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Astronomy / Space Science - Physics / Materials Science - 15.10.2018
Astronomy / Space Science - 15.10.2018 
Giant planets around young star raise questions about how planets form
Researchers have identified a young star with four Jupiter and Saturn-sized planets in orbit around it, the first time that so many massive planets have been detected in such a young system.
Astronomy / Space Science - 09.10.2018
Chemistry - Astronomy / Space Science - 08.10.2018 
Scientists Present New Clues to Cut Through the Mystery of Titan’s Atmospheric Haze
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is unique among all moons in our solar system for its dense and nitrogen-rich atmosphere that also contains hydrocarbons and other compounds, and the story behind the formation of this rich chemical mix has been the source of some scientific debate.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics / Materials Science - 08.10.2018 
String Theory: Is Dark Energy even Allowed?
A new conjecture causes excitement in the string theory community. Timm Wrase of the Vienna University of Technology has now published much-discussed results on recent new developments. In string theory, a paradigm shift could be imminent. In June, a team of string theorists from Harvard and Caltech published a conjecture which sounded revolutionary: String theory is said to be fundamentally incompatible with our current understanding of "dark energy" - but only with "dark energy" can we explain the accelerated expansion of our current universe.
Astronomy / Space Science - 08.10.2018 
A rare star opens a window on the beginning of time
EPFL astrophysicists actively participated in the discovery of a very rare star, which is particularly old and metal-poor. As a messenger from the distant past, it will allow the scientists to learn more about the young Universe, right after the Big Bang. "We made a major discovery, which questions our understanding of the formation of the first generations of stars in the universe".
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 08.10.2018 
Icy warning for space missions to Jupiter’s moon
A location often earmarked as a potential habitat for extra-terrestrial life could prove to be a tricky place for spacecraft to land, new research has revealed. A team led by scientists from Cardiff University has predicted that fields of sharp ice growing to almost 15 metres tall could be scattered across the equatorial regions of Jupiter's moon, Europa.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics / Materials Science - 05.10.2018
Astronomy / Space Science - 05.10.2018 
The threat of Centaurs for the Earth
Astrophysicists calculate the impact probability and crater size of impacts due to minor bodies The astrophysicists Mattia Galiazzo and Rudolf Dvorak from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with Elizabeth A. Silber (Brown University, USA) investigated the long-term path development of Centaurs (solar system minor bodies which originally have orbits between Jupiter and Neptune).
Physics / Materials Science - Astronomy / Space Science - 04.10.2018 
Latest insights into Saturn’s weird magnetic field only make things weirder
Some of the last data from the Cassini mission reveals more structure in Saturn's magnetic field, but still no answer as to how it formed. NASA's Cassini mission - with Imperial kit on board - took a series of daring dives between the planet and its inmost ring in September 2017 before burning up in the planet's atmosphere.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics / Materials Science - 04.10.2018 
Ghost objects in the sky
Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to print (Opens in new window) Astronomers typically study objects that are visible night after night or explode suddenly, like supernovas, but Casey Law is scouring vast amounts of data in search of bright objects that disappear, never to be seen again.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics / Materials Science - 04.10.2018 
Newly detected microquasar gamma-rays ’call for new ideas’
The team's observations strongly suggest that particle collisions at the ends of the microquasar's jets produced the powerful gamma rays. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory, located 13,500 feet above sea level on the slopes of Mexico's Volcán Sierra Negra. What's amazing about this discovery is that all current particle acceleration theories have difficulties explaining the observations.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics / Materials Science - 02.10.2018 
Black holes ruled out as universe’s missing dark matter
Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to print (Opens in new window) For one brief shining moment after the 2015 detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes, astronomers held out hope that the universe's mysterious dark matter might consist of a plenitude of black holes sprinkled throughout the universe.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics / Materials Science - 02.10.2018 
New tool helps scientists better target the search for alien life
An EPFL scientist has developed a novel approach that boosts the chances of finding extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy. His method uses probability theory to calculate the possibility of detecting an extraterrestrial signal (if there is one) at a given distance from Earth.
Astronomy / Space Science - 02.10.2018 
Gaia spots stars flying between galaxies
ESA ESA Science Gaia 2 October 2018 A team of astronomers using the latest set of data from ESA's Gaia mission to look for high-velocity stars being kicked out of the Milky Way were surprised to find stars instead sprinting inwards - perhaps from another galaxy. In April, ESA's stellar surveyor Gaia released an unprecedented catalogue of more than one billion stars.
Astronomy / Space Science - 02.10.2018
Astronomy / Space Science - 27.09.2018 
New space instrument goes for a spin
Scientists and engineers are using a unique centrifuge facility to evaluate a flight-ready telemetry system for evaluating a nuclear weapons test missile launch. The centrifuge is of course the most dramatic, it's fast, it's loud, it's visually interesting. To see the centrifuge in operation gives you much more a sense of the stresses that are seen throughout flight.
Astronomy / Space Science - 27.09.2018 
New weapon in battle against space junk
It may sound futuristic, but researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) and Tohoku University in Japan have found a new way of dealing with space junk - and it involves a new type of satellite powered by superheated gas. Space debris orbiting the earth has become a major problem in recent decades.
Environment - Astronomy / Space Science - 26.09.2018 
By Jove! Methane’s Effects on Sunlight Vary by Region
– by Christina Procopiou Scientists investigating how human-induced increases in atmospheric methane also increase the amount of solar energy absorbed by that gas in our climate system have discovered that this absorption is 10 times stronger over desert regions such as the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula than elsewhere on Earth, and nearly three times more powerful in the presence of clouds.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 26.09.2018 
Software finds the best way to stick a Mars landing
Program users can tinker with landing and path planning scenarios to identify optimal landing sites for Mars rovers. Selecting a landing site for a rover headed to Mars is a lengthy process that normally involves large committees of scientists and engineers. These committees typically spend several years weighing a mission's science objectives against a vehicle's engineering constraints, to identify sites that are both scientifically interesting and safe to land on.
Astronomy/Space Science
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New infrared telescope first to monitor entire northern sky
A new infrared telescope designed and built by astronomers at ANU and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the US will be the first of its kind to monitor the entire northern sky in search of new cosmic events. The agile robotic telescope, called Gattini-IR, will scan the northern sky once every night, from the Palomar Observatory in southern California, allowing astronomers to observe and study fast-changing transient and variable events with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
A new infrared telescope designed and built by astronomers at ANU and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the US will be the first of its kind to monitor the entire northern sky in search of new cosmic events. The agile robotic telescope, called Gattini-IR, will scan the northern sky once every night, from the Palomar Observatory in southern California, allowing astronomers to observe and study fast-changing transient and variable events with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
Researchers have identified a young star with four Jupiter and Saturn-sized planets in orbit around it, the first time that so many massive planets have been detected in such a young system.
The Stuff that Planets Are Made of
Is there a second Earth out there in space? Our knowledge of planetary systems far, far away is increasing constantly, as new technologies continue to sharpen our gaze into space. To date, 3,700 planets have already been discovered outside our solar system. The planetary masses and radii of these exoplanets can be used to infer their mean density, but not their exact chemical composition and structure.
Is there a second Earth out there in space? Our knowledge of planetary systems far, far away is increasing constantly, as new technologies continue to sharpen our gaze into space. To date, 3,700 planets have already been discovered outside our solar system. The planetary masses and radii of these exoplanets can be used to infer their mean density, but not their exact chemical composition and structure.
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is unique among all moons in our solar system for its dense and nitrogen-rich atmosphere that also contains hydrocarbons and other compounds, and the story behind the formation of this rich chemical mix has been the source of some scientific debate.
A new conjecture causes excitement in the string theory community. Timm Wrase of the Vienna University of Technology has now published much-discussed results on recent new developments. In string theory, a paradigm shift could be imminent. In June, a team of string theorists from Harvard and Caltech published a conjecture which sounded revolutionary: String theory is said to be fundamentally incompatible with our current understanding of "dark energy" - but only with "dark energy" can we explain the accelerated expansion of our current universe.
EPFL astrophysicists actively participated in the discovery of a very rare star, which is particularly old and metal-poor. As a messenger from the distant past, it will allow the scientists to learn more about the young Universe, right after the Big Bang. "We made a major discovery, which questions our understanding of the formation of the first generations of stars in the universe".
A location often earmarked as a potential habitat for extra-terrestrial life could prove to be a tricky place for spacecraft to land, new research has revealed. A team led by scientists from Cardiff University has predicted that fields of sharp ice growing to almost 15 metres tall could be scattered across the equatorial regions of Jupiter's moon, Europa.
World’s largest neutrino detector brings scientists closer to understanding the universe
International scientists are one step closer to answering the most fundamental question of our existence, ‘why are we here'', as part of a global collaboration involving UCL researchers. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is led by scientists at CERN, Switzerland and Fermilab, USA, and is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of neutrinos, the most abundant and most mysterious matter particles in the universe.
International scientists are one step closer to answering the most fundamental question of our existence, ‘why are we here'', as part of a global collaboration involving UCL researchers. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is led by scientists at CERN, Switzerland and Fermilab, USA, and is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of neutrinos, the most abundant and most mysterious matter particles in the universe.
Astrophysicists calculate the impact probability and crater size of impacts due to minor bodies The astrophysicists Mattia Galiazzo and Rudolf Dvorak from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with Elizabeth A. Silber (Brown University, USA) investigated the long-term path development of Centaurs (solar system minor bodies which originally have orbits between Jupiter and Neptune).
Some of the last data from the Cassini mission reveals more structure in Saturn's magnetic field, but still no answer as to how it formed. NASA's Cassini mission - with Imperial kit on board - took a series of daring dives between the planet and its inmost ring in September 2017 before burning up in the planet's atmosphere.
Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to print (Opens in new window) Astronomers typically study objects that are visible night after night or explode suddenly, like supernovas, but Casey Law is scouring vast amounts of data in search of bright objects that disappear, never to be seen again.
The team's observations strongly suggest that particle collisions at the ends of the microquasar's jets produced the powerful gamma rays. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory, located 13,500 feet above sea level on the slopes of Mexico's Volcán Sierra Negra. What's amazing about this discovery is that all current particle acceleration theories have difficulties explaining the observations.
Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to print (Opens in new window) For one brief shining moment after the 2015 detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes, astronomers held out hope that the universe's mysterious dark matter might consist of a plenitude of black holes sprinkled throughout the universe.
An EPFL scientist has developed a novel approach that boosts the chances of finding extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy. His method uses probability theory to calculate the possibility of detecting an extraterrestrial signal (if there is one) at a given distance from Earth.
ESA ESA Science Gaia 2 October 2018 A team of astronomers using the latest set of data from ESA's Gaia mission to look for high-velocity stars being kicked out of the Milky Way were surprised to find stars instead sprinting inwards - perhaps from another galaxy. In April, ESA's stellar surveyor Gaia released an unprecedented catalogue of more than one billion stars.
Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey Maps Dark Matter in the Universe
Three-dimensional picture of the distribution of matter in the universe. Courtesy of the HSC Survey An international group of researchers, including Carnegie Mellon University's Rachel Mandelbaum, has released the deepest wide field map of the three-dimensional distribution of matter in the universe ever made, and increased the precision of constraints for dark energy with the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey (HSC).
Three-dimensional picture of the distribution of matter in the universe. Courtesy of the HSC Survey An international group of researchers, including Carnegie Mellon University's Rachel Mandelbaum, has released the deepest wide field map of the three-dimensional distribution of matter in the universe ever made, and increased the precision of constraints for dark energy with the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey (HSC).
Scientists and engineers are using a unique centrifuge facility to evaluate a flight-ready telemetry system for evaluating a nuclear weapons test missile launch. The centrifuge is of course the most dramatic, it's fast, it's loud, it's visually interesting. To see the centrifuge in operation gives you much more a sense of the stresses that are seen throughout flight.
It may sound futuristic, but researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) and Tohoku University in Japan have found a new way of dealing with space junk - and it involves a new type of satellite powered by superheated gas. Space debris orbiting the earth has become a major problem in recent decades.
– by Christina Procopiou Scientists investigating how human-induced increases in atmospheric methane also increase the amount of solar energy absorbed by that gas in our climate system have discovered that this absorption is 10 times stronger over desert regions such as the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula than elsewhere on Earth, and nearly three times more powerful in the presence of clouds.
Program users can tinker with landing and path planning scenarios to identify optimal landing sites for Mars rovers. Selecting a landing site for a rover headed to Mars is a lengthy process that normally involves large committees of scientists and engineers. These committees typically spend several years weighing a mission's science objectives against a vehicle's engineering constraints, to identify sites that are both scientifically interesting and safe to land on.
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