Now that the Planck Telescope has reached its operating temperature of 273.05C, it’s the coldest object in space - colder even than the cosmic radio background.
Ancient Ecosystem Found in Ice Pocket
Life never ceases to amaze me. It seems to be able to exist under any conditions - even without any input from the sun. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if one of our probes to Mars/Jupiter/Europa/Titan/etc finds microbes thriving in the harshest of environments. They’re out there somewhere!
Divinations - by Mastodon off of Crack The Skye
These guys are putting out the best metal these days, hands down. Loved them in the intro the Aqua Teen movie, too.
This is definitely a mission worth waiting for. NASA announced today that they’re planning a new mission to Jupiter, set to depart in 2020 and arrive in 2026, in conjunction with the ESA. The mission would also visit Jupiter’s four moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. From the article:
Europa has a surface of ice, and scientists theorize it has an ocean of water beneath that could provide a home for living things. Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, is the only moon known to have its own internally generated magnetic field and is suspected to have a deep undersurface water ocean. Scientists long have sought to understand the causes of the magnetic field. Callisto’s surface is extremely heavily cratered and ancient, providing a clear indication of a record of events from the early history of the Solar System. Finally, Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system.
Unbelievably cool. Just 17 years until we see the first pictures!
The Universe Today gives word that a 10m diameter asteroid has been discovered following the earth in a nearly identical orbit. It never strays by more than 0.1au, although it poses no danger to us (closest approach will be 644,000 km from the Earth - outside of the Moon’s orbit). For the moment, at least, the earth has a mini-Moon!
This month’s issue of Science carries news that physicists have succeeded in ‘teleporting’ matter over the distance of 1 meter through quantum entanglement. Although researchers were able to entangle photons successfully about 10 years ago, no one had succeeded in entangling full atoms before. In this experiment, two ytterbium ions were entangled such that the exact quantum state of one atom instantaneously transmitted to the other atom upon measurement.
I’ve long thought that quanutm entanglement is just about the strangest physical phenomena out there. It just boggles the mind. As Richard Feynman once said, ‘if you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics.’ Exactly.
Hello Meow - by Squarepusher off of Hello Everything
I just purchased my first Squarepusher album (Hard Normal Daddy), although I’ve been mesmerized by his music for some time now. I think this video does a great job of showing why I love Squarepusher. Hope you enjoy!
As of today, the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are entering the sixth year of their 3 month mission. It’s amazing what good engineering can do.
