Jupiter’s gravity could trigger chain reaction of planetary collisions one day

October 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new analysis of Cassini observations of Jupiter shows that an "inverse energy cascade" mechanism could be supplying the energy that powers and maintains the intense jet streams that typically rip through Jupiter's atmosphere at the same speeds as much shorter-lived hurricanes and tornadoes do on Earth. Exactly what mechanism generates and perpetuates dozens of ferocious, relatively constant jet streams that have been observed on Jupiter over decades is a long-standing question, according to David Choi, a planetary sciences graduate student at the University of Arizona.

October 1st, 2009 PARIS - Reports indicate that the European Space Agency's (ESA's) GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) has started sending data that will lead to the development of the best gravity map ever, providing a better understanding of Earth's gravity. The GOCE satellite was launched on March 17 from northern Russia.

September 29th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Scientists from University of New South Wales in Sydney claim to have found the reason why long-term exposure to microgravity causes loss of bone density and muscle wasting in astronauts. They said stem cells exposed to microgravity express different proteins than those grown in normal gravity.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Messenger spacecraft is all set to fly by Mercury for the third and final time on September 29. The spacecraft will pass less than 142 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter Mercury's orbit in 2011.

September 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study that models the cratering history of Vesta and Ceres, which are the largest two objects in the asteroid belt, could help pinpoint when Jupiter began to form during the evolution of the early Solar System. The study, carried out by scientists at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome, explored the hypothesis that one or both objects formed during Jupiter's formation by modeling their cratering histories during the birth of the giant planet.

September 12th, 2009 SYDNEY - In a new study, scientists have determined that giant gas planets like Jupiter, which orbit close to their parent star, could harbour moons the size of Earth. According to a report by ABC News, the study was led by graduate student Tim Cassidy from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, US.

August 30th, 2009 LONDON - British space scientists have designed a special spacecraft that can save the earth from a catastrophic asteroid collision. The 10 tonne spacecraft named "gravity tractor" would be deployed to intercept an asteroid en route to the earth and has the ability to fly 160 ft alongside it.

August 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at Texas A and M University in the US have developed a controversial new model of quantum gravity, which might reproduce Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. The theory, which Einstein developed in the early 20th century, says that matter curves spacetime, and it is this curvature which deflects massive bodies - an effect that we interpret as the influence of gravity.

August 15th, 2009 LONDON - A team of scientists in Australia and the United States has discovered a new class of object which they call "Super Planetary Nebulae." Planetary nebulae are shells of gas and dust expelled by stars near the end of their lives and are typically seen around stars comparable or smaller in size than the Sun. The international team, led by Associate Professor Miroslav Filipovic from the University of Western Sydney, surveyed the Magellanic Clouds, the two companion galaxies to the Milky Way, with radio telescopes of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia Telescope National Facility.

August 13th, 2009 LONDON - A team of scientists has found a new planet which appears to have been the victim of a game of planetary billiards, flung into its unusual orbit by a close encounter with a "big brother" planet. The planet, named WASP-17, and orbiting a star 1000 light years away, was found by the UK's WASP project in collaboration with Geneva Observatory.

August 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at the University of Calgary (U of C) and Clemson University in South Carolina, US, have discovered that the geckos' amazing grip is triggered by gravity. Geckos are very adept at climbing through difficult terrain using an intricate adhesive system.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, an international team of astrophysicists has found evidence that suggests life in our solar system may have been fuelled by a nearby dying giant star of six times the mass of the sun. The evidence that the team has found is in the form of radioactive nuclei found in the earliest meteorites, dating back billions of years, which could have been delivered by a nearby dying giant star.

July 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Two University of Hawaii astronomers have found a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by the kind of dust disk that is frequently the precursor of a planetary system, which makes them solar systems in the making. The astronomers in question are doctoral student Rita Mann and Dr.

June 21st, 2009 LONDON - Humans are not the only ones cribbing over weight issues, some planets too go through a "fat" stage that swells their waistlines temporarily. "Astronomers have found a lot of planets whose sizes cannot be explained by standard theory," says Laurent Ibgui of Princeton University.

June 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astronomers have announced the discovery of new tidal debris stripped away from colliding galaxies. New debris images are of special interest since they show the full history of galaxy collisions and resultant starburst activities, which are important in 'growing' galaxies in the early Universe.