Posted 02 Mar 2010 — by Arun
Category Science
Here is an interesting article I read in Business Week today. According to the article, the earthquake that killed more than 700 people in Chile couple of days back shifted the earth’s axis and shortened the day. The length of the day should have gotten shorter by 1.26 microseconds (millionths of a second). The axis about which the Earth’s mass is balanced should have moved by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 8 centimeters or 3 inches).
Santa Maria Island off the coast near Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, may have been raised 2 meters (6 feet) as a result of the latest quake. The magnitude 9.1 Sumatran in 2004 that generated an Indian Ocean tsunami shortened the day by 6.8 microseconds and shifted the axis by about 2.3 milliarcseconds.
Technorati Tags: Business Week, Earthquake, Chile, Concepcion
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Posted 19 Dec 2008 — by Arun
Category Science
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found an important mineral on Mar’s surface that leads researchers to believe the planet once was hospitable to life. According to Reuters UK:
Deposits of carbonate, formed in neutral or alkaline water, were spotted by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the scientists told a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Carbonate is formed when water and carbon dioxide mix with calcium, iron or magnesium. It dissolves quickly in acid, so its discovery counters the theory that all water on Mars was at one time acidic. Carbonates on Earth like chalk or limestone sometimes preserve organic material, but scientists have found no such evidence on Mars.
The 3.6 billion-year-old carbonate was discovered in bedrock at the edge of a 930-mile-wide (1,490-km-wide) crater. This is the first time scientists have found a site where carbonate formed. The deposits are about the size of football fields and are visible in images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Interesting…..
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Posted 14 Oct 2008 — by Arun
Category Science
I read an interesting article in MSNBC.com today. The article said scientists have discovered a giant cyclone swirling on Saturn’s north pole, truly massive cyclones, hundreds of times stronger than the most giant hurricanes on Earth.
The new images, taken in infrared light, reveal for the first time a massive cyclone churning at the north pole. Researchers think the storms are powered by heat released from condensing water in thunderstorms deep down in the atmosphere, similar to the way condensing water in clouds on Earth powers hurricane vortices,
But unlike Earth’s hurricanes, which stem from the ocean’s heat and water, Saturn’s cyclones have no body of water at their bases. The storms on that planet are locked to Saturn’s poles, whereas terrestrial hurricanes drift across the ocean.
Quite interesting to read.
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