Lifeboat Foundation

How do giant planets form and is this process slow or fast based on the amount of available dust used to build those planets? This is what a recent study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics hopes to address as a team of researchers from Germany investigated how sub-micron-sized dust kicks off the planetary formation process within a protoplanetary disc. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of planets throughout our solar system and exoplanetary systems, as well.

For the study, the researchers developed first-of-its-kind model to involve all constituents responsible for the physical processes that from planets. Focusing on sub-micron-sized dust, they included factors such as pebble accumulation, planetary gas buildup, planetary migration, and dust buildup, among others. In the end, they found that ring-shaped disturbances in the protoplanetary disk, which they refer to as substructures, can result in multiple gas giants’ formation in rapid sequence.

Dr. Til Birnstiel, who is a professor of theoretical astrophysics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and a co-author on the study, said: “When a planet gets large enough to influence the gas disk, this leads to renewed dust enrichment farther out in the disk. In the process, the planet drives the dust – like a sheepdog chasing its herd – into the area outside its own orbit.”

A peculiar leopard-spotted rock, found beside an ancient, dried-out river in Mars’ Jezero crater, contains some tantalizing clues of ancient life, NASA said.

An astronaut’s photo from the International Space Station showcases Siberia and Lake Baikal at night, with snow and ice brightening the landscape.

Lake Baikal is the largest and deepest freshwater lake, known for its significant age and biodiversity. The image also highlights bright city lights, oil fields, and parts of the Trans-Siberian Railway. UNESCO has designated Lake Baikal a World Heritage site due to its unique fauna.

Siberia and lake baikal at night.

If Mark Kelly, the Space Shuttle pilot who played a pivotal role in assembling the International Space Station, is catapulted into the White House as Vice President, he could quickly help reverse the death sentence that NASA’s current leaders have placed on the ISS.

Now a widely popular U.S. senator and potential running mate of Kamala Harris, Kelly spent the first decade of the new millennium ferrying European and Japanese modules to the Station — and guiding gigantic robotic builders to put the ISS together — all while the outpost was circling the planet at 17,000 miles per hour.

The space hero — recently inducted into the pantheon of the greatest American astronauts — is likely part of a contingent of ISS spacefarers who back saving the orbiting icon from NASA’s death decree by boosting it into a higher orbit and transforming it into an eternal monument to human ingenuity, says Rick Tumlinson, a torchbearer in the “Save Our Station,” or SOS movement.

Space weather is heating up in our current solar cycle peak.

By Clara Moskowitz & Matthew Twombly

Aurora sightings may become more common, and satellite communications and power grids could be disrupted, as solar activity peaks. Our nearest star is always volatile, but its magnetic action waxes and wanes on an 11-year loop. The sun is thought to be in a peak now, although scientists will need another year or two to analyze data before they can say for sure. During this high point we should see more sunspots (dark areas where the sun’s magnetic field reaches the surface) and solar storms (ejections of energy from the sun that reach into space and can affect Earth).

New Venus research has been dividing the scientific community, but recent findings may have an answer to their questions.

The plan would be to launch Starship from a SpaceX facility in Texas, land it in the sea off Australia’s coast and recover it on Australian territory. Getting permission to do so would require loosening US export controls on sophisticated space technologies bound for Australia, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Joe Biden’s administration already has sought to ease similar restrictions within the AUKUS security alliance, opens new tab, a grouping of the United States, Australia and Britain aimed at countering China.

SpaceX, the US Space Force and the Australian Space Agency did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

On this day in history in 1971, Apollo 15 lunar module “Falcon” landed on the Moon. Astronauts David Scott and Jim Irwin spent 66 hours, 54 minutes, 53 seconds on the lunar surface. More on Apollo 15:

Ever wanted to drive on the Moon? Apollo 15, the fourth crewed mission to land on the Moon, was the first Apollo mission to utilize a Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV).

“These spots are a big surprise,” said Dr. David Flannery. “On Earth, these types of features in rocks are often associated with the fossilized record of microbes living in the subsurface.”

Did Mars once have life billions of years ago? This is what NASA’s Perseverance (Percy) rover hopes to figure out, and scientists might be one step closer to answering that question with a recent discovery by the car-sized robotic explorer that found a unique rock with “leopard spots” that have caused some in the scientific community to claim this indicates past life might have once existed on the now cold and dry Red Planet. However, others have just as quickly rushed to say that further evidence is required before jumping to conclusions.

Upon analyzing the rock using Percy’s intricate suite of scientific instruments, scientists determined that it contained specific chemical signatures indicative of life possibly having existed billions of years ago when liquid water flowed across the surface. However, the science team is also considering other reasons for the rock’s unique appearance, including further research to determine if the findings are consistent with potential ancient life.

Continue reading “Peculiar Rock Found by NASA’s Perseverance Rover Leaves Scientists Puzzled” »