http://phys.org/space-news/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on earth science, astronomy and space exploration. Across the vast Pacific, the mighty bluefin tuna carried radioactive contamination that leaked from Japan's crippled nuclear plant to the shores of the United States 6,000 miles away - the first time a huge migrating fish has been shown to carry radioactivity such a distance. http://phys.org/news257444960.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 17:29:30 EST news257444960 A new study combining the latest archaeological evidence with state-of-the-art geoscience technologies provides evidence that climate change was a key ingredient in the collapse of the great Indus or Harappan Civilization almost 4000 years ago. The study also resolves a long-standing debate over the source and fate of the Sarasvati, the sacred river of Hindu mythology. http://phys.org/news257415019.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 15:00:22 EST news257415019 The nation's food supply may be vulnerable to rapid groundwater depletion from irrigated agriculture, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere. http://phys.org/news257415092.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 15:00:09 EST news257415092 The heaviest polar ice in more than a decade could postpone the start of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean until the beginning of August, a delay of up to two weeks, Shell Alaska officials said. http://phys.org/news257414409.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 12:00:09 EST news257414409 An Ariane 5 solid-propellant booster was test-fired yesterday at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to help improve the reliability of Europe’s heavy launcher. http://phys.org/news257413460.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 10:00:01 EST news257413460 (Phys.org) -- The Whitewater-Baldy Complex fires burning and rugged terrain in the Gila National Forest in western New Mexico have been generating a lot of smoke. The smoke has now been swept up by a cold front pushing through the central U.S. and has swept it over at least six states, as seen in a NASA satellite image. http://phys.org/news257413393.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 09:40:01 EST news257413393 (Phys.org) -- What’s in a name? Quite a bit in climate science, where the term teleconnection refers not to digital communications, but rather to a recurring and persistent large-scale pattern of pressure and circulation anomalies that spans vast geographical areas. Recently, environmental researchers at Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies reframed the discussion around the linkages between land changes and underlying urbanization dynamics by introducing urban land teleconnections as a conceptual framework for studying the multivariate nature of these processes in an integrated and productive manner. http://phys.org/news257409175.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 09:20:01 EST news257409175 (Phys.org) -- Astronomers used to think that star formation simply involved the gradual coalescence of material under the influence of gravity. No longer. Making a new star is a complex process, among other things assembling a circumstellar disk (possibly preplanetary in nature) and at the same time ejecting material as bipolar jets perpendicular to those disks. These outflows help the young star balance its growth as new material accretes, but at the same time they disrupt the environment. Although jets from young stars have been known for over twenty years, their influences on the environment have remained uncertain, in part because the dusty natal clouds in which stars form obscure optical light. http://phys.org/news257412917.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 09:10:02 EST news257412917 (Phys.org) -- Testing of the next-generation J-2X rocket engine continues to set standards. Last fall, the engine attained 100 percent power in just its fourth test and became the fastest U.S. rocket engine to achieve a full-flight duration test, hitting that 500-second mark in its eighth test. On, May 25, NASA recorded another first during a 40-second test of the engine on the A-2 Test Stand at John C. Stennis Space Center. For the first time, test conductors fired the J-2X in both the secondary and primary modes of operation, 20 seconds in each. Previous tests were run in one mode only; combining the two allowed operators to collect critical data on engine performance. http://phys.org/news257413253.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 09:10:01 EST news257413253 In the hunt for cancer treatments, researchers have had some help from higher authorities -- way higher. The International Space Station, orbiting the Earth at more than 200 miles in the sky, houses scientific experiments that have led to advances in several medical fields. http://phys.org/news257413221.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 09:00:01 EST news257413221 (Phys.org) -- A University of California, Davis, geologist is appealing for public help in tracking down pieces of the meteorite that blew up over El Dorado County on April 22. http://phys.org/news257412605.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 08:32:40 EST news257412605 Kazakhstan, which hosts Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome, is blocking three upcoming Russian satellite launches because of a dispute over the drop zone for rocket debris, reports said on Monday. http://phys.org/news257409346.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 07:35:57 EST news257409346 The devastation of Black Saturday bushfires gave researchers an unparalleled opportunity to come up with bushfire answers. http://phys.org/news257408181.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 07:16:29 EST news257408181 The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a concept that's been slowly growing and evolving since 1991. But recently this ambitious project took a giant leap towards reality with the announcement of a SKA site decision. http://phys.org/news257408025.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 07:13:55 EST news257408025 (Phys.org) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the spiral galaxy known as ESO 498-G5. One interesting feature of this galaxy is that its spiral arms wind all the way into the center, so that ESO 498-G5's core looks like a bit like a miniature spiral galaxy. This sort of structure is in contrast to the elliptical star-filled centers (or bulges) of many other spiral galaxies, which instead appear as glowing masses. http://phys.org/news257407302.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 07:02:20 EST news257407302 (Phys.org) -- Marine and terrestrial species will likely differ in their responses to climate warming, new research by Simon Fraser University and Australia’s University of Tasmania has found. http://phys.org/news257348253.html Space & Earth Sun, 27 May 2012 14:38:28 EST news257348253 Are members of the public divided about climate change because they don't understand the science behind it? If Americans knew more basic science and were more proficient in technical reasoning, would public consensus match scientific consensus? http://phys.org/news257318674.html Space & Earth Sun, 27 May 2012 13:01:36 EST news257318674 (Phys.org) -- It took some 10 million years for Earth to recover from the greatest mass extinction of all time, latest research has revealed. http://phys.org/news257320509.html Space & Earth Sun, 27 May 2012 13:00:06 EST news257320509 Astronomers are gearing for one the rarest events in the Solar System: an alignment of Earth, Venus and the Sun that will not be seen for another 105 years. http://phys.org/news257238908.html Space & Earth Sat, 26 May 2012 08:15:31 EST news257238908 SpaceX's Dragon cargo vessel smells like a new car, said astronauts at the International Space Station after opening the hatches Saturday following the spacecraft's landmark mission to the orbiting lab. http://phys.org/news257238786.html Space & Earth Sat, 26 May 2012 08:13:14 EST news257238786 Australia has hailed a surprise decision giving it a role in a radio telescope project aimed at revolutionising astronomy, vowing to draw on its decades of experience in space science. http://phys.org/news257238748.html Space & Earth Sat, 26 May 2012 08:12:38 EST news257238748 (AP) -- Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon on Saturday, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship. http://phys.org/news257238602.html Space & Earth Sat, 26 May 2012 08:11:00 EST news257238602 The private company SpaceX made history Friday with the docking of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, the most impressive feat yet in turning routine spaceflight over to the commercial sector. http://phys.org/news257185482.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 17:24:49 EST news257185482 NASA satellites are providing rainfall, temperature, pressure, visible and infrared data to forecasters as Hurricane Bud is expected to make a quick landfall in western Mexico this weekend before turning back to sea. NASA's TRMM and Aqua satellites have been flying over Bud as it nears the Mexican coast. http://phys.org/news257176814.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 15:00:21 EST news257176814 Infrared and visible imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite taken on May 25, 2012, showed an impressive Typhoon Sanvu already affecting the islands of Iwo To and Chichi Jima, Japan. The typhoon is expected to run into cooler waters and become extra-tropical over the next several days. http://phys.org/news257176793.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 14:59:57 EST news257176793 Astronauts aboard the International Space Station reached out and caught SpaceX's Dragon capsule for docking at the orbiting lab on Friday in a historic first for commercial spaceflight. http://phys.org/news257166304.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 12:05:10 EST news257166304 South Africa stopped short of expressing disappointment after it failed to win the bid to single-handily host the world's most powerful radio telescope. http://phys.org/news257166045.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 12:01:00 EST news257166045 The privately bankrolled Dragon capsule made a historic arrival at the International Space Station on Friday, triumphantly captured by astronauts wielding a giant robot arm. http://phys.org/news257150720.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 10:02:04 EST news257150720 Alien life probably isn’t interested in having us for dinner, enslaving us or laying eggs in our bellies, according to a recent statement by former SETI director Jill Tarter. http://phys.org/news257155107.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 08:58:44 EST news257155107 A long-running joust to host a radio telescope that would give mankind its farthest peek into the Universe ended on Friday with a Solomon-like judgement to split the site between Australia and South Africa. http://phys.org/news257155017.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 May 2012 08:57:08 EST news257155017