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NASA Scientists Find Evidence of Water in Meteorite, Reviving Debate Over Life on Mars

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2014Scienceallan hills, ancient mars, antarctic research expedition, Antarctica, biogenic evidence, david mckay, everett gibson, Houston, japanese, jet propulsion laboratory, Johnson Space Center, kathie thomas keprta, martian atmospheric gases, martian carbon, martian meteorite, martian samples, nasa scientists, oxygen atoms, yamato 000593, yamato glacier

A team of scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has found evidence of past water movement throughout a Martian meteorite, reviving debate in the scientific community over life on Mars.

In 1996, a group of scientists at Johnson led by David McKay, Everett Gibson and Kathie Thomas-Keprta published an article in Science announcing the discovery of biogenic evidence in the Allan Hills 84001(ALH84001) meteorite. In this new study, Gibson and his colleagues focused on structures deep within a 30-pound (13.7-kilogram) Martian meteorite known as Yamato 000593 (Y000593). The team reports that newly discovered different structures and compositional features within the larger Yamato meteorite suggest biological processes might have been at work on Mars hundreds of millions of years ago. (more…)

Hidden Wildfires Taking Big Toll on Amazon Rainforest

By Guest PostJune 9, 2013Environmentairs, Amazon, amazon fire season, amazon forests, Amazon rainforest, atmospheric infrared sounder, austin, climate conditions, climate fire connection, climate mechanisms, data, deforestation activity, doug morton, dry conditions, evolution, fire season, frequent understory fire, german aerospace center, global climate, grace, grasses, hidden wildfires, imaging spectroradiometer, irvine, isabella velicogna, kathryn hansen, moderate resolution, modis, nasa scientists, noaa, regional scale, satellite technique, sea surface temperature, shrubs, southern amazon, terra satellite, type of wildfire, understory fires, university of california, university of texas, yang chen

Using an innovative satellite technique, NASA scientists have determined that a previously unmapped type of wildfire in the Amazon rainforest is responsible for destroying several times more forest than has been lost through deforestation in recent years.

In the southern Amazon rainforest, fires below the forest treetops, or “understory fires,” have been hidden from view from NASA satellites that detect actively burning fires. The new method has now led to the first regional estimate of understory fire damages across the southern Amazon. (more…)

Look Ma, No Hands: Yale Engineers Invent a Magnetic Fluid Pump with No Moving Parts

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Scienceadvertising industry, ferrofluids, ferrohydrodynamic pumping mechanism, hollywood, hur koser, leidong mao, liquid, liquid fuels, magical materials, magnetic, magnetic fields, magnetic nanoparticles, markus zahn, microfluidic devices, nasa scientists, national science foundation, non mechanical, outer space, shihab elborai, xiaowei he

Used in Hollywood and the advertising industry to create exotic special effects, ferrofluids are seemingly magical materials that are both liquid and magnetic at once. In a study published today in Physical Review B, Yale electrical engineering professor Hur Koser and colleagues from the University of Georgia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrate for the first time an approach that allows ferrofluids to be pumped by magnetic fields alone. The invention could lead to new applications for this mysterious material.

Developed in the 1960s by NASA scientists seeking a non-mechanical method for moving liquid fuels in outer space, ferrofluids are made up of magnetic nanoparticles suspended in liquids such as oil, water, or alcohol. Though numerous industrial, commercial, and biomedical applications for ferrofluids have since been created, the original goal-to pump liquids with no machinery-remained elusive, until now. (more…)

Tag Archives: nasa scientists

NASA Scientists Find Evidence of Water in Meteorite, Reviving Debate Over Life on Mars

Hidden Wildfires Taking Big Toll on Amazon Rainforest

Look Ma, No Hands: Yale Engineers Invent a Magnetic Fluid Pump with No Moving Parts