Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

November 14, 2015

UCLA professor proposes simpler way to define what makes a planet
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 13, 2015
Since the late 1980s, scientists have discovered nearly 5,000 planetary bodies orbiting stars other than the sun. But astronomers are still working on what exactly we should call them. At an American Astronomical Society meeting, UCLA professor Jean-Luc Margot described a simple test that can be used to clearly separate planets from other bodies like dwarf planets and minor planets. The current official definition of a planet, which was issued by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, appli ... read more

Previous Issues

Nov 12

Nov 11

Nov 10

Nov 09

Nov 07

Early Earth's haze may give clue to habitability elsewhere in space An atmospheric haze around a faraway planet - like the one which probably shrouded and cooled the young Earth - could show that the world is potentially habitable, or even be a sign of life itself. ... more		Newfound Earth-size exoplanet may be an important milestone in search for alien life Researchers have discovered an exoplanet just slightly bigger than Earth and located much closer to our Solar System than any other terrestrial, alien world. Called GJ 1132b, it orbits a tiny red, d ... more		Space rains junk on Spain It's raining space junk in Spain. ... more
				Medicines do not seem to degrade faster in space The results of an opportunistic, pilot-scale study led by Virginia Wotring of the Center for Space Medicine and Department of Pharmacology at Baylor College of Medicine in the U.S. suggest that medi ... more		New Results from GPI Exoplanet Survey The Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) is an ambitious three-year study dedicated to imaging young Jupiters and debris disks around nearby stars using the GPI instrument installed on the ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

BU Satellite Team Gets Big Boost from NASA On March 10, 1989, a solar eruption blasted plasma toward Earth. Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec noticed a hop-skip-and-jump in the voltage on its grid two days later. On March 13, with plasma sweepin ... more		Early Earth's Haze May Give Clue to Habitability Elsewhere An atmospheric haze around a faraway planet - like the one which probably shrouded and cooled the young Earth - could show that the world is potentially habitable, or even be a sign of life itself. ... more		U.S. defense in free fall U.S. and Saudis conduct Middle East's largest counter-drone exercise Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact		Space institute funds adjustable power eyeglasses and a smart sleep mask Two small companies developing state-of-the-art medical technologies have been selected to receive grants from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). LumosTech, Inc. is a Stanford ... more
				Discovery of a new confinement state for plasma The National Institutes of Natural Sciences National Institute for Fusion Science applied the "Momentary Heating Propagation Method" to the DIII-D tokamak device operated for the United States Offic ... more		Astronomers spot most distant object in the solar system As of right now, it is the most distant object in the solar system, a sizable space rock 103 times farther away from the sun than the Earth. ... more

Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Efficiency Summit USA 2015

Humans can empathize with robots Empathy is a basic human ability. We often feel empathy toward and console others in distress. Is it possible for us to emphasize with humanoid robots? Since robots are becoming increasingly popular ... more		Physicists uncover mechanism that stabilizes plasma within tokamaks A team of physicists led by Stephen Jardin of the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has discovered a mechanism that prevents the electrical current flowing throu ... more		Fossil fuels harm health from 'cradle to grave': report Trash, mulch and security: All jobs for troops in Washington Rising oceans to threaten 1.5 million Australians by 2050: report		New rocket readies for liftoff in 2016 China is preparing to launch a new-generation quick-response rocket in 2016 to seize more of the international commercial launch market, industry insiders said. The Kuaizhou-11, or Fast Vessel ... more
Dust devils detected by seismometer could guide Mars mission Buried in the shallow soft mud of a dry California lake bed, a seismometer was able to detect the tiny tilts of the ground as it was pulled up by passing dust devils. The experiment, described onlin ... more		Galileo satellites set for year-long Einstein experiment Europe's fifth and sixth Galileo satellites - subject to complex salvage manoeuvres following their launch last year into incorrect orbits - will help to perform an ambitious year-long test of Einst ... more		Daring move for first US-China fusion team The way to increase the power and efficiency of magnetic fusion energy may be to risk running the plasma - hotter than 100-million-degrees C - closer than ever to the wall, according to new experime ... more		New Super H-mode regime could greatly increase fusion power Meet "Super H mode," a newly discovered state of tokamak plasma that could sharply boost the performance of future fusion reactors. This new state raises the pressure at the edge of the plasma beyon ... more

	Mixing an icy cocktail to safely cool hot plasma A shot of icy chemical cocktail - that's the promising solution to controlling hot plasmas in fusion devices, researchers say. Recent experiments conducted at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility at ... more		Breakthrough in superconducting materials opens new path to fusion In fusion reactor designs, superconductors (which suffer no resistive power loss) are used to generate the magnetic fields that confine the 100 million degree C plasma. While increasing magnetic fie ... more

EU to fast-track review of 2035 combustion-engine ban

Norway sovereign wealth fund drops French miner over environmental fears

EU split on 2040 climate goal ahead of UN summit

The long and short of plasma turbulence		Striking the right note on a magnetic violin		Explaining a mysterious barrier to fusion known as the 'density limit'		New Horizons Yields Wealth of Discovery from Pluto Flyby		Ammonia-Water Slurry May Swirl Below Pluto's Icy Surface
SwRI scientists explain why moon rocks contain fewer volatiles than Earth's		Deserts and dunes: Earth as an analogue for Titan		Amnesia Event Slows Down Opportunity Robotic Arm Work		Swiss Camera Leaves for Mars		Gaia's sensors scan a lunar transit

Detecting and eliminating RF interference requires a human touch

Serviceable Spacecraft Make a Comeback

NASA mission reveals speed of solar wind stripping Martian atmosphere

Delving into the atmosphere of Mars

Martian desiccation

Looking For Deliberate Radio Signals From KIC 8462852

Shining a light on the aurora of Mars

New Horizons Completes Targeting Maneuvers

China's self-developed Mars probe to be on show

Cassini Plunged Into Icy Plumes of Enceladus

NSBRI help funds non-invasive Intracranial Pressure system

Radar Images Provide New Details on Halloween Asteroid

Distant world's weather is mixed bag of hot dust and molten rain

Robotic Eyes to Assist Satellite Repairs in Orbit

Space Junk

How sensorimotor intelligence may develop

Traveling through space? Don't forget your sleeping pills and skin cream

Disk gaps don't always signal planets

China's scientific satellites to enter uncharted territory

Could Sino-U.S. cooperation bring the Martian home?

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.