“A consultant for NASA slammed the agency for deliberately ignoring the results of the experiment he handled that showed signs of alien life on Mars,” reports the International Business Times. “According to the consultant, NASA refuses to conduct new life-detection tests on the Red Planet.” Engineer Gilbert Levin served as a principal investigator on NASA’s Viking missions, which sent two identical…
Tag: material
Quantum Computing May Be Closer Than Expected With ‘Game Changer’ Discovery
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Inverse: Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University describe a superconducting material, B-Bi2Pd, that naturally exists in a quantum state without the additional influence of magnetic fields usually needed for such an effect. The authors write that the low-maintenance, stability of this material makes it a perfect candidate for designing quantum systems. The research will…
Researchers discover material that could someday power quantum computer
Quantum computers with the ability to perform complex calculations, encrypt data more securely and more quickly predict the spread of viruses, may be within closer reach thanks to a new discovery by Johns Hopkins researchers. …
How deep is the ocean?
On average the ocean is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) deep, but many parts are much shallower or deeper. In the deepest zones, life forms have adapted to live in the dark, under crushing water pressure. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/how-deep-is-the-ocean-trenches-video…
These alien geysers spew life’s building blocks
The Cassini mission to Saturn is over, but scientists still pore over its data. The newest discovery is of organic compounds – the ingredients of amino acids, the building blocks of life – in water vapor plumes from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/new-organic-compounds-discovered-in-enceladus-plumes-ingredients-of-amino-acids…
Lithium-Ion Batteries Win Nobel Prize for Chemistry
“This is a highly charged story,” began Olof Ramstrom, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, announcing that a trio of chemists who spent decades developing the lithium ion battery were today awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work. From a report: These batteries, small and powerful compared to older battery technology, made possible pocket-sized mobile phones, laptop…
Carbon-rich hot bubble detected in the planetary nebula NGC 5189
Using ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope, astronomers have found that the planetary nebula NGC 5189 harbors a carbon-enriched X-ray-emitting hot bubble. The discovery, presented in a paper published September 30 on arXiv.org, could shed more light on the nature of gaseous material in planetary nebulae. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-carbon-rich-hot-planetary-nebula-ngc.html…
‘Impossible’ exoplanet and an alternate planet-formation theory
The discovery of exoplanet GJ 3512b – a planet “too big for its star” – adds fuel to the competition between 2 theoretical models of how planets form. It suggests many more Jupiter-like planets are waiting to be found, orbiting nearby sunlike stars. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/theories-planet-formation-gj-3512b-favors-disk-instability…
Astronomers find cyanide gas in interstellar object 2I/Borisov
When the mysterious object known as ‘Oumuamua passed Earth in October of 2017, astronomers rejoiced. In addition to being the first interstellar object detected in our solar system, its arrival opened our eyes to how often such events take place. Since asteroids and comets are believed to be material left over from the formation of a planetary system, it also presented…
Not long ago, the center of our Milky Way galaxy exploded
Researchers have found evidence of a cataclysmic flare that punched outward in both directions from our galaxy’s center, reaching so far into intergalactic space that its impact was felt 200,000 light-years away. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/explosion-milky-way-center-seyfert-flare-magellanic-stream…