A new multimillion-rand telescope in the Karoo will offer astronomers an unprecedented view of the stars. The MeerLICHT instrument in Sutherland will be specifically linked to the MeerKAT radio telescope
Scientists have come up with a controversial theory which suggests that huge comet impacts wiped out North America's large mammals 13,000 years ago. According to a report in National Geographic News, the hypothesis proposes that an onslaught of extraterrestrial bodies caused the mass extinction known as the
A new model developed by scientists has suggested that the ancient catastrophe that led to the creation of the moon may have produced additional satellites that lingered in Earth's skies for tens of millions of years. According to a report in New Scientist, model suggests moonlets may have once occupied the two Earth-Moon Lagrangian points, regions in space where the gravitational tug of the Earth and the Moon exactly cancel each other out.
Astronomers have uncovered part of the missing matter in the universe, a discovery which they claim will help in understanding the evolution of the cosmic web in the future. Ten years ago, scientists predicted about half of the missing "ordinary' or normal matter made of atoms exists in the form of low density gas, filling vast spaces between galaxies. Now, an international team has discovered its hottest parts, using the European Space Agency's orbiting observatory.
While we may never know what it looks like inside a black hole, astronomers recently obtained one of the closest views yet. The sighting allowed scientists to confirm theories about how these giant cosmic sinkholes spew out jets of particles travelling at nearly the speed of light.
Washington: Famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has been thinking a lot about the cosmic question, "Are we alone?' The answer is probably not, he says. If there is life elsewhere in the universe, Hawking asks why haven't we stumbled onto some alien broadcasts in space, maybe something like "alien quiz shows?' Hawking's comments were part of a lecture at George Washington University on Monday in honor of Nasa's 50th anniversary. He theorized that there are possible answers to whether there is extraterrestrial life.
Astronauts may be at increased risk of premature aging due to exposure to radiation found in space, suggests a study that could have major implications for long-duration space travel. The findings from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Georgetown University Medical Centre in US shows that astronauts may be at increased risk of colon cancer due to exposure to the high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation found in space. The study shows that the high-energy radiation found in space may also lead to premature aging and prolonged oxidative stress in cells.
Berlin: A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected Nasa's estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday, after spotting that the boffins had miscalculated. Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten said.
London: A new controversial analysis by an astronomer of Indian origin has suggested that the Big Bang might not have come at the beginning of the Universe, but after a long and slow period of shrinkage. According to a report in Nature News, the theory has been put forward by Amit Yadav, an astronomer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
NASA says it is extending the international Cassini mission that is touring Saturn and its moons for another two years. The space agency announced the extension Tuesday. Since 2004, the unmanned probe has beamed back about 140,000 images. Its prime mission is slated to end in July. The agency says the $160 million extension will allow Cassini to make 60 more revolutions around the ringed planet and fly by its largest moon, Titan, and four other satellites.
seeing is believing: Watching fights make male crayfish docile. Researchers in an experiment put two males into a fighting arena and a bystander was allowed to watch. After seeing the fight, the
