| Venus Express reboots the search for active volcanoes on Venus |
| ESA’s Venus Express has measured a highly variable quantity of the volcanic gas sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus. Scientists must now decide whether this is evidence for active volcanoes on Venus, or linked to a hitherto unknown mechanism affecting the upper atmosphere. |
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| METEORITES A RICH SOURCE FOR PRIMORDIAL SOUP |
| Washington, DC—The organic soup that spawned life on Earth may have gotten generous helpings from outer space, according to a new study. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have discovered concentrations of amino acids in two meteorites that are more than ten times higher than levels previously measured in other similar meteorites. This result suggests that the early solar system was far richer in the organic building blocks of life than scientists had thought, and that fallout from space may have spiked Earth’s primordial broth. |
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| MIT, HARVARD OFFER SOLUTION TO MARS ENIGMA. |
| Planetary scientists have puzzled for years over an apparent contradiction on Mars. Abundant evidence points to an early warm, wet climate on the red planet, but there’s no sign of the widespread carbonate rocks, such as limestone, that should have formed in such a climate. |
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| News from Earth's magnetic field |
| It is widely known that the geomagnetic field shields our planet against highly energetic cosmic particles. The importance of the magnetic field for answering geological, tectonic or even archaeological questions is less known. Where do large, very old meteorite craters exist like, for example, the one that might have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs? How did the continents move about the globe through geological times? How does the hidden subterranean structure of a volcano look like, i.e. how high is the danger of eruption" Where had towns and buildings of ancient civilizations been located, which have long since been destroyed? |
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| No More Black Holes? |
| If new calculations are correct, the universe just got even stranger. Scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, have constructed mathematical formulas that conclude black holes cannot exist. The findings--if correct--could revolutionize astrophysics and resolve a paradox that has perplexed physicists for 4 decades. |
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| HUBBLE SNAPS NEW WORLD |
| An infrared snapshot taken by the Hubble Space Telescope might be our first glimpse of a truly alien world. Although we know of more than 120 planets outside our solar system, none has been photographed directly. |
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| SIZING UP THE UNIVERSE |
| How big is the universe? It is one of the oldest questions in science, and the answer could be anything from "slightly bigger than the area of the universe that we can see" to "infinite". |
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| XMM-NEWTON DETECTS X-RAY 'SOLAR CYCLE' IN DISTANT STAR |
| For years, astronomers have wondered whether stars similar to the Sun go through periodic cycles of enhanced X-ray activity, like those often causing troubles to telephone and power lines here on Earth. |
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| MYSTERY OF THE MISSING MINI-GALAXIES |
| The missing building-blocks of giant galaxies may finally have been found, according to an international team of astrophysicists. |
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| CHAOTIC STARS ZOOM AROUND MILKY WAY |
| Stars charge about the Milky Way in a much more chaotic and turbulent pattern than once thought, an international team of scientists has found. |
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