Tag: life

A Massive, and Very Accessible Ice Deposit on Mars

A Massive, and Very Accessible Ice Deposit on Mars

For future colonists, Mars’ Utopia Planitia  or “Plains of Paradise” may be rather aptly named despite its less than appealing appearance. In a paper highlighted last week on NASA.gov, scientists using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s shallow ground penetrating radar (SHARAD) have concluded that the region contains a volume of ice equivalent to the amount of […]

Posted in: Mars
ET: Astronomer Claims Earth is Receiving Signals From 234 Different Sun-Like Star Systems

ET: Astronomer Claims Earth is Receiving Signals From 234 Different Sun-Like Star Systems

The title, as far as formal research papers go, is a fairly innocuous one; Discovery of peculiar periodic spectral modulations in a small fraction of solar type stars, but the claim is a whopper. According to a Canadian astronomer, Earth is currently on the receiving end of laser transmissions from some 234 different star systems, a signal […]

Earth’s Nearest Exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b, May Be a Water World Too

Earth’s Nearest Exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b, May Be a Water World Too

In August, the European Southern Observatory announced the discovery of an Earth sized planet orbiting in the habitable, or Goldilocks Zone, of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. Given its location just 4.22 light years away, the newfound world is as close to Earth as a potentially life-supporting planet could plausibly be, raising interesting philosophical […]

Posted in: Exo Planets
With Proxima b Confirmed as Earth’s Nearest Neighbor, Humanity Has a New Destination

With Proxima b Confirmed as Earth’s Nearest Neighbor, Humanity Has a New Destination

Of all the stunning real-life images of deep space captured by the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory, this artist’s impression may be the most profound. As expected, the ESO held a press conference at its headquarters in Munich, Germany yesterday to announce that its researchers have indeed discovered a near Earth sized planet orbiting […]

Leting NASA’s Curiosity Rover “Follow the Water” on Mars

Leting NASA’s Curiosity Rover “Follow the Water” on Mars

  After four years of studiosly ignoring what might be the most interesting destinations on its path due to concerns over planetary protection, NASA is consideing letting its Curisoity Rover operating in Mars’ Gale Crater, have a bit more leash. “Pending approval of a mission extension, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover will continue to climb to […]

Posted in: Mars
Radically Upgrading the Estimate of Alien Civilizations in the Milky Way

Radically Upgrading the Estimate of Alien Civilizations in the Milky Way

You may recall the Drake Equation, the famous estimate of the total number of potential technologically advanced civilization in the Milky Way, with which we might make radio contact. The right hand side of the equation, courtesy of Wikipedia are : R* = the average rate of star formation in our galaxy fp = the […]

Posted in: Exo Planets
Birth of a New Earth: Will We Still Be Around to See It Turn 16?

Birth of a New Earth: Will We Still Be Around to See It Turn 16?

In the best image of its kind to date, ESO’s ALMA captures a protoplanetary disc around the star TW Hydrae, revealing the telltale signature of rings and gaps that indicate planets are in the process of formation. Press Release From the European Southern Observatory: The star TW Hydrae is a popular target of study for […]

Still More Evidence for a Wet Mars

Still More Evidence for a Wet Mars

Wet Mars : Credits: NASA/GSFC The journal Nature Communications has published a paper detailing research into comparatively recent water flow on Mars. Abstract: “Liquid water is currently extremely rare on Mars, but was more abundant during periods of high obliquity in the last few millions of years. This is testified by the widespread occurrence of mid-latitude […]

Posted in: Mars
A Milestone Accomplished, and a Significant Discovery on Mars

A Milestone Accomplished, and a Significant Discovery on Mars

Curiosity Self Portrait  /   Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Two noteworthy news stories from Mars. First, NASA’s diminutive but never say die rover Opportunity, which initially began its three month primary mission on the Red Planet 11 years ago, has now traveled a cumulative distance of 26.2 miles. Over the course of that journey, the distance of […]

Posted in: Mars, NASA
A Mars of Rivers and Lakes

A Mars of Rivers and Lakes

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA held a teleconference on Tuesday to discuss the latest results from the Curiosity rover’s journey up the slopes of Mount Sharp in Mars’s Gale Crater. The findings, outlined in the NASA news story below, are quite significant. Mars was apparently warmer and wetter for much longer than many had thought, and […]

Posted in: Mars
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