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Posts by
Paul Scott Anderson
Ancient life signs under dinosaur-killing Chicxulub crater
Researchers have found evidence for an ancient microbial ecosystem in a hydrothermal system beneath Mexico's Chicxulub Crater, thought to be the site of the impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
November 7, 2020
How Jupiter’s moon Io gets its hellish atmosphere
Hot, active volcanoes produce almost half of Jupiter's moon Io's sulfur atmosphere, according to new observations using the ALMA telescope. The rest comes from cold sulfur deposits that freeze on the surface, then sublimate in sunlight.
November 5, 2020
Life-hunting Perseverance rover is halfway to Mars
NASA announced that its Perseverance rover mission - which will search for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars - has now passed the halfway mark in its journey to the planet.
November 2, 2020
Electric! Astronomers find sprites in Jupiter’s atmosphere
Scientists with NASA's Juno mission say they have detected sprites or elves - electrical phenomena above thunderstorms on Earth - in the clouds of Jupiter for the first time. Unlike the red-colored earthly ones however, the Jovian ones are blue.
October 31, 2020
Super-Earth and sub-Neptune found orbiting a red dwarf star
Astronomers using a telescope in Mexico have found two more exoplanets - a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune - orbiting a red dwarf star 120 light-years from Earth.
October 26, 2020
Betelgeuse is smaller, closer, and won’t explode any time soon
According to new research, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse - which began to dim dramatically in brightness in late 2019 - might not explode for another 100,000 years. The star is also smaller and closer to us than first thought.
October 23, 2020
Super-Earth exoplanets often have giant ‘Jupiter’ bodyguards
Planetary systems with both super-Earths and Jupiter-type planets may be common, according to a new study. As in our own solar system, the giant planets would act as "bodyguards" protecting the smaller planets from asteroid impacts.
October 22, 2020
Pluto’s snowcapped mountains are unlike any on Earth
A new study shows how methane snow accumulates on Pluto's mountain peaks. These snowcaps - first seen by New Horizons in 2015 - look a lot like ones on Earth, but form in a very alien environment.
October 16, 2020
Astronomers identify 24 possible superhabitable worlds
Are there worlds out there - orbiting distant stars - even better suited for life than Earth? Might they be older, larger, warmer, wetter and with longer-living stars? Now astronomers have identified 24 possible superhabitable worlds.
October 15, 2020
Radar reveals 3 more subsurface polar lakes on Mars
Scientists with the European Space Agency say that the Mars Express orbiter has found evidence of three more salty lakes below Mars' south pole. The discovery comes two years after the first lake was detected in 2018.
October 9, 2020
