Scientists set to laser-blast orbiting space debris

Space Laserblast
Credit: nbcnews.com

Washington: Scientists have reportedly come up with a plan that would use lasers to remove orbiting space debris.

The Australian government has announced a 20 million dollars Cooperative Research Centre that will investigate using lasers to locate, track, and remove debris from space.

According to Cnet, researchers believe that at least several hundred thousand pieces of space debris are stuck out in orbit around the planet, creating hazards for satellites and spacecraft.

Matthew Colless, director of the Australian National University Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Mount Stromlo said that everywhere humans have been in space, they leave some trash behind.

Colless said that the project intends to clean up space to avoid the growing risks of collisions and to make sure we don't have the kind of event portrayed in 'Gravity'.

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The Ice Volcanoes of Saturn's sattelite, Enceladus

The Ice Volcanoes of Enceladus

Dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed "tiger stripes" near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Photo credit: www.wikipedia.org

Saturn's Enceladus may not seem like anything special; just another middle child in a family of 62 natural satellites (funny, Saturn doesn't sound like a Catholic name). But zoom in real close and you'll see that its surface is constantly rocked by massive explosions ... of ice. Yes, Enceladus is home to thousands of what scientists are awesomely calling cryovolcanoes.

Due to the proximity and the immense gravitational pull of Enceladus' smothering helicopter parent planet, the moon is constantly being warped and squished, causing its subterranean ice reserves to crack and pulverize into an underground ocean. As forces continue to build up, the subterranean sea, much like a Japanese high school student, eventually succumbs to pressure and erupts. Great plumes of water shoot outward into space, instantly freezing into ice and making an entire moon appear as if it had spontaneously sprouted jet engines.

Enceladus' cryovolcanoes were discovered quite recently by the Cassini space probe, after it managed to capture actual images of the moon's great flailing ice tantrums. According to scientists, this discovery might also explain what keeps replenishing the debris that makes up Saturn's signature rings. If you're having trouble wrapping your mind around it, imagine Saturn as a great big pimp that beats up on its poor trusting charges until they eventually cough up more ice for the planet's tacky, outrageous bling.

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"5 Mind-Blowing Things Found Hiding in Our Own Solar System" by Ivan Farkas
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NASA's Plan to Save Earth From Killer Asteroids

NASA's Plan to Save Earth From Killer Asteroids

A 2013 meteor explosion above Chelyabinsk, Russia injured more than 1,700 people. It was completely unexpected -- and it could happen again.

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715 "new worlds" outside the solar system, discovered by NASA

Hundreds of new planets have been discovered (Picture: Nasa / AP)

A ‘mother lode’ of ‘new worlds’ have been discovered outside the solar system, with Nasa confirming the existence of 715 new planets.

The US space agency doubled the number of planets known to humanity in just one day after the discovery ‘bonanza’.

Nasa called the new finds a major step toward the planet-hunting Kepler telescope’s ultimate goal of ‘finding Earth 2.0.’

‘The Kepler team continues to amaze and excite us with their planet hunting results,’ explained Nasa veteran John Grunsfeld.

‘That these new planets and solar systems look somewhat like our own, portends a great future when we have the James Webb Space Telescope in space to characterise the new worlds.’

Continue reading Nasa announces planet ‘bonanza’ after discovering 715 ‘new worlds’ outside the solar system
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Want to experience an intergalactic trip to 100,000 Stars?

100,000 Stars, A Chrome Experiment Explores the Milky Way

100,000 Stars is an interactive visualization of the stellar neighborhood created for the Google Chrome web browser. It shows the real location of over 100,000 nearby stars. Zooming in reveals 87 major named stars and our solar system. The galaxy view is an artist's rendition.

Launch the Experiment


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