Mars’s two moons, Phobos and Deimos, have puzzled researchers since their discovery in 1877. They are very small: Phobos’s diameter of 22 kilometers is 160 times smaller than that of our moon, and Deimos is even smaller, with a diameter of only 12 kilometers. “Our moon is essentially spherical, while the moons of Mars are very irregularly shaped—like potatoes,” says Amirhossein…
Tag: eth zurich
Solar system formation in two steps
An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford, LMU Munich, ETH Zurich, BGI Bayreuth, and the University of Zurich discovered that a two-step formation process of the early Solar System can explain the chronology and split in volatile and isotope content of the inner and outer Solar System. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-solar-formation.html…
Researchers Found the Manual For the World’s Oldest Surviving Computer
Researchers will be able to gain a deeper understanding of what’s considered the world’s oldest surviving (digital) computer after its long-lost user manual was unearthed. Engadget reports: The Z4, which was built in 1945, runs on tape, takes up most of a room and needs several people to operate it. The machine now takes residence at the Deutsches Museum in Munich,…
Looks like Venus has dozens of active volcanoes
“This study significantly changes the view of Venus from a mostly inactive planet to one whose interior is still churning and can feed many active volcanoes,” one scientist said. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/venus-3d-model-evidence-active-volcanoes…
Adding noise for completely secure communication
How can we protect communications against eavesdropping if we don’t trust the devices used in the process? This is one of the main questions in quantum cryptography research. Researchers at the University of Basel and ETH Zurich have succeeded in laying the theoretical groundwork for a communication protocol that guarantees 100% privacy. …
First global map of rockfalls on the moon
A research team from ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen counted over 136,000 rockfalls on the moon caused by asteroid impacts. Even billions of years old landscapes are still changing. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-global-rockfalls-moon.html…