science wire

The first prototype of a new, ultra-compact motor that will allow small satellites to journey beyond Earth's orbit is just making its way out of the EPFL laboratories where it was built.

The proliferation of debris orbiting the Earth - primarily jettisoned rocket and satellite components - is an increasingly pressing problem for spacecraft, and it can generate huge costs.

Los Alamos trackers will use state-of-the-art technology to mark the course taken by St. Nick and his eight tiny and highly efficient reindeer.

A new tool to calculate the orientation of a satellite with respect to the Earth, developed by EPFL students, will be on board a European Space Agency rocket scheduled to launch in March 2012.

Called the Christmas Burst, GRB 101225A was freakishly lengthy and it produced radiation at unusually varying wavelengths. Old model, new data: A match made in the heavens LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, December 1, 2011—A strangely powerful, long-lasting gamma-ray burst on Christmas Day, 2010 has finally been analyzed to the satisfaction of a multinational research team.

The robust ChemCam system is one of 10 instruments mounted on the mission's rover vehicle, named Curiosity.

From October 24-26, 2011, a group of 15 comet researchers from Germany, France, Finland and Austria met at the Institute of Chemical Engineering, TU Vienna.

Since 1995, scientists have discovered approximately 600 planets around other stars, including 50 planets last month alone , and one that orbits two stars , like Tatooine in Star Wars . Detection of the first Earthlike planet remains elusive, however, and now the University of Chicago joins the search with the addition of Jacob Bean and Daniel Fabrycky to the faculty.

LHC Experiments Present New Results at Quark Matter 2011 Conference Geneva, 23 May 2011. The three LHC experiments that study lead ion collisions all presented their latest results today at the annual Quark Matter conference, held this year in Annecy, France. The results are based on analysis of data collected during the last two weeks of the 2010 LHC run, when the LHC switched from protons to lead-ions.

Update 16 May 2011: Shuttle Endeavour launched successfully at 14:56 CEST Update 10 May 2011: Shuttle launch delayed - launch now planned 16 May 2011.

bekam Dr.h.c. Harald Schuh, Vorstand des Instituts für Geodäsie und Geophysik der Technischen Universität Wien, die Vening Meinesz Medaille 2011 der European Geosciences Union (EGU) überreicht.

The Vening Meinesz Medal was awarded to Harald Schuh for his work in the field of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and his important contribution to space geodetic research.

The Laboratory will be represented in more than 20 papers to be given at the 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston. Los Alamos National Laboratory staff speak on technologies for planetary exploration and analysis LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, March 8, 2011—This week Los Alamos National Laboratory will be represented in more than 20 papers to be given at the 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.

Los Alamos trackers will use state-of-the-art technology to mark the course taken by Old St. Nick and his reindeer.

Curiosity will carry the newly delivered laser instrument to reveal which elements are present in Mars' rocks and soils.

AMS experiment takes off for Kennedy Space Center Geneva, 18 August 2010 . The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), an experiment that will search for antimatter and dark matter in space, leaves CERN 1 next Tuesday on the next leg of its journey to the International Space Station. The AMS detector 2 is being transported from CERN to Geneva International Airport in preparation for its planned departure from Switzerland on 26 August, when it will be flown to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on board a US Air Force Galaxy transport aircraft.

Researchers are planning a laser tool that will rapidly measure the surface, and beneath the surface, of the planet whose hostile environment will likely destroy the lander after a few hours of operation.

Researchers announced the first direct observation of a tau particle in a muon neutrino beam sent through the Earth from CERN, 730km away. This is a significant result, providing the final missing piece of a puzzle that has been challenging science since the 1960s, and giving tantalizing hints of new physics to come.

Lyndon Evans of CERN will talk about the most complex scientific instrument ever built-the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Geneva, 12 February 2010. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) left CERN 1 this morning on the first leg of its journey to the International Space Station (ISS). A special convoy carrying the experiment is due to arrive at the European Space Agency's research and technology centre, ESTEC, at Noordwijk in the Netherlands in six days time.

Zurich - University of Zurich Die Universität Zürich und die Schweizer Luftwaffe haben ein weltweit einzigartiges Forschungsvorhaben in der Weltraummedizin gestartet.

Zurich - University of Zurich Das Geographische Institut der Universität Zürich stellt nach dem Erdbeben in Haiti der Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit Satellitenkarten zur Verfügung.

Zurich - University of Zurich Seit bald zwanzig Jahren versuchen Wissenschaftler den Widerspruch im Modell der kalten Dunklen Materie - die so genannte «kalte-Dunkle-Materie-Katastrophe» - aufzulösen.

Los Alamos scientists will use two advanced science satellites to mark the course taken by the elfin traveler.

Scientists use supercomputer to model a fundamental process in physics that could help explain how stars begin to explode into supernovae. Los Alamos, New Mexico, November 16, 2009 — Despite decades of research, understanding turbulence, the seemingly random motion of fluid flows, remains one of the major unsolved problems in physics.

Antoinette "Toni" Taylor, Stephen Becker, Joachim Birn, Lowell Brown, Patrick Colestock, and Samuel "Tom" Picraux have been designated 2009 LANL Fellows.

The model aims to look at galaxy-scale mass concentrations above and beyond quantities seen in state-of-the-art sky surveys.

The mysterious 1908 Tunguska explosion that leveled 830 square miles of Siberian forest was almost certainly caused by a comet entering Earth's atmosphere, says new Cornell research.

The mission will not only be able to search for planets around other stars, but also yield new insights into the parent stars themselves. NASA Kepler spacecraft set to launch today LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, March 6, 2009—The Kepler space telescope is set to launch today from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at about 8:50 p.m. MST, and a group of scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory will be watching with keen interest.