A new model from NASA scientists supports the theory that the interior ocean in Jupiter’s moon Europa would be able to sustain life. In addition they have calculated that this water, believed to be an ocean under the surface ice shell, could have been formed by breakdown of water-containing minerals due to either tidal forces or radioactive decay. This work, which…
Tag: Radioactive
Could Granite Solve the Hard Problem of Nuclear Waste Storage?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A new study published in Scientific Reports reveals that crystalline rocks, such as granite, have a natural self-sealing mechanism, capable of keeping fluids locked away for millions of years. Careful analysis of the chemistry and structure of granites from Japan and the UK revealed that when fluid did enter the rock (via…
5G Obliterates Your Phone Battery, But a Power-Saving Fix Is Coming
It’s no secret that 5G networks drain battery. “To rectify that grim side effect, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Lille in France have developed a new radio-frequency switch they say is 50 times more energy efficient than the current solid-state switches,” reports Popular Mechanics. From the report: The solution is actually rooted right in…
Can Nuclear Fallout Make It Rain?
sciencehabit writes:
Radioactive fallout is rarely a good thing. But new research suggests charged particles emitted from Cold War-era nuclear tests may have boosted rainfall thousands of kilometers away from the testing sites, by triggering electrical charges in the air that caused water droplets to coalesce. The United States, Soviet Union, and other nations often tested nuclear weapons above ground in the…
Ripples on Pluto hint at subsurface ocean
A new study of unusual ripples on Pluto’s far side add to the evidence for a subsurface ocean on this distant and cold dwarf planet. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/pluto-subsurface-ocean-new-horizons…
Top 5 Mercury mysteries that BepiColombo will solve
BepiColombo – a joint mission of Europe and Japan – successfully passed Earth last night and is now headed toward the innermost part of the solar system. Here are some questions about our sun’s innermost planet, Mercury, the spacecraft is expected to answer. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-5-mercury-mysteries-that-bepicolombo-will-solve…
Could Radioactivity Make Otherwise Frozen Planets Habitable?
sciencehabit writes: Not too close, but not too far. That’s long been the rule describing how distant a planet should be from its star in order to sustain life. But a new study challenges that adage: A planet can maintain water and other liquids on its surface if it’s heated, not by starlight, but by radioactive decay, researchers calculate. That opens…
Review Radioactive: Marie Curie’s luminous legacy
A new film squares up to the tough task of reinventing Marie Curie, one of science’s biggest stars, by building a big picture of her work – and its future fallout Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24532740-400-review-radioactive-marie-curies-luminous-legacy/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Radioactive review: A reimagining of Marie Curie’s luminous legacy
A new film squares up to the tough task of reinventing Marie Curie, one of science’s biggest stars, by building a big picture of her work – and its future fallout Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24532740-400-radioactive-review-a-reimagining-of-marie-curies-luminous-legacy/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Coronavirus Could Force ISPs To Abandon Data Caps Forever
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The coronavirus threat and official policies of “social distancing” are leading millions to stay home, doing meetings via video chat and probably watching Netflix and YouTube the rest of the time. That means a big uptick in bytes going through the tubes, both simultaneously and cumulatively. ISPs, leery of repeating Verizon’s memorable gaffe…