http://phys.org/space-news/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on earth science, astronomy and space exploration. A new military communications satellite has been launched into space. http://phys.org/news288683838.html Space & Earth Sat, 25 May 2013 07:20:01 EST news288683838 (Phys.org) —Computer simulations of galaxies growing over billions of years have revealed a likely scenario for how they feed: a cosmic version of swirly straws. http://phys.org/news288633109.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 16:51:58 EST news288633109 It's 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby. http://phys.org/news288618087.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 12:41:34 EST news288618087 The majority of people on Earth people will face severe water shortages within a generation or two if pollution and waste continues unabated, scientists warned at a conference in Bonn Friday. http://phys.org/news288607054.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 09:37:40 EST news288607054 (Phys.org) —How much light has been emitted by all galaxies since the cosmos began? After all, every photon (particle of light) from ultraviolet to far infrared wavelengths ever radiated by all galaxies that ever existed throughout cosmic history is still speeding through the Universe today. If we could carefully measure the number and energy (wavelength) of all those photons—not only at the present time, but also back in time—we might learn important secrets about the nature and evolution of the Universe, including how similar or different ancient galaxies were compared to the galaxies we see today. http://phys.org/news288606568.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 09:29:39 EST news288606568 Astronomers from the University of Antioquia have discovered a graveyard of comets. These once-dormant comets, dubbed by astronomers as "The Lazarus comets," are now rejuvenated. http://phys.org/news288606301.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 09:25:18 EST news288606301 (Phys.org) —A trio of German space scientists has worked out a way to use pulsars as navigation aids for space vehicles traveling in the solar system. As they describe in their paper uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, the method relies on reading information from at least three pulsars to triangulate location information. http://phys.org/news288605634.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 09:14:07 EST news288605634 The International Space Station is one of the most complicated machines ever built and the largest object ever assembled in space. http://phys.org/news288603084.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 09:10:03 EST news288603084 A new satellite map from Google and Digital Globe shows just-released satellite imagery of the damage from the tornado that struck the area of Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013. It's been called one of the most powerful and destructive tornadoes ever recorded—determined to be an EF5 tornado, the strongest rating for a tornado—and the destruction is heartbreaking. In the screenshot above, you can see how some houses were left undamaged, while others were completely destroyed. http://phys.org/news288603055.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 08:50:03 EST news288603055 (Phys.org) —Three NASA-built instruments that are integral components of the next in a series of U.S./European ocean altimetry satellites have arrived in France for integration with their spacecraft in preparation for a 2015 launch. Jason-3 will extend the two-decade series of satellites that are tracking global sea level changes and enabling more accurate weather, ocean and climate forecasts. http://phys.org/news288603579.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 08:39:46 EST news288603579 This morning at 05:45 CEST, the earth trembled beneath the Okhotsk Sea in the Pacific Northwest. The quake, with a magnitude of 8.2, took place at an exceptional depth of 605 kilometers. Because of the great depth of the earthquake a tsunami is not expected and there should also be no major damage due to shaking. http://phys.org/news288603110.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 08:31:58 EST news288603110 The mine of the future is coming. It will be digital, more constrained, and it will require a greater investment in leading edge technology. http://phys.org/news288601728.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 08:30:03 EST news288601728 Leonardo DiCaprio is going to get closer to stars of a different kind as he heads into space aboard the Virgin Galactic, and a well-heeled bidder at the Cannes Film Festival has paid 1.2 million euros (1.5 million) to be his travel buddy. http://phys.org/news288602924.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 08:28:52 EST news288602924 Nearly all of the member countries of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) will attend the week-long workshop to further cooperation and understanding on international ocean forecasting capabilities and needs in the Indian Ocean. Australia's ocean forecasting system, BLUElink which is used to predict sub-surface ocean conditions for environmental and industrial applications, will be a guide for the meeting. http://phys.org/news288601446.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 08:20:03 EST news288601446 (Phys.org) —Super-high-energy galactic gamma rays have trillions of times more energy than visible light, and they disappear in the atmosphere before they hit the Earth's surface. So if you want to detect these mysterious phenomena, a regular telescope isn't much help. http://phys.org/news288600335.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 May 2013 08:00:02 EST news288600335 Slovenian adventurer Matevz Lenarcic landed on Thursday in Western France after having overflown the North Pole in an ultra-light plane equipped to measure air pollution. http://phys.org/news288556709.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 19:38:37 EST news288556709 (Phys.org) —The Ring Nebula's distinctive shape makes it a popular illustration for astronomy books. But new observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the glowing gas shroud around an old, dying, sun-like star reveal a new twist. http://phys.org/news288544021.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 16:30:01 EST news288544021 The United States is gearing up for more Atlantic hurricanes than usual this year, triggered by warmer water temperatures than average, US forecasters said Thursday. http://phys.org/news288543252.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 16:10:03 EST news288543252 Surrounded by engineers, NASA chief Charles Bolden inspected a prototype spacecraft engine that could power an audacious mission to lasso an asteroid and tow it closer to Earth for astronauts to explore. http://phys.org/news288543513.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 15:59:07 EST news288543513 A tiny Ecuadoran satellite that collided in space with the remains of a Soviet rocket survived the crash, but was damaged and is not transmitting, Quito's space agency said Thursday. http://phys.org/news288543358.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 15:56:05 EST news288543358 More than 13,000 ships per year, carrying more than 284 million tons of cargo, transit the Panama Canal each year, generating roughly $1.8 billion dollars in toll fees for the Panama Canal Authority. Each time a ship passes through, more than 55 million gallons of water are used from Gatun Lake, which is also a source of water for the 2 million people living in the isthmus. http://phys.org/news288539345.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 15:00:02 EST news288539345 From Virginia to Florida, there is a prehistoric shoreline that, in some parts, rests more than 280 feet above modern sea level. The shoreline was carved by waves more than 3 million years ago—possible evidence of a once higher sea level, triggered by ice-sheet melting. But new findings by a team of researchers, including Robert Moucha, assistant professor of Earth Sciences in Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences, reveal that the shoreline has been uplifted by more than 210 feet, meaning less ice melted than expected. http://phys.org/news288539123.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 14:45:32 EST news288539123 (Phys.org) —Sometimes astronomy is like real estate—what's important is location, location, and location. Astronomers have resolved a major problem in their understanding of a class of stars that undergo regular outbursts by accurately measuring the distance to a famous example of the type. http://phys.org/news288536253.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 14:00:11 EST news288536253 (Phys.org) —Magnetars – the dense remains of dead stars that erupt sporadically with bursts of high-energy radiation - are some of the most extreme objects known in the Universe. A major campaign using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and several other satellites shows magnetars may be more diverse - and common - than previously thought. http://phys.org/news288528840.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 11:54:07 EST news288528840 Russia has ordered the urgent evacuation of the 16-strong crew of a drifting Arctic research station after ice floe that hosts the floating laboratory began to disintegrate, officials said Thursday. http://phys.org/news288525749.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 11:02:35 EST news288525749 (Phys.org) —Fortified with new evidence of particles' true disposition, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a multi-dimensional modeling framework that predicts their formation and evolution in the atmosphere. Instead of treating secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), created by a mix of natural and human-caused emissions, as liquid-like volatile solutions as has traditionally been done, they modeled them as non-volatile semi-solids. The study is an important step in improving SOA modeling representations based on recent experimental findings of evaporation rates, diffusivity, and viscosity. http://phys.org/news288516596.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 09:20:04 EST news288516596 (Phys.org) —Ocean measurements taken more than 135 years ago during the scientific expedition of HMS Challenger have provided further confirmation of human-produced global warming over the past century. http://phys.org/news288516901.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 09:10:06 EST news288516901 A recently completed study of water supplies on Pennsylvania dairy farms found that about a quarter of those tested had at least one water-quality issue. And average milk production for these farms was about 10 percent lower than farms with good water quality. http://phys.org/news288516424.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 08:50:01 EST news288516424 (Phys.org) —Hurricane Sandy caught the public and policymakers off guard when it hit the United States' Atlantic Coast last fall. Because much of the storm's devastation was wrought by flooding in the aftermath, researchers have been paying attention to how climate change and sea-level rise may have played a role in the disaster and how those factors may impact the shoreline in the future. http://phys.org/news288514578.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 08:40:06 EST news288514578 (Phys.org) —The temperature in the permafrost on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic is nearly as cold as that of the surface of Mars. So the recent discovery by a McGill University led team of scientists of a bacterium that is able to thrive at –15ºC, the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial growth, is exciting. The bacterium offers clues about some of the necessary preconditions for microbial life on both the Saturn moon Enceladus and Mars, where similar briny subzero conditions are thought to exist. http://phys.org/news288516227.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 May 2013 08:40:05 EST news288516227