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| The Sverrefjell volcano at 80° N on Svalbard (Norway) erupted through a thick ice sheet about 1 million years ago. Image credit: Kjell Ove Storvik/AMASE. Click to enlarge. |
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| Successful Test of Microbe Detector |
| Oct 5, 2005 - Members of the Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) are working on devices that could detect life on the surface of Mars. But first, they're testing their equipment and methods here on Earth. The team analyzed samples of ice inside blue ice vents in a frozen volcano in Norway, and detected living and fossilized microbiota. Ecosystems of bacteria like this could live huddled around areas of relative warmth on the surface of Mars, and future rovers could detect them. (Full Story) |
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| Artist illustraton of a black hole consuming a neutron star. Image credit: Dana Berry/NASA. Click to enlarge. |
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| Gamma Ray Burst Mystery Solved |
| Oct 5, 2005 - An international team of astronomers think they've solved the mystery of short gamma-ray bursts. These powerful explosions shine brighter than a billion suns for only a few milliseconds and fade away quickly. But now, thanks to NASA's Swift satellite, which can detect and analyze these blasts anywhere in the sky, astronomers were able to measure short bursts. The evidence now points to the theory that these bursts occur when a black hole consumes a neutron star, or two neutron stars collide together. (Full Story) |
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| Book Review: The Grand Tour |
| Oct 5, 2005 - Tour guides add vibrant, often personal accounts of locales along your travels. They impart much more knowledge than simply standing in front of a building and reading some brief nameplate. By including a relative context, they tie a building to its neighbours and even substantiate its mere existence. Ron Miller and William K. Hartmann in their book The Grand Tour, A Traveler's Guide to the Solar System equally provide this important service for worlds within our solar system. They take the reader along on a detailed tour, and, without assuming prior knowledge, they vividly distinguish and join each of the worlds into a technical and visual journey. (Full Story) |
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