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The Moon Has Core Values

January 25, 2009

Did the moon have a molten core? There has been “a long-held consensus that objects in the solar system smaller than than [sic] Mars, can’t sustain magnetic fields,” said National Geographic News based on a paper in Science January 16.1 Apollo rock samples seem to indicate the presence of long-lived magnetism. It suggests a molten […]

Origin of Life

Time for Mars Life Again

January 16, 2009

Methane detection around Mars is giving new life to claims there is life on Mars. Space.com #1 and Space.com #2 explain why NASA scientists are looking to see if the methane can be explained geologically or biologically. Some news sites, like The Sun, go over the top with claims life has been discovered. Only the […]

Astronomy

Dating Stars as Models

January 12, 2009

Many have dreamed of dating a star, but the way astronomers do it is less glamorous. For one thing, they need to know how old she is first, and how good a model she makes. In a Perspectives piece for Science,1 David R. Soderblom of the Space Telescope Science Institute explained the requirements for stellar […]

Astronomy

2009 Is Looking Up

January 8, 2009

Astronomy is looking up this year; in fact, it’s looking heavenly. The United Nations and the International Astronomical Union have designated 2009 the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). The IYA2009 website explains, The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, highlighted by the […]

SETI

Merry SETI Holidays

December 31, 2008

How does the SETI Institute say happy holidays? To find out, visit their year-end press release on Space.com. SETI Institute CEO Tom Pierson loaded his cheery year-end greeting with all kinds of moral terms. In his short, upbeat article you can find references to gratitude, well-wishing, beauty, the human spirit, inventiveness, inquisitiveness, exploration, […]

Solar System

This Day in History: Genesis from the Moon

December 24, 2008

Forty years ago this day, Christmas Eve, a riotous and troubled world stopped in its tracks and held its breath. The crew of Apollo 8, which had blasted off 3 days earlier in the new behemoth rocket Saturn V, masterminded by rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun, had reached orbit around the moon, and was about […]

Cosmology

Dream On, Astrobiology

December 22, 2008

An astrobiologist at Open University (UK) has classified habitable worlds into four types, even though only one of them is known to have life. Astrobiology Magazine reported the list by Jan Hendrik Bredeh?ft: earth-like, Mars-like, Venus-like and water-worlds. After considering all the facts, Bredeh?ft says our best bet to find extraterrestrial ecosystems is to hunt […]

Astronomy

Water, Water Everywhere

December 21, 2008

A press release from the Max Planck Institute says that water has been detected at a distant quasar 11.1 billion light-years away – the farthest detection of water yet. “The water vapour is thought to exist in clouds of dust and gas that feed the supermassive black hole at the centre of the distant quasar,” […]

Solar System

Cassini Celebrates Season of Change

December 18, 2008

It’s approaching equinox on Saturn. Cassini is now well into its first extended mission, aptly dubbed the Equinox Mission, till Sept. 2010. The Cassini Team just exhibited its snazzy new website. It’s not all bells and whistles. The science is ringing the phones off the hook. Even without the pictures the following announcements could stop […]

Cell Biology

Applying the Scientific Method to Prehistory

December 10, 2008

What could be more scientific than the scientific method? A scientist observes an unexplained phenomenon. He or she gathers data, analyzes it, proposes a hypothesis to explain it, and tests it. The results are published in a peer-reviewed journal. Mission accomplished, right? Here are two papers on very different phenomena – one dealing with the […]

Cosmology

Cosmologists Taste the Forbidden Fruit

December 5, 2008

Everyone agrees: our universe appears fine-tuned for human existence. You have two choices: it was designed by God, or there is a multiverse (other universes we cannot detect). Amanda Gefter is unhappy with that choice. In New Scientist, she asked, why can’t we have more options? Calling the God-vs-multiverse choice a false dichotomy, […]

Physics

Ganymede Age Threatened by Magnetism

December 2, 2008

The biggest moon in the solar system is Ganymede, the third large moon out from Jupiter. Larger than Mercury, Ganymede has a heterogeneous surface of dark and light areas (picture), grooved terrain, abrupt changes of landforms, and bright splashes where impacts have scarred its icy surface (gallery). What goes on inside, though, is more surprising: […]

Astronomy

It Takes a Stellar Village

November 27, 2008

Do galaxies embark on a purpose-driven life? The language in an article about galaxy evolution in Science Daily makes such seamless use of personal terms with natural processes, it’s hard to know where the data ends and the interpretation begins. “Galaxy Zoo, which uses volunteers from the general public to classify galaxies, and […]

Cell Biology

Far-Out Science

November 25, 2008

The following list of bizarre stories coming from science news outlets is jarring on two fronts: it shows how little scientists understand, and calls into question what counts as science these days. Some stories illustrate one or the other; some both. Roar of the aurora aura: Both Saturn and Mars turned up auroras that are […]

Intelligent Design

Raise Money by Accomplishing Nothing

November 24, 2008

Frank Drake is being honored on Space.com by the SETI Institute as the “Father of SETI,” His reputation is providing an opportunity for a fund raiser. For a lot of money, you can spend time with a celebrity whose accomplishments are questionable. It’s not often you get the opportunity to hang out with a legend! […]

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