Solar System – Page 49

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Comet Woes Lamented

December 27, 2007

Space.com posted an article on “The enduring mysteries of comets.” The mysteries include: Where did earth’s oceans come from? For a long time, scientists expected comets delivered the water, until measurements showed a discrepancy in the hydrogen/deuterium ratios. It’s also highly improbable there was enough wet stuff in those assumed delivery vehicles. No secular scientist […]

Solar System

Stretching Saturn’s Rings in Time

December 13, 2007

An expert on planetary rings proposes a new way to keep them billions of years old.

Solar System

Is Making Planets Child’s Play?

December 5, 2007

Are star children good at child's play? Like making mudballs, it should be easy to roll up dust into planets.

Solar System

Active Moons Challenge Old-Age Beliefs

December 3, 2007

The best planetary scientists in the world, constrained within their chosen billions-of-years mindset, have many questions and few answers.

Physics

Moon Dust Can Kill

November 27, 2007

Future astronauts preparing to operate on the moon, beware. High-speed dust is deadly, reports PhysOrg. With no atmosphere on the moon to slow its path, dust flying from rocket engines can blast anything in its path. “Small grit can travel enormous distances at high speeds, scouring everything in its path,” the article says – at […]

Origin of Life

No Salt, Please: Europa Life Needs It Bland

November 23, 2007

Salt may taste good on human food, but for life trying to emerge in the sea, it is toxic. Astrobiologists have long wondered if life could exist at Jupiter’s moon Europa, where an ocean is believed to exist miles deep under the icy crust. They must have been presuming the water is pure, but an […]

Solar System

Give Thanks for Our Rare Moon

November 22, 2007

Our moon is a rare treat, says a press release from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, based on findings from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The telescope looked for indications of dust from collisions in other planetary disks thought to be the age of our solar system when our moon formed. According to the leading theory, our moon […]

Amazing Facts

Photo: Earthrise 2007

November 15, 2007

The Japanese Kaguya spacecraft has taken a series of “Earthrise” photos from lunar orbit, including this sequence. The complete set of new hi-resolution photos is available at Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. (Due to the orbital path of the spacecraft, Antarctica is at the top.) “Earth-rise is a phenomenon seen only from satellites that […]

Cosmology

Myths from Hell

November 1, 2007

Many speak of God’s green earth and rejoice in its beauty, but James Trefil tells us it was born from hell. In his article in Astronomy (Dec 2007), entitled, “Earth’s Fiery Start” he spoke with eyewitness confidence: Earth hasn’t always been a green and pleasant place. In fact, our planet’s infancy was a violent, chaotic […]

Cell Biology

Month-End Close-Out

October 31, 2007

Sometimes the creation-evolution news comes in too fast. Here’s a baker’s dozen from the October shelf, lest they go stale; time to start a new batch for November. Charity begins at worldview: David Cyranoski in Nature (450, 24-25, 10/31/2007) investigated why the level of charitable giving in prosperous Japan is a tenth of that in […]

Solar System

Cassini Celebrates 10 Years in Space

October 16, 2007

The Cassini team is reveling in the outpouring of public praise for the mission. Launched on October 15, 1997, Cassini-Huygens has spent ten years in space and is over three fourths the way through its prime mission, to explore the Saturn system, its rings, moons, magnetic field and the large moon Titan (see ESA and […]

Solar System

New Horizons at Jupiter

October 15, 2007

New Horizons, a spaceship bound for Pluto, took a good look at the Jupiter system on Feb 28, 2007.

Solar System

Comet Woes: News Reports Hide Backroom Exasperation

October 1, 2007

“Comets are made of the most primitive stuff in the solar system,” a press release from University of Michigan triumphantly claimed today. “As hunks of rock and ice that never coalesced into more planets, they give researchers clues to the evolution of solar systems.” Tell that to Toby Owen and two colleagues who […]

Physics

More Impacts on Crater Count Dating

September 25, 2007

Planetary scientists have relied on crater counts to estimate the surface age of a planet or moon. The more craters, the older the surface. This method has recently come under closer scrutiny (see 10/20/2005) because of the phenomenon of secondary cratering. A simplistic look at a crater-scarred planet or moon might lead one […]

Cell Biology

Upsets: Assumptions About Genes, Atmospheres Challenged

September 24, 2007

It’s not fun when a whole superstructure of scientific theories and models is found to rest on a shaky foundation. That’s just what may be happening in two very different fields: genetics and planetary science: Lateral pass to the opposing team: Building evolutionary trees by comparing genomes was supposed to be simple. Sure, geneticists knew […]

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