space

A look at 3200 Phaethon: A big, bizarre, blue asteroid we plan to visit 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 25, 2018
New research suggests the “rock comet” is weirder than previously thought.

By David Aragorn
Superflares From Young Red Dwarf Stars Imperil Planets 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 24, 2018
The word “HAZMAT” describes substances that pose a risk to the environment, or even to life itself. Imagine the term being applied to entire planets, where violent flares from the host star may make worlds uninhabitable by affecting their atmospheres.

By David Aragorn
NASA’s First Image of Mars from a CubeSat 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 23, 2018
NASA’s MarCO mission was designed to find out if briefcase-sized spacecraft called CubeSats could survive the journey to deep space. Now, MarCO – which stands for Mars Cube One – has Mars in sight.

By David Aragorn
Asteroid mining might actually be better for the environment 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology, Space
- October 23, 2018
The first study of its environmental impact suggests that extracting resources such as platinum from asteroids might be cleaner than doing so on Earth.

By David Aragorn
Here’s why NASA is working on a concept crewed mission to Venus 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 20, 2018
The upper atmosphere of Venus is surprisingly similar Earth.

By David Aragorn
How to Turn Off a Galaxy’s Star Formation 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 19, 2018
New observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) provide a close look at a galaxy that may be in the process of shutting down its star formation.

By David Aragorn
Astronomers find most massive structure in the early universe 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 19, 2018
Proto-supercluster may contain thousands of galaxies

By David Aragorn
Some Stars Around Galaxy May Be From Elsewhere 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 18, 2018
Data from the Gaia satellite reveal 20 new high-speed stars, 13 of which appear to have originated outside of the Milky Way.

By David Aragorn
Plant hormone makes space farming a possibility 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology, Space
- October 18, 2018
With scarce nutrients and weak gravity, growing potatoes on the Moon or on other planets seems unimaginable. But the plant hormone strigolactone could make it possible, plant biologists have shown. The hormone supports the symbiosis between fungi and plant roots, thus encouraging plants’ growth — even under the challenging conditions found in space.

By David Aragorn
COMING SOON, THE COMET OF THE YEAR 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- October 18, 2018
Astronomers are calling Comet 46P/Wirtanen the “comet of the year.”

By David Aragorn