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space

SPACE: Life on Mars

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Mars - NASA

Mars may seem barren and inhospitable today, but long ago the Red Planet once looked very different. Once upon a time, Mars was warmer than it is now, and covered in rivers, lakes and seas. There’s no way of saying for sure whether Martians ever existed, experts say. Still, there’s mounting evidence that Mars was not only habitable in theory, but actually home to some kind of extraterrestrial life. It’s even possible that remnants of that life still lurk undiscovered beneath Mars’ surface. Here are six reasons why astrobiologists believe in the possibility of life on Mars.  River Valleys and … Read more

SPACE: Where is Everybody? And What Does That Mean for Us?

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stars - pixabay

It is 1950 and a group of scientists are walking to lunch against the majestic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. They are about to have a conversation that will become scientific legend. The scientists are at the Los Alamos Ranch School, the site for the Manhattan Project, where each of the group has lately played their part in ushering in the atomic age. They are laughing about a recent cartoon in the New Yorker offering an unlikely explanation for a slew of missing public trash cans across New York City. The cartoon had depicted “little green men” (complete with antenna … Read more

SPACE: New Things We’ve Learned About the Moon

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moon - pixabay

It’s been almost 50 years since a human first set foot on the moon. Since then, our knowledge about Earth’s closest neighbor has improved by leaps and bounds, and our obsession with it has never waned. Witness some of the most amazing images of the moon ever recorded and be reminded of the significant influence of our moon in BBC America’s new documentary “Wonders of the Moon,” premiering Friday, July 19 at 10 p.m. EDT/9 p.m. CDT. As the world begins its commemoration of the awe-inspiring first walk on the lunar surface, let’s review five of the most recent and … Read more

SCIENCE: Meet the Chameleon Particle

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chameleon - pixabay

Can a chameleon build a galaxy? According to new computer models, yes. This isn’t a surrealist joke but rather the implication of recent simulations that aim to explain the inner workings of dark energy, a mysterious force that is driving apart everything in the universe. The findings, published July 8 in the journal Nature Astronomy, lend support to a model of dark energy known as Chameleon Theory. Hints of dark energy were first discovered in the late 1990s, when cosmologists measured the light from distant supernovas and realized that the stars were dimmer than expected, suggesting that the fabric of … Read more

SPACE: Could This Exoplanet Support Life?

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exoplanet - Credit: Jack Madden/Cornell University

Astronomers have found a nearby “super-Earth” exoplanet that may be capable of supporting life as we know it. An international group of astronomers discovered the planet using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) earlier this year in the constellation Hydra, about 31 light-years from Earth, according to a statement by NASA. (One light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles, or 10 trillion kilometers.) The exoplanet, named GJ 357 d, is believed to be around twice the size of Earth and harbor six times Earth’s mass. Located in the outer edge of its host star’s … Read more

SCIENCE: Are Aliens Flashing Laser Beams At Us?

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Are aliens using super powerful flashlights to get our attention? Astronomers think there’s a chance they are. Since the invention of the radio, humans have been silently listening to the stars, wondering if we are alone in the universe. But if intelligent alien life does exist, the extraterrestrials could be using other forms of technology to communicate. Astronomers are beginning to not only listen to the cosmos but also gaze toward it for other signs of alien tech: laser beams. Breakthrough Listen, the most extensive Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program in history, announced that its team will begin looking … Read more

SPACE: Meet the Ploonets!

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Ploonet - NASA

What do you call a runaway exomoon with delusions of planethood? You call it a “ploonet,” of course. Scientists had previously proposed the endearing term “moonmoons” to describe moons that may orbit other moons in distant solar systems. Now, another team of researchers has coined the melodious nickname “ploonet” for moons of giant planets orbiting hot stars; under certain circumstances, these moons abandon those orbits, becoming satellites of the host star. The former moon is then “unbound” and has an orbit like a planet’s — ergo, a ploonet. Ploonets — and all exomoons, for that matter — have yet to … Read more

SPACE: Why A Star is Winking at Us

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star - pixabay

Once or twice a day, a strange object in the Milky Way blinks at us. Now, astronomers think they know why. The object is called NGTS-7, and to most telescopes it looks like a single star. Researchers at the University of Warwick in England started watching because it seemed to be emitting flares, but on closer examination they noticed that its starlight dims briefly every 16.2 hours. When the astronomers zoomed in, they realized there are actually two similarly sized stars in the system, and that only one of them is dimming briefly in that way — suggesting that there’s … Read more

SPACE: Uranus is Weird

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Uranus

Uranus is a weirdo — the icy giant rotates while lying on its side and it’s been called a rear end in even the highest echelons of academia (right?). Now, astronomers have found it has an oddball ring system, too. In new images of the rings around Uranus (the seventh planet from the sun has 13 known rings), researchers have been able to decipher not only the temperature, but also the bits that create the rings. The scientists found that the densest, brightest ring — called the epsilon ring — is pretty darn cold (by human standards): 77 Kelvin, which … Read more

sPACE: Could Black Holes Be Life Creators?

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black hole - pixabay

Black holes are engines of destruction on a cosmic scale, but they may also be the bringers of life. New research on supermassive black holes suggests that the radiation they emit during feeding frenzies can create biomolecular building blocks and even power photosynthesis. The upshot? Far more worlds roaming the Milky Way and beyond could be suitable to life, the researchers speculated. For their new study, published May 24 in the Astrophysical Journal, scientists created computer models to look at the radiating disks of gas and dust called active galactic nuclei, or AGN, that swirl around supermassive black holes. Some … Read more