8+ hour, 47+ min ago  (487+ words) Scientists have long known that fluid inclusions in halite crystals contain samples of the early Earth's atmosphere. But teasing accurate measurements out of those inclusions has proven to be a formidable challenge: they contain both air bubbles and brine, and…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (610+ words) Manann'n's Damh'n Alla geomorphologic map. Image credit: Mc Keown et al., doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ae18a0. "This spider-like feature might have formed through the eruption of melted brines following the Manann'n impact," said Dr. Elodie Lesage, a researcher at the Planetary Science Insititute....

2+ mon, 1+ day ago  (349+ words) An artistic rendering of Kraken Mare, a large liquid methane sea on Titan. Image credit: NASA's John Glenn Research Center. Hydrogen cyanide is widespread in astrochemical environments, having been identified in the interstellar medium and on various bodies such as…...

2+ mon, 5+ day ago  (397+ words) This artist's impression shows the evolution of heavy water molecules as they have been observed in giant molecular clouds, a planet forming-disk, and comets " before they eventually may have made their way to Earth. Image credit: NSF / AUI / NSF's NRAO…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago  (579+ words) Scientists have demonstrated that supercompressed water transforms into ice VI at room temperature through multiple freezing-melting pathways, which occur via a previously unknown form of metastable ice, named ice XXI. A small crystal of ice XXI formed through nucleation and slow…...

2+ mon, 4+ week ago  (360+ words) Ice at minus 10 degrees Celsius releases more iron from common minerals than liquid water at 4 degrees Celsius, according to a team of researchers from Ume" University, the Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes and CNRS. This discovery could help explain…...

4+ mon, 2+ day ago  (600+ words) Although there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed on Ceres, the results of a new study support theories that this dwarf planet may have once had conditions suitable to support single-celled lifeforms. This illustration depicts the interior of Ceres,…...

4+ mon, 1+ week ago  (241+ words) These threaded macrocycles increase the stability of C48 by preventing access to the protected cyclocarbon. Previously, molecular rings consisting purely of carbon atoms have only been studied in the gas phase or at very low temperatures (4 to 10 K). According to the team,…...

5+ mon, 9+ hour ago  (439+ words) The previously unknown nucleus aluminum-20 has been observed for the first time by detecting its in-flight decays. Currently, more than 3,300 nuclides are known, yet fewer than 300 are stable and exist naturally. The remainder are unstable nuclides that undergo radioactive decay....

5+ mon, 2+ week ago  (465+ words) Polyethylene degradation by wax worms. Left: plastic bag after exposure to about 100 wax worms for 12 hours; Right: magnification of the area indicated in the image at left. Image credit: Bombelli et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.060. Plastics play a fundamental role in…...