Thursday, October 27, 2011

Asteroid Lutetia may have core of hot melted metal

A new look at an asteroid in deep space has revealed signs of a molten-hot core, a smoldering remnant from the earliest days of the solar system that could also help unlock secrets of some of Earth's weirdest meteorites, researchers say.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45065506/ns/technology_and_science-space/
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/rosetta_images20100710.html (images)
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1712.html (one images)
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMG93HURTG_index_0.html (ESA page)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mysterious single-celled organisms discovered six miles below surface

Scientists announced Tuesday that they have discovered a mysterious single-celled organism living nearly six miles below the surface of the ocean.

The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. The organism are known for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 4 inches, their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms. Recent studies suggest that by trapping particles from the water, xenophyophores can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury, which means they are likely resistant to massive amounts of heavy metal.

http://www.thestatecolumn.com/health/mysterious-single-celled-organisms-discovered-six-miles-below-surface/

Thursday, October 13, 2011

In African Cave, Signs of an Ancient Paint Factory

Digging deeper in a South African cave that had already yielded surprises from the Middle Stone Age, archaeologists have uncovered a 100,000-year-old workshop holding the tools and ingredients with which early modern humans apparently mixed some of the first known paint.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/science/14paint.html