01 Oct

Posted at 17:30h in Scoop.it

TerraPower aims to develop a sustainable and economic nuclear energy system while greatly reducing proliferation risks and creating new options for converting low-level waste into vast energy resources.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: terrapower.com

24 Sep

Posted at 19:58h in Scoop.it

Cassini data suggested that Saturn’s rings were only 10 to 100 million years old. A new study suggests that a "ring rain" onto Saturn makes the rings look younger than they really are, and that in fact Saturn’s rings date back billions of years.

 

Cassini data seemed to indicate rings lasting only 10 million to 100 million years. A new study suggests that dusty and organic material ejected from Saturn’s rings – a “ring rain” – could make the rings appear younger than they really are, and that in fact could mean that Saturn’s rings date back billions of years. As things stand now, we don’t know if Saturn’s rings are young or old; we only know that astronomers are continuing to learn about them.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: earthsky.org

21 Sep

Posted at 11:43h in Scoop.it

NASA engineers are studying the feasibility of a giant starshade that could be remotely positioned to block out a targeted sun, allowing a precisely positioned space telescope tens of thousands of kilometers away to directly image Earth-size exoplanets that otherwise would be drowned out in the star’s glare.

 

In the system currently being modeled, the starshade would unfold in space like a flower blossom, expanding to a diameter of 26 meters (85 feet) or so. The exoplanet-hunting telescope would then be positioned up to 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) away. For that system to work, the two spacecraft would have to maintain their precise separation to within 1 meter (3 feet).

 

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: astronomynow.com