Scientists link mysterious highest-energy cosmic rays with violent black holes

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One of the Auger Observatorys surface detectors. The Andes Mountains provide a snow-capped backdrop to the west of the surface detector array. Credit: Pierre Auger Observatory
One of the Auger Observatory's surface detectors. The Andes Mountains provide a snow-capped backdrop to the west of the surface detector array. Credit: Pierre Auger Observatory

Scientists of the Pierre Auger Collaboration announced today (Nov. 8) that active galactic nuclei are the most likely candidate for the source of the highest-energy cosmic rays that hit Earth. Using the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, the largest cosmic-ray observatory in the world, a team of scientists from 17 countries found that the sources of the highest-energy particles are not distributed uniformly across the sky. Instead, the Auger results link the origins of these mysterious particles to the locations of nearby galaxies that have active nuclei in their centers.


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NASA presses ahead for Mars rover launch in 2009

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(AP) -- NASA has decided to press ahead with plans to launch a big new rover to Mars next year. Friday's decision comes after concerns were raised about the budget and technical progress for the Mars Science ...

Palm oil clearing swathes of forest in Indonesia's Papua: Greenpeace

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Palm oil companies are clearing massive swathes of untouched forest in Indonesia's remote easternmost Papua region, environmental group Greenpeace said Friday.

Researchers Study Coastal Hazards of Increasing Wave Heights, Rising Sea Levels

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(PhysOrg.com) -- While hurricanes Gustav and Ike were pummeling the Gulf Coast with rains and record flooding, researchers at Oregon State University were studying why wave heights in the Pacific Ocean have been increasing ...

Scientists resolve long-standing puzzle in climate science

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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by Livermore scientists has helped reconcile the differences between simulated and observed temperature trends in the tropics.

Mars Odyssey Shifting Orbit for Extended Mission

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(PhysOrg.com) -- The longest-serving of six spacecraft now studying Mars is up to new tricks for a third two-year extension of its mission to examine the most Earthlike of known foreign planets.
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