Category Astronomy/Space

Observations with the ALMA telescopes of the gas around the two stars called IRS 43. The colours are shown as an illustration. The gas moves in orbit around the stars, which are highlighted in yellow. The gas that is moving away from us is represented by red, while the gas moving towards us is shown in blue. The positions of the discs are indicated by the dotted lines. (Credit: Christian Brinch, NBI, KU)

Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute have discovered a system consisting of 2 stars with 3 rotating planet-forming accretion discs around them. It is a binary star where each star has its own planet-forming disc and in addition, there is one large shared disc. All 3 planet-forming discs are misaligned in relation to one another.

A solar system is formed by a large cloud of gas and dus...

Will astronauts traveling to Mars remember much of it? Credit: © cosmicvue / Fotolia: Elements of this image furnished by NASA

Will astronauts traveling to Mars remember much of it? That’s the question concerning University of California, Irvine scientists probing a phenomenon called “space brain.” UCI’s Charles Limoli and colleagues found that exposure to highly energetic charged particles – much like those found in the galactic cosmic rays that will bombard astronauts during extended spaceflights – causes significant long-term brain damage in test rodents, resulting in cognitive impairments and dementia.

“This is not positive news for astronauts deployed on a 2-3 year round trip to Mars,” said Prof Limoli, UCI’s School of Medicine...

This infrared image gives an unprecedented view of the southern aurora of Jupiter, as captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on Aug. 27, 2016. Credit: Photo courtesy of NASA.

When a NASA spacecraft made its first full orbit around Jupiter, a University of Iowa instrument on board recorded haunting sounds befitting the Halloween season. The radio emissions cast by Jupiter’s auroras were recorded by the UI instrument, called Waves, as the Juno spacecraft traveled about 2,600 miles above Jupiter’s swirling clouds. Those emission recordings were then converted into sound files by UI engineers. The emissions from Jupiter were discovered in the 1950s but had never been analyzed from such a close vantage point, according to NASA.

“Jupiter is talking to us in a way only gas-giant worlds can,” says Bil...

Gene puddle primeval, a drawing by talented first author Christine He to illustrate her discovery that viscosity moves spontaneous gene strand copying forward. Credit: Georgia Tech / Christine He

The original recipe for gene soup may have been simple—rain, a jumble of common molecules, warm sunshine, and nighttime cooling. Then add a pinch of thickener. The last ingredient may have helped gene-like strands to copy themselves in puddles for the first time ever, billions of years ago when Earth was devoid of life, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers found. Their novel discoveries add to a growing body of evidence that suggests first life may have evolved with relative ease, here and possibly elsewhere in the universe...