Space & Earth news

Professor: We have a 'moral obligation' to seed universe with life

Space & Earth / Astronomy

18 hours ago | 3.2 / 5 (23) | 47 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- Eventually, the day will come when life on Earth ends. Whether that’s tomorrow or five billion years from now, whether by nuclear war, climate change, or the Sun burning up its fuel, the last ...

Climate 'Tipping Points' May Arrive Without Warning, Says Top Forecaster

Space & Earth / Environment

7 hours ago | 3.4 / 5 (5) | 5 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new University of California, Davis, study by a top ecological forecaster says it is harder than experts thought to predict when sudden shifts in Earth's natural systems will occur -- a worrisome finding ...

A new 3D map of the interstellar gas within 300 parsecs from the Sun

Space & Earth / Astronomy

10 hours ago | 5 / 5 (4) | 0 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomy & Astrophysics is publishing new 3D maps of the interstellar gas in the local area around our Sun. A French-American team of astronomers presents new absorption measurements toward ...

Astronauts inspect shuttle on way to space station

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

20 hours ago | not rated yet | 0

(AP) -- Endeavour's astronauts inspected their ship early Tuesday for any launch damage as they raced toward a 200-mile-high rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Better weather forecasts with a map showing atmospheric vapour

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

12 hours ago | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Weather forecasts, satellite navigation in cars and the inspection of dikes or natural gas fields: these applications using satellite data would all be even more accurate if we knew more about the distribution of water vapour ...

UB geographers help map devastation in Haiti

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

14 hours ago | not rated yet | 0

In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, University at Buffalo geography students are participating in a global effort to enhance the international response and recovery effort by helping to assess damage, using images hosted ...

Anti-whalers, Japanese fleet fire water cannons

Space & Earth / Environment

18 hours ago | 3.7 / 5 (3) | 0

(AP) -- Activists vowing to stop the killing of whales exchanged water-cannon fire with a Japanese whaling fleet they are tailing in the Antarctic Ocean, as sea confrontations that have led to collisions ...

Scientists find signs of liquid water in Saturn's moon

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 08, 2010 | 4.9 / 5 (23) | 3 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists working on the Cassini mission to Saturn have found evidence of liquid water on the planet's icy moon Enceladus, suggesting the possibility of life below its surface.

New federal climate change agency forming

Space & Earth / Environment

Feb 08, 2010 | 1.8 / 5 (10) | 9

(AP) -- The Obama administration is forming a new agency to study and report on the changing climate.

Space shuttle blasts off on last night flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 08, 2010 | 5 / 5 (2) | 3

(AP) -- Endeavour and six astronauts rocketed into orbit Monday on what's expected to be the last nighttime launch for the shuttle program, hauling a new room and observation deck for the International Space ...

The Shoulders of Giants

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 08, 2010 | 5 / 5 (3) | 3

America’s ambition to explore space has not come without a human cost. The decisions being made today about our future in space depend on lessons learned from past tragedies.

NASA to Study Seeds in Space to Understand Plant Growth

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 08, 2010 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 2 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA scientists hope to better understand exactly how and why plants grow differently in space in an experiment named, Tropi. Future astronauts may be able to grow plants as part of life support systems on ...

Node-3 and Cupola: European technology to complete the ISS

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 08, 2010 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched at 10:14:08 CET today and is heading for the International Space Station carrying two sophisticated European modules: Node-3 (Tranquility) and Cupola. ...

Groundwater Cleanup at Superfund Site

Space & Earth / Environment

Feb 08, 2010 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A chain of chemical reactions between organic waste and naturally occurring chromium appears to explain the long-standing elevated levels of the chemical chromium-6, a human carcinogen, in groundwater at ...

Even if you're careful, drugs can end up in water

Space & Earth / Environment

Feb 08, 2010 | 4 / 5 (1) | 1

(AP) -- The federal government advises throwing most unused or expired medications into the trash instead of down the drain, but they can end up in the water anyway, a study from Maine suggests.

Drought in SW Australia linked to snowfall in Antarctica

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Feb 07, 2010 | 3.7 / 5 (23) | 28

A drought that has gripped the southwestern corner of Australia since the 1970s is linked with higher snowfall in East Antarctica, a phenomenon that may be rooted in global warming, scientists reported on ...

Whalers, activists clash again off Antarctica

Space & Earth / Environment

Feb 07, 2010 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 11

(AP) -- Anti-whaling ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in icy Antarctic waters in the second major clash this year in increasingly aggressive confrontations between conservationists ...

India successfully tests nuclear-capable missile

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 07, 2010 | 4.9 / 5 (9) | 4

(AP) -- India again successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile Sunday that can hit targets across much of Asia and the Middle East, a defense ministry statement said.