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Cooking Life's Ingredients, with a Pinch of Salt
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
09/22/09 |
| Summary: By studying a chemical mixture thought to be present in the Earth's early oceans, scientists have discovered that amino acids can be 'cooked' into many other important building blocks of life when they are embedded in salt crusts. The finding could have important implications in our understanding of life's origins. |
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AMASE 2009 Expedition Finishes
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| Topic: Missions |
09/21/09 |
| Summary: Adrienne Kish reports from the field during the closing days of the AMASE 2009 Expedition to Norway's Svalbard island in the arctic. As the mission completed, the research team simulated a week in the life of a Mars rover science team in preparation for a future Mars sample return mission. |
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Adding Up the Odds for Life
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
09/20/09 |
| Summary: Researchers are laying the groundwork for a new equation that could mathematically quantify whether or not a particular environment is habitable for life as we know it. The concept is based on the Drake equation, which was developed for estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. |
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Aliens in the News
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| Topic: Alien Life |
09/19/09 |
| Summary: Newsweek magazine recently ran a cover story about the search for alien life. In this interview, Newsweek reporter Andrew Romano talks about the lure of Hollywood’s favorite story and real-life aspects of hunting aliens. |
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Confirming a Hot Earth
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| Topic: New Planets |
09/18/09 |
| Summary: Scientists have confirmed the existence of a solid, rocky planet orbiting a distant star. The research also revealed a second Super Earth in the same solar system. Studies like these bring us closer to the discovery of habitable exoplanets similar to Earth. |
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Space Hand-Me-Downs
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| Topic: Missions |
09/17/09 |
| Summary: Much of the biology on Earth involves molecules that are oriented in a left-handed direction. A proposed nano-satellite would carry up some of these bio-molecules to see if something in space might be responsible for this left-handed excess. |
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Haumea Hot Spot
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
09/16/09 |
| Summary: A dark red spot discovered on the dwarf planet Haumea, which orbits beyond Neptune, appears to be rich in minerals and organic compounds. Studying the composition of objects like Haumea can help astrobiologists understand the inventory of compounds in our solar system that may have played a role in life's origins. |
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Craters Count Jupiter's Age
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| Topic: Jupiter |
09/15/09 |
| Summary: Craters on the two largest objects in the asteroid belt could help identify at what point during the early solar system Jupiter was created. Vesta and Ceres are believed to be two of the oldest objects in the solar system and studying them could shed light on how our solar system has formed over time. |
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Arctic Preparations for Mars
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| Topic: Missions |
09/14/09 |
| Summary: Previous missions to Mars have been searching for signs that Mars once had liquid water, and potentially habitats for life. The next generation of martian rovers will search for signs of past or present life on Mars more directly. Technologies for such missions are now being tested in the remote arctic. |
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LCROSS Crater Crash
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
09/13/09 |
| Summary: NASA has announced that Cabeus A will be the target crater for the LCROSS dual impacts next month. The LCROSS mission will search for water ice in the permanently shadowed lunar crater by sending its spent upper-stage rocket on a collision course with the Moon's surface. |
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