Studies show movements of continents speeding up after slow 'middle age'
Paris (SPX) Jun 19, 2014 -
Two studies show that the movement rate of plates carrying the Earth's crust may not be constant over time. This could provide a new explanation for the patterns observed in the speed of evolution and has implications for the interpretation of climate models. The work was presented at Goldschmidt 2014, the premier geochemistry conference taking place in Sacramento, California, USA.
The Ear ...
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Japan robot firm showcases thought-controlled suits
Kawasaki, Japan (AFP) June 18, 2014 -
A Japanese robot-maker on Wednesday showed off suits that the wearer can control just by thinking, as it said it was linking up with an industrial city promoting innovation.
Cyberdyne founder Yoshiyuki Sankai said he was allying with Kawasaki, a city south of Tokyo, to explore ways to expand real-life applications for his robo-suits, which are often used for physical therapy.
"We want to ...
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Melting and refreezing of deep Greenland ice speeds flow to sea
New York NY (SPX) Jun 19, 2014 -
Beneath the barren whiteness of Greenland, a mysterious world has popped into view. Using ice-penetrating radar, researchers have discovered ragged blocks of ice as tall as city skyscrapers and as wide as the island of Manhattan at the very bottom of the ice sheet, apparently formed as water beneath the ice refreezes and warps the surrounding ice upwards.
The newly revealed forms may help ...
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MIPT Develops Unique Greenhouse Gas Meter
Moscow, Russia (SPX) Jun 19, 2014 -
MIPT's Laboratory for the Spectroscopy of Planetary Atmospheres has come up with a high-resolution meter to gauge the concentration of gases in the atmosphere with unparalleled precision. The infrared spectrum radiometer is described in an article recently published in the journal Optics Express.
The paper, authored by Alexander Rodin, Artem Klimchuk, Alexander Nadezhdinsky, Dmitry Churban ...
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New NASA Space Observatory to Study Carbon Conundrums
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 13, 2014 -
NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to measuring carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere is in final preparations for a July 1 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission will provide a more complete, global picture of the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide, as well as their "sinks," the natural ocean and land processes by ...
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Monitoring climate change from space
Paris (ESA) Jun 16, 2014 -
How do measurements from satellites flying above Earth provide essential information on the effects of climate change on our planet? Scientific and political organisations considered the question in London.
Held at the Royal Society, the 'Space: the new view on climate change' event focused on climate change monitoring by satellites and the achievements of ESA's Climate Change Initiative. ...
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New evidence for oceans of water deep in the Earth
Chicago IL (SPX) Jun 13, 2014 -
Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico report evidence for potentially oceans worth of water deep beneath the United States. Though not in the familiar liquid form - the ingredients for water are bound up in rock deep in the Earth's mantle - the discovery may represent the planet's largest water reservoir.
The presence of liquid water on the surface is ...
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The link between climate change and ocean currents over 6 million years
London, UK (SPX) Jun 13, 2014 -
Scientists have discovered a relationship between climate change and ocean currents over the past six million years after analysing an area of the Atlantic near the Strait of Gibraltar, according to research published Friday, 13 June in the journal Science.
An expedition of scientists, jointly led by Dr Javier Hernandez-Molina, from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway, Unive ...
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Scientists warn of tourism threat to Antarctica
Sydney (AFP) June 18, 2014 -
Antarctic scientists warned Wednesday that a surge in tourists visiting the frozen continent and new roads and runways built to service research facilities were threatening its fragile environment.
Tourist numbers have exploded from less than 5,000 in 1990 to about 40,000 a year, according to industry figures, and most people go to the fragmented ice-free areas that make up less than one per ...
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N. Korea cruise missile fuels proliferation concerns
Seoul (AFP) June 17, 2014 -
North Korea appears to have acquired a sea-based copy of a Russian cruise missile, the latest step in an effort to enhance its maritime strike capability, a US think-tank said Tuesday.
A state propaganda film disseminated on social media sites, including YouTube, provides a very brief glimpse of the missile being launched from a naval vessel.
Writing on the closely watched 38 North websi ...
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Japan PM Abe wants to stage 2020 Robot Olympics
Tokyo (AFP) June 19, 2014 -
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to stage a "Robot Olympics" in 2020, the same year Tokyo hosts the Summer Games, local media reported Thursday.
Abe also revealed plans for a task force to develop Japan's robot industry and to triple the size of the market for the machines to 2.4 trillion yen ($24 billion).
"In 2020 I would like to gather all of the world's robots and aim to hold ...
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NASA Announces Latest Progress in Hunt for Asteroids
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 20, 2014 -
NASA is on the hunt for an asteroid to capture with a robotic spacecraft, redirect to a stable orbit around the moon, and send astronauts to study in the 2020s - all on the agency's human Path to Mars. Agency officials announced on Thursday, June 19, recent progress to identify candidate asteroids for its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), increase public participation in the search for asteroids ...
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Mega-Earth in Draco Smashes Notions of Planetary Formation
Moffet Field CA (NASA) Jun 20, 2014 -
Worlds like this one aren't supposed to exist. In Draco the Dragon-the 8th largest constellation in our sky-there exists asolid planet weighing close to 17 times as much as Earth. This announcement rocked the scientific world. "We were very surprised when we realized what we had found," said Dr. Xavier Dumusque of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), who led the analysis that l ...
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Swarm reveals Earth's changing magnetism
Paris (ESA) Jun 20, 2014 -
The first set of high-resolution results from ESA's three-satellite Swarm constellation reveals the most recent changes in the magnetic field that protects our planet. Launched in November 2013, Swarm is providing unprecedented insights into the complex workings of Earth's magnetic field, which safeguards us from the bombarding cosmic radiation and charged particles.
Measurements made over ...
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NASA's Swift Satellite Tallies Water Production of Mars-bound Comet
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 20, 2014 -
In late May, NASA's Swift satellite imaged comet Siding Spring, which will brush astonishingly close to Mars later this year. These optical and ultraviolet observations are the first to reveal how rapidly the comet is producing water and allow astronomers to better estimate its size.
"Comet Siding Spring is making its first passage through the inner solar system and is experiencing its fir ...
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Swiftly Moving Gas Streamer Eclipses Supermassive Black Hole
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 20, 2014 -
An international team of astronomers, using data from several NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) space observatories, has discovered unexpected behavior from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy NGC 5548, located 244.6 million light-years from Earth. This behavior may provide new insights into how supermassive black holes interact with their host galaxies.
Immediately a ...
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Hubble Finds Dwarf Galaxies Formed Large Share of Universe's Stars
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 20, 2014 -
They may be little, but they pack a big star-forming punch. New observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show small galaxies, also known as dwarf galaxies, are responsible for forming a large proportion of the universe's stars.
Studying this early epoch of the universe's history is critical to fully understanding how these stars formed and how galaxies grew and evolved 3.5 to 6 bill ...
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Opportunity is exploring the west rim of Endeavour Crater
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 20, 2014 -
On Sol 3684 (June 4, 2014), Opportunity drove over 62 feet (19 meters) south along the ridgeline of the crater rim.
Over Sols 3686 to 3688 (June 6 to June 8, 2014), the plan was to perform a 'touch 'n go,' using the robotic arm on the first sol, then driving away on the second sol, but the rover experienced a warm reset induced by a write error in Flash memory.
The rover was otherwis ...
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NASA Invites Comment on Mars 2020 Environmental Impact Statement
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 20, 2014 -
NASA is requesting the public and interested organizations to review and comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the agency's proposed Mars 2020 mission. The comment period runs through July 21.
During the comment period, NASA will host an online public meeting from 10 a.m. to noon PDT (1 to 3 p.m. EDT) Thursday, June 26. ...
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NASA Turns Down the Volume on Rocket Noise
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 20, 2014 -
NASA engineers recently went on an auricle ride as a scale model of the Space Launch System (SLS), including solid rocket motors, was fired - giving an "earful" of information about how low- and high-frequency sound waves will affect the rocket on the launch pad.
When completed, SLS will be capable of taking a crew and cargo on deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually ...
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Chinese putting wind in sails of Greek recovery
Athens (AFP) June 18, 2014 -
Greece rolls out the red carpet Thursday for Premier Li Keqiang as the cash-strapped eurozone nation looks for Chinese investment to put wind in the sails of its recovery.
Li's visit comes just a month after his Greek counterpart, Antonis Samaras, travelled to China to tout his troubled but improving economy as an attractive entry point for Chinese investment into the European Union.
Wit ...
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France unveils ambitious energy bill for greener nation
Paris (AFP) June 18, 2014 -
France on Wednesday unveiled a much-anticipated bill to reduce the country's dependency on nuclear energy and fossil fuels, after months of intense debate over one of the Socialist government's pet projects.
The planned law, presented to the cabinet by energy and environment minister Segolene Royal, seeks to make France a greener country and reduce the nation's energy bill.
The bill is a ...
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Global automakers split on 'green car' strategy
Tokyo (AFP) June 18, 2014 -
Global automakers are locked in a showdown evoking the video format wars of the 1980s, as they bet on what eco-friendly vehicles will prevail in the battle for dominance of the burgeoning low-emissions sector.
In a contest reminiscent of the scrap for pre-eminence in the home video market, which pitched Betamax against VHS, huge auto firms are going all out for very different technologies. ...
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Rival US dailies join to boost digital news efforts
Washington (AFP) June 19, 2014 -
Two arch rival US newspapers, the Washington Post and New York Times, agreed Thursday to work together to find ways to improve interaction with readers online.
With a grant from the Knight Foundation, the publications agreed to work with the group Mozilla "to build a new content and commenting platform that will allow audiences to more deeply engage with media coverage and help news organiza ...
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China's shipping veto changes world competition landscape
Beijing (AFP) June 19, 2014 -
China's veto of an alliance between major Western shipping firms shows its growing heft now extends to crucial global competition regulation - and analysts say it uses the power to protect its own commercial interests.
Beijing's commerce ministry on Tuesday rejected a proposed cooperation agreement involving the world's three largest container operators - all Europe-based - citing a negat ...
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