Astronomers may have found hints of life in clouds of Venus
lundi, 14 septembre 2020 à 11:40 - Astronomers have detected a chemical signature in the atmosphere of Venus that may be associated with life.
While the signature isn t robust enough to definitively declare that there s life on our nearest planetary neighbour, in a new paper published today in the journal Nature Astronomy, the international team says they have ruled out any other known sources that could have produced the chemical compound, phosphine. The reason we re so excited about this finding in this paper is that we found phosphine gas, which doesn t belong in the Venus atmosphere, said Canadian co-author Sara Seager, professor of planetary science and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Lockheed Martin Procures ABL Space’s RS1 Rockets for Rapid Launches Our Bureau 381
ABL GS0 Launch System Deployment
Lockheed Martin said it has entered into a long-term agreement with rocket builder ABL Space Systems for the supply of RS1 rockets.
Lockheed Martin will purchase up to 26 vehicles through 2025 and then up to 32 additional launches through 2029. Launches could use a network of U.S. and international launch sites, including Vandenberg Space Force Base, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and in the United Kingdom.
Lockheed Martin benefits from ABL s lower-cost launch vehicle by accelerating risk reduction with demonstration missions, which lay the groundwork for future large efforts. As a new entrant, ABL gets the benefit of a long term partnership and stable launch manifest for its future growth.
On Snowball Mars , immense glaciers may have sheltered ancient microbial life
Scott Sutherland
mercredi, 5 août 2020 à 14:20 - An island in Canada s far north has helped scientists paint a very different picture of ancient Mars
What was Mars like billions of years ago? Was it truly a blue and green world, similar to Earth? Or was it something else? In a new study, Canadian researchers suggest the Red Planet may have been a Snowball Planet, with thick ice sheets covering the surface.
Over decades of Mars exploration, evidence sent back by robotic missions has presented a strong case that the planet was once a much warmer and wetter place, long ago. According to scientists, surface water on Mars would have even been suitable to drink, if we had been there at the time to sample it. It would undoubtedly have supported microbial life as we know it, as well. This has led to the idea that Mars was very Earth-like, with rainfall, and flowing rivers carving out the valleys and channel
Satellite Phones Come to the Rescue Where Cell Phones Fail
When a hurricane in Florida knocked out the power where Eric Talman’s mother lived for 13 days, she was able to call him on her satellite phone to keep in touch and let him know she was safe.
As vice president of the Satellite Phone Store, Talman is no stranger to the benefits of having a sat phone. From his 35,000 customers, he could rattle off endless examples of how the phones have come in handy or been downright life-saving from adventurers stranded at sea or in remote backcountry who were able to contact rescue teams, to missionaries in the Congo who were able to evade an attack by militants thanks to a warning. In countries such as Syria, Burma, and Iraq, sat phones are used every day, Talman said.
Scars and devastation remain years after Nepal s historic earthquake
Mark Robinson
lundi, 1 juillet 2019 à 16:49 - In 2015, a severe earthquake struck near the city of Kathmandu in central Nepal on April 25, 2015. Also called the Gorkha earthquake, it killed some 9,000 people. Many thousands more were injured, and more than 600,000 structures in Kathmandu and nearby towns were either damaged or destroyed. And years later, the devastation remains.
I’d placed my foot with gentle care on what looked to be some sort of cement block that had been partially turned to gravel and powder. I wasn’t sure if it would hold my weight, but I wanted to get a better view under the collapsed ceiling of what had once been a monastery at the top of a ridge in rural Nepal. Our Nepalese guide, Sukman, had warned me to be careful, but he thought that since the structure had been in its state of partial destruction for about five years, it wasn’t likely to further collapse.