DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Mars volcano the size of Mount Everest was hiding in plain sight, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Scientists may have pinpointed a massive, oddly shaped volcano taller than Mount Everest on the surface of Mars — and it has been hiding in plain sight for decades, according to new research. Some of the largest volcanoes on Mars lie relatively close to the proposed “Noctis volcano.” Shown here: 1) Olympus Mons, the tallest known volcano in our solar system. This NASA visualization of the Tharsis rise shows Olympus Mons, Tharsis Montes, Noctis Labyrinthus, and Valles Marineris. NASA SVSA volcano, a glacier and the history of MarsThe existence of a volcano in Noctis Labyrinthus could also help explain the creation of this bizarre landscape. The existence of a volcano in the region, Lee said, might offer more support for the latter theory.

Persons: Everest, Pascal Lee, NASA SVS Lee, Sourabh, Lee, “ It’s, ”, NASA’s, Noctis Labyrinthus, “, ” Lee, Shubham, Adrien Broquet, we’ve, —, we’re, Noctis, Ernst Hauber, ” Hauber, David Horvath —, Tucson , Arizona —, Broquet, Horvath, ” Horvath, Carl Sagan Organizations: CNN —, Mars, Planetary Science Conference, Olympus, NASA, University of Maryland, College, CNN, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance, Marineris, Humboldt Research, German Aerospace Center, SETI Institute, German Aerospace Center’s, of Planetary Research, Planetary Science Institute Locations: The Woodlands , Texas, That’s, Mars, Noctis, Valles, Tharsis Montes, Labyrinthus, Tucson , Arizona

☆ Crucial ocean current system could be on course to collapse with catastrophic impacts on global weather
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This new study provides an “important breakthrough,” said René van Westen, a marine and atmospheric researcher at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and study co-author. It’s the first time a collapse has been detectable using these complex models, representing “bad news for the climate system and humanity,” the report says. “But we can at least say that we are heading in the direction of the tipping point under climate change,” van Westen said. The AMOC’s collapse could also cause sea levels to surge by around 1 meter (3.3 feet), van Westen said. “(It) adds significantly to the rising concern about an AMOC collapse in the not too distant future,” he said.

Persons: ”, René van Westen, van Westen, ” van Westen, Stefan Rahmstorf, Rahmstorf, Joel Hirschi, Jeffrey Kargel, Hirschi, “ Organizations: CNN, Northern, University of Utrecht, Southern, Potsdam University, National Oceanography, Planetary Science Institute Locations: Atlantic, Netherlands, Europe, Germany, Arizona

☆ A rogue star could save Earth from extinction in a billion years by knocking it out past Pluto
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An unexpected rescue mission could come in the form of a star flying by the solar system. There's a slim chance the star could pull the Earth to a more habitable zone, a study suggested. The researchers ran 12,000 simulations to see what would happen if a star passed within 100 astronomical units (about 9.3 billion miles) from Earth. In 92% of cases, the solar system would remain almost intact even as a star passed by the solar system. In some simulations, Earth remained in the solar system but was pulled to a region beyond Pluto that's about 10% cooler than our current orbit.

Persons: —, Sean Raymond, there's, Raymond, that's Organizations: Service, University of Bordeaux, Planetary Science Institute, New, Royal Astronomical Society Locations: France, Tucson , Arizona

☆ Scientists Have Found a Hot Spot on the Moon’s Far Side
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Kenneth Chang | More About Kenneth Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The rocks beneath an ancient volcano on the moon’s far side remain surprisingly warm, scientists have revealed using data from orbiting Chinese spacecraft. They point to a large slab of granite that solidified from magma in the geological plumbing beneath what is known as the Compton-Belkovich Volcanic Complex. “I would say we’re putting the nail in the coffin of this really is a volcanic feature,” said Matthew Siegler, a scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., and who led the research. “But then what’s interesting is, it’s a very Earth-like volcanic feature.”The findings, which appeared last week in the journal Nature, help explain what happened long ago beneath an odd part of the moon. The study also highlights the scientific potential of data gathered by China’s space program, and how researchers in the United States have to circumvent obstacles to use that data.

Persons: Compton, ”, Matthew Siegler Organizations: Planetary Science Institute Locations: Tucson, Ariz, United States

☆ Webb telescope spots water in rare comet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe a rare comet in our solar system, making a long-awaited scientific breakthrough and stumbling across another mystery at the same time. For the first time, water was detected in a main belt comet, or a comet located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The space observatory detected water vapor around Comet Read, which suggests that water ice can be preserved in a warmer part of the solar system. It’s possible that the warmer temperatures of the main asteroid belt cause Comet Read to lose its carbon dioxide over time, the researchers said. Comet Read might have also formed in a warmer pocket of the solar system without carbon dioxide, Kelley said.

☆ Viking 1 may have landed at site of ancient Martian megatsunami
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The mystery of the Viking landing site has long puzzled scientists, who believe an ocean once existed there. Now, new research suggests that the lander touched down where a Martian megatsunami deposited materials 3.4 billion years ago, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. The interest in the potential for life on the red planet prompted scientists to select its northern equatorial region, Chryse Planitia, as the first Martian landing site for Viking I. “The landing site selection needed to fulfill a critical requirement — the presence of extensive evidence of former surface water. Next, the team wants to investigate Pohl crater as a potential landing site for a future rover, since the location might contain evidence of ancient life.

David Grinspoon, an astrobiologist at the Planetary Science Institute, called the new Webb image “just spectacular beyond words.”“Oh. Young stars, estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, are the bright red orbs in the image. New stars form within clouds of dust and gas as dense clumps of mass collapse under their own gravity and begin to heat up. The Webb Telescope captured this dynamic journey in progress, according to Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. These are baby stars that are forming within the gas & dust," he tweeted.

Search resuls for: "Planetary Science Institute"

7 mentions found