Hubble Space Telescope Reveals a New Class of Watery Exoplanet

Posted February 21, 2012 by Bob Petz

Just when exoplanets became too numerous to bother counting, astrophysicists have discovered a new type of extrasolar planet — a steamy waterworld shrouded in a thick atmosphere. The planet, known as GJ1214b, has a diameter roughly 2.7 times that of Earth and a surface temperature of about 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Originally discovered in 2009, subsequent studies the following year suggested GJ1214b was largely composed of water. At the time, however, scientists were not certain whether the atmosphere they were observing was haze or water vapor. More recently, the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) was used to catch GJ1214b as it crossed in front of its host star.

Artist's conception of watery exoplanet GJ1214b passing in front of its red dwarf sun.

Artist's conception of GJ1214b passing in front of its red dwarf sun, 40 light-years from Earth. Source: NASA, ESA, and D. Aguilar (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

During transit, the star’s light was filtered through the planet’s atmosphere — and since hazes are more transparent to infrared light than to visible light, Hubble was able to tell the difference between a steamy and a hazy atmosphere.

The result? The spectrum of GJ1214b’s atmosphere was featureless over a wide range of wavelengths — consistent with a dense atmosphere of water vapor.

Calculations of GJ1214b’s density indicate that it contains a much higher proportion of water — and less rock — than Earth, but its size and proximity to its red-dwarf sun make it much different than the watery world we might first imagine.

“The high temperatures and high pressures would form exotic materials like ‘hot ice’ or ‘superfluid water,’ substances that are completely alien to our everyday experience,” says Zachory Berta of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) who, along with colleagues, conducted the Hubble observations.

Scientists theorize that GJ1214b formed farther out from its star, where water ice was plentiful, and migrated inward early in the system’s history. In the process, it would have passed through the star’s habitable zone, where surface temperatures would be similar to Earth’s. How long it lingered there is unknown.

GJ1214b is located about 40 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, and a prime candidate for further study by the planned James Webb Space Telescope. A paper reporting the recent results has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

 

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Poachers Kill 200-300 Elephants in Cameroon in Five Weeks

Posted February 21, 2012 by Bob Petz

An unprecedented and devastating massacre is underway in northern Cameroon’s Bouba Njida National Park, where poachers have slaughtered an estimated 200-300 elephants for their tusks in the past five weeks.

Local officials confirm claims by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) that the killings are the work of armed gangs of Sudanese poachers.

More than 100 carcasses have been found in the park thus far, but continuing gunfire has impeded efforts to fully assess the situation. Reports of orphaned and abandoned elephant calves now threatened by starvation are adding to concerns.

Cameroon shares a border with Chad, which itself shares borders with Sudan and the Central African Republic — both sites of ongoing regional conflict. Insurgents in search of tusks to support arms purchases frequently cross the porous borders, particularly during the dry season.

Against professional poachers, Cameroon’s poorly trained park rangers are ill-equipped to stop the slaughter. The only long-term solution is to curtail international demand for ivory, especially in Asia.

In 2007, the Elephant Status Report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that there were between 1,000 and 5,000 elephants left in Cameroon. In five short weeks, that population has been decimated.

 

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Microbes Found Thriving in the Driest Place on Earth

Posted February 16, 2012 by Bob Petz

The Atacama Desert in western South America is known as the driest place on Earth — so dry, that it’s been used as a testing area for missions to Mars. Annual rainfall in some Chilean regions of the Atacama averages just 1 mm (0.04 in). Other weather stations have never recorded precipitation.

Microbes grow in salt crystals below the Atacama Desert. Credit: Parro et al./CAB/SINC

Microbes grow in salt crystals below the Atacama Desert. Credit: Parro et al./CAB/SINC

Yet, in another testament to the pervasiveness and adaptability of life, a team of Spanish and Chilean researchers have found what they’re calling a microbial oasis two meters beneath the surface.

“We have named it a ‘microbial oasis’ because we found microorganisms developing in a habitat that was rich in halite (rock salt) and other highly hygroscopic compounds (anhydrite and perchlorate) that absorb water” explained Victor Parro, researcher from the Center of Astrobiology (INTA-CSIC, Spain) and coordinator of the study.

The hypersaline substrates that the microbes call home attract moisture in the air, which condenses on the surface of the salt crystals and forms thin films of water only a few microns thick. But because “home” is so far below the surface, the environment provides neither oxygen nor light.

Critical to the discovery is an instrument called SOLID (Signs of Life Detector), which was developed by the research team with the aim of using it for future missions to Mars.

The core of SOLID is a biochip, called LDChip, which includes up to 450 antibodies to identify biological material, such as sugar, DNA and protein. Samples can be taken, incubated and processed automatically and the results can be observed in an image with shiny points that show the presence of certain compounds and microorganisms.

“If there are similar microbes on Mars or remains in similar conditions to the ones we have found in Atacama, we could detect them with instruments like SOLID” Parro highlighted.

 

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China Green Channel International Brings Ecological, Environmental Television to China

Posted February 13, 2012 by Bob Petz

This week, China Green Channel International (CGCI) rolls out its first phase of environmental and ecological programming on China Educational Television (CETV), featuring a weekly schedule of 13 programs designed to entertain and inform viewers about some of the most pressing and popular topics in the world today.

Excerpts from upcoming episodes of “Oceans 8″ and “Ice Island” on CETV’s Eco-Docs.

For its hour-long “Eco-Docs” presentations on Saturday and Sunday, CGCI and the Ecology Global Network are collaborating with producers from around the world on prime-time specials such as Oceans 8 — documenting Jon Bowermaster’s ocean expeditions from the seat of a kayak — and Ice Island — a pioneering Antarctic adventure from the late, award-winning cinematographer and diver Wesley C. Skiles.

On weekdays, CGCI airs five, half-hour blocks about Nature, Ecology, Green Living, Animal World, and Adventure & Travel. Six additional, half-hour programs for children and their families are broadcast Monday through Sunday mornings.

Based in Hong Kong, CGCI is a Canadian and officially-recognized Beijing enterprise. CGCI Hong Kong, together with its wholly-owned Beijing-based subsidiary, has a long-term partnership agreement with China Education Television (CETV) to build China Education Channel 3 Primetime (CETV 3) and its Early Learning Channel (CELC).

CETV currently reaches more than 600 million people, serving 300 million in schools and universities throughout the Republic of China.

CGCI’s goal is to serve as China’s lead provider of television and online services dedicated to the environment, climate change, conservation, a green economy, clean technology, and healthy lifestyle.

 

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Costa Concordia Fuel Salvage Operation Finally Begins

Posted February 13, 2012 by Bob Petz

Efforts to recover 500,000 gallons of fuel from the half-submerged Costa Concordia got underway Sunday, nearly a month after the 114,500-ton cruise liner ran aground and capsized just offshore of Italy’s Giglio Island.

Credit: Roberto Vongher

The shipwreck’s close proximity to shore and its location in an environmentally sensitive area – the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals — combined with it’s precarious position on an underwater ledge, has made the possibility of a major spill a matter of concern since the ship foundered on January 13.

The volume of fuel oil aboard the ship is roughly that of a small tanker, but the fuel salvage operation could not begin until passenger search and rescue operations ended January 27. Since then, rough seas, high winds and, at times, blinding snow, have further delayed emptying the ship’s 15 fuel tanks.

Offloading the fuel will require 28 continuous days of around-the-clock pumping according to the Dutch salvage firm Smit in charge of the operation. With 4-5 days of favorable weather forecasts ahead – and by concentrating on those tanks with the most fuel – officials hope to make considerable progress by week’s end.

Complicating recovery as well as potential environmental damage is the low-viscosity of the fuel oil, which must be warmed before it can be pumped. And because the tanks are underwater, valves had to be installed in so that, as oil is removed from the top of a tank, seawater can be pumped into the bottom.

Given the size of the Costa Concordia and the compromised integrity of its hull, salvage experts indicate that refloating the vessel in order to eventually remove it is out of the question. Thus, the only option is to cut it apart in place, in which case removal could take up to a year.

The accident has thus far resulted in 17 confirmed deaths with 15 persons still missing.

 

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Global Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise: 2003-2010

Posted February 10, 2012 by Bob Petz
Edge of Ekstroem shelf ice, December 2002 (Polarstern expedition ANT-XX/2). Credit: Hannes Grobe (CC Share-Alike 2.5)

Edge of Ekstroem shelf ice, December 2002 (Polarstern expedition ANT-XX/2). Credit: Hannes Grobe (CC Share-Alike 2.5)

Between 2003 and 2010, the Earth lost 4.3 trillion tons (1,000 cubic miles) of ice mass — enough to raise global sea levels about 0.5 inches (12 mm) or cover an area the size of the U.S. with 1.5 feet (0.5 m) of water — according to a new study published February 8 in the online journal Nature.

Average yearly change in mass (in cm.) of water during 2003-2010, for just Greenland and Antarctica and their peripheral glaciers and ice caps. Blue represents ice mass loss, while red represents ice mass gain. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Colorado

Average yearly change in mass (in cm.) of water during 2003-2010, for just Greenland and Antarctica and their peripheral glaciers and ice caps. Blue represents ice mass loss, while red represents ice mass gain. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Colorado

The comprehensive study, conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder using measurements from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), is the first to use satellite data to survey the melting of land ice globally, including losses from Earth’s glaciers and ice caps, Greenland and Antarctica.

The new study indicates that approximately three-fourths of global ice loss occurred in Greenland, Antarctica and their peripheral ice caps and glaciers.

However, annual losses in the high Asian mountain ranges, including the Himalaya, Pamir and Tien Shan, were estimated to be about 4 billion tons – far less than the 50 billion tons suggested by some previous, ground-based studies.

Average yearly change in mass (in cm.) of water during 2003-2010, for all the world’s glaciers and ice caps (excluding Greenland and Antarctica), and for the plains across northern India and adjacent regions. Blue represents ice mass loss, while red represents ice mass gain. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Colorado

Average yearly change in mass (in cm.) of water during 2003-2010, for all the world’s glaciers and ice caps (excluding Greenland and Antarctica), and for the plains across northern India and adjacent regions. Blue represents ice mass loss, while red represents ice mass gain. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Colorado

“One possible explanation is that previous estimates were based on measurements taken primarily from some of the lower, more accessible glaciers in Asia and extrapolated to infer the behavior of higher glaciers,” said University of Colorado Boulder physics professor John Wahr, who helped lead the study. “But unlike the lower glaciers, most of the high glaciers are located in very cold environments and require greater amounts of atmospheric warming before local temperatures rise enough to cause significant melting. This makes it difficult to use low-elevation, ground-based measurements to estimate results from the entire system.”

“This study finds that the world’s small glaciers and ice caps in places like Alaska, South America and the Himalayas contribute about 0.02 inches per year to sea level rise,” said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program scientist at NASA. “While this is lower than previous estimates, it confirms that ice is being lost from around the globe, with just a few areas in precarious balance. The results sharpen our view of land-ice melting, which poses the biggest, most threatening factor in future sea level rise.”

GRACE measurements are derived from twin satellites, travelling in the same orbit and approximately 137 miles (220 kilometers) apart. As the satellites pass over the Earth, they are affected by minute changes in gravitational pull from variations in Earth’s mass. These differences cause one spacecraft to travel slightly faster than the other, increasing the distance between them — which is measured to 1/100 the width of a human hair.

 

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BP Reports $40B Profits; Braces for Deepwater Horizon Lawsuits

Posted February 7, 2012 by Bob Petz

Oil giant BP reported $40 billion in profits for 2011, following a $4 billion loss the previous year when its Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico. The 2010 accident killed 11 workers and spilled nearly 5 million barrels of oil in one of the world’s worst environmental disasters.

The profits report comes as BP prepares to face approximately 600 civil compensation lawsuits later this month, along with litigation from the U.S. government. While indicating a willingness to settle claims out of court, the company says it will “vigorously” defend itself in court if “fair and reasonable terms” cannot be reached.

Platform supply vessels battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010. Source: US Coast Guard.

Platform supply vessels battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010. Source: US Coast Guard.

Payouts and fines are expected to run well into the tens of billions of dollars. If the government chooses to levy fines under the Clean Water Act, those alone could cost BP up to $4,300 per barrel spilled.

BP has already paid approximately $9 billion toward coastal restoration, government payments and claims. Another $15 billion has been placed in trust to compensate victims. By way of comparison, the company now values the once promising Macondo oil field at only $400 million.

A report last fall by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management found BP ultimately responsible for the spill, blaming a series of bad management decisions — driven by budget and scheduling pressures — for the disaster.

Nearly two years after the massive, 85-day underwater leak occurred, assessments of its long-term environmental damage remain unclear.

The extreme depth of the leaking wellhead and the unprecedented volume of chemical dispersants that were used kept much of the oil out of sight, but did not necessarily remove it from the water. The warm waters of the Gulf, on the other hand, are believed to have promoted biodegradation at a rate much higher than spills occurring in colder waters such as those in the North Atlantic or Alaska.

While these factors contributed to less environmental damage than was feared early on, evidence suggests that an unknown volume of oil remains. As recently as last September, Tropical Storm Lee washed tar balls ashore in Louisiana, and researchers at Auburn University confirmed the tar was chemically similar to oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident.

 

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Rare Earth Processing Plant Granted License in Malaysia

Posted February 1, 2012 by Bob Petz

The government of Malaysia granted a temporary operating license for the world’s largest rare earths processing plant today, despite political opposition and public protests over potential health and environmental risks from radioactive waste.

The $230 million plant, located in central Pahang state and built by the Lynas Corporation of Australia, is the first to be commissioned outside of China in years, and will process rare earth minerals mined at Lynas’ Mount Weld site in western Australia.

The plant is seen by proponents in Malaysia and worldwide as critical to breaking China’s stranglehold on the rare earth metals used in a wide range of high-tech products, including mobile telephones, laptops, flat-screen televisions, wind turbines, hybrid cars, and weapons.

China currently accounts for more than 90% of the worlds supply of rare earths metals, but has been less than reliable in recent years, curtailing production and driving prices up 30-fold at one point last summer.

The Malaysian plant is expected to be able to supply up to 20% of the world market when fully operational. Japan, which arguably has suffered the most from China’s cutbacks, has invested heavily in Lynas and expect to procure up to 8,500 tons from the Malaysian operation by next year.

Public concern over environmental and health effects is not unfounded. In 1992, the Bukit Merah rare earths operation was closed when residents faulted it for an increase in birth defects and leukemia. Twenty years later, the site remains one of Asia’s largest radioactive cleanup projects with an estimated cost of $100 million.

Lynas contends that the new plant and the ore it will process bear little in common with the Mitsubishi-owned plant closed in 1992, but as yet has not submitted plans for permanent disposal of an estimated 20,000 tons a year of low-level radioactive wastes.

The conditional license granted today gives the operators 10 months to submit such plans along with $50 million as a financial guarantee. If conditions of the temporary license are met, the government can issue a permanent license within two years. In the meantime, Lynas will be permitted to operate the plant and market its products. Production is expected to commence in the second quarter of this year.

Despite the name, the 17 metals classified as rare earth elements are, with the exception of promethium, relatively common in the earth’s crust. However, unlike metals such as copper or iron ores — which are concentrated in specific locations  – the rare earths are widely dispersed and more difficult to extract.

 

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Quantum Dots Increase Solar Cell Efficiency

Posted January 30, 2012 by Bob Petz

Engineers at the University at Buffalo (UB), working with research arms of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, have developed a method for improving the efficiency of photovoltaic solar panels by up to 45 percent, according to a paper in the online journal Nano Letters.

The technology involves embedding charged quantum dots into photovoltaic cells, thereby enabling the cells to capture the energy of infrared light.

Moreover, giving the dots a built-in charge repels electrons, forcing them to travel around the quantum dots, thus preventing electron “capture” which would otherwise interfere with their contribution to electrical current.

Three members of the research team, Vladimir Mitin, Andrei Sergeev and Nizami Vagidov, have founded OPtoElectronic Nanodevices LLC, and are now seeking private and public funding to bring the innovative panels to market.

 

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Cooler 2011 Still the Ninth Warmest Year on Record

Posted January 21, 2012 by Bob Petz

Despite occurring during a period of low solar activity and a cooling la Ninã, last year’s global average surface temperature made 2011 the ninth warmest of the past 130 years, according to analyses released Thursday by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).

Nine of the 10 warmest years on record have now occurred since 2000, and although 2011 was 0.22 degrees F (0.12 C) cooler than 2010, last year was the warmest in the presence of a cooling, la Ninã event.

Observable trends occurring over decades, rather than individual year-to-year variations, are what fuel concerns over global warming, and 2011 fits the long-term warming trend that has been occuring since the Industrial Revolution. Last year’s average global temperature was 0.92 degrees F (0.51 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline.

Annual variations and the long-term warming trend are illustrated in the NASA GISS animation below, which covers global temperatures during the period 1880-2011.

Reds indicate temperatures higher than the average during a baseline period of 1951-1980, while blues indicate lower temperatures than the baseline average. (Data: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Visualization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio).

 

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