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December 18, 2015

Rocks Rich in Silica Present Puzzles for Mars Rover Team
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 18, 2015
In detective stories, as the plot thickens, an unexpected clue often delivers more questions than answers. In this case, the scene is a mountain on Mars. The clue: the chemical compound silica. Lots of silica. The sleuths: a savvy band of Earthbound researchers whose agent on Mars is NASA's laser-flashing, one-armed mobile laboratory, Curiosity. NASA's Curiosity rover has found much higher concentrations of silica at some sites it has investigated in the past seven months than anywhere else it has ... read more

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New Mars rover findings revealed at American Geophysical Union Conference New findings by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover are the focus of a press conference this morning at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in San Francisco, Calif. A group of scientists, including ... more		Opportunity performs a week of robotic arm at Marathon Valley Opportunity is inside "Marathon Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned on a steep slope with an approximately 19-degree northerly tilt for improved solar array en ... more		Israel's Amos-5 Satellite Failure Caused by Power Supply Malfunction Israel's AMOS-5 satellite failed as a result of a problem either with the power supply or an onboard cable network due to the external impact of high-energy cosmic particles, the manufacture of the ... more
				Agreement with Chinese Space Tech Lab Will Advance Exploration Goals The Planetary Science Institute signed a cooperation agreement with Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology (Qian Xuesen Lab) to advance their mutual interests in facilitating the open-ended expa ... more		Monster planet is 'dancing with the stars' A team made up almost entirely of current and former Carnegie scientists has discovered a highly unusual planetary system comprised of a Sun-like star, a dwarf star, and an enormous planet sandwiche ... more

Time-resolved measurement of the anomalous velocity The movement of charge carriers perpendicular to an electric driving field - even without a magnetic field - constitutes one of the most intriguing properties of carriers in solids. This anoma ... more		Cassini gets bull's eye view of Enceladus and Tethys Like a cosmic bull's-eye, Enceladus and Tethys line up almost perfectly for Cassini's cameras. Since the two moons are not only aligned, but also at relatively similar distances from Cassini, the ap ... more				NASA: Asteroid to pass by Earth on Christmas Eve That's not Rudolph's nose, it's just a giant rock hurtling through space. NASA scientists calculate that asteroid 163899, also known as 2003 SD220, will make its closest approach to Earth on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2015. ... more
				Exoplanets Water Mystery Solved A survey of 10 hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanets conducted with NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes has led a team to solve a long-standing mystery - why some of these worlds seem to have less wa ... more		Study finds evidence for more recent clay formation on Mars Recent orbital and rover missions to Mars have turned up ample evidence of clays and other hydrated minerals formed when rocks are altered by the presence of water. Most of that alteration is though ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Mystery of missing exoplanet water solved Astronomers from the University of Exeter have helped shed light on the atmospheres of a group of planets which orbit stars outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Exeter academics led ... more		Japan asteroid probe enters 'target orbit' in space quest A Japanese space probe successfully entered "target orbit" and is on its way to rendezvousing with a far away asteroid, in a quest to study the origin of the solar system, authorities said Monday. ... more				Hubble reveals diversity of exoplanet atmosphere Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope to study the atmospheres of ten hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanets in detail, the largest number of such pla ... more
Hayabusa2 Earth Swing-by Result The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed that the Asteroid Explorer "Hayabusa2" is cruising on its target orbit after measuring and calc ... more		Scientists teach machines to learn like humans A team of scientists has developed an algorithm that captures our learning abilities, enabling computers to recognize and draw simple visual concepts that are mostly indistinguishable from those cre ... more		SSL selected for NASA project to develop robotic on-orbit satellite assembly Space Systems Loral has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a multi-million dollar contract to develop on-orbit robotic satellite assembly technology. ... more		Satellite's Last Days Improve Orbital Decay Predictions Scientists are learning more about how the upper atmosphere and ionosphere affect space satellites as well as communications and navigation here on Earth, thanks to new data from a U.S. Air Force sa ... more

	Twin civilisations? How life on an exoplanet could spread to its neighbour Imagine two nearby exoplanets orbiting the same sun, each with its own indigenous civilisation. They're going through history either as companionable neighbours or deadly rivals. This is a familiar ... more		Huge organs defy austerity for tiny cave snails in the subterranean realm While most of the knowledge about tiny snails comes from studying empty shells sifted out from piles of dust and sand, the present research is the first contemporary microscopic exploration of organ ... more

Digital Globe to use Raytheon's Constellation Scheduling System		Tech titans pledge $1 bn for artificial intelligence research		Curiosity reaches sand dunes		Opportunity on west rim of Endeavour Crater within Marathon Valley		Computing with time travel
No extraterrestrial laser pulses detected from KIC 8462852		Pluto's close-up, now in color		NASA's Curiosity rover reaches Martian sand dunes		Zooming in on Pluto's Pattern of Pits		Dwarf planet Ceres: water vapor in Occator crater

German physicists see landmark in nuclear fusion quest

China launches new communication satellite

XPRIZE verifies moon express launch contract, kicking off new space race

Student helps discover new planet, calculates frequency of Jupiter-like planets

Robot adds new twist to NIST antenna measurements and calibrations

New Horizons' catches a wandering Kuiper Belt Object not far off

New clues to Ceres' bright spots and origins

Prometheus up close about Saturn

Robot arm simulates close approach of ESA's asteroid mission

New Visualization of Space Environment at Pluto

UW roboticists learn to teach robots from babies

Peering Through Titan's Haze

Russia's Kanopus-ST Research Satellite Deorbited, Heading to Earth

New US space mining law to spark interplanetary gold rush

Space Debris - A Growth Industry?

Swimming devices could deliver drugs inside the body

Mars Mission Team Addressing Vacuum Leak on Key Science Instrument

Pluto surface details revealed in best images yet

British astronaut Tim Peake to run marathon from space

Letter to Mars? Royal Mail works it out for British boy, 5

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