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Category: space

Are subterranean lifeforms viable on Mars? A new interpretation of Martian seismic data by scientists Ikuo Katayama of Hiroshima University and Yuya Akamatsu of Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics suggests the presence of water below the surface of Mars. “If liquid water exists on Mars,” Katayama says, “the presence of microbial activity” is possible.

This analysis is based on seismic data from SEIS (Seismic Experiment for the Interior Structure), deployed from NASA’s InSight lander that landed on Mars in 2018. This robotic lander is unique because it was able to use its robotic arm to place a seismometer on the surface of Mars. The SEIS instrument, which contains the seismometer, uses the seismic waves naturally generated on Mars from Marsquakes or meteorite impacts to scan the planet’s interior.

When a Marsquake or meteorite impact occurs on Mars, SEIS can read the energy emitted as P-waves, S-waves, and surface waves to create an image of the planet’s interior.

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Using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), astronomers have detected a new giant molecular cloud in the Milky Way galaxy. The newfound cloud has a size of nearly 200 light years and its mass is estimated to be some 160,000 solar masses. The finding was reported in a paper published March 18 on the arXiv preprint server.

Molecular clouds are huge complexes of interstellar gas and left over from the formation of galaxies, composed mostly of . Molecular clouds with masses greater than 100,000 solar masses are called (GMCs). In general, GMCs are 15–600 light years in diameter and are the coldest and densest parts of the interstellar medium.

GMCs are gas reservoirs where most takes place. Therefore, studying their lifecycle and characteristics is crucial to advancing our knowledge about the formation and evolution of galaxies.

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Does the proton decay? While this was a famous prediction of Grand Unified Theories (GUTS) developed in the 1970s and 1980s, experimentalists have ruled it out—or rather, put lower limits on its mean lifetime of about 1034 years. That’s 20 orders of magnitude greater than the age of the universe.

But two physicists have been wondering: Could the lifetime be different in other places and at other times? Could the proton have decayed faster in the past? Could it decay faster somewhere else in the universe? They have reimagined some physics processes assuming the proton does decay and calculated possible lifetimes of around 1018 years. That’s only eight orders of magnitude beyond the universe’s lifetime. Their work was recently published in Physical Review D.

“People had previously asked various questions of the type, ‘Are the fundamental physics parameters measured on the Earth the same elsewhere in the universe?’” said Peter Denton, a co-author at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York in the U.S. “One case that hadn’t been investigated was the stability of the proton. Earth experiments show that the proton is incredibly stable, but those only apply here, in our part of the galaxy, and now, over the last several decades. What if proton decay depended on time or space?”

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A cosmic enigma, ASKAP J1839-0756, a slow-spinning neutron star discovered using the ASKAP radio telescope, is challenging the conventional understanding of pulsars. Unlike typical pulsars which spin rapidly, this object completes one rotation every 6.5 hours and emits radio pulses from both magn

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New sapphire nanostructures created at UT Austin repel dust, glare, and fog while staying durable. Inspired by nature, these surfaces could be used in electronics, optics, space, and defense, and are being developed for real-world applications. Imagine a phone screen that stays flawless no matter

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Chyba and his team tilted the cylinder precisely at 57 degrees, orienting it perpendicular to both Earth’s magnetic field and its rotational motion. Electrodes attached at each end measured an unmistakable — but minuscule — direct current voltage of about 18 microvolts. Rotate the cylinder 90 degrees, and the voltage vanished. Reverse the cylinder, and the voltage flipped. Control tests with solid cylinders produced no voltage at all. The device was carefully shielded from external interference, such as temperature fluctuations and background electromagnetic noise, to ensure the results were accurate.

“It has a whiff of a perpetual motion machine,” Chyba told Physics Magazine, acknowledging the skepticism his results would inevitably invite. But the physics, he insisted, was sound. The electricity, though tiny, genuinely appeared to flow from Earth’s spin.

The current generated by the device is proportional to its size and the strength of Earth’s magnetic field, which is relatively weak. To produce meaningful amounts of power, the device would need to be much larger or made of materials with even more favorable properties. The researchers speculate that future versions could be miniaturized and connected in series to amplify the voltage, or deployed in space where Earth’s magnetic field is stronger.

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NASA’s AWE mission just released millions of gravity wave images from space, unveiling atmospheric forces that ripple through the sky and affect our tech on Earth. It’s a whole new window into space weather.

After completing its 3,000th orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) has released its first set of scientific data. This milestone marks a major step in studying how subtle changes in Earth’s upper atmosphere can lead to disturbances, and how those disturbances can affect technologies like satellites, communications systems, and GPS on Earth and in space.

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New method to detect life makes Mars sample return protocols rock solidWithin the next decade, space agencies plan to bring samples of rock from Mars to Earth for study. Of concern is the possibility these samples contain life, which could have unforeseen consequences. Therefore, researchers in this field strive to create methods to detect life. For the first time, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo and NASA, successfully demonstrated a method to detect life in ancient rocks analogous to those found on Mars.

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