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Stormy Stars? NASA’s Spitzer Probes Weather on Brown Dwarfs

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2014Scienceatmosphere, brown dwarfs, daniel apai, davin flateau, earth, gravity, great red spot, jupiter, mark marley, NASA, other worlds, solar system, spitzer, stanimir metchev, stormy stars, thermal glow, undiscovered planet, university of arizona, weather

Swirling, stormy clouds may be ever-present on cool celestial orbs called brown dwarfs. New observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that most brown dwarfs are roiling with one or more planet-size storms akin to Jupiter’s “Great Red Spot.”

“As the brown dwarfs spin on their axis, the alternation of what we think are cloud-free and cloudy regions produces a periodic brightness variation that we can observe,” said Stanimir Metchev of the University of Western Ontario, Canada. “These are signs of patchiness in the cloud cover.” (more…)

How to Find the Rarest of the Rare in Southern Skies

By Guest PostDecember 18, 2013Scienceabhijit saha, andean peaks, antares, arizona noao, astronomical objects, astronomically interesting, bio5 institute, cerro pachon, Chile, disease outbreak, irregular galaxy, john kececioglu, large magellanic cloud, lsst project, noao, rare, rarest, resource for astronomy, rick snodgrass, software, southern skies, tom matheson, university of arizona

An interdisciplinary UA team is developing a computer program that will sort through up to 10 million alerts of astronomical objects each night from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will begin operations in Chile in 2022.

University of Arizona computer scientists are teaming up with astronomers at the National Optical Astronomical Observatory to develop a computer program that will sort through the millions of objects detected by the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and create a list of priorities for astronomers to investigate. The project has recently received a three-year INSPIRE grant, worth more than $700,000, from the National Science Foundation. (more…)

Astronomers discover first noble gas molecules in space

By Guest PostDecember 13, 2013Science19th century, alison loll, argon 40, argon hydride ions, arh, astronomers, atom like argon, bruce swinyard, crab nebula, different molecules, energy, esa space, ghz, gigahertz, harsh environment, herschel space observatory, infrared light, isotopes, jeff hester, mike barlow, neutron star, noble gas molecules, potassium in rocks, properties, radioactive decay, Space, spectroscopic observations, supernova, supernova remnant, university of arizona, wavelengths, william ramsay

Noble gas molecules have been detected in space for the first time in the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant, by astronomers at UCL.

Led by Professor Mike Barlow (UCL Physics & Astronomy) the team used ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory to observe the Crab Nebula in far infrared light. (more…)

Ancient Minerals: Which Gave Rise to Life?

By Guest PostDecember 9, 2013Scienceancient minerals, beryllium, clay minerals, curiosity rover, earth surface, hadean eon, hadean mineralogy, hydrothermal areas, life, lithium, magnesium silicate forsterite, mars today, metabolic energy, molecular building blocks, molybdenum, most abundant minerals, paleomineralogy, rare elements, rise to life, robert downs, robert hazen, ruff project, scientific models, synthesis, university of arizona

Washington, D.C.— Life originated as a result of natural processes that exploited early Earth’s raw materials. Scientific models of life’s origins almost always look to minerals for such essential tasks as the synthesis of life’s molecular building blocks or the supply of metabolic energy. But this assumes that the mineral species found on Earth today are much the same as they were during Earth’s first 550 million years—the Hadean Eon—when life emerged. A new analysis of Hadean mineralogy challenges that assumption. It is published in American Journal of Science.

Carnegie’s Robert Hazen compiled a list of every plausible mineral species on the Hadean Earth and concludes that no more than 420 different minerals—about 8 percent of the nearly 5,000 species found on Earth today—would have been present at or near Earth’s surface. (more…)

UA Study: Your Brain Sees Things You Don’t

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2013Health, Scienceblack silhouettes, brain process, brainwave, brainwaves called n400, davi vitela, eeg, electroencephalogram, jay sanguinetti, john allen, mary peterson, millisecond, model, real world objects, ua doctoral student, university of arizona, visual information, visual input

A new study by UA doctoral student Jay Sanguinetti indicates that our brains perceive objects in everyday life of which we may never be aware. The finding challenges currently accepted models about how the brain processes visual information.

University of Arizona doctoral degree candidate Jay Sanguinetti has authored a new study, published online in the journal Psychological Science, that indicates that the brain processes and understands visual input that we may never consciously perceive.

The finding challenges currently accepted models about how the brain processes visual information. (more…)

A Living Desert Underground

By Guest PostNovember 20, 2013Natureantje legatzki, archaea, atacama desert, australia, bacteria, biomass, brisbane, carbon dioxide, cave formation, Chile, desert ecosystem, dna analysis, ecosystem of microbes, environmental cleanup solutions, erythromycin, exploring mars, groundwater, hypersaline water, julie neilson, kartchner caverns, kentucky, limestone cave, limestone cave system, living desert underground, organic carbon, raina maier, rod wing, sewage treatment plant, shark bay, southeastern arizona, stromatolite, sunlight, throne room, type of habitat, typical ecosystem, university of arizona, west virginia, whetstone mountains

In the perpetual darkness of a limestone cave, UA researchers have discovered a surprisingly diverse ecosystem of microbes eking out a living from not much more than drip water, rock and air. The discovery not only expands our understanding of how microbes manage to colonize every niche on the planet but also could lead to applications ranging from environmental cleanup solutions to drug development.

Hidden underneath the hilly grasslands studded with ocotillos and mesquite trees in southeastern Arizona lies a world shrouded in perpetual darkness: Kartchner Caverns, a limestone cave system renowned for its untouched cave formations, sculpted over millennia by groundwater dissolving the bedrock and carving out underground rooms, and passages that attract tourists from all over the world. (more…)

UA Celebrates Native American Heritage Month

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2013Cultureapache 8, azpm original production, cherokee, david southerland, dine, emmy award winning, film showcase, hopi, indian relay, kind hearted woman, lakota sioux, melissa henry, native american dance, native american heritage, native american student, native eyes, navajo, pascua yaqui, raji rhys, tohono oodham, traditional, twilight, ua celebrates, united states, university of arizona, winter in blood

November is Native American Heritage Month. The UA will celebrate with a variety of events, kicking off on Friday.

The University of Arizona will celebrate Native American Heritage Month starting Friday followed by a full slate of activities, seminars, a film showcase and public television programming.

With one of the largest Native American student populations in the Southwest, the UA has more than 1,000 students who identify as Diné or Navajo, Tohono O’odham, Pascua Yaqui, Hopi, Cherokee and other Native nations. (more…)

The Failing Freezer: How Soil Microbes Affect Global Climate

By Guest PostOctober 10, 2013Environmentabisko national park, arctic circle, big biology problem, carbon dioxide, changsheng li, climate change, climate driven changes, ecologist, Environment, failing freezer, gene tyson, global climate, global scale, jeffrey chanton, matthew sullivan, metagenome, methane, microbial feast, microbial process, organic material, patrick crill, permafrost soil, plexiglas chamber, scott saleska, sentinel ecosystem, soil chemistry, soil microbes, steven frolking, Sweden, types of carbon, university of arizona, virginia, virginia rich

With a $3.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a UA-led international collaboration studies how microbes release greenhouse gases as they gain access to nutrients in the soil thawing under the influence of warmer global temperatures.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $3.9 million to an international collaboration led by University of Arizona ecologists Scott Saleska and Virginia Rich to study how microbes release greenhouse gases as they access nutrients in thawing permafrost soils under the influence of a warmer climate. (more…)

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