http://www.popular-astronomy.com The latest about astronomy Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:09:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179094/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179094/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:09:00 +0000 Science and Technology Facilities Council News and Press Releases http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/179094/ Science and Technology Facilities Council News and Press Releases: Science Board held its most recent meeting on 9-10 February 2012 at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/news-from-science-board-february-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179095/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179095/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:32:05 +0000 Royal Astronomical Society http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/179095/ Royal Astronomical Society: Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space. Prior to this discovery, the microscopic carbon spheres had been found only in gas form in the cosmos. The new work, led by Prof. Nye Evans of Keele University, appears in a paper in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Artist's concept of Buckyball molecules in solid form. Credit: NASA / JPL-CaltechFormally named buckminsterfullerene, buckyballs are named after their resemblance to the late architect Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes. They are made up of 60 carbon molecules arranged into a hollow sphere like a football. Their unusual structure makes them ideal candidates for electrical and chemical applications on Earth, including superconducting materials, medicines, water purification and armour. In the latest discovery, scientists using Spitzer detected tiny specks of matter, or particles, consisting of stacked buckyballs. They found the particles around a pair of stars called "XX Ophiuchi," 6,500 light-years from Earth, and detected enough to fill the equivalent in volume to 10,000 Mount Everests. "These buckyballs are stacked together to form a solid, like oranges in a crate," said Prof. Evans. "The particles we detected are miniscule, ...]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/nasas-spitzer-finds-solid-buckyballs-in-space/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179064/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179064/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:05:00 +0000 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/179064/ NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features: Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/jpl-nasas-spitzer-finds-solid-buckyballs-in-space/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179065/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179065/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000 NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/179065/ NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope: Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space. Prior to this discovery, the microscopic carbon spheres had been found only in gas form in the cosmos.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/nasas-spitzer-finds-solid-buckyballs-in-space-2/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179038/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179038/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:11:00 +0000 ESA Top News http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/179038/ ESA Top News: European students are among the regional winners in the YouTube Space Lab student science competition, co-sponsored by ESA. The ultimate winners will have their experiment performed on the International Space Station, live-streamed to a global audience.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/regional-winners-named-in-student-space-lab-competition/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179054/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179054/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:24:00 +0000 ESA Top News http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/179054/ ESA Top News: This car was not snapped with a camera but scanned by a 3D imaging lidar, the laser equivalent of radar. ESA is developing the sensor as a navigation aid for exploring deep space.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/laser-radar-illuminates-the-way-to-deep-space/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179023/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/179023/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:21:00 +0000 ESA Human Spaceflight and Exploration http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/179023/ ESA Human Spaceflight and Exploration: When liquids and bubbles are in space, odd things start to happen. ESA astronaut André Kuipers is taking schools across Europe on a microgravity waltz to learn what is behind seemingly simple phenomena such as convection and foams.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/space-oddities-to-teach-science/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/178985/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/178985/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000 International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/178985/ International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research: The world’s most powerful telescope – the new Square Kilometre Array (SKA) – is likely to need the world’s biggest computer to handle the incredible amount of data it will produce − and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) is working out how to do it without breaking the bank.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/scoping-the-cost-of-the-world%e2%80%99s-biggest-new-supercomputer/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/178937/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/178937/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:50:50 +0000 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/178937/ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Berkeley Lab researchers have found new evidence to explain how cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mediates the transfer of cholesterol from “good” high density lipoproteins (HDLs) to “bad” low density lipoproteins (LDLs). These findings point the way to the design of safer, more effective next generation CETP inhibitors that could help prevent the development of heart disease.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/how-good-cholesterol-turns-bad/feed/ 0 http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/178967/ http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/rview/178967/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:02:00 +0000 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/news/view/178967/ NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features: A new university study using data from NASA's Terra spacecraft finds Earth's clouds got about one percent lower on average during the first decade of the 2000s.]]> http://www.popular-astronomy.com/uncategorized/nasa-satellite-finds-earths-clouds-are-getting-lower/feed/ 0