Planets, stars, and black holes all grow by consuming material from a spinning disk. While these disks may differ in size, they're all mostly dependent on the mighty force of gravity, which keeps them spinning around the central mass. Gravity lets small clumps grow into bigger clumps. But it's not enough to pull the whole disk into the middle in one giant clump, because angular momentum is pulling those clumps away from the center as they spin.
That's a good thing, because it means that t ...read more
Last week, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft departed the International Space Station, having delivered a batch of new experiments and cargo. Among them was the Refabricator, a new machine that will not only make objects on demand things for the astronauts, it will recycle them too.
While 3-D printers are becoming commonplace, nowhere are their benefits more obvious than in the confines of space. Cargo resupply missions to the ISS are routine, but as human spaceflight pu ...read more
While we tend to think that Earth’s oceans make it a watery planet, it’s actually only a tiny fraction of a percent of water by mass. Looking out into the universe, it’s clear water is more common than our own planet implies. Some exoplanets can have half their mass as water. So, what causes some planetary systems to stay wet, while others dry out? The answer might be aluminum.
Tim Lichtenberg is the lead author of a new study published Feb. 11, in Nature Astronomy. He says th ...read more
Scientists are still sorting out the chemistry, health effects and origins of this tasty treat, first enjoyed in South America more than 5,000 years ago. ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine