But this ancient muck, which hasn't had a fresh shot of food or sunlight since the days of the dinosaurs, still harbors life—if just barely. Scientists have discovered that deep-sea microbial communities, buried for 86 million years, are still consuming oxygen, albeit at extraordinarily low rates. These microorganisms eking out an existence in slow motion reveal just how little it takes to sustain life on our own planet, and potentially on others.
Hangin’ on. Scientists have found that microbes living in cores of ancient, deep-sea mud, such as the one shown above, consume oxygen at extremely slow rates.
Microbes such as bacteria are the most numerous organisms on Earth, and about 90% of them live in sediments buried under the sea floor. To take a peak at this microscopic life in its natural habitat, a team of scientists including Hans R?y, a microbiologist at Aarhus University in Denmark, traveled to the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean. There, they collected mud from the sea floor, which builds up for millions of years like a giant layer cake as newer sediments pile on top of older ones.
The new rocket, which will be around 30 percent more efficient than exising designs, works on a completely novel fuel mixture of acetylene and ammonia (atsetam).
“A mixture of acetylene and ammonia is 20 times cheaper than hydrogen as a kilogram of hydrogen costs about 2 thousand rubles ($67) and a kilo of atsetam is maximum of 100 rubles ($3.35)," Energomash's Director of Innovative Technology Anatoly Likhvantsev told Izvestiya newspaper.
"Using five to seven tons of this mixture, we can save a considerable amount of money. In addition, the components that are included in atsetam can be easily stored and transported, whereas hydrogen requires special storage and transportation conditions," he added.
The new atsetam engine will be assembled on the basis of the RD-161 oxygen and kerosene engine. The exact parameters will be determined during tests which will begin this year and will last for about three years.
The developers plan to launch rockets with the new engine in 2017-2018, dependent on funding.
Once the optimal ratio of acetylene and ammonia is found (in which fuel will be sufficiently powerful without exploding too easily) the designers will specify the parameters of the engine.
According to preliminary calculations, the atsetam engine will not require major structural changes to existing rocket motors since the physical properties of atsetam do not differ much from kerosene. An upper stage with the new engine will be installed on existing rocket carriers, which will be more profitable than developing an entirely new rocket with it.
Според американски учени космическият кораб "Зора" (Dawn), е разкрил, че изследваният то него астроид Веста наподобява по структура скалистите планети на нашата Слънчева система.
Геологическата сложност на астероида се дължи на факта, че структурата му може да се обособи на кора, мантия и ядро с радиус около 110 км. Земеподобните планети (Меркурий, Венера, Земята, Марс и джуджето Церера) и Луната са се формирали по подобен начин и имат подобна структура.
Според тях причината астероида да не успее да се формира като планета е в Юпитер. Когато се е образувал газовия гигант, орбитите на небесните тела като Веста са се изменили.
Ако не е бил Юпитер, най-вероятната съдба на тази неосъществена планета, щеше да е своя собствена орбита и трупане на маса и естествено растеж до този на някоя от днешните планети разположени във вътрешният кръг.
След тези разкрития вторият по-големина астероид се превръща в още едно от интересните за изследвания тела в Слънчевата система.
Спекулациите на НАСА за възможното изпращене на човек на астероид, сега могат да имат и конкретни измерения, най-вече заради факта, че Веста може да се окаже от интерес и бъдещ обект за колонизация.
A mysterious ocean 'blob' has been recorded by a deep-sea remote-controlled underwater camera. The creature looks like nothing seen before, with speculators suggesting it is everything from a jellyfish to the remains of a whale placenta.While, at a quick glance, the description of a jellyfish makes sense, the creature has organs and appendages never spotted on a jellyfish before.
Meanwhile it could be a whale placenta, but if that is the case then the hexagonal shapes on the skin are a mystery.If it is a jellyfish, it might be a Stygiomedusa Gigantea. This type of jellyfish - which can grow up to six metres in length - has only been spotted 114 times in 110 years, so details on it are scant.But again, the appendages get in the way.
Another suggestion is Deepstaria Enigmatica, another rarely-studied jellyfish, which like most of its kind is colourless.
However it has reported to have a brown stomach, with one description saying the passages to the stomach are 'somewhat irregular-edged, forming a reticulate network'.
Those markings lead one commentator on the website Snopes - which tries to debunk or confirm rumours - to suggest this is simply nothing more than a fishing net.
But again, the appendages get in the way. Another mystery - a man-made one, this time - is exactly where this video was filmed. It was added to YouTube on April 27 this year, and appears to have been filmed two days earlier, but the poster did not leave any other details about the sighting. -DAILYMAIL
_______________________________________________________ MAY 11,2012 UPDATE:
Steven Haddock, a scientist for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif., says that the mysterious creature is a Deepstaria enigmatica jellyfish, much to the chagrin of some Reddit users who thought it was a whale placenta.
"This bag-like jelly is not that rare, but is large, so rarely seen intact," Haddock said on his "JellyWatch" Facebook page. "In the video, the swirling from the sub makes the medusa appear to undulate and it even turns inside-out."
This type of jellyfish is usually found in the south Atlantic Ocean, some 5,000 feet below. According to the Marine Species Identification Portal, the jellyfish has "oral arms terminating in curious hook-shaped organ."
JUICE is the first Large-class mission chosen as part of ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme.
It will be launched in 2022 from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5, arriving at Jupiter in 2030 to spend at least three years making detailed observations.
Jupiter’s diverse Galilean moons – volcanic Io, icy Europa and rock-ice Ganymede and Callisto – make the jovian system a miniature Solar System in its own right.
With Europa, Ganymede and Callisto all thought to host internal oceans, the mission will study the moons as potential habitats for life, addressing two key themes of Cosmic Vision: what are the conditions for planet formation and the emergence of life, and how does the Solar System work?
JUICE will continuously observe Jupiter’s atmosphere and magnetosphere, and the interaction of the Galilean moons with the gas giant planet.
It will visit Callisto, the most heavily cratered object in the Solar System, and will twice fly by Europa. JUICE will make the first measurements of the thickness of Europa’s icy crust and will identify candidate sites for future in situ exploration.
The spacecraft will finally enter orbit around Ganymede in 2032, where it will study the icy surface and internal structure of the moon, including its subsurface ocean.
Ganymede is the only moon in the Solar System known to generate its own magnetic field, and JUICE will observe the unique magnetic and plasma interactions with Jupiter’s magnetosphere in detail.
“Jupiter is the archetype for the giant planets of the Solar System and for many giant planets being found around other stars,” says Prof. Alvaro Gim?nez Ca?ete, ESA’s Director of Science and Robotic Exploration.
“JUICE will give us better insight into how gas giants and their orbiting worlds form, and their potential for hosting life.”
"The selection process has been challenging given the excellent quality of the three mission candidates, and I would like to thank the Space Science Advisory Committee for its hard work and for having carried out this very challenging process in a very rigorous way," says the Chair of ESA’s Science Programme Committee, Dr Richard Bonneville.
Today’s announcement is the culmination of a process started in 2004 when ESA consulted the wider scientific community to set Europe’s goals for space exploration in the coming decade.
The resulting Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme identified four scientific aims. What are the conditions for life and planetary formation? How does the Solar System work? What are the fundamental laws of the Universe? How did the Universe begin and what is it made of?
In 2007, a ’Call for Missions’ was issued around these aims and resulted in a number of L-class missions being considered.
“It was a difficult decision to choose one mission from three excellent candidates. All three would produce world-class science and put Europe at the forefront of space research,” says Prof. Gim?nez Ca?ete.
“JUICE is a necessary step for the future exploration of our outer Solar System.”
The high scientific value of both NGO and ATHENA was also recognised by the Science Programme Committee in today’s decision, and technology activities are planned to continue, enabling the missions to be considered as candidates for future launch opportunities. A second Call for Large Missions is expected in 2013.
Спътникът бе изстрелян с новата ракета на Европейския космически център Vega (Европейска ракета-носител от напреднало поколение). Той ще следи поведението на "космическите отпадъци" и други обекти в орбита около Земята, включително Международната космическа станция.
"Системата се състои от специална опашка, която ще позволи по-бързо влизане в земната атмосфера", каза Мачич Урбанович от Варшавския университет за технологии.
Предвижда се да се тестват соларни клетки, които никога преди не са били използвани в пространството, съобщи thenews.pl.
Hangin’ on. Scientists have found that microbes living in cores of ancient, deep-sea mud, such as the one shown above, consume oxygen at extremely slow rates.
