Rosetta probe: Comets 'did not bring water to Earth'

Posted on by

Mission controllers put the European Space Agency (ESA) lander to sleep after the power in its solar-powered batteries fell to dangerously low levels following its landing at a spot in the shadow of a crater wall, shrouded in darkness.

Before being shut down, Philae successfully operated its drill to obtain surface samples for analysis and sent back data from most of its suite of 10 instruments.

The latest findings, gathered by the mothership Rosetta, deal a blow to the theory that water was first delivered to earth by a bombardment of comets.

Two spectrometers called Rosina that "sniff" the gas that streams off the surface of the comet showed the ratio of 'heavy water' on the comet does not match Earth water's distinctive signature.

Prof Kathrin Altwegg, from the University of Bern in Switzerland, who is Rosina's principal investigator, told the BBC: "This ratio between heavy and light water is very characteristic. You cannot easily change it and it stays for a long time.

"If we compare the water in comets with the water we have on Earth, we can definitely say if the water on Earth is compatible with the water on comets.

"It is the highest-ever measured ratio of heavy water relative to light water in the solar system. It is more than three times higher than on the Earth, which means that this kind of comet could not have brought water to the Earth."

However Professor Monica Grady, who was pictured jumping for joy when Philae landed successfully, suggested the team could be "jumping the gun a bit".

She said: "The measurements that have been made by Rosina are of the gas that has come from the surface of the comet. We are going to have to wait to see what comes from the COSAC and Ptolemy [Philae lander instruments before we can say any more."

The Rosetta probe will continue to track and study Comet 67P throughout 2015.

The rest is here:

Rosetta probe: Comets 'did not bring water to Earth'

Rosetta helps eliminate comets as source for Earth's water

Posted on by

Published: 8:56AM Thursday December 11, 2014 Source: AP

Rosettas lander Philae safely on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko - Source: AP

The mystery of where Earth's water came from got murkier today when some astronomers essentially eliminated one of the chief suspects: comets.

Over the past few months, the European Space Agency's Rosetta space probe closely examined the type of comet that some scientists theorized could have brought water to our planet 4 billion years ago. It found water, but the wrong kind.

It was too heavy. One of the first scientific studies from the Rosetta mission found that the comet's water contains more of a hydrogen isotope called deuterium than water on Earth does.

"The question is who brought this water: Was it comets or was it something else?" asks Kathrin Altwegg of the University of Bern in Switzerland, lead author of a study published in the journal Science.

Something else, probably asteroids, Altwegg concluded. But others disagree.

Many scientists have long believed that Earth had water when it first formed, but that it boiled off, so that the water on the planet now had to have come from an outside source.

The findings from Rosetta's mission to the duck-shaped comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko complicate not just the question of the origin of Earth's water but our understanding of comets.

Until now, scientists pretty much sorted comets into two types: near and far. The near ones, sometimes called the Jupiter family, originally come from the Kuiper Belt outside Neptune and Pluto. The far ones hail from the Oort Cloud, which is much farther out.

Original post:

Rosetta helps eliminate comets as source for Earth's water

Rosetta comet probe reveals clues about source of Earth's water

Posted on by

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft during approach earlier this year. ESA

Scientists reviewing data from the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft flying along with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko have concluded that asteroids, not comets, most likely delivered the lion's share of the water making up Earth's oceans, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science.

The conclusion supports earlier observations that ruled out comets residing in the remote Oort Cloud as a source of Earth's water and indicates comets found closer to the sun in the Kuiper Belt, a population of icy relics born beyond the orbit of Neptune, likely formed in different places and somehow migrated to their current positions.

22 Photos

Rosetta space probe's Philae lander touches down on distant comet after decade-long chase

The conclusions are based on the observed ratio of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron in its nucleus, to normal hydrogen, with a nucleus made up of a single proton, in water molecules streaming away from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. For comets to be a source of Earth's oceans, the D/H ratio must match up.

"The Earth has a D/H ratio which is around three heavy molecules in 10,000 water molecules," Kathrin Altwegg, principal investigator with Rosetta's ROSINA instrument at the University of Bern, told reporters during a teleconference Tuesday. "It's very little, but it's very characteristic for the Earth."

During the solar system's formation some 4.6 billion years ago, extreme temperatures would have removed any water from Earth's surface but computer models indicate the planet was bombarded by asteroids and comets during its first billion years, Altwegg said, "so the question now is, who brought this water? Was it comets or was it something else?"

Based on earlier studies, including a flyby of Halley's comet in 1986, scientists decided that Oort Cloud comets could not be the source of terrestrial water. The deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in water released from Halley, believed to have originated in the Oort Cloud, was twice that of seawater on Earth.

Planetary scientists subsequently gave up on the theory that comets seeded Earth's oceans during a period of heavy bombardment some 800 million years or so after Earth's formation, Altwegg said. Then, three years ago, ESA's Herschel Space Observatory observed a Kuiper Belt comet -- Hartley 2 -- during a close approach and remotely measured a D/H ratio almost exactly in line with Earth's.

Excerpt from:

Rosetta comet probe reveals clues about source of Earth's water

Rosetta science: Study suggests water on Earth did not come from comets

Posted on by

After a 10-year journey through the solar system, an epic rendezvous with a speeding comet, and the drama of Philae's triple landing, the science phase of the Rosetta mission has officially begun.

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Science, researchers working with Rosetta's ROSINA instrument report that the water being released into space by comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a different chemical fingerprint than the water on Earth. This finding leads the authors to conclude that water on Earth probably came from asteroids, rather than comets.

One of the many mysteries that scientists hoped Rosetta would help solve is how our planet came to be flooded with water.

When Earth was born 4.6 billion years ago, it was too hot to sustain liquid water on its surface. Some of Earth's original water from those early years might have been preserved in its crust and at the poles, but at least some of the water that fills our oceans today probably came from extraterrestrial sources, said Kathrin Altwegg of the University of Bern in Switzerland and the principal investigator on ROSINA.

Researchers have speculated that the majority of the Earth's water was delivered 800,000 years after its birth during a period known as the "late bombardment." This was a time when the Earth saw many impacts from comets and asteroids. But which one of them is responsible for bringing water to our planet has been the subject of intense debate.

One way to determine where our water came from is to find other bodies in the solar system with water that has the chemical characteristics as water on Earth.

Here on our planet, about 3 out of every 10,000 molecules of water is what is known as "heavy water."Instead of being an H20 (two hydrogens and one oxygen), heavy water is an HDO (one hydrogen, one deuterium and one oxygen). Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen. While hydrogen has one proton and one electron, deuterium has one proton, one electron and one neutron, making it twice as heavy as a regular hydrogen.

Comets have large quantities of water ice in their nucleus, so they may seem the obvious vehicle for water delivery on Earth. But 30 years ago, researchers discovered that comet Haley, which hails from the Oort cloud at the edge of our solar system, has twice the amount of heavy water. In other words, the fingerprints on the two reservoirs of water did not match.

"This was quite surprising at the time, and it ruled out Oort cloud comets as the source of our terrestrial water," Altwegg said at a news conference Tuesday.

In 2011, researchers looked at the ratio of HDO to H20 in a comet called Hartley 2 that originated in the Kuiper Belt, out by the orbit of Pluto. To the science team's surprise, it was a direct match with the water on Earth. This led to a new hypothesis: Perhaps the water on Earth came from Kuiper Belt comets.

Visit link:

Rosetta science: Study suggests water on Earth did not come from comets

World Travel Awards 2014 – InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, VIET NAM – Video

Posted on by


World Travel Awards 2014 - InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, VIET NAM
World Travel Awards 2014 - InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, VIET NAM Awards 2014 World #39;s Leading Luxury Resort 2014 Asia #39;s Leading Hotel Dining Entertainment Experience 2014 ...

By: Viet Nam News 360

Excerpt from:

World Travel Awards 2014 - InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, VIET NAM - Video

Global World Travel Award Victory for FCm – fourth year running

Posted on by

London, UK (PRWEB UK) 11 December 2014

Global business travel management company,FCm Travel Solutions is celebrating a victorious end to 2014 after being named the World's Leading Travel Management Company for the fourth consecutive year.

The title was announced at the World Travel Awards Gala Ceremony held in Anguilla, an island in the Caribbean.

FCm Travel Solutions Global Leader Gregory Lording said FCm was delighted to be retaining the prestigious title for another year.

"We thought three years in a row to hold onto this global award was impressive, but four consecutive years as World's Leading Travel Management Company is nothing less than outstanding. Huge congratulations to our global network," Lording said.

"FCm has had several years of strong growth globally across the business. We've had strategic expansion of our global network, which now stretches to 92 countries; we've strengthened our technology offering with the launch of our travel risk management program FCm Secure and ClientBank Connect FCm's newest reporting tool; and the brand has also recorded organic client growth across all regions and increased staff numbers to accommodate the growth in client demand."

Joanna Greenfield, FCm UK General Manager said the global award also reflected the growing brand and industry presence the UK has achieved during 2014.

"One of our strengths as a global business travel retailer is that we have small local teams that provide highly personal service and in-depth market expertise to drive savings and locally tailored solutions for our customers," Greenfield said.

"FCm's localisation of travel management services coupled with the fact that we are specialists in being able to customise the solutions we offer clients, secure the best deals and are prepared to guarantee our service levels is why we have long lasting relationships with our clients.

"Congratulations to all our staff in the UK. This is testament to your hard work and commitment to clients."

View post:

Global World Travel Award Victory for FCm - fourth year running

R3 Stem Cell Welcomes Beverly Hills Pain Specialists Dr. George Graf as a Featured Regenerative Medicine Doctor

Posted on by

Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) December 11, 2014

R3 Stem Cell is proud to welcome Dr. George Graf as a Featured Regenerative Medicine Doctor in the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills area. Dr. Graf is a first rate pain management doctor, who offers several types of stem cell procedures and platelet rich plasma therapy for all types of spinal conditions such as neck and back pain, arthritis, disc degeneration and more. Those interested should call (844) GET-STEM for more information and scheduling.

R3 Stem Cell is a nationwide provider of regenerative medicine products and education for both doctors and patients. The company only works with the top doctors and practices in the field of stem cell therapy. Dr. Graf is Double Board Certified and is very highly regarded by his peers and patients.

The conditions Dr. Graf treats include degenerative disc disease, spinal arthritis, scoliosis, neuropathy, failed back surgery syndrome and more. Regenerative medicine offers the potential to not only bring pain relief, but also help repair and regenerate damaged tissue.

Along with Dr. Graf being a regenerative medicine expert in the LA and Beverly Hills area, R3 also works with Dr. Raj. Dr. Raj is a Double Board Certified orthopedic specialist, who offers regenerative medicine procedures for rotator cuffs, hip and knee arthritis, sports injuries and much more. Between Dr. Graf and Dr. Raj, the whole body is covered for treatments.

All of the treatment options are outpatient and very low risk. Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy involves a person's own blood, which is immediately processed and injected into the problem area. Bone marrow derived stem cell therapy involves an aspiration from one's iliac crest, with the material being processed to concentrate stem cells and then inject into the problem area. Additionally, amniotic stem cells are offered, with the fluid being obtained from a consenting donor undergoing a scheduled C-section. The fluid is processed at an FDA regulated lab and no fetal tissue is involved whatsoever.

To date, several small studies have shown excellent benefit with regenerative medicine procedures. This has been extremely encouraging, and allowed stem cell therapy to exponentially increase in popularity nationwide. R3 Stem Cell is at the forefront in regenerative medicine, teaming with the top doctors such as Drs. Raj and Graf to help patients achieve pain relief and avoid surgery.

Call (844) GET-STEM today for more information and scheduling with a top stem cell doctor today.

Originally posted here:

R3 Stem Cell Welcomes Beverly Hills Pain Specialists Dr. George Graf as a Featured Regenerative Medicine Doctor

The NFL Has a Problem with Stem Cell Treatments

Posted on by

Professional athletes are getting injections of stem cells to speed up recovery from injury. Critics call it a high-tech placebo.

NFL quarterback Peyton Manning reportedly had a stem cell treatment to his neck in 2011.

Elite athletes do whatever it takes to win. Lately, thats meant getting an injection of their own stem cells.

The treatments, developed over the last eight years, typically involve extracting a small amount of a players fat or bone marrow and then injecting it into an injured joint or a strained tendon to encourage tissue regeneration. Bone marrow contains stem cells capable of generating new blood cells, cartilage, and bone.

Although the treatments have become a multimillion-dollar industry, some doctors say theres only thin medical evidence they actually speed healing. In a report issued last week, public policy researchers at Rice University criticized the National Football Leagues role in promoting unproven treatments to the public. Some players, including Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos and Sidney Rice, whos now retired but won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks last year, have reportedly gone overseas for stem cell treatments and others have acted as spokespeople for U.S. clinics offering them.

The Rice researchers, Kirstin Matthews and Maude Cuchiara, say the NFL should create an independent panel and fund research on whether stem cell treatments actually work, similar to what it did after facing questions around concussions and brain injury. I think they should be more proactive. They should get ahead of this one, says Matthews.

Sports Illustrated reports that hundreds of football players have gotten stem cell treatments, with many travelling abroad for types of therapy not offered in the United States.But its not only football players trying them. The tennis player Rafael Nadal is reportedly undergoing stem cell treatments for back pain, and the injections are also being sought out by soccer players and high school athletes.

The NFL didnt respond to questions from MIT Technology Review. Doctors offering the treatments say theyre promising and should be given a chance. Others say theres not enough data. Any of these injections have a placebo effect, says Freddie Fu, an orthopedic surgeon who is chairman of sports medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and top doctor for the schools sports teams. We dont know what we are putting in. We dont really know what exactly what it does, biologically.

Orthopedic surgeons hope one day to use stem cells to regenerate cartilage and other lost tissue. But wishful thinking, and profits, have gotten ahead of the facts, says Fu. Theres a lot of marketing in orthopedics right now. I would say 15 to 20 percent of treatments are not effective, he says.

Unlike a drug, which gets tested for years and is then weighed by experts and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before hitting the market, the bone marrow treatments offered in the U.S. arent regulated.

More here:

The NFL Has a Problem with Stem Cell Treatments

Researchers identify stem cells that can be reprogrammed

Posted on by

Major study: Professor Thomas Preiss from ANU JCSMR who has been involved in an international project researching stem cells. Photo: Graham Tidy

Scientists, including some from Canberra, have identified a new type of stem cell which is easier to grow and manipulate as part of a major study detailing the changes cells undergo as they reprogram into stem cells.

Experts from across the globe, including some from the Australian National University John Curtin School of Medical Research, have carried out the most detailed study of how specialised body cells can be reprogrammed to be like cells from the early embryo.

"The ultimate goal with this work is to develop therapies in regenerative medicine which is a therapeutic approach whereby you would ultimately replace cells or tissues or organs that are failing in a patient with replacement parts that are made in a laboratory from the patient's own cells or from genetically highly similar stem cells," Professor Thomas Preiss from ANU's JCSMR said.

Professor Preiss said it was hoped the research could help speed up the development of treatments for many illnesses and conditions.

Advertisement

"There's a range of diseases where tissues are damaged or cells or lost. It ranges from neurodegenerative disease to spinal cord injuries, stroke, diabetes, blood and kidney diseases and ultimately perhaps even heart disease," he said.

"I'm not saying our publication immediately enables any of these therapies but we're working on the molecular basis of understanding the process of making cells that would be useful for this kind of therapy."

Fifty experts in stem cell biology and genomics technologies have been involved in Project Grandiose which mapped the detailed molecular process involved in the generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

Since the 2012 Nobel Prize winning discovery that body cells can in principle be coaxed to become iPS cells, there has been a surge in research to better understand iPS cell reprogramming.

Follow this link:

Researchers identify stem cells that can be reprogrammed

Gustavo Esteva: Part 1 of 7 – Individualism, Spirituality, & Community – Video

Posted on by


Gustavo Esteva: Part 1 of 7 - Individualism, Spirituality, Community
In a conversation with Gustavo Esteva in Oaxaca, Mexico on November 5, 2014, Gustavo discusses hyper-individualism in Western culture and its effects, the need for spiritual connection, and...

By: Rabia Digna Films

The rest is here:

Gustavo Esteva: Part 1 of 7 - Individualism, Spirituality, & Community - Video

Rabbi Shai Held – Compassion and the Heart of Jewish Spirituality – Video

Posted on by


Rabbi Shai Held - Compassion and the Heart of Jewish Spirituality
Compassion is a call to action - and not an easy call to heed. But Judaism, argues Rabbi Shai Held, demands that we step out of our comfort zone and practice true kindness. This video was...

By: ELI Talks

The rest is here:

Rabbi Shai Held - Compassion and the Heart of Jewish Spirituality - Video

I'm a saint, don't send me back empty-handed: BJP MP to voters

Posted on by

Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Swami Sakshi Maharaj on Tuesday invoked spirituality to seek peoples' support for the BJP in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, saying he has come as a saint and should not be sent back "empty handed".

In his address at a public meeting in Najafgarh, Maharaj also came out in support of Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, saying the opposition should have relented after she apologised for making certain comments in a rally in Dwarka last week.

"I have come here as a saint and it is said that if a saint comes to your door, he should not be returned empty handed," the Lok Sabha MP from Unnao consitituency in Uttar Pradesh said.

Asking the people to support the BJP, he also referred to stories of Ramayana in trying to woo them.

"I am the saint and have come here from Haridwar. We are such people who once had gone to King Dashrath and on our demand, he gave us his sons but he didn't give up hisdharam..I have not come here to demand money..I have come here to seek your support," he said.

He also attacked the Opposition for disrupting proceedings in Parliament over Jyoti's hate speech.

"The Sadhvi comes from a backward cast and has became an MP for the first time. If she said something wrong, is there any option available besides saying sorry? The prime minister had also spoken on the issue. But they (Opposition parties) didn't allow the House to run for so many days," Maharaj said.

Attacking Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, the BJP leader also referred to certain objectionable remarks against late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri by TMC MP Kalyan Baneerjee at a meeting in West Bengal.

"Which language did TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee use for Lal Bahadhur Shastri, you all know," he said. Attcking Kejriwal, he said "I want to appeal to you that don't support those who ran away from their responsibility."

See original here:

I'm a saint, don't send me back empty-handed: BJP MP to voters

'Frozen' in Space! Olaf the Snowman Floats in Zero-G (Photos)

Posted on by

It's one giant leap for snowman-kind: Olaf, the goofy snowman from Disney's hit film "Frozen," is floating aboard the International Space Station, and we have the photos to prove it.

Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov brought the small, stuffedOlaf toy into spaceas his mission's "zero-g indicator" at the request of his 8-year-old daughter when he launched on a mission to the International Space Station. Shkaplerov and two crewmates blasted off aboard their Soyuz capsule on Nov. 24 and arrived at the orbiting outpost six hours later. On Tuesday (Dec. 9), Shkaplerov posted a photo on Twitter of Olaf floating serenely in the many-windowed observation deck of the station.

Every Soyuz flight includes a "zero-g" indicator, which is often a toy of some kind selected by the Soyuz commander and crew. The indicator is hung by a string in a place where the crew can see it during launch. (Notice the string tied around Olaf in the images, suggestingShkaplerov doesn't truly want to "let it go".) When the object becomes weightless and begins to float, it confirms that the crew is in orbit.

Olaf joins a long line of toys in spacethat have been launched into orbit over the years. Those intrepid toy explorers include Hello Kitty, Legos, Smokey the Bear, a stuffed hippopotamus and a red Angry Bird (which NASA astronaut Don Pettit used to make his own version of Angry Birds in space).

"Frozen" is the highest-grossing animated movie of all time and can truly be said to have reached new heights: 250 miles (402 kilometers) above the Earth, to be exact. The second-highest-grossing animated film of all time, "Toy Story 3," also had a character aboard the station: an action figure of Buzz Lightyear took a ride on NASA's space shuttle Discovery in 2008.

Shkaplerov arrived at the orbiting laboratory on Nov. 24, alongsideNASA astronaut Terry Virts and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. They join NASA's Barry Wilmore and cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova as part of the Expedition 42 crew. Rotating crews of astronauts have continuously lived aboard the $100 billion International Space Station since 2000.

Follow Calla Cofield@callacofield. Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

See the rest here:

'Frozen' in Space! Olaf the Snowman Floats in Zero-G (Photos)