The Formation of Blue Stragglers

Vampires and collisions rejuvenate stars

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (9) | comments 2

Stars in globular clusters are generally extremely old, with ages of 12-13 billion years. However, a small fraction of them appear to be significantly younger than the average population and, because they ...


Shallow Origins

Shallow Origins

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 2

In finding answers to the mystery of the origin of life, scientists may not have to dig too deep. New research is shedding light on shallower waters as a possible location for where life on Earth began.


Volcanic Quakes Help Forecast Eruptions

Volcanic Quakes Help Forecast Eruptions

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 2.6 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Monitoring the earthquakes caused from magma movements inside an active volcano could help to improve the accuracy of forecasting an eruption.


Titan

Titan's lakes could be explored by boat

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 0 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- If a suggestion to be made to NASA comes to fruition, vast lakes thought to be filled with liquid hydrocarbons near the north pole of Saturn's moon Titan, may one day be explored by boat.


New Study of Meteorite Provides More Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars

New Study of Meteorite Provides More Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (43) | comments 18 feature

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1996, when scientists examined a meteorite from Mars previously uncovered in Antarctica, they were intrigued by what looked like microscopic fossils of ancient Martian life forms. Now, ...


Sun and moon trigger deep tremors on San Andreas Fault

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 1

The faint tug of the sun and moon on the San Andreas Fault stimulates tremors deep underground, suggesting that the rock 15 miles below is lubricated with highly pressurized water that allows the rock to slip with little ...


A New Method of Estimating Stellar Distances

A New Method of Estimating Stellar Distances

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- The star Chi Cygni is located about 550 light-years away, in the direction of the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. It is a notable star because, unlike the sun which still burns hydrogen ...


Avatar's moon Pandora could be real

Avatar's moon Pandora could be real

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (27) | comments 10

In the new blockbuster Avatar, humans visit the habitable - and inhabited - alien moon called Pandora. Life-bearing moons like Pandora or the Star Wars forest moon of Endor are a staple of science fiction. ...


Brown dwarf pair mystifies astronomers

Brown dwarf pair mystifies astronomers

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two brown dwarf-sized objects orbiting a giant old star show that planets may assemble around stars more quickly and efficiently than anyone thought possible, according to an international ...


'Particle soup' discovery will improve climate predictions

'Particle soup' discovery will improve climate predictions

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research from scientists at The University of Manchester is set to improve predictions about climate and air quality - and make life easier for those suffering from respiratory problems.


Close-up photos of dying star show our sun's fate

Close-up photos of dying star show our sun's fate (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (21) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- About 550 light-years from Earth, a star like our Sun is writhing in its death throes. Chi Cygni has swollen in size to become a red giant star so large that it would swallow every planet ...


Astronomers find super-Earth using amateur, off-the-shelf technology

Astronomers Find Super-Earth Using Amateur, Off-the-Shelf Technology (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (27) | comments 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers announced today that they have discovered a "super-Earth" orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth. They found the distant planet with a small fleet of ground-based ...


Global warming likely to be amplified by slow changes to Earth systems

Global warming likely to be amplified by slow changes to Earth systems

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 20, 2009 | popularity 2.8 / 5 (44) | comments 50

Researchers studying a period of high carbon dioxide levels and warm climate several million years ago have concluded that slow changes such as melting ice sheets amplified the initial warming caused by greenhouse ...


Supernova explosions stay in shape

Supernova explosions stay in shape

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 2

At a very early age, children learn how to classify objects according to their shape. Now, new research suggests studying the shape of the aftermath of supernovas may allow astronomers to do the same.


Black Holes in Star Clusters stir up Time and Space

Black Holes in Star Clusters stir up Time and Space (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- Within a decade scientists could be able to detect the merger of tens of pairs of black holes every year, according to a team of astronomers at the University of Bonn’s Argelander-Institut ...