TOP TEN MOST DEADLY INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Largest Batch of Earth-size, Habitable Zone Planets

Our Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Three of these planets are firmly located in an area called the habitable zone, where liquid water is most likely to exist on a rocky planet.

This exoplanet system is called TRAPPIST-1, named for The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile. In May 2016, researchers using TRAPPIST announced they had discovered three planets in the system.

Assisted by several ground-based telescopes, Spitzer confirmed the existence of two of these planets and discovered five additional ones, increasing the number of known planets in the system to seven.

This is the FIRST time three terrestrial planets have been found in the habitable zone of a star, and this is the FIRST time we have been able to measure both the masses and the radius for habitable zone Earth-sized planets.

All of these seven planets could have liquid water, key to life as we know it, under the right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.

At about 40 light-years (235 trillion miles) from Earth, the system of planets is relatively close to us, in the constellation Aquarius. Because they are located outside of our solar system, these planets are scientifically known as exoplanets. To clarify, exoplanets are planets outside our solar system that orbit a sun-like star.

In this animation, you can see the planets orbiting the star, with the green area representing the famous habitable zone, defined as the range of distance to the star for which an Earth-like planet is the most likely to harbor abundant liquid water on its surface. Planets e, f and g fall in the habitable zone of the star.

Using Spitzer data, the team precisely measured the sizes of the seven planets and developed first estimates of the masses of six of them. The mass of the seventh and farthest exoplanet has not yet been estimated.

For comparison…if our sun was the size of a basketball, the TRAPPIST-1 star would be the size of a golf ball.

Based on their densities, all of the TRAPPIST-1 planets are likely to be rocky. Further observations will not only help determine whether they are rich in water, but also possibly reveal whether any could have liquid water on their surfaces.

The sun at the center of this system is classified as an ultra-cool dwarf and is so cool that liquid water could survive on planets orbiting very close to it, closer than is possible on planets in our solar system. All seven of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary orbits are closer to their host star than Mercury is to our sun.

 The planets also are very close to each other. How close? Well, if a person was standing on one of the planet’s surface, they could gaze up and potentially see geological features or clouds of neighboring worlds, which would sometimes appear larger than the moon in Earth’s sky.

The planets may also be tidally-locked to their star, which means the same side of the planet is always facing the star, therefore each side is either perpetual day or night. This could mean they have weather patterns totally unlike those on Earth, such as strong wind blowing from the day side to the night side, and extreme temperature changes.

Because most TRAPPIST-1 planets are likely to be rocky, and they are very close to one another, scientists view the Galilean moons of Jupiter – lo, Europa, Callisto, Ganymede – as good comparisons in our solar system. All of these moons are also tidally locked to Jupiter. The TRAPPIST-1 star is only slightly wider than Jupiter, yet much warmer. 

How Did the Spitzer Space Telescope Detect this System?

Spitzer, an infrared telescope that trails Earth as it orbits the sun, was well-suited for studying TRAPPIST-1 because the star glows brightest in infrared light, whose wavelengths are longer than the eye can see. Spitzer is uniquely positioned in its orbit to observe enough crossing (aka transits) of the planets in front of the host star to reveal the complex architecture of the system. 

Every time a planet passes by, or transits, a star, it blocks out some light. Spitzer measured the dips in light and based on how big the dip, you can determine the size of the planet. The timing of the transits tells you how long it takes for the planet to orbit the star.

The TRAPPIST-1 system provides one of the best opportunities in the next decade to study the atmospheres around Earth-size planets. Spitzer, Hubble and Kepler will help astronomers plan for follow-up studies using our upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2018. With much greater sensitivity, Webb will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone and other components of a planet’s atmosphere.

At 40 light-years away, humans won’t be visiting this system in person anytime soon…that said…this poster can help us imagine what it would be like: 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Scientists are pretty sure that deep inside the moon, there’s water

While Earth’s surface cracks and spouts fire, the moon’s surface, for as long as we’ve known it, has been quiet. 

The youngest sign of volcanic activity scientists have found on the moon’s surface is 18 million years old.

But the traces of that long-ago volcanic activity could help scientists crack an enduring mystery: How much water is on the moon?

A study published Monday in Nature Geoscience suggests it may be more than we thought. Read more (7/24/17)

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5 sleep disorders you didn’t know existed

Ever shouted at your partner while you slept, or woken up unable to move? From apnoea to exploding heads, here are some strange things that go bump in the night.

Sleep apnoea

A surprisingly common condition in which you stop breathing for 10 seconds or more as you sleep. The lack of oxygen causes your brain to wake you up, or pull you into much lighter sleep. Either way, it can have a profound effect on the quality of your sleep – and that of any bedfellow, as it’s often accompanied by loud snoring.

Sleep paralysis

A terrifying experience, where the body, which naturally becomes paralysed duringREM sleep, is still paralysed when you wake. You are fully conscious but cannot move or speak, sometimes for several minutes. Some people also feel as if they are choking or their chest is being crushed and they may have visual hallucinations. The condition can be exacerbated by sleep deprivation, some drugs, and disorders such as sleep apnoea.

Hypnagogic jerks

Those jumps or twitches you experience as you nod off, often accompanied by the sensation of falling. The cause remains a mystery. One idea is that you start dreaming before your body becomes paralysed. Another is that the twitches are a by-product of your nervous system relaxing as you drift off.

REM sleep disorder

If you’ve ever punched or shouted at your partner in the night, only to remember nothing next morning, you may have been in the grip of this condition. Here, the body isn’t fully paralysed during REM sleep, so people act out their dreams. Thistends to happen only with bad dreams.

Exploding head syndrome

This entails the sensation of a loud noise, like an exploding bomb or a gunshot, as you drift off or wake up. It affects about 1 in 10 of us and it tends to start around age 50. Nobody knows what causes it– perhaps physical changes in the middle ear, or a minor seizure in the brain’s temporal lobe. Despite its name, the condition is harmless.

Image Credit: Toby Leigh

Source: New Scientist (By Catherine de Lange)

It’s #InternationalWomensDay! Here are twelve pioneering female chemists. Larger image & downloadable poster: http://wp.me/p4aPLT-2ra

This team of early female astronomers created the star classification system we use today.

In the late 19th century, astronomy was a growing field. At the time, Edward Pickering, the director of the Harvard College Observatory, was working to create a classification system for stars by capturing the light from these distant celestial objects onto photographic glass plates. A team of female assistants and astronomers meticulously maintained and analyzed these delicate negatives. In her new book, The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars, Dava Sobel shares the stories of these female “human computers” and how their work helped to advance the field of astronomy and the role of women in science.

This team of astronomers included Williamina Fleming, who was once Pickering’s maid but eventually became a supervisor to the group and went on to identify hundreds of variable stars. And Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s observations about the luminosity of stars would shape later ideas about the expanding universe.

Listen to the interview here.

[Photos courtesy of The Glass Universe]

A Brand-New Human Organ Has Been Identified

Your body now has an extra organ — meet the mesentery.

A mighty membrane that twists and turns through the gut is starting the new year with a new classification: the structure, called the mesentery, has been upgraded to an organ.

Scientists have known about the structure, which connects a person’s small and large intestines to the abdominal wall and anchors them in place, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, until now, it was thought of as a number of distinct membranes by most scientists. Interestingly, in one of its earliest descriptions, none other than Leonardo da Vinci identified the membranes as a single structure, according to a recent review.

R.I.P. Dr. Vera Rubin

As I write this, reports are spreading rapidly through the astronomy community of the death of Dr. Vera Rubin on December 25, 2016. If you don’t know who she was, or what she worked on, come sit by me and let me tell you a story about this lady.

It was at one of the first meetings of the American Astronomical Society I attended. I was a graduate student and giving a talk about outreach and amateur astronomy. I was scared to death because, hey, it was me, a lowly student giving a talk to all these exalted astronomers. A woman sat in the front row and smiled at me as I shuffled the papers on the podium. The room filled and then the session chair gave me the signal that my 10 minutes had started. I plunged into my talk.

At the end, a few people asked questions, everyone clapped politely, and the next person stepped up to the podium. I fled the room to catch my breath. The woman followed me out and asked if I’d like to get a cup of coffee. At the same moment my advisor came out and said, “Oh, I see you’ve met Vera Rubin”, and he proceeded to introduce me to her before being collared by someone else for a chat. Dr. Rubin and I went to get coffee, and for the next 30 minutes or so she asked me all about my work and what I hoped to do when I graduated. It was a wonderful experience.

Over the years we met here and there, and I learned more about her work with galaxy rotation studies and the existence of dark matter. I found it fascinating, as so many people do, and followed her research with interest. When I was asked to write a book about astronomy, one of the directions I got from the editors was to include some bios of “seminal” astronomers. Dr. Rubin was one of those I chose. In retrospect, I wish could have done a book on her work instead of simply a chapter.

I know that Vera Rubin didn’t work in a vacuum on dark matter — that, like Newton and every other astronomer has done — she stood on the shoulders of giants. Her work forged a new path in understanding dark matter and its affect on the universe. Now, she is a giant in her own right. Now, others will stand on her shoulders. Her insights and drive to understand the difficult “galaxy rotation problem” led directly to the theory of dark matter, and more recently to the confirming observations of its existence. It was a monumental achievement.

For her work, Dr. Rubin should have received a Nobel Prize. That didn’t happen and the Nobel physics committee should be thinking hard about why she was overlooked. She has been honored with many other prizes and awards for her insights, and she will be long remembered for her seminal contributions to astronomy.

RIP Dr. Vera Rubin, and deepest condolences to her extended family.

C.C. PETERSEN is a science writer and media producer specializing in astronomy and space science content. 

Source: The Spacewriter

It’s time for #TrilobiteTuesday! During their lengthy trek through time, trilobites existed in an almost dizzying array of sizes and shapes. Perhaps no other creature in the entire history of the earth has ever displayed the diversity of design shown by these singularly distinctive arthropods. But at their heart (and yes, trilobites apparently did possess primitive but effective cardio-respiratory systems), they were all remarkably similar. Named not, as is generally surmised, for their three main body segments – cephalon (head), thorax (body) and pygidium (tail) – but rather for the three lobes that longitudinally divided their dorsal exoskeleton. Whether they were Cambrian Olenellids – such as this Olenellus romensis from Alabama – or Devonian Phacopids, most trilobites presented a fundamentally analogous body design. Such characteristics as occipital lobes, anterior margins and facial sutures (which allowed early trilobites to shed their molting shell), were shared by the majority of trilobite species, as were such exotic-sounding features as axial rings, articulating facets and pleural spines. 

history meme (french edition) → 7 inventions/achievements (2/7) the first vaccine for rabies by Louis Pasteur & Émile Roux

“Pasteur had, in the early 1880s, a vaccine for rabies, but he was a chemist and not a licensed physician, and potentially liable if he injured or killed a human being. In early july 1885, Joseph Meister, a nine year-old-boy, had been badly mauled and bitten by a rabid dog (…). Pasteur injected young Meister with his rabies vaccine: the boy did not develop rabies and recovered fully from his injuries. Pasteur became a hero, and the Parisian Institue which came to be named in his honour, and of which he was the first director, became the global prototype bacteriological and immunological research institute. By demonstrating beyond doubt that many diseases were transmitted by bacteria and could be prevented from becoming active by pasteurization techniques, Pasteur indeed changed the course of history.” – G. L. Geison, The Private Science of Louis Pasteur.