A Shattering of Old Dark Matter Theories

Summary: Thanks to new data, further theories of the nature of dark matter have been smashed to pieces! Pardon me for being excited about leading theories being wrong but that only means that I may have a part to play in developing the correct theory. So what has changed?

It turns out dark matter really doesn't seem to interact with anything apart from gravity. It doesn't even interact with itself. The study was conducted my using the Hubble and Chandra to look at collisions of different galaxies and watch the dark matter. Well, it looked at the gravitational lensing since dark matter itself is essentially impossible to see.

In the way science should work, Dr. Massey explains that "if you want to figure out what something is made out of, you knock it, or you throw it across the room and see where the bits go." The surprising part was that unlike the stars that slide past each other and the gas clouds that come to a halt in these collisions, the dark matter "seems not to interact with anything at all." Rather like a ghost, it just glides through the other dark matter like it's no big deal. Since it doesn't even interact with itself, many prominent theories for what dark matter is has now fallen apart. Which means exciting new possibilities for the rest of us in the future. 


BBC News
Science Mag

Lonely Stars

Summary: Two missions in 2010 and 2012 saw a rocket launched for a ten minute look at the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) from above the atmosphere. What is the EBL? Professor Jaime Bock of JPL puts it this way: "It's very faint - but basically the spaces between the stars and galaxies aren't dark. And this is the total light made by stars and galaxies during cosmic history."

Having two separate data collecting missions that looked at different area of the sky allows the scientists to rule out fluctuations due to dust within our solar system. Even with this precaution, there was still extra light. The team believes that based on the brightness and blueness of the EBL, it shows that stars exist outside of galaxies. There might even be just as many stars outside galaxies as inside; it's that bright.

Of course other astronomers are skeptical of this conclusion. They concede it may be possible but are leaving their minds open for new and different possibilities.


BBC News
Science Mag

A Peek at the Earliest Stars

Summary: At the beginning of our universe, stars were not made of the same elements that they are today. Everything in the early universe was composed of completely hydrogen and helium. It is the very first stars that created the heavier elements like carbon, oxygen, and iron. The supernovae from these stars are what spread these elements throughout the rest of our universe. But what about these first stars that were formed before these heavy elements were common? Scientists have just maybe found some hints of these that confirm this theory. A team of astronomers has found one of these low-metallicity stars.

Using spectroscopy to look at the elements in the star with the Japanese Subaru telescope, the scientists noticed that some colors, visual representations of elements, were missing. It had very low levels of heavy metals.

With the available telescopes on earth, we cannot get much more than the barest hints of these early stars. We wait, instead, for the future and the James Webb Space Telescope to look back far into the past and help cement our current observations and find stars from even earlier times.


BBC News
Science Mag

Mars update

Summary: Curiosity has found signs that Mars used to have a large amount of drinkable water in its past. In fact, there were at least two wet stages and sufficient water for microbial life to have formed. Curiosity has also found calcium sulfate veins which are an indicator of water movement along with more coarse pebbles to large to be moved by wind, but just the right size to be moved by a flowing river.

What Curiosity has not found, though, is evidence of methane. Previous measurements from Earth or from satellites had indication that Curiosity would find 10 parts per billion or more of the gas. The existing theory for the methane seen from telescopes was that it was produced by small methane-producing mugs that could potentially live underground. But this theory is loosing its base foundation.  As with all science, more measurements must be drawn before a definite conclusion can be reached.

But what's next for the future of Mars exploration? It could be a robotic snake. The idea is that a little snake companion would accompany its big sister vehicle and provide assistance. Whether this is gathering samples from tight spaces or providing an anchor for the vehicle to pull itself out a position it got stuck in. It has the potential to be a quick solution to any number of little issues.



Live Science (drinkable water)
Science Mag (lack of methane)
BBC News (lack of methane)
Live Science (Snake robot)

Ice on Mercury!!!

Summary: At last, a planet close to home that we can travel to and ice skate on! But actually, the Messenger satellite has discovered that craters at the poles hold ice. The exciting thing is that because of this evidence, all strongly held theories about the formation of Mercury are incorrect. Now scientists will get to rewrite the history of the planet and maybe other inner planets like it.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20553879
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/11/28/science.1229953
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/11/28/science.1231106
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/11/28/science.1229764
Science Podcast: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6111/1233.2.full
SciShow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-b6Q_hbhk0&feature=share&list=UUZYTClx2T1of7BRZ86-8fow

Updates on Faster than Light Neutrinos

It turns out the particles may not have exceeded the universal speed limit. After further tests it was determined that a glitch in the GPS synchronising may have accounted for the faster time.

Science Mag: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/02/breaking-news-error-undoes-faster.html?ref=hp#.T0U_N0pYVRc.twitter

However later scientists discovered another possible glitch that made the particle appear to travel slower than reality. It is unsure which factor influences the recorded time more. As with most of science, more tests will be needed.

Science Mag: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/02/official-word-on-superluminal-ne.html?ref=hp