons suggest, a body mass of at least 70 pounds and a shoulder height of at least 2 feet — which would make them, at minimum, the size of a modern-day German shepherd.) Since transporting animal carcasses is an energy-intensive task, getting dogs to do that work would mean that humans could concentrate their energy on more productive endeavors: hunting, gathering, reproducing. (↬ The Atlantic)

jtotheizzoe:

Humanity’s Best Friend: How Dogs May Have Helped Humans Beat the Neanderthals

Neanderthals lived and thrived in Europe for 250,000 years. Then humans showed up. Within 10,000 years, they were extinct. How did humans crowd them out, evolutionarily?

A new theory says that the beginnings of paleolithic dog domestication could have given early humans an edge:

Dogs would help humans to identify their prey; but they would also work, the theory goes, as beasts of burden — like the Blackfeet and Hidatsa of the American West, who bred large, strong dogs specifically for hauling strapped-on packs. (Paleolithic dogs were large: They had, their skeletons suggest, a body mass of at least 70 pounds and a shoulder height of at least 2 feet — which would make them, at minimum, the size of a modern-day German shepherd.) Since transporting animal carcasses is an energy-intensive task, getting dogs to do that work would mean that humans could concentrate their energy on more productive endeavors: hunting, gathering, reproducing.

(↬ The Atlantic)

(via abcstarstuff)

1 week ago  Notes (251)

unknownskywalker:

Signs of ancient flowing water on Mars

ESA’s Mars Express has returned images of a region on the Red Planet that appears to have been sculpted in part by flowing liquid. This again adds to the growing evidence that Mars had large volumes of water on its surface in the distant past.

On 21 June last year, Mars Express pointed its high-resolution stereo camera at the western part of Acidalia Planitia, a gigantic basin in the planet’s northern lowlands, at the interface with Tempe Terra, an older, higher terrain. Acidalia Planitia is a region so vast that it can be seen from Earth by amateur astronomers.

The images taken cover part of the western edge of the region, where some of the numerous valleys descending from Tempe Terra show subtle evidence for ‘dendritic’ drainage patterns emanating from them. The channels in the images are believed to have been formed by the surface run-off of flowing water from rain or melting snow during some distant martian epoch.

The lower-left part of the image appears to be in shadow, but this darkening is in fact is due to differences in surface material: the left-hand side is covered with dark sand, probably of volcanic origin, while the right side is covered with brighter dust.

(via abcstarstuff)

4 weeks ago  Notes (122)

crookedindifference:

The ultimate fate of an expanding universe

Top: Diagrams of three possible geometries of the universe: closed, open and flat from top to bottom, corresponding to a density parameter Ω0 which is greater than, less than or equal to 1. The closed universe is of finite size and, due to its curvature, traveling far enough in one direction will lead back to one’s starting point. The open and flat universes are infinite and traveling in a constant direction will never lead to the same point.

Bottom: The age and ultimate fate of the universe can be determined by measuring the Hubble constant today and extrapolating with the observed value of the deceleration parameter, uniquely characterized by values of density parameters (ΩM for matter and ΩΛ for dark energy). A “closed universe” with ΩM > 1 and ΩΛ = 0 comes to an end in a Big Crunch and is considerably younger than its Hubble age. An “open universe” with ΩM ≤ 1 and ΩΛ = 0 expands forever and has an age that is closer to its Hubble age. For the accelerating universe with nonzero ΩΛ that we inhabit, the age of the universe is coincidentally very close to the Hubble age.

(via proofmathisbeautiful)

1 month ago  Notes (395)

(Source: planet--earth.ca, via infinity-imagined)

1 month ago  Notes (1308)

"I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here."

Arthur C. Clarke 

(Source: expose-the-light, via itsfullofstars)

1 month ago  Notes (1006)
quantumaniac: New Space Company May Solve World’s Economic Problems This Tuesday, a group of billionaires and former NASA scientists will announce Planetary Resources Inc., the first asteroid mining company in history. They claim they will “add trillions of dollars to the global GDP” and “help ensure humanity’s prosperity.” The group of investors and scientists on board this enterprise is impressive: …including Google’s Larry Page & Eric Schmidt, Ph.D.; film maker & explorer James Cameron; Chairman of Intentional Software Corporation and Microsoft’s former Chief Software Architect Charles Simonyi, Ph.D.; Founder of Sherpalo and Google Board of Directors founding member K. Ram Shriram; and Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group Ross Perot, Jr. Harnessing the resources of asteroids is not a crazy proposition and the return of investment could be amazing. So much that they are convinced they can “add trillions of dollars to the global GDP.” More importantly, this may solve many of our material needs as resources on Earth keep dwindling fast. But is it doable? There are no details yet, but if they are going to invest millions of dollars on it, you can be sure it is doable and it will be profitable. They don’t have to travel to the asteroid belt to grab them. There are many passing near Earth that may be accessible. In fact, there are already plenty of plans on scientists and engineers’ drafting boards. Needless to say, and despite the fact that it will probably take some years to achieve their goals, this is all extremely exciting. If they are successful, it will truly be a new dawn for humanity. We will be covering the press conference live, which will feature Charles Simonyi, Planetary Resources, Investor; Eric Anderson, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources; Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources; Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources; Tom Jones, Ph.D., Planetary Scientist, Veteran NASA Astronaut & Planetary Resources, Inc. Advisor. It will be held in the Museum of Flight in Seattle on Tuesday, April 24 at 10:30am PDT.

quantumaniac:

New Space Company May Solve World’s Economic Problems

This Tuesday, a group of billionaires and former NASA scientists will announce Planetary Resources Inc., the first asteroid mining company in history. They claim they will “add trillions of dollars to the global GDP” and “help ensure humanity’s prosperity.”

The group of investors and scientists on board this enterprise is impressive:

…including Google’s Larry Page & Eric Schmidt, Ph.D.; film maker & explorer James Cameron; Chairman of Intentional Software Corporation and Microsoft’s former Chief Software Architect Charles Simonyi, Ph.D.; Founder of Sherpalo and Google Board of Directors founding member K. Ram Shriram; and Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group Ross Perot, Jr.

Harnessing the resources of asteroids is not a crazy proposition and the return of investment could be amazing. So much that they are convinced they can “add trillions of dollars to the global GDP.” More importantly, this may solve many of our material needs as resources on Earth keep dwindling fast.

But is it doable? There are no details yet, but if they are going to invest millions of dollars on it, you can be sure it is doable and it will be profitable. They don’t have to travel to the asteroid belt to grab them. There are many passing near Earth that may be accessible. In fact, there are already plenty of plans on scientists and engineers’ drafting boards.

Needless to say, and despite the fact that it will probably take some years to achieve their goals, this is all extremely exciting. If they are successful, it will truly be a new dawn for humanity.

We will be covering the press conference live, which will feature Charles Simonyi, Planetary Resources, Investor; Eric Anderson, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources; Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources; Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources; Tom Jones, Ph.D., Planetary Scientist, Veteran NASA Astronaut & Planetary Resources, Inc. Advisor.

It will be held in the Museum of Flight in Seattle on Tuesday, April 24 at 10:30am PDT.

(Source: Gizmodo)

1 month ago  Notes (129)

"Western civilization is a loaded gun pointed at the head of this planet."

Terence McKenna

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1 month ago  Notes (13)

christinetheastrophysicist:

Feynman Diagrams are used to represent the fundamental forces by which elementary particles interact. In all interactions, time flows horizontally to the right.

a)  Quantum Electrodynamics:  An electron converts into an electron, with the emission of a photon (e → e + γ)

b)  Quantum Chromodynamics: A quark converts into a quark, with the emission of a gluon (q → q + g)

c)  Neutral Weak Interactions: Any lepton or quark converts into the corresponding lepton or quark, with the emission of a Z boson (f → f + Z)

d)  Charged Weak Interactions for Leptons: A negative lepton converts into a corresponding neutrino, with the emission of a W- boson (l- → νl + W-)

e)  Charged Weak Interactions for Quarks: A quark with charge -1/3 converts into the corresponding quark with charge +2/3, with the emission of a W- boson (q-1/3 → q+2/3 + W-)

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1 month ago  Notes (241)