The discovery of a towering mountain on Vesta could solve a longstanding mystery: How did so many pieces of the giant asteroid end up right here on our own planet?
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Friday, December 30, 2011
Space Mountain Produces Terrestrial Meteorites
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 30, 2011
Twin Spacecraft Set to Enter Lunar Orbit
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 30, 2011
NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft, on a mission to map the Moon's gravitational field, are nearing their New Year's Eve and New Year's Day main-engine burns to place the duo in lunar orbit.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Monday, December 26, 2011
Big Picture Science for 12/26/11 - Skeptic Check: Superstition
Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Superstition
ENCORE Wait! Before you step outside… is it Friday the 13th? Any black cats prowling around? Broken a mirror lately? Homo sapiens are a superstitious lot. Find out why our brains are wired for irrational belief. Plus, from the 2012-end-of-the-world prophesy to colliding planets – why some people believe the universe is out to get ‘em.
Also, Brains on Vacation takes on a challenge to relativity and our Hollywood skeptic has doubts about exorcism. It’s enough to make your head spin on Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it!
Guests:
- Bruce Hood – Cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and author of The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs
- David Morrison – Director of the Carl Sagan Center for The Study of Life in The Universe at the SETI Institute and keeper of the NASA website Ask an Astrobiologist
- Martin Snow – Research Scientist, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder
- Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West – Los Angeles
- Phil Plait – Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Superstition
This podcast First aired August 16, 2010
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Space Station Commander Captures Unprecedented View of Comet
Source - ReelNASA on Dec 22, 2011:
International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy as seen from about 240 miles above the Earth's horizon on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy as seen from about 240 miles above the Earth's horizon on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy Photographed from Earth Orbit
Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 23, 2011: http://spaceweather.com
Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have seen sungrazing Comet Lovejoy from Earth orbit. ISS commander Dan Burbank describes the comet's green-glowing tail as "the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space." Video from the ISS and updated images from Earth are highlighted on today's edition of Spaceweather.com.
Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have seen sungrazing Comet Lovejoy from Earth orbit. ISS commander Dan Burbank describes the comet's green-glowing tail as "the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space." Video from the ISS and updated images from Earth are highlighted on today's edition of Spaceweather.com.
The Night After Christmas Sky Show
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 23, 2011
On Dec. 26th, Venus and the crescent Moon will gather together for a beautiful night-after-Christmas sky show.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Kepler Discovers Earth-Sized Exoplanets
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 20, 2011
NASA's Kepler spacecraft has found two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant sun-like star. These alien worlds are intermingled in their star system with other much larger planets, an arrangement which challenges orthodox ideas of how planets are formed.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Comet Lovejoy at Sunrise
Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 20, 2011: http://spaceweather.com
SUNRISE COMET: Comet Lovejoy is receding from the sun, remarkably still intact after its Dec. 16th plunge through the solar atmosphere. Multiple observers in the southern hemisphere are now reporting that they can see and photograph the comet's tail shining through the twilight of sunrise. Pictures of this rare apparition are highlighted on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.
LAST MINUTE ASTRONOMY GIFT: Running out of time? In only a few minutes, you can give the gift of Northern Lights, space station flybys, and other heavenly sights to friends and loved ones. Follow the links below for holiday subscriptions to Spaceweather.com's astronomy alert service:
text: https://spaceweatherphone.com/SMSSignup/phone_sign_up.php?Signup_Type=BuySpaceWeatherGift
voice: http://www.spaceweatherphone.com/signup/phone_sign_up.php?Signup_Type=BuySpaceWeatherGift
SUNRISE COMET: Comet Lovejoy is receding from the sun, remarkably still intact after its Dec. 16th plunge through the solar atmosphere. Multiple observers in the southern hemisphere are now reporting that they can see and photograph the comet's tail shining through the twilight of sunrise. Pictures of this rare apparition are highlighted on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.
LAST MINUTE ASTRONOMY GIFT: Running out of time? In only a few minutes, you can give the gift of Northern Lights, space station flybys, and other heavenly sights to friends and loved ones. Follow the links below for holiday subscriptions to Spaceweather.com's astronomy alert service:
text: https://spaceweatherphone.com/
voice: http://www.spaceweatherphone.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Big Picture Science for 12/19/11 - Sensor Sensibility
Big Picture Science - Sensor Sensibility
Have you lost your senses? You’ll find them everywhere you look. Sensors respond to external stimuli – light, sound, temperature and much else – to help us make sense (ha!) of our universe. And more are on their way. “Ubiquitous sensing” is the term that describes a world blanketed by tiny sensors: on bridges, in paint and medicine bottles, and even in our brains!
Discover where you’ll find sensors next. And, has the world’s largest detection device found the elusive particle that will help explain the universe? Where are you, Higgsy-wiggsy?
Also, out-of-this world sensors have detected a possibly Earth-like planet. What’s next for the Kepler planet-hunters?
Plus, DIY sensor kits, and, if computers can do all that, why can’t we send the odor of, say, freshly-baked bread over the Internet? The case for a smell-o-meter.
Guests:
- Frank Close – Physicist at Oxford University, author of The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe
- Jan Rabaey – Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley
- Barry Shell – Writer in Vancouver, Canada
- Andy Huntington – Interaction designer, based in London
- Sara Seager – Professor of planetary science and physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Planet hunters – Daryll LaCourse and Tom Jacobs,
Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Sensor_Sensibility
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Comet Lovejoy Plunges into the Sun ... and Survives
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 16, 2011
Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy has shocked astronomers by surviving its "death plunge" into the sun. Must-see movies of the comet's passage through the sun's atmosphere are featured in today's story from Science@NASA.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Comet Lovejoy Survives Death-Plunge into the Sun
Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 16, 2011: http://spaceweather.com
SUNGRAZING COMET SURVIVES: Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy has confounded the experts and survived its close encounter with the sun. Last night, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded amazing movies of the comet entering and exiting the sun's atmosphere. Comet Lovejoy's scorched remnant is now receding from the sun in full view of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Visit http://spaceweather.com for the latest movies and discussion.
SUNGRAZING COMET SURVIVES: Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy has confounded the experts and survived its close encounter with the sun. Last night, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded amazing movies of the comet entering and exiting the sun's atmosphere. Comet Lovejoy's scorched remnant is now receding from the sun in full view of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Visit http://spaceweather.com for the latest movies and discussion.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Spectacular Sundiving Comet
Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 15, 2011: http://spaceweather.com
SUNDIVING COMET: Comet Lovejoy is plunging toward the sun, and its ~200-meter wide core is vaporizing furiously as it approaches the hot star. So far the comet's brightness seems to be exceeding expectations. Indeed, there is a slim chance that the sundiver will brighten enough to be seen with the naked eye in broad daylight on Dec. 15th. Check http://spaceweather.com for further discussion and the latest movies from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
SUNDIVING COMET: Comet Lovejoy is plunging toward the sun, and its ~200-meter wide core is vaporizing furiously as it approaches the hot star. So far the comet's brightness seems to be exceeding expectations. Indeed, there is a slim chance that the sundiver will brighten enough to be seen with the naked eye in broad daylight on Dec. 15th. Check http://spaceweather.com for further discussion and the latest movies from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
Curiosity and the Solar Storm
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 14, 2011
Last month, a massive solar storm launched itself toward Mars just as NASA's new rover, Curiosity, was blasting off from Cape Canaveral in the same direction. The coincidence heralds a new job for the multi-talented rover: For the next 9 months, Curiosity will monitor solar storms en route to the Red Planet.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
New iPhone App Helps NASA Keep Track of Meteoroids
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 13, 2011
A new app for iPhones and iPads harnesses the power of citizen scientists to help NASA track meteoroids hitting Earth.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Below is a video version of this story which is also available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Significant Sungrazing Comet + Geminid Meteor Shower
Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 13, 2011: http://spaceweather.com
GEMINID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, source of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Forecasters expect meteor rates to reach 20-to-40 per hour when the shower peaks in bright moonlight on the night of Dec.13/14. The best time to look, no matter where you live, is between 10 pm local time on Tuesday, Dec. 13, and sunrise on Wednesday, Dec. 14th. Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and live audio from a meteor radar.
BIG SUNDIVING COMET: A comet nearly as wide as two football fields (200m) is plunging toward the sun where it will most likely be destroyed in a spectacular light show on Dec. 15/16. Solar glare will hide the event from human eyes, but NASA and ESA spacecraft should have a grand view. Check http://spaceweather.com for full coverage.
METALLIC PHOTOS OF THE SUN: Would you like to have an explosion a billion times more powerful than an atomic bomb hanging on your wall? Unique metallic photos of solar flares and prominences are now available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.com/metallicpicturesofthesun.aspx
GEMINID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, source of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Forecasters expect meteor rates to reach 20-to-40 per hour when the shower peaks in bright moonlight on the night of Dec.13/14. The best time to look, no matter where you live, is between 10 pm local time on Tuesday, Dec. 13, and sunrise on Wednesday, Dec. 14th. Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and live audio from a meteor radar.
BIG SUNDIVING COMET: A comet nearly as wide as two football fields (200m) is plunging toward the sun where it will most likely be destroyed in a spectacular light show on Dec. 15/16. Solar glare will hide the event from human eyes, but NASA and ESA spacecraft should have a grand view. Check http://spaceweather.com for full coverage.
METALLIC PHOTOS OF THE SUN: Would you like to have an explosion a billion times more powerful than an atomic bomb hanging on your wall? Unique metallic photos of solar flares and prominences are now available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.
The 2011 Geminid Meteor Shower
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 13, 2011
The Geminid meteor shower peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th. Bright moonlight will interfere with the display, but not obliterate it. Forecasters expect observers with clear skies to see as many as 40 meteors per hour.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Monday, December 12, 2011
Big Picture Science for 12/12/11 - Going Viral
Big Picture Science - Going Viral
The term “bird flu” is a misnomer, scientists say, because almost all human influenza originates in our feathered friends. How it lands in you and spreads is another matter …
Hear what it takes for a virus to go global, from a virus hunter who plans to stop epidemics in their tiny DNA tracks with an innovative global surveillance system.
Also, why your genome is littered with fossil viruses of the past … the two largest viruses discovered so far, Mimi and Mega, square off … and, what it takes for ideas to “go viral.”
Guests:
- Nathan Wolfe – Viral Ecologist, Director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative
- Robert Gifford – Evolutionary virologist, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Rockefeller University
- Vincent Racaniello – Virologist at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, host of the podcast, “This Week in Microbiology,” and author of the “Virology Blog”
- Bill Wasik – Senior Editor at Wired, author of And Then There’s This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Going_Viral
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Is Vesta the "Smallest Terrestrial Planet?"
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 9, 2011
NASA's Dawn probe, now orbiting Vesta in the asteroid belt, has found some surprising things on the giant asteroid--things that have prompted one researcher to declare Vesta "the smallest terrestrial planet."
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Below is a video version of this story which is also available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Total Eclipse of the Moon
Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 9, 2011: http://spaceweather.com
LUNAR ECLIPSE: Sky watchers on the Pacific side of Earth should be alert for a total lunar eclipse on Saturday, Dec. 10th. The disk of the full Moon will turn a beautiful shade of copper-red as it passes through Earth's shadow between 4:45 am and 8:18 am Pacific Standard Time (12:45 to 16:18 UT). For observers in western parts of the USA and Canada, the event will be magnified by the Moon illusion as the morning Moon sets behind trees, buildings, and other foreground objects along the western horizon. Please check http://spaceweather.com for more information and full coverage of the eclipse as it happens.
If you appreciate these free alerts, please consider supporting SpaceWeather.com by making a purchase from the Space Weather Store. For instance, there's probably someone on your Christmas list who would like to receive a piece of authentic meteorite jewelry: http://www.shopspaceweather.com/Meteorite-Jewelry.aspx
LUNAR ECLIPSE: Sky watchers on the Pacific side of Earth should be alert for a total lunar eclipse on Saturday, Dec. 10th. The disk of the full Moon will turn a beautiful shade of copper-red as it passes through Earth's shadow between 4:45 am and 8:18 am Pacific Standard Time (12:45 to 16:18 UT). For observers in western parts of the USA and Canada, the event will be magnified by the Moon illusion as the morning Moon sets behind trees, buildings, and other foreground objects along the western horizon. Please check http://spaceweather.com for more information and full coverage of the eclipse as it happens.
If you appreciate these free alerts, please consider supporting SpaceWeather.com by making a purchase from the Space Weather Store. For instance, there's probably someone on your Christmas list who would like to receive a piece of authentic meteorite jewelry: http://www.shopspaceweather.
"Slam Dunk" Sign of Past Water on Mars
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 8, 2011
As NASA's newest Mars rover Curiosity heads for the Red Planet, veteran rover Opportunity continues to make discoveries. Opportunity's latest find, an apparent vein of the mineral gypsum, is a "slam dunk" sign of past water on Mars, say researchers.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Monday, December 05, 2011
Kepler Confirms First Planet in Habitable Zone of Sun-like Star
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 5, 2011
Kepler-22b -- Comfortably Circling within the Habitable Zone
"This diagram compares our own solar system to Kepler-22, a star system containing the first "habitable zone" planet discovered by NASA's Kepler mission. The habitable zone is the sweet spot around a star where temperatures are right for water to exist in its liquid form. Liquid water is essential for life on Earth.
Kepler-22's star is a bit smaller than our sun, so its habitable zone is slightly closer in. The diagram shows an artist's rendering of the planet comfortably orbiting within the habitable zone, similar to where Earth circles the sun. Kepler-22b has a yearly orbit of 289 days. The planet is the smallest known to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a sun-like star. It's about 2.4 times the size of Earth."
Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech
Diagram and descriptive text source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/multimedia/images/kepler-22b-diagram.html
In a significant milestone on the road to finding Earth's "twin" elsewhere in the galaxy, NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the habitable zone of a distant sun-like star.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
Kepler-22b -- Comfortably Circling within the Habitable Zone
"This diagram compares our own solar system to Kepler-22, a star system containing the first "habitable zone" planet discovered by NASA's Kepler mission. The habitable zone is the sweet spot around a star where temperatures are right for water to exist in its liquid form. Liquid water is essential for life on Earth.
Kepler-22's star is a bit smaller than our sun, so its habitable zone is slightly closer in. The diagram shows an artist's rendering of the planet comfortably orbiting within the habitable zone, similar to where Earth circles the sun. Kepler-22b has a yearly orbit of 289 days. The planet is the smallest known to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a sun-like star. It's about 2.4 times the size of Earth."
Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech
Diagram and descriptive text source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/multimedia/images/kepler-22b-diagram.html
Big Picture Science for 12/05/11 - Science's Alliances
Big Picture Science - Science's Alliances
Mom and apple pie. Computers and silicon. Martians and death rays. Some things just go together naturally. But how about science and politics? Science and religion? Science and fiction? These pairings are often unnatural and contentious … but they don’t have to be.
Discover how science can team up with other endeavors in productive, if surprising, symbiosis.
Meet a particle physicist, turned U.S. Congressman, who calls for more scientists on Capitol Hill. Also, a tour of the Golden Age of Islamic Science.
Plus, scientists named Elmo and Super Grover 2.0 teach small children to conduct experiments with the help of chickens and dancing penguins.
And, it’s not quite science but it’s not entirely ficition either: how sci-fi helps shape our cultural debates about the future.
Guests:
- Bill Foster – Physicist and former U.S. representative from Illinois
- Carol-Lynn Parente – Executive Producer, Sesame Street
- Ranjana Mehra – Docent at The Tech Museum, San Jose, California
- Brooks Peck – Curator, EMP Museum, Seattle, Washington
Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Science_s_Alliances
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
New Horizons Becomes Closest Spacecraft to Approach Pluto
Source - NASA Science News for Dec. 3, 2011
"Dwarf planet Pluto is a world of mystery waiting to be visited for the first time. NASA's New Horizons probe is racing across the solar system for a ground breaking close encounter that could dramatically alter what researchers "know" about Pluto and other small worlds."
NASA's New Horizons mission has reached a special milestone on its way to reconnoiter the Pluto system, coming closer to the dwarf planet than any other spacecraft.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
See also the related video, Dwarf Planet Mysteries Beckon to New Horizons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
"Dwarf planet Pluto is a world of mystery waiting to be visited for the first time. NASA's New Horizons probe is racing across the solar system for a ground breaking close encounter that could dramatically alter what researchers "know" about Pluto and other small worlds."
Friday, December 02, 2011
Super-sized Lunar Eclipse
Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 26, 2011
On Saturday morning, Dec. 10th, sky watchers in the western United States and Canada will witness a total lunar eclipse swollen to super-sized proportions by the Moon illusion.
FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/
A video version of this story is is posted below and can also be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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