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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Space: The Solar System
Published Key building block for life found at Saturn's moon Enceladus



The search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system just got more exciting. A team of scientists has discovered new evidence that the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus contains a key building block for life. The team directly detected phosphorus in the form of phosphates originating from the moon's ice-covered global ocean using data from NASA's Cassini mission. Cassini explored Saturn and its system of rings and moons for over 13 years.
Published Pass the salt: This space rock holds clues as to how Earth got its water



The discovery of tiny salt grains in a sample from an asteroid provides strong evidence that liquid water may be more common in the solar system than previously thought.
Published Flaring star could be down to young planet's disc inferno



New simulations offer new explanation for star's 85-year flare. In this scenario, a young giant planet is burning up very close to its star, suggesting solar systems may have hosted many of such planets that have since 'evaporated'.
Published Using photosynthesis for Martian occupation -- while making space travel more sustainable



Researchers are working on sustainable technology to harvest solar power in space -- which could supplement life support systems on the Moon and Mars.
Published 'Hot Jupiters' may not be orbiting alone



Astronomers challenge longstanding beliefs about the isolation of 'hot Jupiters' and proposes a new mechanism for understanding the exoplanets' evolution.
Published Sustainable technique to manufacture chemicals



A newly published study details a novel mechanochemistry method that can produce chemicals using less energy and without the use of solvents that produce toxic waste.
Published Long missions, frequent travel take a toll on astronauts' brains



A study looking at how the human brain reacts to traveling outside Earth's gravity suggests frequent flyers should wait three years after longer missions to allow the physiological changes in their brains to reset.
Published New study identifies mechanism driving the sun's fast wind



Researchers used data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe to explain how the solar wind is capable of surpassing speeds of 1 million miles per hour. They discovered that the energy released from the magnetic field near the sun's surface is powerful enough to drive the fast solar wind, which is made up of ionized particles -- called plasma -- that flow outward from the sun.
Published Scientists use seaweed to create new material that can store heat for reuse



Scientists have created a new material derived from seaweed that can store heat for re-use. It could be used to capture summer sun for use in winter, or to store heat from industry that currently goes up the chimney, potentially slashing carbon emissions. The material is in the form of small beads made from alginate, which is cheap, abundant and non-toxic. It stores heat four times more efficiently than a previous material the team had developed.
Published 'Heat highways' could keep electronics cool



As smart electronic devices become smaller and more powerful, they can generate a lot of heat, leading to slower processing times and sudden shutdowns. Now researchers use an electrospinning approach to produce a new nanocomposite film. In tests, the film dissipated heat four times more efficiently than similar materials, showing that it could one day be used to keep electronics cool.
Published Proposed design could double the efficiency of lightweight solar cells for space-based applications



When it comes to supplying energy for space exploration and settlements, commonly available solar cells made of silicon or gallium arsenide are still too heavy to be feasibly transported by rocket. To address this challenge, a wide variety of lightweight alternatives are being explored, including solar cells made of a thin layer of molybdenum selenide, which fall into the broader category of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (2D TMDC) solar cells. Researchers propose a device design that can take the efficiencies of 2D TMDC devices from 5%, as has already been demonstrated, to 12%.
Published Webb Space Telescope detects universe's most distant complex organic molecules



Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth -- the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new study lends critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that occur in the first galaxies in the early universe.
Published Supercomputer simulations provide a better picture of the Sun's magnetic field



The new findings challenge the conventional understanding of solar dynamics and could improve predictions of solar weather in the future.
Published Researchers finds a way to reduce the overheating of semiconductor devices



Scientists have identified a method for improving the thermal conductivity of thin metal films in semiconductors using surface waves for the first time in the world.
Published Thermal energy stored by land masses has increased significantly



There are many effects of climate change. Perhaps the most broadly known is global warming, which is caused by heat building up in various parts of the Earth system, such as the atmosphere, the ocean, the cryosphere and the land. 89 percent of this excess heat is stored in the oceans, with the rest in ice and glaciers, the atmosphere and land masses (including inland water bodies). An international research team has now studied the quantity of heat stored on land, showing the distribution of land heat among the continental ground, permafrost soils, and inland water bodies. The calculations show that more than 20 times as much heat has been stored there since the 1960s, with the largest increase being in the ground.
Published Towering plume of water escaping from Saturn moon



Scientists have observed a towering plume of water vapor more than 6,000 miles long -- roughly the distance from the U.S. to Japan -- spewing from the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
Published The next generation of solar energy collectors could be rocks



The next generation of sustainable energy technology might be built from some low-tech materials: rocks and the sun. Using a new approach known as concentrated solar power, heat from the sun is stored then used to dry foods or create electricity. A team has found that certain soapstone and granite samples from Tanzania are well suited for storing this solar heat, featuring high energy densities and stability even at high temperatures.
Published One-third of galaxy's most common planets could be in habitable zone



A third of the exoplanets orbiting common M dwarf stars have gentle enough orbits to potentially be in the habitable zone capable of hosting liquid water.
Published The search for habitable planets expands



Astronomers are suggesting a new way to expand the search for habitable planets that takes into account a zone not previously considered: the space between the star and what's called soot-line in planet-forming disks.
Published Astronomers discover a key planetary system to understand the formation mechanism of the mysterious 'super-Earths'



A study presents the detection of a system of two planets slightly larger than Earth orbiting a cold star in a synchronized dance. Named TOI-2096, the system is located 150 light-years from Earth. This system, located 150 light-years from Earth, is one of the best candidates for a detailed study of their atmosphere with the JWST space telescope.