A Scientific Research Vault
In an effort to explore the mysterious GJ 367 planetary system, an international team of astronomers embarked on a dynamic quest. Armed with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), they set out to unravel the secrets hidden in the vastness of space.
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Rovers on Mars are constantly monitored and maneuvered by humans on Earth. However, robots on missions to Saturn or Jupiter’s moons can’t get timely commands from Earth. What if these machines could make decisions on the fly? Instead of waiting for an “order”, how about these bots making autonomous choice? Thinking on these lines of thought, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign came up with a cool way for these robots to decide where and how to collect terrain samples on their own.
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The surface area of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon. Yet it has garnered a lot of attention from scientists as a potential site for extra-terrestrial life. Here are some of the reasons, why it is considered as potential for hosting life: Surface and Ice Shell: The surface of Jovian moon is covered by a layer of ice that is believed to be several kilometers thick. When it comes to the entire solar system, its icy crust is one of the smoothest. This implies that…
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Dr. Ore Gottlieb is a theoretical high energy astrophysicist. Currently, he is occupying Rothschild/CIERA Postdoctoral Fellowship position in Astrophysics at Northwestern University. His recent work on “Dying stars’ cocoons could be new source of gravitational waves” caught our attention and so we tried to touch base with him for an interview. We got lucky, as he agreed to spend some time with us.
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Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the acceleration of massive objects. The main source of detecting gravitational waves are the mergers of binary systems consisting of black holes and neutron stars. Till now, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo detector have successfully identified gravitational waves.
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Researchers at Japan have discovered some new information about why all amino acids found on Earth are in a specific shape called “left-handed” or “L-form.” The team studied amino acids found in a meteorite called the Murchison meteorite. They also used computer simulations based on physics to understand how this shape came about.
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Radiation belts are zones of charged particles, primarily electrons and protons, trapped by a planet’s magnetic field. They are typically found around planets with a significant magnetic field, such as Earth or Jupiter. These belts produce various radiations, including radio emissions, which can be detected and studied by radio telescopes.
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When a star runs out of fuel, it eventually reaches the end of its life cycle and begin to expand. It swells to hundred or even a thousand times its original size. The process is called as a “red giant” phase. The progression enables the star’s outer layers to become less dense. Consequently, the star starts to swell outwards. In some cases, the star may expand so much that it engulfs any nearby planets.
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Short-term exposure to altered gravity, such as the brief periods of weightlessness experienced during parabolic flights, is generally not considered to be harmful to human health. However, it’s important to note that even short periods of altered gravity can slightly thought not exponentially affect the body in various ways. For example, during periods of weightlessness, fluids tend to shift from the lower body to the upper body, which can cause a decrease in blood volume and an increase in pressure in the head and upper body. This can result in…
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Astronomers have discovered a potential key step in the chemical process that occurs in “stellar nurseries,” which are clouds of gas and dust in space that eventually form young stars and planets.
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In an international collaboration between astronomers, two planets orbiting a red-dwarf star have been identified. The planets, GJ 1002 b and c, are 16 light-years away and about the size of Earth. Both lie within the star’s habitable zone. Which means, the orbital distance is enough to allow liquid water to form on the surface provided it has the right kind of atmosphere.
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Cumulative evidence, so far has suggested that Mars once had oceans but then lost its atmosphere and eventually died out. Unlike Earth, where shifting tectonic plates make way for dynamic interior, Mars never surfaced such processes. Hence, the astronomers concluded that nothing much happened on the red planet, at least, in the last 3 to 4 billion years. Recent observations by the scientists at the University of Arizona, however has challenged the current views of Martian geodynamic evolution. As per them, the red planet, that seems to be dead, has an…
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Astronomers work ceaselessly to find out clues that might point out to the existence of extra-terrestrial life some where in outer space. The mere idea that we might not be alone is enough motivation to work constantly in this hunt. Lately, there has been an increase in the number of research probing into exoplanets. In one such research, astronomers have discovered a super-Earth like planet near the habitable zone of a red dwarf star. It is about 37 light-years from the Earth. This also happens to be the first such…
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Astronomers at MIT and Canada have traced a periodic radio signal coming from a distant galaxy. The signal is quite intense and hence, fall under the category of fast radio burst a.k.a FRB. Usually, FRB lasts for about a few milliseconds, however, the newly discovered signal has continued for three seconds. During this time frame, the astronomers also traced bursts of radio waves that reiterated every 0.2 seconds in a distinct periodic pattern. The rhythming pattern of the radio waves resembled a beating heart.
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For the first time in human history, space scientists were able to grow plants in the soil from the moon. With the plants sprouting from the moon soil, lunar exploration seems pretty incredible. University of Florida researchers were able to prove that moon soil – also called as lunar regolith – can grow terrestrial plants. They also investigated that for the plant it wasn’t an easy journey. Nevertheless, this effort is the first step towards understanding how plants respond biologically to the Moon’s soil. This insight will surely help NASA’s…
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