Tag: Planet

Three decades later, first brown dwarf ever found offers a surprise

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In 1995, astronomers confirmed the discovery for the first time of a brown dwarf, a body too small to be a star and too big to be a planet – sort of a celestial tweener. But it turns out that was not the full story. Researchers now have taken a fresh look at that brown dwarf and learned that it actually is not a single brown dwarf but rather […]

New planet discovered in orbit of young Milky Way star

PARIS, France (AFP) — A second planet has been discovered circling Beta Pictoris, a fledgling star in our own galaxy offering astronomers a rare glimpse of a planetary system in the making, according to a study published Monday. “We talking about a giant planet about 3,000 times more massive than Earth, situated 2.7 times further from its star than the Earth is from the Sun,” said Anne-Marie Lagrange, an astronomer at France’s National Centre for […]

How to drive a robot on Mars

by Ivan Couronne Agence France-Presse GREENBELT, United States (AFP) — Some 78 million miles (126 million kilometers) from Earth, alone on the immense and frigid Red Planet, a robot the size of a small 4×4 wakes up just after sunrise. And just as it has every day for the past six years, it awaits its instructions. Around 9:30 Mars time, a message arrives from California, where it was sent 15 minutes earlier. “Drive forward 10 […]

Global warming will make insects hungrier, eating up key crops: study

by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Researchers have found a new way that global warming is bad for the planet: more hungry bugs. Rising temperatures will stimulate insects’ appetites — and make some prone to reproducing more quickly — spelling danger for key staples like wheat, corn and rice which feed billions of people, researchers said Thursday. And since these three crops account for 42 percent of the calories people […]

NASA building new rover for Mars 2020 mission

Reuters — NASA gave a sneak peek on Tuesday (November 28) of the rover being designed for their 2020 mission to Mars. Relying on many of the systems created for the 2012 Curiosity rover, the new rover looks similar, but will have seven new instruments, redesigned wheels, and more autonomy, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The 2020 mission plans to study areas of the planet considered to have once been habitable, searching for […]

Monster planet found orbiting dwarf star: ‘surprised’ astronomers

PARIS, France (AFP) — A “monster” planet, which should in theory not exist, has been discovered orbiting a faint dwarf star far, far away, surprised astronomers said Tuesday. The existence of the gassy giant challenges long-standing theories that such a big planet — about the size of Jupiter — cannot be formed around a star so small. The star has a radius and mass about half that of the sun. Theory had predicted that small […]

Planet marks new highs for heat, pollutants, sea level in 2016: report

by Jean-Louis Santini with Kerry Sheridan in Miami Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Earth set a series of dire records in 2016, including hottest year in modern times, highest sea level and most heat-trapping gases ever emitted, a global climate report said Thursday. A range of key climate and weather indicators show the planet is growing increasingly warm, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down, said the annual State […]

Other planets may never be as hospitable as Earth: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — Scientists dealt a blow Monday to the quest for organisms inhabiting worlds besides Earth, saying our planet was unusual in its ability to host liquid water — the key ingredient for life. It was thought likely that distant worlds orbiting stars similar to our Sun would go through water-rich phases. This would happen when the young, dim star of an icy, lifeless planet — such as early Earth — starts warming, […]

The cast of the War for the Planet of Apes celebrates the last film in its trilogy

NEW YORK, United States (Reuters) — The cast of “War for the Planet of the Apes” celebrated the final film in the rebooted film series on the red carpet in New York on Monday (July 10). The movie will hit United States cinemas on July 14, promising an action-packed conclusion to a trilogy that has garnered both critical acclaim and box office receipts. “War for the Planet of the Apes” sees motion-capture performance specialist Andy […]

Scientists look to genetically modified algae to help feed the planet

QUINGDAO, China (Reuters) — Algae, one of the smallest organisms on the planet, could soon be used to combat a looming global food crisis. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) hope genetically engineered micro-algae could be the food of the future, and they’ve taken a step closer to that reality with an outdoor field trial approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Algae geneticist Stephen Mayfield and his team inserted […]

Schwarzenegger says you can have four Hummers and still save planet

by Fiachra GIBBONS Agence France Presse CANNES, France (AFP) — Arnold Schwarzenegger has four Hummers and likes nothing better than getting up at 5am to ride his Harley Davidson to the beach for breakfast. Yet “The Terminator” star insists that should not stop him being an environmental evangelist. “Saving the planet is also about technology,” the former California governor told AFP, putting his foot on a chair and wagging a skull-ringed finger to make his […]

Seven Earth-like planets discovered around single star

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Researchers announced Wednesday the stunning discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting a small star in our galaxy, opening up the most promising hunting ground so far for life beyond the Solar System. All seven roughly match the size and mass of our own planet and are almost certainly rocky, and three are perfectly perched to harbour life-nurturing oceans of water, they reported in the journal […]