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New Evidence for Water Ice on Mercury
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| Topic: Mercury |
12/02/12 |
| Summary:
Data from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft supports the hypothesis that the planet Mercury harbors abundant water ice in its permanently shadowed craters. The finding is helping astrobiologists understand how water may have been delivered to planets like Earth as the Solar System formed. |
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Brown Dwarfs May Grow Rocky Planets
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| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
12/01/12 |
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Astronomers have found that the outer region of a dusty disc encircling a brown dwarf star contains millimeter-sized solid grains. The grains resemble those found in denser discs around newborn stars. The findings could challenge current theories of how rocky planets form. |
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Do Missing Jupiters Mean Massive Comet Belts?
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| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/30/12 |
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Astronomers have discovered vast comet belts surrounding two nearby planetary systems. Both systems also host Earth-to-Neptune-mass worlds. |
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Another Pac-Man at Saturn
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| Topic: Saturn system |
11/29/12 |
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NASA's Cassini mission has spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Tethys. |
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Ancient Microbes Found Living Beneath Antarctic Ice
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
11/29/12 |
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A new study reveals, for the first time, how bacteria survive in the dark, salty, subfreezing environment in isolated Antarctic lakes. The data could also help astrobiologists understand life's potential on icy worlds like Enceladus and Europa. |
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Astronauts Collect Cave Life
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
11/28/12 |
| Summary:
Astronauts on an underground training course have discovered a new species of woodlouse while exploring a cave in Italy. |
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Dust Grains Highlight Path to Planet Formation
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| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/28/12 |
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A detailed study of a protoplanetary disk shows that dust grains colliding with and adhere to each other. The process it what will eventually lead to the formation of planets. |
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Opportunity in a Mars Dust Storm
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| Topic: Mars |
11/27/12 |
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NASA's Opportunity rover has detected atmospheric changes on Mars that are due to a martian dust storm currently being tracked by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. |
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Magnesium Oxide: From Earth to Super Earths
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| Topic: Geology |
11/27/12 |
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A new study on the mineral magnesium oxide is helping scientists understand the nature of planetary interiors. The results could yield new insight into the evolution of rocky planets. |
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