Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
It is estimated that about 5-10 volcanoes worldwide are capable of producing a super-eruption that could catastrophically affect global climate. One of these volcanoes hides below the waters of Lake Toba in Sumatra and has caused two super-eruptions in the last one million year. But when will the next one be? Will there be any warning signs? To answer these questions, an international team

Syracuse NY (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
We all know that the dinosaurs died in a mass extinction. But did you know that there were other mass extinctions? There are five most significant mass extinctions, known as the "big five," where at least three-quarters of all species in existence across the entire Earth faced extinction during a particular geological period of time. With current trends of global warming and climate change, many

Chicago IL (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
Illinois Institute of Technology Associate Professor of Physics Bryce Littlejohn is part of an international team of scientists that has dealt a blow to a popular theory of the existence of a fourth "sterile" neutrino. The groundbreaking research results were announced at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory today. Neutrinos, which come in three known "flavors," are smaller than atoms and

Menlo Park CA (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
Physicists looking for signs of primordial gravitational waves by sifting through the earliest light in the cosmos - the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - have reported their findings: still nothing. But far from being a dud, the latest results from the BICEP3 experiment at the South Pole have tightened the bounds on models of cosmic inflation, a process that in theory explains several p

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is announcing new leadership roles, as well as the merging of two offices into the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy (OTPS), in support of Biden-Harris Administration priorities and the focus on space strategy. OTPS is being established to provide data- and evidence-driven technology, policy, and strategy advice to NASA leadership. The office is a me

Bay St. Louis MS (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
The first four Artemis missions will use NASA's 16 upgraded RS-25 engines that previously powered space shuttle flights. For future flights on the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA and prime contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne are changing the way they build major parts for the RS-25. Engineers and technicians are fabricating some of these parts using advanced manufacturing techniques that increase reli

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
NASA is continuing to investigate why the instruments in the Hubble Space Telescope recently went into safe mode configuration, suspending science operations. The instruments are healthy and will remain in safe mode while the mission team continues its investigation. Hubble's science instruments issued error codes at 1:46 a.m. EDT Oct. 23, indicating the loss of a specific synchronization

Washington DC (UPI) Nov 1, 2021
The first set of satellites Amazon plans to send to space along with Verizon will be launched next fall, according to an experimental launch license filed Monday. The company plans to send up to 3,236 satellites as part of Project Kuiper, a satellite-internet service that will serve rural communities that lack terrestrial infrastructure. Two satellites - called KuiperSat-1 and K

San Antonio TX (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
NASA has selected the CubeSat Imaging X-Ray Solar Spectrometer (CubIXSS), led by Southwest Research Institute, to measure the elemental composition of hot, multimillion-degree plasmas in the Sun's corona - its outermost atmosphere. The nanosatellite is expected to be launched in 2024 as a secondary payload on another satellite launch. CubIXSS will determine the origins of hot plasma - highly ion

Boston MA (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
Planets and their stars form from the same reservoir of nebular material and their chemical compositions should therefore be correlated but the observed compositions of planets do not match completely those of their central stars. In our Solar system, for example, all the rocky planets and planetesimals contain near-solar proportions of refractory elements (elements like aluminum that cond