Jewelers abhor diamond impurities, but they are a bonanza for scientists. Safely encased in the super-hard diamond, impurities are unaltered, ancient minerals that can tell the story of Earth's distant past. Researchers analyzed ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 21, 2011
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On March 18, 2011, the MESSENGER spacecraft entered orbit around Mercury to become that planet's first orbiter. The spacecraft's instruments are making a complete reconnaissance of the planet's geochemistry, geophysics, geologic ...
Space Exploration
Jun 16, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Carbonaceous chondrites are a type of organic-rich meteorite that contain samples of the materials that took part in the creation of our planets nearly 4.6 billion years ago, including materials that were ...
Space Exploration
Jun 9, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Analysis of data from MESSENGER's third and final flyby of Mercury in September 2009 has revealed evidence of younger volcanism on the innermost planet than previously recognized, new information about magnetic ...
Space Exploration
Jul 15, 2010
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Tiny variations in the isotopic composition of silver in meteorites and Earth rocks are helping scientists put together a timetable of how our planet was assembled beginning 4.568 billion years ago. The new study, published ...
Earth Sciences
May 13, 2010
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Hawaii may be paradise for vacationers, but for geologists it has long been a puzzle. Plate tectonic theory readily explains the existence of volcanoes at boundaries where plates split apart or collide, but ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 3, 2009
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The MESSENGER spacecraft's third flyby of the planet Mercury has given scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and revealed some dramatic changes in Mercury's comet-like tail.
Space Exploration
Nov 4, 2009
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On August 12, 2023, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft passes between the sun and Earth, marking the first Earth flyby of the nearly 17-year-old mission. The visit home brings a special chance for the spacecraft to collaborate with ...
Space Exploration
Aug 11, 2023
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(Phys.org)—John Chambers, a planetary scientist with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at Carnegie Institution has suggested a new theory regarding the formation of gas giant planets. In his paper uploaded to the ...
On August 20, 2013 at 4:24 am EDT, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon which can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later. ...
Space Exploration
Aug 20, 2013
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