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Categories: Offbeat: Earth and Climate, Space: The Solar System

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Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Jupiter's moon Europa may have had a slow evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Europa may have a metamorphic origin for the ocean. While some scientists speculated this, a research team shows that if Europa indeed formed from hydrated rocks (i.e., rocks have hydrogen and oxygen), then enough of Europa's interior should get hot enough to release water directly from the hydrated rocks to form the ocean and ice shell.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: General
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Navigating underground with cosmic-ray muons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Superfast, subatomic-sized particles called muons have been used to wirelessly navigate underground in a reportedly world first. By using muon-detecting ground stations synchronized with an underground muon-detecting receiver, researchers were able to calculate the receiver's position in the basement of a six-story building. As GPS cannot penetrate rock or water, this new technology could be used in future search and rescue efforts, to monitor undersea volcanoes, and guide autonomous vehicles underground and underwater.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers demystify the unusual origin of the Geminids meteor shower      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Princeton researchers used observations from NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission to deduce that it was likely a violent, catastrophic event -- such as a high-speed collision with another body or a gaseous explosion -- that created the Geminids meteoroid stream. Mysteries surrounding the origin of the Geminids have long fascinated scientists because, while most meteor showers are created when a comet emits a tail of ice and dust, the Geminids stem from an asteroid -- a chunk of rock that normally does not produce a tail. Until now, this unusual meteoroid stream had only been studied from Earth.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

We've pumped so much groundwater that we've nudged Earth's spin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By pumping water out of the ground and moving it elsewhere, humans have shifted such a large mass of water that the Earth tilted nearly 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) east between 1993 and 2010 alone, according to a new study.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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Scientists report 'benchmarks' for extreme space weather      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Extreme space weather threatens vital satellites orbiting the Earth, including the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) which pass through the heart of the outer radiation belt. New research has now determined a series of benchmarks for the likely severity of extreme space weather events in GPS orbit.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

Metaverse could put a dent in global warming      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For many technology enthusiasts, the metaverse has the potential to transform almost every facet of human life, from work to education to entertainment. Now, new research shows it could have environmental benefits, too.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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Earth was created much faster than we thought: This makes the chance of finding other habitable planets in the Universe more likely      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Over the past decades, researchers thought Earth was created over a period of more than 100 million years. However, a new study from suggests that the creation of Earth was much more rapid, and that water and other essential ingredients for life were delivered to Earth very early on.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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A scorching-hot exoplanet scrutinized by astronomers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Through the Gemini-North Telescope in Hawai'i, the chemical composition of WASP-76 b is revealed in unprecedented detail, giving new insights also into the composition of giant planets.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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The life below our feet: Team discovers microbes thriving in groundwater and producing oxygen in the dark      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A survey of groundwater samples drawn from aquifers beneath more than 80,000 square miles of Canadian prairie reveals ancient groundwaters harbor not only diverse and active microbial communities, but also unexpectedly large numbers of microbial cells. Strikingly, some of these microbes seem to produce 'dark oxygen' (in the absence of sunlight) in such abundance that the oxygen may nourish not only those microbes, but may leak into the environment and support other oxygen-reliant microbes that can't produce it themselves.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Plate tectonics not required for the emergence of life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New finding contradicts previous assumptions about the role of mobile plate tectonics in the development of life on Earth. Moreover, the data suggests that 'when we're looking for exoplanets that harbor life, the planets do not necessarily need to have plate tectonics,' says the lead author of a new paper.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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Sun's coldest region stores secret to heating million-degree corona      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have unveiled the discovery of intense wave energy from a relatively cool, dark and strongly magnetized plasma region on the Sun, capable of traversing the solar atmosphere and maintaining temperatures of a million degrees Kelvin inside the corona. Researchers say the finding is the latest key to unraveling a host of related mysteries pertaining to Earth's nearest star.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Key building block for life found at Saturn's moon Enceladus      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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Pass the salt: This space rock holds clues as to how Earth got its water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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Flaring star could be down to young planet's disc inferno      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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'.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Using photosynthesis for Martian occupation -- while making space travel more sustainable      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are working on sustainable technology to harvest solar power in space -- which could supplement life support systems on the Moon and Mars.

Space: Astronomy Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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'Hot Jupiters' may not be orbiting alone      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers challenge longstanding beliefs about the isolation of 'hot Jupiters' and proposes a new mechanism for understanding the exoplanets' evolution.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Animals Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Octopuses rewire their brains to adapt to seasonal temperature shifts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Octopuses don't thermoregulate, so their powerful brains are exposed to -- and potentially threatened by -- changes in temperature. Researchers report that two-spot octopuses adapt to seasonal temperature shifts by producing different neural proteins under warm versus cool conditions. The octopuses achieve this by editing their RNA, the messenger molecule between DNA and proteins. This rewiring likely protects their brains, and the researchers suspect that this unusual strategy is used widely amongst octopuses and squid.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Long missions, frequent travel take a toll on astronauts' brains      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

New study identifies mechanism driving the sun's fast wind      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.