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News tagged with sand

Ice sheet melt identified as trigger of Big Freeze

The main cause of a rapid global cooling period, known as the Big Freeze or Younger Dryas - which occurred nearly 13,000 years ago - has been identified thanks to the help of an academic at the University of Sheffield.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Mar 31, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (28) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

New process cleanly extracts oil from tar sands and fouled beaches

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new, more environmentally friendly method of separating oil from tar sands has been developed by a team of researchers at Penn State. This method, which utilizes ionic liquids to separate ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 18, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (24) | comments 48 | with audio podcast

'Super sand' for better purification of drinking water (Update)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have developed a way to transform ordinary sand -- a mainstay filter material used to purify drinking water throughout the world -- into a "super sand" with five times the filtering ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jun 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (20) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Scientists Investigate Cause of 'Singing Dunes'

(PhysOrg.com) -- In more than 30 locations around the world, the phenomenon of singing sand dunes has intrigued explorers, tourists, and scientists. When an avalanche occurs or even when the sand is pushed ...

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (22) | comments 7 feature

Oil sands digger uncovers dinosaur

A heavy equipment operator unearthed what appears to be a nearly complete plesiosaur while digging in Canada's oil sands, Syncrude announced Thursday.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Nov 24, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (21) | comments 47

Earth's oldest fossils boost hopes for life on Mars

(PhysOrg.com) -- Microfossils found in Australia show that more than 3.4 billion years ago, bacteria thrived on an Earth that had no oxygen, a finding that boosts hopes life has existed on Mars, a study published ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Aug 21, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 11

Putting an airplane on a distant moon

(PhysOrg.com) -- In addition to its rivers, oceans, mountains, sand dunes and winds, Saturn’s moon Titan may someday share another similarity with Earth: airplanes.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 24 | with audio podcast

Self-sculpting sand could allow spontaneous formation of new tools, duplication of broken mechanical parts

Imagine that you have a big box of sand in which you bury a tiny model of a footstool. A few seconds later, you reach into the box and pull out a full-size footstool: The sand has assembled itself into a large-scale ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (15) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Sand Flea robot is set to leap into reconnaissance (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Boston Dynamics’ video gallery of troop-supporting robots that trek and haul loads has a new addition that is drawing a sea of impressed viewers. It’s the Sand Flea Robot, an eleven-pound ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Mar 29, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 12 | with audio podcast report

Winds of change strike Mars, too

Mysterious dark sand dunes around Mars' northern polar cap are shifting with the seasons, as carbon dioxide gas changes form and sparks landscape-altering avalanches, said a study published Thursday.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Feb 03, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

NASA ends effort to free rover from Martian sand

(PhysOrg.com) -- After six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit no longer will be a fully mobile robot. NASA has designated the once-roving scientific ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 26, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Study Reveals Small Lizard Tucks Legs and Swims Like a Snake Through Desert Sand (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study published in the July 17 issue of the journal Science details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorou ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jul 16, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 0

Geologists discover new class of landform -- on Mars

(PhysOrg.com) -- An odd, previously unseen landform could provide a window into the geological history of Mars, according to new research by University of Washington geologists.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 47 | with audio podcast

Hydrophobic Sand Could Combat Desert Water Shortages

(PhysOrg.com) -- Water scarcity is a major problem for people living in desert areas, including much of the Middle East and Africa. According to the United Nations, more than 1.6 million people die every year ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Feb 16, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (13) | comments 12 weblog

NASA hangs up on silent Mars rover Spirit (Update)

Shortly after midnight, NASA sent one last plea to the rover Spirit, mired in a sand trap on the surface of Mars.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 24, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 2