Distributed computing project to search for gravitational waves.
A new grassroots computing project dubbed Einstein@Home, which will let anyone with a personal computer contribute to cutting edge astrophysics research, will be officially announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC on Saturday, February 19. LIGO Laboratory Director Barry Barish of Caltech and Einstein@Home Principal Investigator Bruce Allen
Cassini-Huygens supplied new evidence about why Titan has an atmosphere, making it unique among all solar system moons, a University of Arizona planetary scientist says.
Scientists can infer from Cassini-Huygens results that Titan has ammonia, said Jonathan I. Lunine, an interdisciplinary scientist for the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe that landed on Titan last month. “I think what’s clear from the data is that Titan has accreted or acquired significant amounts
Astronomers around the world recorded late last year the brightest explosion ever of high-energy X-rays and gamma rays – a split-second flash from the other side of our galaxy that was strong enough to affect the Earth’s atmosphere.
The flash, called a soft gamma repeater flare, reached Earth on Dec. 27 and was detected by at least 15 satellites and spacecraft between Earth and Saturn, swamping most of their detectors. Some of the best observations were recorded by the Reuven
Advanced computational methods and supporting experiments, including work performed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are giving scientists a better understanding of the nature and stability of superheavy nuclei and the heaviest elements that lie beyond the borders of the periodic table.
Nature magazine on Thursday published a review article that describes collaborative work by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Te
Earth is showered constantly by particles called muons that are created by cosmic rays, and clever scientists are finding ways to use them as probes of dense objects, including a massive pyramid in Mexico and volcanoes in Japan. American researchers also have proposed using the energetic particles to detect smuggled nuclear materials in vehicles and cargo containers.
Muons are formed when cosmic rays from deep space interact with the atmosphere. The particles, which strike earth
A group led by astronomers from Ohio State University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have measured the mass of a unique black hole, and determined that it is the smallest found so far.
Early results indicate that the black hole weighs in at less than a million times the mass of our sun -– which would make it as much as 100 times smaller than others of its type. To get their measurement, astronomers used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and a technique similar to Doppl
A team of scientists led by biophysicist Stuart Lindsay from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have created the first reproducible single molecule negative differential resistor and in the process have developed a groundbreaking experimental technique that provides a “roadmap” for designing single molecule devices based on biochemistry.
The findings will be discussed in a presentation by Lindsay on February 18 at the American Association for the Advancement of S
Over 40 nations and around 20 international organisations, including ESA, have come together in Brussels for two days, today and tomorrow, to exchange views on policies related to international cooperation in space.
Entitled ‘Winning through cooperation: sharing the benefits of space’, the conference provides a forum for discussion between States capable of providing space technology – the supply side – and those willing to make use of it – the demand side. The conference was joi
A particle accelerator operates in Earth’s upper atmosphere above major thunderstorms at energies comparable to some of the most exotic environments in the universe, according to new satellite observations of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes.
Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are very short blasts of gamma rays, lasting about one millisecond, that are emitted into space from Earth’s upper atmosphere. The gamma rays are thought to be emitted by electrons traveling at n
Computer sims vital tools in exploring nanoworld
Years ago, when Uzi Landman and his colleagues set out to uncover some of the rules that govern why a non-reactive metal like gold acts as a catalyst when it is in nanoclusters only a few atoms in size, they didn’t sit down in a lab with the precious metal. Instead, they ran computer simulations and discovered that gold is a very effective catalyst when it is in clusters of eight to two dozen atoms. They also found that electrical ch
ESA’s SMART-1 mission was extended by one year, pushing back the mission end date from August 2005 to August 2006.
ESA’s Science Programme Committee endorsed unanimously the proposed one-year extension of SMART-1 on 10 February 2005. The extension by one year of the mission will provide opportunities to extend the global coverage, compared to the original six-month mission, and to map both southern and northern hemispheres at high resolution. The new orbit will also be more stab
Weight limits for biggest black holes confirmed
The very largest black holes reach a certain point and then grow no more. That’s according to the best survey to date of black holes made with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Scientists also discovered previously hidden black holes well below their weight limit. These new results corroborate recent theoretical work about how black holes and galaxies grow. The biggest black holes, those with at least 100 million times th
Just as the static on an AM radio grows louder with the approach of a summer lightning storm, strong radio emissions accompany bright auroral spots — similar to Earth’s northern lights — on the planet Saturn, according to a research paper published in the Thursday, Feb. 17 issue of the journal Nature.
William Kurth, research scientist in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of Physics and Astronomy, says that the data was collected in early
Secrets of Saturn’s polar light show unveiled by BU-led team of astronomers
Aurora on Saturn behave in ways different from how scientists have thought possible for the last 25 years, according to new research by a team of astronomers led by John Clarke, a professor in BU’s Department of Astronomy and in the department’s Center for Space Physics. The team’s findings have overturned theories about how Saturn’s magnetosphere behaves and how its aurora are
After reaching its observational orbit around Mars a year ago, ESA’s Mars Express has already delivered an avalanche of scientific data of unprecedented quality that have completely changed the way in which we think about the Red Planet.
In order to compare views and discuss the implications of the new discoveries, over two hundred scientists will be attending the first Mars Express science conference, taking place from 21 to 25 February at ESA’s European Space Research and T
Visiting the Earth and Space Expo in Brussels is like nowhere else on Earth – you even take what seems like a walk through the sky to get inside! During the weekend upwards of 9000 visitors made the journey to experience a wide range of displays, interactive exhibits and breathtaking space-based views of our planet.
Those entering the Expo, at Autoworld in the Parc du Cinquantenaire, find that carefully placed mirrors on the floor, walls and ceiling give a sense of spacewalking
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