EurekAlert! - Space and Planetary ScienceThe premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.Giant impact explains Mars dichotomy- June 25, 2008 (California Institute of Technology) The surface landscape of Mars, divided into northern lowlands and southern highlands, has long perplexed planetary scientists. Was it sculpted by several small impacts, via mantle convection in the planet's interior, or by one giant impact Now scientists at the California Institute of Technology have shown through computer modeling that the Mars dichotomy, as the divided terrain has been termed, can indeed be explained by one giant impact early in the...http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ciot-gie062308.php Evidence of massive asteroid impact on Mars supported by computer simulations- June 25, 2008 (University of California - Santa Cruz) The dramatic differences between the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars have puzzled scientists for 30 years. One of the proposed explanations -- a massive asteroid impact -- now has strong support from computer simulations carried out by two groups of researchers.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uoc--eom062008.php Bird watchers, space technology come together in Montana State University study- June 24, 2008 (Montana State University) Bird watchers across the continent and a satellite sensor developed at the University of Montana yielded data for a Montana State University study looking at biodiversity in North America.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/msu-bws062408.php Propulsion conference to be held July 21-23 in Hartford, Conn.- June 24, 2008 (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will hold the 44th AIAAASMESAEASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit July 21-23 at the Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford, Conn. The conference is sponsored by Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. company, located in East Hartford, Conn.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/aioa-pct062408.php Radio telescopes reveal unseen galactic cannibalism- June 23, 2008 (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) Using radio telescopes, astronomers have solved a mystery of how the gigantic black holes at the cores of active galaxies known as Seyfert galaxies get their "food." While visible-light images showed little evidence that these galaxies had any interaction with their neighbors, the radio-telescope images revealed that the galaxies are snacking on their neighbors, and the "meal" ultimately reaches the black hole.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/nrao-rtr062308.php Celestial clues hint at eclipse in Homer's Odyssey- June 23, 2008 (Rockefeller University) Among countless other debates about Homer's Odyssey -- not the least of which is whether the entire poem can be attributed to Homer himself -- is whether Odysseus returns home to experience a total solar eclipse. But a Rockefeller University scientist and a colleague from Argentina believe they have found astronomical references in the Odyssey that provide corroborating evidence of this celestial event.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ru-cch061808.php July 2008 Geology and GSA Today media highlights- June 20, 2008 (Geological Society of America) Geology topics span the globe and beyond, covering southern Africa's diamond kimberlites, sandstones and shales of Scotland; a "Greenhouse World" in the Wyoming badlands; glacial erosion in East Greenland; oxidation of methane in southern Namibia; preservation of woolly rhinoceroses in Ukraine; gold nanoparticles in Australia; and the possibility of a water-rich environment in Mars' past. GSA Today contains the first authoritative geological and geophysical...http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/gsoa-j2g062008.php Record boost for ATV to raise ISS orbit- June 20, 2008 (European Space Agency) For the second time since April, ESA's Jules Verne ATV was used to raise the orbit of the International Space Station yesterday. A record boost from the 20 minute burn of the Automated Transfer Vehicle's main engines successfully lifted the altitude of the 300-ton station by around 7 km to an altitude of around 345 km above the Earth's surface.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/esa-rbf062008.php Space radar to improve miners' safety- June 19, 2008 (European Space Agency) Advanced ground penetration radar, originally developed to investigate the soil structure on the moon and other planets on ESA planetary missions, is now being used in Canadian mines to spot hidden cracks and weaknesses in mine roofs.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/esa-srt061908.php Chemical clues point to dusty origin for Earth-like planets- June 19, 2008 (Carnegie Institution) Higher than expected levels of sodium found in a 4.6-billion-year-old meteorite suggest that the dust clouds from which the building blocks of the Earth and neighboring planets formed were much denser than previously supposed. The study, by scientists from the Carnegie Institution, American Museum of Natural History and US Geological Survey, is published in the June 20 issue of Science.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ci-ccp061608.php |