SciByte

June 3) depicts the suspected gas giant (called HD 95086 b) circling its young star (named HD 95086) in infrared light

HD 95086 b was sighted by ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile. Based on the planet's brightness, scientists estimate that it is only about four or five times more massive than Jupiter

Only a few planets have been directly observed so far

The blue circle in the photo represents the distance between the sun and Neptune.

The planet orbits its star at about twice the distance from the sun to Neptune and about 56 times the distance between Earth and the sun

is relatively young star at only 10 million to 17 million years old, making the formation of the exoplanet and the dusty disc surrounding the star potentially intriguing to researchers

It either grew by assembling the rocks that form the solid core and then slowly accumulated gas from the environment to form the heavy atmosphere

started forming from a gaseous clump that arose from gravitational instabilities in the disc

Interactions between the planet and the disc itself or with other planets may have also moved the planet from where it was born

Two forms of radiation pose potential health risks to astronauts in deep space. One is galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), particles caused by supernova explosions and other high-energy events outside the solar system. The other is solar energetic particles (SEPs) associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun

NASA has established a three percent increased risk of fatal cancer as an acceptable career limit for its astronauts currently operating in low-Earth orbit

The RAD data showed

Only about three percent of the radiation dose was associated with solar particles because of a relatively quiet solar cycle and the shielding provided by the spacecraft

In terms of accumulated dose, it's like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days

Current spacecraft shield much more effectively against SEPs than GCRs. To protect against the comparatively low energy of typical SEPs, astronauts might need to move into havens with extra shielding on a spacecraft or on the Martian surface, or employ other countermeasures

GCRs tend to be highly energetic, highly penetrating particles that are not stopped by the modest shielding provided by a typical spacecraft.

RAD data collected during Curiosity's science mission will continue to inform plans to protect astronauts as NASA designs future missions to Mars in the coming decades.

they hope to appeal to a wide creative gamut of hobbyists, artists, and engineers for innovative ways to use their products

are Paint, they emphasized, is the first non-toxic electrically conductive paint available

the substance is child friendly, which opens the door to educational projects, including toys, and touch-sensitive paper drawings that play sounds

According to the company, Bare Paint has a surface resistivity of approximately 55 ohms/square at 50 microns layer thickness

The product is water-based but it is not waterproof

generally split applications into two simple classifications, signaling and powering

Signaling could include using the Paint as a potentiometer while interfacing with a micro-controller, as a conduit in a larger circuit or as a capacitive sensor

Powering a device would include lighting LED's or driving small speakers

May 29) that it would build and launch a space telescope for public use if it could raise at least $1 million in 33 days.

The telescope will be a twin copy of the Arkyd spacecraft the company is developing to detect, track and study asteroids in preparation for its mining mission

A test version of the spacecraft is set for its maiden trial flight in April 2014, while the crowdfunded model would launch in early 2015

public backers would use it to study celestial objects of their choice

also have the option of sponsoring research projects at schools, universities or museums that could use the instrument.

The telescope will also take

self portraits that show the telescope in orbit, with a user-submitted photo displayed on the instrument's screen

A camera mounted on the hull of the spacecraft will snap the photo.

Already more than 200 backers have ordered selfies for $25 and above.

But if the crowdfunding campaign fails to reach its $1 million goal by June 30, the company will receive none of the money it has raised

vehicles

compete in four challenges, designed to replicate the activities of NASA's rovers on Mars.

teams will guide their rovers to collect the subsurface soil samples most likely to contain photosynthetic bacteria, lichen and other bits of living material

specific tasks change each year, but the most difficult ones continue to be those that need rovers to do humanlike work

team members must guide their rovers via a remote connection, such as a computer in the back of a truck, as long as it's shielded so the team can't see their rovers

The URC is based on the assumption that the rovers are telerobots, which means they would be operated by astronauts on or orbiting Mars

In addition to collecting soil, the rovers will deliver a series of packages, such as emergency supplies to "astronauts" (URC staff) in the field, fix a dust-covered solar panel (without water, of course) and finally, navigate an obstacle course that will include climbing steep grades, getting over boulders and passing through PVC pipe gates, aimed to test each rover's maneuverability.

This year's teams represent universities and colleges in Canada, India, Poland and the United States

including two-time returning champions Toronto's York University (2012 and 2009) and Oregon State (2010 and 2008).

found clumps of mosses that looked dead. But among the brown tangles, the team noticed a few green sprigs

The team took brown moss samples back to the lab and used radiocarbon dating to determine that they had lived about 400 years ago

Based on the glacier’s retreat rate, the researchers estimated the plants had been uncovered for less than two years.

the team ground up some of the plants and gave them nutrients, water and light

From seven of 24 samples, a total of four moss species grew

The budding plants didn’t come from seeds or spores

In moss

any cell can be reset, almost like a stem cell, to grow a new plant

how long a moss cell can stay viable is “anyone’s guess,”

the findings suggest that the regenerated mosses may help repopulate ecosystems after glaciers retreat

Wooly mammoths are thought to have died out around 10,000 years ago

scientists think small groups of them lived longer in Alaska and on Russia's Wrangel Island off the Siberian coast.

Scientists already have deciphered much of the genetic code of the woolly mammoth from balls of mammoth hair found frozen in the Siberian permafrost

Those who succeed in recreating an extinct animal could claim a "Jurassic Park prize

the concept of which is being developed by the X Prize Foundation

Russian scientists claimed

they have discovered blood in the carcass of a woolly mammoth

An expedition led by Russian scientists earlier this month uncovered the well-preserved carcass of a female mammoth on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean

the head of the expedition, said the animal died at the age of around 60 some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago

it was the first time that an old female had been found.

what was

surprising was that the carcass was so well preserved that it still had blood and muscle tissue.

broke the ice beneath her stomach, the blood flowed out from there, it was very dark

the muscle tissue is also red, the colour of fresh meat

the lower part of the carcass was very well preserved as it ended up in a pool of water that later froze over. The upper part of the body including the back and the head are believed to have been eaten by predators

The discovery

gives new hope to researchers in their quest to bring the woolly mammoth back to life.

gives

a really good chance of finding live cells which can help

clone a mammoth

Previous mammoths have not had such well-preserved tissue

Last year,

signed a deal with cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk of South Korea's Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, who in 2005 created the world's first cloned dog.

mammoth specialists from South Korea, Russia and the United States are expected to study the remains which the Russian scientists are now keeping at an undisclosed northern location

More information on MA365 — perhaps with information on crew selection — should come in August, when members of the Phase 1 crew issue a report at the 16th Annual International Mars Society Convention

Water that moved through fractures during this rock’s history would have provided more favorable conditions for biology than any other wet environment recorded in rocks Opportunity has seen

Opportunity accomplished the ground breaking new discovery by exposing the interior of Esperance with her still functioning Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) and examining a pristine patch using the microscopic camera and X-Ray spectrometer on the end of her 3 foot long robotic arm.

“Esperance was so important, we committed several weeks to getting this one measurement of it

Esperance stems from a time when the Red Planet was far warmer and wetter billions of years ago.

made the discovery at the conclusion of a 20 month long science expedition circling around a low ridge called “Cape York”

What’s so special about Esperance is that there was enough water not only for reactions that produced clay minerals, but also enough to flush out ions set loose by those reactions

Opportunity can clearly see the alteration

Esperance is unlike any rock previously investigated by Opportunity; containing far more aluminum and silica which is indicative of clay minerals and lower levels of calcium and iron.

Most, but not all of the rocks inspected to date by Opportunity were formed in an environment of highly acidic water