Billions of habitable worlds lurking in Milky Way

Image Link Flickr Hindustan Times: Our galaxy may be teeming with billions of habitable planets, which could have huge consequences on the search for extra-terrestrial life, according to a recent survey. Two Princeton researchers recently contemplated that we really might be alone in the universe, but the study of red dwarf stars in the Milky Way discovered nine super-Earths - and two in the ‘habitable zone’ where liquid water could exist.Red dwarf stars account for 80 per cent of the 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy and scientists now believe that 40 per cent of those might have a planet in the habitable zone, the Daily Mail reported. The news that the Milky Way may include billions of habitable planets has given California-based SETI institute - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence scientists something to smile about “SETI is looking for Mr. Right or maybe Ms. Right, depending on your point of view. It helps to find  Star V838 Monocerotis's (V838 Mon) light echo, which is about six light years in diameter, is seen from the Hubble space telescope in this in this February 2004 handout photo released by NASA. It became the brightest star in the Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002 when its outer surface greatly expanded suddenly. Reuters/File out that there''s 10 times as many candidates as there were...

Read More........→May 01, 2012

Next Yellowstone Caldera Super Eruption Predicted By Scientists

A thorough examination of tiny crystals of zircon, a mineral found in rhyolites, an igneous rock, from the Snake River Plain has solidified evidence for a new way of looking at the life cycle of super-volcanic eruptions in the long track of the Yellowstone hotspot, say University of Oregon scientists. The pattern emerging from new and previous research completed in the last five years under a National Science Foundation career award, said UO geologist Ilya N. Bindeman, is that another super-eruption from the still-alive Yellowstone volcanic field is less likely for the next few million years than previously thought (see related story, "Not in a million years, says Oregon geologist about Yellowstone eruption"). The last eruption 640,000 years ago created the Yellowstone Caldera and the Lava Creek Tuff in what is now Yellowstone National Park. University of Oregon geologist Ilya Bindeman, left, and graduate student Dana Drew, working in Bindeman's stable isotope laboratory say that the composition of zircon bits in igneous rocks in the Yellowstone hotspot track tell a new story on how super volcanoes recycle magma. Credit: University of Oregon The Yellowstone hotspot creates a conveyor belt style of volcanism because of the southwest migration of the North American plate at 2-4 centimeters (about .8 to 1.6 inches) annually...

Read More........→October 12, 2013

The incredible first pictures inside the £15-million Adastra super-yacht that can be controlled by an iPad

The Adastra superyacht is a floating pleasure palace that would fit as comfortably in outer space as it would on the open sea. And as these amazing new pictures show, SuperYatch is equipped to entertain a billionaire with even the highest of standards. She is the the new pet of Hong Kong-based shipping magnate Anto Marden, whose uses for her may include - among other things - gliding between the two Main deck Area tropical islands he already owns off the coast of Indonesia. Designed by Sussex-based yacht designer John Shuttleworth, the Adastra is so high-tech, it can even be controlled remotely at the touch of an iPad... as long as you don't get any further away than 50 metres. The yacht's high-concept, space-age look is no gimmick. The shape has been specially developed to cut through waves as it glides across the high seas.Adastra was built in Zhuhai, China for a couple based in Hong Kong, at the cost of a cool $15 million Described as ‘one of the world's most amazing super yachts’, Adastra, unveiled yesterday in China, took five years to build, is 42.5 metres long, 16 metres wide and weighs 52 tons. Her enormous petrol tank coupled with her dynamic sailing efficiency allows the Adastra to travel up to 4,000 miles Master Bedroom without refuelling - the same distance from London...

Read More........→November 10, 2012