http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. NJIT researchers are at work on many scientific and technological frontiers. The National Science Foundation has recently provided support that totals nearly $4.3 million for the diverse efforts of the following investigators under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news177955106.html Space & Earth Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:30:05 EST news177955106 Once upon a time - roughly four billion years ago - Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed the planet and kept it warm. Living microbes might have even arisen, some scientists believe, starting Mars down the path toward becoming a second life-filled planet next door to our own. http://www.physorg.com/news177179617.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:34:12 EST news177179617 The Voyager spacecraft are now in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, traveling toward interstellar space - the first man-made spacecraft to travel such a vast distance from Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news177092513.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:40:01 EST news177092513 (PhysOrg.com) -- Solar wind generated by the sun is probably driven by a process involving powerful magnetic fields, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers based on the latest observations from the Hinode satellite. http://www.physorg.com/news176369111.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:00:01 EST news176369111 The first all-sky maps developed by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft, the initial mission to examine the global interactions occurring at the edge of the solar system, suggest that the galactic magnetic fields had a far greater impact on Earth's history than previously conceived, and the future of our planet and others may depend, in part, on how the galactic magnetic fields change with time. http://www.physorg.com/news174909292.html Space & Earth Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:02 EST news174909292 (PhysOrg.com) -- Images from the Ion and Neutral Camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing models. In a paper published Oct. 15 in Science Express, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory present a new view of the heliosphere, and the forces that shape it. http://www.physorg.com/news174908954.html Space & Earth Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:20:01 EST news174908954 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy. The new view will change the way researchers view and study the interaction between our galaxy and sun. http://www.physorg.com/news174834985.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:16:59 EST news174834985 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface. http://www.physorg.com/news174820252.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:11:15 EST news174820252 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the cosmos, all celestial objects - planets, stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies - have magnetic fields. On Earth, the magnetic field of our home planet is most easily observed in a compass where the needle points north. http://www.physorg.com/news174308539.html Space & Earth Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:30:02 EST news174308539 (PhysOrg.com) -- Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high. http://www.physorg.com/news173445919.html Space & Earth Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:25:58 EST news173445919 Observations by the European Space Agency`s Venus Express mission have provided strong new evidence that the solar wind has stripped away significant quantities of water from Earth`s twin planet. The data also shed new light on the transfer of trace gases in the Venusian atmosphere and wind patterns.  The results will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, Germany, today. http://www.physorg.com/news172307964.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:10:01 EST news172307964 (PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA atmospheric scientists have discovered a previously unknown basic mode of energy transfer from the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere. The research, federally funded by the National Science Foundation, could improve the safety and reliability of spacecraft that operate in the upper atmosphere. http://www.physorg.com/news171791091.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:45:33 EST news171791091 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Warwick have found what could be the signal of ideal wave "surfing" conditions for individual particles within the massive turbulent ocean of the solar wind. The discovery could give a new insight into just how energy is dissipated in solar system sized plasmas such as the solar wind and could provide significant clues to scientists developing fusion power which relies on plasmas. http://www.physorg.com/news170947797.html Physics Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:30:59 EST news170947797 (PhysOrg.com) -- The solar wind is hotter than it should be, and for decades researchers have puzzled over the unknown source of energy that heats it. In a paper published in the June 12 issue of Physical Review Letters, NASA scientists say they may have found the answer. http://www.physorg.com/news167054041.html Physics Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:30:01 EST news167054041 US and European scientists were Tuesday bidding farewell to the tenacious solar probe Ulysses which has been recording data around the sun for more than 18 years, four times longer than planned. http://www.physorg.com/news165584644.html Space & Earth Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:10:01 EST news165584644 NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has made the first observations of very fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, following decades of speculation and searching for their existence. http://www.physorg.com/news164546712.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:40:01 EST news164546712 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is scorching hot, with daytime temperatures of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 450 degrees Celsius). It is also the smallest rocky planet, so its gravity is weak, only about 38 percent of Earth's. These conditions make it hard for the planet to hold on to its atmosphere, which is extremely thin, and invisible to the human eye. However, it can be seen by special instruments attached to telescopes and spacecraft like MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging). http://www.physorg.com/news163160543.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:23:05 EST news163160543 A new study published in Nature this week reveals that asteroid surfaces age and redden much faster than previously thought -- in less than a million years, the blink of an eye for an asteroid. This study has finally confirmed that the solar wind is the most likely cause of very rapid space weathering in asteroids. This fundamental result will help astronomers relate the appearance of an asteroid to its actual history and identify any after effects of a catastrophic impact with another asteroid. http://www.physorg.com/news159625643.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:28:26 EST news159625643 You may want to thank David French in advance. Because, in the event that a comet or asteroid comes hurtling toward Earth, he may be the guy responsible for saving the entire planet. http://www.physorg.com/news159106148.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:09:44 EST news159106148 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international scientific consortium has developed a series of autonomous observatories in Antarctica that for the first time provide critical year-round "space weather" data from the Earth's harshest environment. http://www.physorg.com/news158513978.html Space & Earth Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:41:01 EST news158513978 (PhysOrg.com) -- The sunspot cycle is behaving a little like the stock market. Just when you think it has hit bottom, it goes even lower. http://www.physorg.com/news157820871.html Space & Earth Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:08:26 EST news157820871 With a new 3D-model for energy simulation scientists from Bochum, Germany, and Huntsville, USA, are studying the 'physical mystery' of the Voyager. Over 30 years ago the spacecraft detected particles in solar wind which were 'hotter' than they should have been according to the existing theory expounded by the mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov in 1941. http://www.physorg.com/news154966140.html Physics Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:09:31 EST news154966140 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new 3D model linking magnetic fields to the transfer of energy in space might help solve a physics mystery first observed in the solar wind 15 years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news154893335.html Physics Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:56:36 EST news154893335 Northwest Michigan could generate hundreds of new jobs and generate enough electricity for thousands of its residents by converting abandoned factories and other brownfield sites for renewable energy production. http://www.physorg.com/news152463643.html Technology Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:01:24 EST news152463643 Following two months of commissioning, during which the spacecraft and sensors were tuned for optimum mission performance, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft began gathering data to build the first maps of the edge of the heliosphere, the region of space influenced by the Sun. http://www.physorg.com/news151152484.html Space & Earth Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:48:04 EST news151152484 (PhysOrg.com) -- Venus Express has made the first detection of an atmospheric loss process on Venus's day-side. Last year, the spacecraft revealed that most of the lost atmosphere escapes from the night-side. Together, these discoveries bring planetary scientists closer to understanding what happened to the water on Venus, which is suspected to have once been as abundant as on Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news148816159.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:49:19 EST news148816159 A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the periodic "breathing" of Earth's upper atmosphere that has long puzzled scientists is due in part to cyclic solar wind disturbances, a finding that should help engineers track satellites more accurately and improve forecasts for electronic communication disruptions. http://www.physorg.com/news148584220.html Space & Earth Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:23:40 EST news148584220 NASA's Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite rocketed into space in 2004 on a mission to study some of the highest-energy events in the universe. The spacecraft has detected more than 380 gamma-ray bursts, fleeting flares that likely signal the birth of a black hole in the distant universe. In that time, Swift also has observed 80 exploding stars and studied six comets. http://www.physorg.com/news147542805.html Space & Earth Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:06:45 EST news147542805 Researchers have found new evidence that the atmosphere of Mars is being stripped away by solar wind. It's not a gently continuous erosion, but rather a ripping process in which chunks of Martian air detach themselves from the planet and tumble into deep space. This surprising mechanism could help solve a longstanding mystery about the Red Planet. http://www.physorg.com/news146493498.html Space & Earth Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:38:18 EST news146493498 According to the international space agencies, "Space Weather" is the single greatest obstacle to deep space travel. Radiation from the sun and cosmic rays pose a deadly threat to astronauts in space. http://www.physorg.com/news145004546.html Physics Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:02:26 EST news145004546