science / Space
Surprise! Saturn has another ring!Washington - After centuries of observation, astronomers have identified yet another ring around Saturn, according to an article appearing Wednesday in the journal Nature. The newly discovered ring is barely visible, yet includes one of Saturn's most...
Earth Times Wednesday, October 07, 2009Giant Dust Ring Is Discovered Around SaturnThe thin array of ice and dust particles lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system and its orbit is tilted 27 degrees from the planet's main ring plane. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the newly found ring is so huge it would take 1 billion Earths to fill it.
NPR Wednesday, October 07, 2009Targeting the Moon: Observatories Gear Up for Friday Lunar CrashA coordinated network of Earth and space-based observatories are gearing up to watch NASA's LCROSS moon crash Friday.
SPACE.com Wednesday, October 07, 2009Lost Garden Cities: Pre-Columbian Life in the Amazon (preview)When Brazil established the Xingu Indigenous Park in 1961, the reserve was far from modern civilization, nestled deep in the southern reaches of the vast Amazon forest. When I first went to live with the Kuikuro, one of the reserve’s principal indigenous groups, in 1992, the park’s boundaries were still largely hidden in thick forest, little more than lines on a map. Today the park is surrounded by a patchwork of farmland, its borders often marked by a wall of trees. For many outsiders, this towering green threshold is a portal, like the massive gates of Jurassic Park, between the present--the dynamic modern world of soy fields, irrigation systems and 18-wheelers--and the past, a timeless world of primordial nature and society.Long before taking center stage in the world’s environmental crisis as the giant green jewel of global ecology, the Amazon held a special place in the Western imagination. Mere mention of its name conjures images of dripping, vegetation-choked j
Scientific American Wednesday, October 07, 2009Satellite data instrumental in combating desertification(European Space Agency) With land degradation in dryland regions continuing to worsen, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification has agreed on scientist-recommended indicators for monitoring and assessing desertification that signatory countries must report on.
Eurekalert.org Wednesday, October 07, 2009Astronomers Discover Solar System's Largest Planetary Ring Yet around SaturnA speculative search for a belt of debris stemming from one of Saturn's outer moons has turned up what appears to be the largest known planetary ring in the solar system. [More]
Scientific American Wednesday, October 07, 2009Western astronomers capture spectacular meteor footage and images(University of Western Ontario) Astronomers from the
university of Western Ontario in London, Canada, have released footage of a meteor that was approximately 100 times brighter than a full moon. The meteor lit up the skies of southern Ontario two weeks ago and Western astronomers are now hoping to enlist the help of local residents in recovering one or more possible meteorites that may have crashed in the area of Grimsby, Ontario.
Eurekalert.org Wednesday, October 07, 2009Nasa discovers giant ring around SaturnNasa's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered the biggest but never-before-seen ring around the planet Saturn.
iol.co.za Wednesday, October 07, 2009Abruptly Forgotten: Working Memory Disappears in a BlinkWhen you go from bed to bathroom on a dark night, a quick flick of the lights will leave a lingering impression on your mind’s eye. For decades evidence suggested that such visual working memories--which, even in daylight, connect the dots to create a complete scene as the eyes dart around rapidly--fade gradually over the span of several seconds. But a clever new study
reported in the journal Psychological Science finds that such memories actually stay sharp until they are suddenly lost.Cognitive psychologists Weiwei Zhang and Stephen J. Luck, both at the
university of California, Davis, tested subjects’ recall for the hues of colored squares flashed briefly on a screen up to 10 seconds earlier. Subjects marked their answer on a color wheel. If memories decay gradually, the guesses should have become increasingly imprecise as time wore on, evidenced by participants selecting yellow or red, for example, when the correct choice was orange. Instead subjects went straight from
Scientific American Wednesday, October 07, 2009Inferior males get lucky with the birdsSome female zebra finches actively choose males that are weaker, weedier and poorer singers
Newscientist.com Wednesday, October 07, 2009 1 2 3
Archived space news stories.
Available news archives.