Showing 20 articles starting at article 621
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Ecology: Trees, Space: The Solar System
Published The rich meteorology of Mars studied in detail from the Perseverance rover
(via sciencedaily.com) Perseverance has now completed its investigation of the atmosphere throughout the first Martian year (which lasts approximately two Earth years). Specifically, astronomers have studied seasonal and daily cycles of temperature and pressure, as well as their significant variations on other time scales resulting from very different processes.
Published 17-pound meteorite discovered in Antarctica
(via sciencedaily.com) Antarctica is a tough place to work, for obvious reasons -- it's bitterly cold, remote, and wild. However, it's one of the best places in the world to hunt for meteorites. That's partly because Antarctica is a desert, and its dry climate limits the degree of weathering the meteorites experience. On top of the dry conditions, the landscape is ideal for meteorite hunting: the black space rocks stand out clearly against snowy fields.
Published Our future climate depends partly on soil microbes -- but how are they affected by climate change?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The largest terrestrial carbon sink on Earth is the planet's soil. One of the big fears is that a warming planet will liberate significant portions of the soil's carbon, turning it into carbon dioxide (CO2) gas, and so further accelerate the pace of planetary warming. A key player in this story is the microbe, the predominant form of life on Earth, and which can either turn organic carbon -- the fallen leaves, rotting tree stumps, dead roots and other organic matter -- into soil, or release it into the atmosphere as CO2. Now, an international team of researchers has helped to untangle one of the knottiest questions involving soil microbes and climate change: what effect does a warming planet have on the microbes' carbon cycling?
Published Climate change presents a mismatch for songbirds' breeding season
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Climate change presents a mismatch for some breeding songbirds, finds a new study using a decade of nestbox data.
Published New small laser device can help detect signs of life on other planets
(via sciencedaily.com) As space missions delve deeper into the outer solar system, the need for more compact, resource-conserving and accurate analytical tools has become increasingly critical -- especially as the hunt for extraterrestrial life and habitable planets or moons continues. A University of Maryland-led team developed a new instrument specifically tailored to the needs of NASA space missions. Their mini laser-sourced analyzer is significantly smaller and more resource efficient than its predecessors--all without compromising the quality of its ability to analyze planetary material samples and potential biological activity onsite.
Published The world in grains of interstellar dust
(via sciencedaily.com) Understanding how dust grains form in interstellar gas could offer significant insights to astronomers and help materials scientists develop useful nanoparticles.
Published How do rocky planets really form?
(via sciencedaily.com) A new theory could explain the origin and properties of systems of rocky super-Earths and their relationship with the terrestrial planets of the solar system.
Published Martian meteorite contains large diversity of organic compounds
(via sciencedaily.com) Unraveling the origin stories of the Tissint meteorite's organic compounds can help scientists understand whether the Red Planet ever hosted life, as well as Earth's geologic history.
Published New Webb image reveals dusty disk like never seen before
(via sciencedaily.com) NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has imaged the inner workings of a dusty disk surrounding a nearby red dwarf star. These observations represent the first time the previously known disk has been imaged at these infrared wavelengths of light. They also provide clues to the composition of the disk.
Published NASA's Webb confirms its first exoplanet
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers confirmed an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99% of Earth's diameter.
Published Scientists study life origins by simulating a cosmic evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Amino acids make up millions of proteins that drive the chemical gears of life, including essential bodily functions in animals. Because of amino acids' relationship to living things scientists are eager to understand the origins of these molecules. After all, amino acids may have helped spawn life on Earth after being delivered here about 4 billion years ago by pieces of asteroids or comets.
Published Origins of the building blocks of life
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study posits that interstellar cloud conditions may have played a significant role on the presence of key building blocks of life in the solar system.
Published Landscaping for drought: We're doing it wrong
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Despite recent, torrential rains, most of Southern California remains in a drought. Accordingly, many residents plant trees prized for drought tolerance, but a new study shows that these trees lose this tolerance once they're watered.
Published The seven-year photobomb: Distant star's dimming was likely a 'dusty' companion getting in the way, astronomers say
(via sciencedaily.com) Astronomers were on the lookout for 'stars behaving strangely' when an automated alert from pointed them to Gaia17bpp, a star that had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. But follow-up analyses indicated that Gaia17bpp wasn't changing. Instead, the star is likely part of a rare type of binary system. Its apparent brightening was the end of a years-long eclipse by an unusual, 'dusty' stellar companion.
Published Planetary system's second Earth-size world discovered
(via sciencedaily.com) Using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, scientists have identified an Earth-size world, called TOI 700 e, orbiting within the habitable zone of its star -- the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet's surface. The world is 95% Earth's size and likely rocky.
Published Scientists find evidence for magnetic reconnection between Ganymede and Jupiter
(via sciencedaily.com) In June 2021, NASA's Juno spacecraft flew close to Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, observing evidence of magnetic reconnection. A team has used Juno data to examine the electron and ion particles and magnetic fields as the magnetic field lines of Jupiter and Ganymede merged, snapped and reoriented, heating and accelerating the charged particles in the region.
Published Hydrogen masers reveal new secrets of a massive star
(via sciencedaily.com) While using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the masers around oddball star MWC 349A scientists discovered something unexpected: a previously unseen jet of material launching from the star's gas disk at impossibly high speeds. What's more, they believe the jet is caused by strong magnetic forces surrounding the star. The discovery could help researchers to understand the nature and evolution of massive stars and how hydrogen masers are formed in space.
Published Forests recovering from logging act as a source of carbon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tropical forests recovering from logging are sources of carbon for years afterwards, contrary to previous assumptions, finds a new study.
Published Physicists confirm effective wave growth theory in space
(via sciencedaily.com) Physicists have used spacecraft data to confirm an important theory of plasma physics that improves our understanding of space weather.
Published New York City's greenery absorbs a surprising amount of its carbon emissions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study of vegetation across New York City and some densely populated adjoining areas has found that on many summer days, photosynthesis by trees and grasses absorbs all the carbon emissions produced by cars, trucks and buses, and then some. The surprising result, based on new hyper-local vegetation maps, points to the underappreciated importance of urban greenery in the carbon cycle.