Goddard instrument makes first detection of organic matter on Mars
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 17, 2014 -
The team responsible for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on NASA's Curiosity rover has made the first definitive detection of organic molecules at Mars. Organic molecules are the building blocks of all known forms of terrestrial life, and consist of a wide variety of molecules made primarily of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms.
However, organic molecules can also be ma ...
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Heavy snow kills 5, disrupts travel in Japan
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 18, 2014 -
At least five people have died in heavy snow that has blanketed swathes of Japan, reports said Thursday, with more than two metres (6ft 7ins) lying in some places and more forecast.
Two elderly women were killed on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Kyodo News reported, with one hit by a snow-plough and another buried when a warehouse collapsed under the weight of fallen snow.
Two men, ...
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Scientists befuddled by rock containing 30,000 diamonds
San Francisco (UPI) Dec 18, 2014 -
Scientists aren't sure how a small rock packed with more than 30,000 tiny diamonds came to be. The chunk of diamond ore was discovered in Russia's massive Udachnaya diamond mine. Because the diamonds are minuscule, they're worth little, so the mining company donated the rock to science.
Researchers in Russia and the United States have studied the rock and remain befuddled. The average p ...
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550 Million Year Old Fossils Provide New Clues about Fossil Formation
Columbia MO (SPX) Dec 19, 2014 -
A new study from University of Missouri and Virginia Tech researchers is challenging accepted ideas about how ancient soft-bodied organisms become part of the fossil record. Findings suggest that bacteria involved in the decay of those organisms play an active role in how fossils are formed-often in a matter of just a few tens to hundreds of years.
Understanding the relationship between de ...
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The Greenland Ice Sheet: Now in HD
San Francisco CA (SPX) Dec 19, 2014 -
The Greenland Ice Sheet is ready for its close-up. The highest-resolution satellite images ever taken of that region are making their debut. And while each individual pixel represents only one moment in time, taken together they show the ice sheet as a kind of living body--flowing, crumbling and melting out to sea.
The Ohio State University has partnered with the Polar Geospatial Center at ...
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Improving forecasts for rain-on-snow flooding
Seattle WA (SPX) Dec 19, 2014 -
Many of the worst West Coast winter floods pack a double punch. Heavy rains and melting snow wash down the mountains together to breach riverbanks, wash out roads and flood buildings. These events are unpredictable and difficult to forecast. Yet they will become more common as the planet warms and more winter precipitation falls as rain rather than snow.
University of Washington mountain h ...
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Hidden Movements of Greenland Ice Sheet, Runoff Revealed
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 19, 2014 -
For years NASA has tracked changes in the massive Greenland Ice Sheet. This week scientists using NASA data released the most detailed picture ever of how the ice sheet moves toward the sea and new insights into the hidden plumbing of melt water flowing under the snowy surface.
The results of these studies are expected to improve predictions of the future of the entire Greenland ice sheet ...
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