An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org : Even if humanity stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, Earth will warm for centuries to come and oceans will rise by meters, according to a controversial modeling study published Thursday. Natural drivers of global warming — more heat-trapping clouds, thawing permafrost, and shrinking sea ice — already set in motion by carbon pollution…
Tag: water vapor
Transmitting data from space to earth with laser filaments
Could light be used to transmit information between satellites and Earth? Atmospheric water vapor scatters and absorbs light energy, but overcome that obstacle, and light will carry far more information and move it faster than the radio waves we currently rely on. A new research project, supported by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, proposes to use the properties of light itself to…
NASA Confirms Water Molecules On Moon
NASA has confirmed the presence of water on the moon’s sunlit surface, a breakthrough that suggests the chemical compound that is vital to life on Earth could be distributed across more parts of the lunar surface than the ice that has previously been found in dark and cold areas. From a report: “We don’t know yet if we can use it…
NASA to announce mysterious moon discovery on Monday
NASA’s upcoming news conference on October 26, 2020 promises “an exciting new discovery about the moon,” with references to the agency’s ambitious Artemis program, a plan to send the first woman and next man to the lunar surface in 2024. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-moon-announcement-monday-october-26-2020-sofia…
Pluto’s snowcapped mountains are unlike any on Earth
A new study shows how methane snow accumulates on Pluto’s mountain peaks. These snowcaps – first seen by New Horizons in 2015 – look a lot like ones on Earth, but form in a very alien environment. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/methane-snowcapped-mountains-on-pluto-new-horizons…
Did this mass extinction event trigger dawn of the dinosaurs?
New research suggests that a series of huge volcanic eruptions, 233 million years ago, led to a mass extinction event that heralded the dawn of the dinosaurs. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/mass-extinction-event-trigger-dawn-of-dinosaurs…
Are there active geysers at Enceladus’ north pole?
Water-vapor geysers erupt from cracks at the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Scientists using Cassini data now have evidence for fresh ice at the moon’s north pole, too. Could it be more geysers for this fascinating ice moon? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/fresh-ice-enceladus-north-pole-geologic-activity…
Pair of massive baby stars swaddled in salty water vapor
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers spotted a pair of massive baby stars growing in salty cosmic soup. Each star is shrouded by a gaseous disk which includes molecules of sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt, and heated water vapor. Analyzing the radio emissions from the salt and water, the team found that the disks are counter rotating….
Water on exoplanet cloud tops could be found with hi-tech instrumentation
University of Warwick astronomers have shown that water vapor can potentially be detected in the atmospheres of exoplanets by peering literally over the tops of their impenetrable clouds. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-exoplanet-cloud-tops-hi-tech-instrumentation.html…
Airbus Reveals Plans For Zero-Emission Aircraft Fueled By Hydrogen
Airbus has announced plans for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft models that run on hydrogen and could take to the skies by 2035. The Guardian reports: The European aersospace company revealed three different aircraft concepts that would be put through their paces to find the most efficient way to travel long distances by plane without producing the greenhouse gas emissions…