Exoplanet surveys have discovered the first planets with sizes between 2 and 3.5 Earth radii—slightly smaller than the size of the planet Neptune in our solar system. These planets, dubbed "mini-Neptunes," have been spotted ...
Astronomy
Jan 19, 2015
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One of the major problems in astronomy is measuring very large distances in the universe. The current most common methods measure relative distances, but now research from the Niels Bohr Institute demonstrates that precise ...
Astronomy
Nov 26, 2014
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(Phys.org) —The Sun is more spirited than previously thought. Apart from the solar eruptions, huge bursts of particles and radiation from the outer atmosphere of our star, also the cooler layer right below can be the site ...
Space Exploration
Oct 20, 2014
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Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich researchers have discovered a further function of the base-pairing that holds the two strands of the DNA double helix together: it plays a crucial role in protecting the DNA from the ...
Biochemistry
Sep 19, 2014
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Scientists who sequenced the genome of the Antarctic midge suspect the genome's small size – the smallest in insects described to date – can probably be explained by the midge's adaptation to its extreme living environment.
Biotechnology
Aug 12, 2014
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A team of researchers in the U.S. and Germany has measured the highest level of ultraviolet radiation ever recorded on the Earth's surface. The extraordinary UV fluxes, observed in the Bolivian Andes only 1,500 miles from ...
Environment
Jul 8, 2014
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Cosmic impacts are known to trigger mass extinctions on Earth. However, a new study adds to evidence that asteroid and cometary bombardment can also shelter life by generating pores in rocks that shelter microbes from damaging ...
Space Exploration
Jun 19, 2014
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(Phys.org) —A bright blue tadpole appears to swim through the inky blackness of space. Known as IRAS 20324+4057 but dubbed "the Tadpole", this clump of gas and dust has given birth to a bright protostar, one of the earliest ...
Astronomy
Apr 14, 2014
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An international group of astrophysicists has found evidence strongly supporting a solution to a long-standing puzzle about the birth of some of the most massive stars in the universe.
Astronomy
Jan 27, 2014
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At a cosmologically crisp one degree Kelvin (minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit), the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest known object in the Universe – colder, in fact, than the faint afterglow of the Big Bang, which is the natural ...
Astronomy
Oct 24, 2013
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