1+ hour, 48+ min ago  (37+ words) New research led by Penn State scientists suggests that some of the highest-energy cosmic rays may consist of atomic nuclei heavier than iron and could help narrow down the cosmic sources capable of accelerating these particles....

2+ mon, 1+ day ago  (346+ words) Researchers at Stockholm University, Nordita, and the University of T'bingen think there might be. Their new theoretical study, published in Physical Review Letters, suggests that gravitational waves leave detectable fingerprints in the light emitted by atoms and that a cloud…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago  (115+ words) That last finding is the basis for a speculative "water replacement hypothesis. As a planet slowly loses water over millions of years, life could evolve to synthesize its own ionic liquid, like those tawny crazy ants. Eventually it could evolve…...

2+ mon, 3+ week ago  (304+ words) In the future, farmers on the Moon and Mars will have a big challenge: how to grow healthy food in two extremely unhealthy environments. That's because the soil on both worlds isn't at all hospitable to plants and animals. Neither…...

2+ mon, 3+ week ago  (528+ words) Universe Today If humans are ever going to live and work in space, it is paramount that we can meet our basic needs far from home. This includes food and water, but the most vital element is a steady supply…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (911+ words) Many factors influence a planet's habitability. The more obvious ones include being in a star's habitable zone and having a magnetic shield to protect it from radiation. But other important factors are less obvious. New research points out that for…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (665+ words) A recent study, led by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB), CSIC-INTA and using modelling techniques developed at the University of Oxford, has uncovered an unprecedented richness of small organic molecules in the deeply obscured nucleus of a nearby galaxy, thanks…...

3+ mon, 3+ week ago  (514+ words) For the first time, a complex, ring-shaped molecule containing 13 atoms'including sulfur'has been detected in interstellar space, based on laboratory measurements. The discovery closes a critical gap by linking simple chemistry in space with the complex organic building blocks found in…...

4+ mon, 6+ day ago  (348+ words) In school, most students are taught about the four phases of matter - solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. But, at extremely high pressures and temperatures, water can exist in a superionic phase that, while it looks like a solid, is actually…...

4+ mon, 1+ day ago  (288+ words) We live near a fusion reactor in space that provides all our heat and light. That reactor is also responsible for the creation of various elements heavier than hydrogen, and that's true of all stars. So, how do we know…...