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The deep interior of Neptune, Uranus and Earth may contain some solid ice. Through first-principle molecular dynamics simulations, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists, together with University of California, Davis collaborators, used a two-phase approach to determine the melting temperature of ice VII (a high-pressure phase of ice) in pressures ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 atmospheres. For pressures between 100,000 and 400,000 atmospheres, the team, led by Eric Schwegler, found that ice melts as a molecular solid (similar to how ice melts in a cold drink). But in pressures above 450,000 atmospheres, there is a sharp increase in the slope of...

I love DUmmie astrology threads primarily because they take this nonsense sooooo seriously. Notice how they are very specific about how the alignment of the planets (including Uranus) and the moons affected events in the past such, in this case, as Hillary's failed healthcare plan in 1994 but very hazy about anything in the future. So hazy that they can claim that astrological predictions were dead on almost no matter what happens. Okay, I'll confess the REAL reason why I am DUFUing this DUmmie THREAD. With a title like "Saturn and Hillary (with a dash of Uranus)" how could...

I wasn't in a very political mood today so I wandered over to the DUmmie astrology forum for some laughs. The first thing I saw was Uranus. Threads about Uranus always make me laugh so I decidied to DUFU Uranus. The photo above is from Voyager staring straight up Uranus. Voyager found out that there were rings around Uranus. I knew there were rings around your toilet but not around Uranus. Despite the fact that I wasn't in a political mood this DUmmie THREAD titled, "quick thought re: Uranus and sending Light," ended up being about politics. The DUmmies...

It’s that time of year on Uranus — time for the semiannual ring-plane crossing, when the planet’s ring system appears edge-on to observers on Earth. (Unlike the other planets, Uranus spins on its side, making for extreme changes in viewing angles.) The crossing allows telescopes to take pictures of the rings from the unlighted side, free from the glare that can obscure faint parts of them. Of course, a year on Uranus is equivalent to 84 Earth years, so this semiannual event is happening for the first time since the planet’s rings were discovered, in 1977. And it’s causing some...

The rings of Uranus are oriented edge-on to Earth in 2007 for the first time since their 1977 discovery. This provides a rare opportunity to observe their dark (unlit) side, where dense rings darken to near invisibility, but faint rings become much brighter. We present a ground-based infrared image of the unlit side of the rings that shows that the system has changed dramatically since previous views. A broad cloud of faint material permeates the system, but is not correlated with the well-known narrow rings or with the embedded dust belts imaged by Voyager. Although some differences can be explained...

A new study finds that diamonds probably don't crystallize in the atmospheres of planets such as Uranus and Neptune. The conclusion is contrary to recent speculation that small diamonds would spontaneously form in carbon rich layers of the gas giant planets. White dwarf stars, according to the study, are veritable diamond factories... at the temperatures and pressures in gas giant planets like Uranus, arrangements of carbon atoms would be much more suitable for creating tiny bits of graphite rather than diamond. In white dwarfs, on the other hand, the simulation shows that the conditions would cause the carbon atoms to...

For the first time, astronomers have glimpsed one of Uranus's 27 moons passing in front of one of its siblings – a fleeting alignment that can reveal information about the moons, such as their mass, that cannot be gleaned in any other way. Researchers hope this will be the first in a bonanza of data returned from Uranus in the next year. That is because Uranus, which orbits the Sun every 84 years, is in an ideal geometry to view its moons. Such periods come around only once every 42 years, and the next will not occur until 2049.This series...

Alien visitors to planet Earth are boycotting genetically modified (GM) crops, claims a leading scientist. Buck Uranus, chief astronomer for the William H Carpenter Foundation in Nevada, believes the extraterrestrials are refusing to create crop circles in GM maize, wheat and other cereals because of fears of possible side-effects. The scientist has conducted a major survey of crop circles created over the past five years and says he has not found a single example left in fields containing GM crops. "In my spare time, I channel messages from alien beings," said Uranus, "and from what I've been hearing, these guys...

In our Solar System, four planets stand out for their sheer mass and size. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune indeed qualify as "giant planets" because they are larger than any terrestrial planet and much more massive than all other objects in the Solar System, except the Sun, put together. According to Dr. Guillot, "the giant planets, because of their gravitational might, they have played a key role in the formation of the Solar System, tossing around many objects in the system, preventing the formation of a planet in what is now the asteroid belt, and directly leading to the formation...

Hubble spots dark spot on Uranus Updated Wed. Oct. 4 2006 4:27 PM ET Brian Jackson , DiscoveryChannel.ca The recently-troubled Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a giant swirling, dark vortex on Uranus. Peering 3.2 billion km into space, Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys snapped the photos on August 23. The dark spot indicates a massive storm on the alien planet's surface that is large enough to engulf two-thirds of the United States. University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers report the spot measures 1,700 km by 3,000 km. The image is a composite of three cameras that comprise Hubble's main viewing device. Hubble...

A tiny moon has been caught floating in front of Uranus for the first time, the Hubble Space Telescope reveals. The moon's shadow can also be seen on the planet's cloud tops, creating a solar eclipse on Uranus itself. Hubble imaged the event unexpectedly in July 2006, during a set of observations meant to study the planet's clouds. "When we first got this image back, we looked at it and said, 'What's that bright spot and that dark spot?'" says team member Heidi Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, US. "We thought, it must be a problem...

In these last days, the Bible says it will be a time of mass hybridization and the mixture and corruption of human DNA by fallen angels, also known as "Aliens." The government is and has been, conditioning the existence of aliens through Hollywood, science fiction, cartoons, and other sources. However, they are not telling you the whole truth. These Aliens are not ascended masters, or enlightened ones, or beings from galaxies millions of miles away, nor are they our forefathers or original creators. They are fallen angels who were kicked out of heaven for their rebellion against the headship...

Astronomers knew there was something odd going on when they looked for Uranus' newly discovered outer rings. For starters, they could only find one. After months of analysis, they figured out why: Unlike its red partner, the missing ring is so blue, it fell outside the telescope's range. "It's funny that this research got started by something we didn't see," said Imke de Pater, with the University of California at Berkeley and lead author of a paper describing the discovery in this week's journal Science. The initial discovery of a pair of outer rings circling Uranus was made by astronomers...

Astronomers have discovered that the planet Uranus has a blue ring - only the second found in the Solar System. Like the blue ring of Saturn, it probably owes its existence to an accompanying small moon. Scientists suspect subtle forces acting on dust in the rings allow smaller particles to persist while larger ones are recaptured by the moon. Smaller particles reflect blue light, giving the ring its distinctive colour, the US team reports in Science. All other rings - those around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - are made up of both large and small particles, making the...

Two outer rings, one red the other blue, have been observed around the distant planet Uranus. While Uranus had been known to have inner rings of neutral color, the newly discovered outer rings show color contrasts that researchers think are caused by light reflected off particles that differ in size from one ring to the other. And the outermost ring is only the second blue ring to have been observed, a team led by Imke de Pater of the University of California, Berkeley, reports in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Also blue is Saturn's outermost ring, the researchers said....

The Second Ring-Moon System of Uranus: Discovery and Dynamics Mark R. Showalter1* and Jack J. Lissauer2 Deep exposures of Uranus taken with the Hubble Space Telescope reveal two small moons and two faint rings. All of them orbit outside of Uranus's previously known (main) ring system but are interior to the large, classical moons. The outer new moon, U XXVI Mab, orbits at roughly twice the radius of the main rings and shares its orbit with a dust ring. The second moon, U XXVII Cupid, orbits just interior to the satellite Belinda. A second ring falls between the orbits of...

Hubble discovers new rings and moons around Uranus Washington: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new pair of rings around Uranus and two new small satellites orbiting the planet. The rings are very far away from the planet and the largest of them is twice the diameter of the planet's previously known rings. Astronomers are now calling them Uranus' second ring system. Also one of the new moons shares its orbit with one of the rings. The findings are to be published in the journal Science. Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, program scientist for Hubble at NASA Headquarters said that analysis...

Telescope confirms likelihood of lunar collisions in 500,000 years Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope say they have discovered two tiny new moons and two faint new rings spinning around the planet Uranus. The finds bring the current tallies for the remote blue world to more than two dozen moons and 13 rings. The scientists said Hubble images have also confirmed instabilities in the Uranian system that could eventually lead to lunar collisions. "The destruction and accumulation of moons and rings is very exciting," said Jack Lissauer of the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Mountain View, a...

Two more rings discovered around Uranus First additions to planet's ring system in nearly 20 years Updated: 2:03 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2005 Astronomers aided by the Hubble Space Telescope have spied two more rings encircling Uranus, the first additions to the planet’s ring system in nearly two decades. The faint, dusty rings orbit outside of Uranus’ previously known rings, but within the orbits of its large moons, said Mark Showalter, an astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who made the discovery. Details will appear on the journal Science's Web site, in advance of print publication. The...

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand plans to upgrade hygiene in its public toilets to meet international standards as it prepares to host the World Toilet Summit next year, a health official said Wednesday. "Toilets are very important for the country's image in the eyes of visitors," said Somyos Chareonsak, a senior official of the Public Health Ministry. The conference is to be held in May 2006. The first summit, organized by the World Toilet Organization, was held in 2001 in Singapore. China, where toilet facilities are often in need of upgrades, hosted one last year. Topics discussed at the meetings include...

Uranus may be responsible for recent devastating Asian sea quakes because the mystery-shrouded "planet of calamity" is unusually close to the Earth, tabloid newspaper readers in Germany were warned on Wednesday.

The two words "simply" and "wrong" do not seem to go together these days. The notion of "simply wrong" does not reflect the nuanced moral zeitgeist. Simplicity is not fashionable. "Wrong" is not fashionable. "Simply wrong" is antiquated, backwards, wrongheaded, and does not fit the modern moral sensibility. Why is it that a pop-star can dangle a child from a balcony with repercussion? After all, endangering the life of a child is "simply wrong" is it not? Why does a senator think he can compare his political rivals from the floor of the senate to the NAZIs? This is "simply...

A composite image of Uranus taken from the Keck telescope shows two sides of the seventh planet and its rings. First, astronomers thought Uranus was just one star among many in the night sky. Even after 1781, when they knew better, there was little they could see – the seventh planet was too far away.

Here is the map of the new Palestinian State proposal that was leaked from the White House this evening. Proposed Palestinian State is white territories.

Uranus: Whacky weather, odd rings Observations with the Keck II Telescope show the solar system's seventh planet still holds a few surprises. Francis Reddy November 10, 2004 In the southern hemisphere of Uranus, as summer draws to a close, methane storm clouds brew beneath the planet's thick blue-green haze. New observations from two research teams using the Keck II 10-meter telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii reveal unprecedented cloud behavior, fast winds, and a unique ring system. Uranus has a reputation of being, well, dull. "When the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus in 1986, it saw almost no discrete...

<p>Kerry will have the race in the bag very soon!!!!</p> <p>Mod note: I hesitate to leave this thread up, realizing how difficult it is for us poor conservatives to match up against liberal intellectuals. But in the interest of fairness...</p>

TITLE: Release of methane from a volcanic basin as a mechanism for initial Eocene global warming AUTHOR(S): Svensen, Henrik; Planke, Sverre; Malthe-Sorenssen, Anders; Jamtveit, Bjorn; Myklebust, Reidun; Rasmussen Eidem, Torfinn; Rey, Sebastian S. CORPORATE SOURCE: Physics of Geological Processes, University of Oslo, Oslo, 0316, Norway SOURCE: Nature (London, United Kingdom) (2004), 429(6991), 542-545 CODEN: NATUAS; ISSN: 0028-0836 PUBLISHER: Nature Publishing Group DOCUMENT TYPE: Journal LANGUAGE: English AB A 200,000-yr interval of extreme global warming marked the start of the Eocene epoch about 55 million years ago. Neg. carbon- and oxygen-isotope excursions in marine and terrestrial sediments show that this event...

If Uranus seems closer this evening, it is. Today, the planet (its name is pronounced you-rah-nus) is at its closest point to Earth, only 1.77 billion miles away -- 19 times the distance from the Earth to the sun. Patient people with binoculars can find this blue-green world in Aquarius. Some notes: Once you know which dot of light is Uranus, you might be able to find it with your eyes alone -- but only if you have excellent vision and a clear, dark sky away from city light pollution, says Newsday. Next week, once the moon is out of...

An online bookmaker is taking bets on the outcome of 10 big scientific endeavours, including the search for life on other planets and the quest to harness nuclear fusion as a substitute for oil. AFP/File Photo British bookie Ladbrokes has set starting odds of 10,000/1 that the US-European spacecraft Cassini/Huygens will discover "intelligent life" on the Saturnian moon of Titan by 2010, the British weekly New Scientist says. It calculates odds of a 100/1 that a fusion power station, using the same energy source that powers the Sun, will be built by 2010. Odds of a mere six to one...

Probe to 'look inside' asteroids By Paul Rincon BBC News Online science staff in Paris, France Studies of asteroids would aid Earth-protection strategies A new space mission concept unveiled at a Paris conference aims to look inside asteroids to reveal how they are made. Deep Interior would use radar to probe the origin and evolution of two near-Earth objects less than 1km across. The mission, which could launch some time later this decade, would also give clues to how the planets evolved. The perceived threat of asteroids colliding with our planet has renewed interest in space missions to understand these...

Reworked images reveal hot Venus By Dr David Whitehouse Mars it is not: Reprocessed Venus image As the world looks at Mars, an American scientist has produced the best images ever obtained from the surface of a rather different planet - Venus. The second planet from the Sun is blanketed with a thick layer of cloud. Computer researcher Don Mitchell used original digital data from two Soviet Venera probes that landed in 1975. His reprocessed and recalibrated images provide a much clearer view of the Venusian surface which is hotter even than the inside of a household oven. Original digital...

There could be life on the planet Venus, US scientists have concluded in a report in the journal Astrobiology. The existence of life on the planet's oven-hot surface is unimaginable. But microbes could survive and reproduce, experts say, floating in the thick, cloudy atmosphere, protected by a sunscreen of sulphur compounds. Scientists have even submitted a proposal for a Nasa space mission to sample the clouds and attempt to return any presumed Venusians to Earth. "Venus is really a hellish place," said Professor Andrew Ingersoll, of the California Institute of Technology. "If you could get through the sulphuric acid clouds...

PARIS (AFP) - Uranus has puzzled scientists ever since the probe Voyager 2 did a flyby in 1986 and found that its magnetic field appeared to break the planetary rulebook. The evidence from Earth, Jupiter and Saturn determined that a planet's magnetic field should be like that of a bar magnet, with a north and south pole that runs roughly along the sphere's rotational axis. But Uranus -- and Neptune, too, Voyager found -- are radically different. Their magnetic fields are tipped over (the north-to-south line lies midway to the equator or even closer) and there are two north and...

New Hubble Photos of Uranus and Neptune Jan 22, 2004 - Image credit: Hubble Atmospheric features on Uranus and Neptune are revealed in images taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The observations were taken in August 2003. The top row reveals Uranus and Neptune in natural colors, showing the planets as they would appear if we could see them through a telescope. The images are made of exposures taken with filters sensitive to red, green, and blue light. In the bottom images, astronomers used different color filters...

Most of us know there are 9 planets in our solar system.....and one of them is Uranus. This simple statement is more apt to produce a snicker than a nod of agreement : mainly because,a long time ago,English-speaking people started Anglicizing words and names borrowed from other languages. For example: Renee is about as likely to be pronounced " REEN-ey" as " Rhen-AY " ( and I know some of you folks west of the Mississippi have probably never heard this French name pronounced "Rhen-AY" ! ) This brings us back to the problem of...well,how can I put it delicately...

When you go outside tonight, look high in the southwest for the rusty-colored "star" and think about (Mars rover) Spirit, and what it must be like to remotely control a robot so far away. This is one of those weeks we'd be glad to spend in Big Sky country — we have so much to look at. First of all, the Mars rover Spirit should be taking its first road trip (the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory folks call this egress) to explore the Red Planet's surface. Not since August, when Mars was at its closest approach to Earth and had...

TINY MOONS DISCOVERED AT URANUS Astronomers using NASAs Hubble Space Telescope discovered two of the smallest moons yet found orbiting Uranus, NASA announced. The two moons, each about 12 to 16 kilometers in diameter, are so faint they were not detected by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which discovered 10 small moons when it flew by Uranus in 1986. Uranus now has 24 known moons. Astronomers hope to learn more about the orbits of the moons and their interaction with other Uranus moons with further Hubble observations. They also want to understand what role the newly discovered moons may play in...

Astronomers have found two of the smallest moons ever spotted around Uranus, brining the distant planet's satellite tally to 24, the third most in the solar system. The moons are 8 to 10 miles across (12 to 16 km) -- about the size of San Francisco -- and were discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope. With greater technology, astronomers are finding smaller moons around the giant planets with remarkable frequency, especially over the past two years. Jupiter leads the way with more than 50 known moons, Saturn has more than 30. More moons are sure to be found as the...

Robert Kagan, an American historian, is influencing policy on both sides of the Atlantic with this controversial and iconoclastic analysis of what has gone wrong between Europe and the US Just over 350 years ago the political theorist Thomas Hobbes was so appalled by the chaos in England during the civil war that he wrote a book, Leviathan, denouncing mankind’s anarchic and murderous instincts. He famously warned his countrymen that unless they obeyed one powerful central authority, life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”. A century and a half later, as the aftermath of the French revolution shook...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 15 Ringed Planet Uranus Credit: E. Lellouch, T. Encrenaz (Obs. Paris), J. Cuby , A. Jaunsen (ESO-Chile), VLT Antu, ESO Explanation: Yes it does look like Saturn, but Saturn is one of only four giant ringed planets in our Solar System. And while Saturn has the brightest rings, this system of rings and moons actually belongs to planet Uranus, imaged here in near-infrared light by the...

Tuesday, 31 December, 2002, 11:34 GMTPlanet Uranus caught on VLT A picture showing Uranus and moons (pic: ESO) The "Very Large Telescope" (VLT) has caught a remarkable image of the planet Uranus circled by some of its moons. The rings of the planet - which is 3,000 million kilometres away from Earth - were clearly displayed in the image. The rings are almost undetectable from Earth in visible light. The VLT is located at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile. The image was obtained in near-infrared, and contains seven of its moons. VLT is based at Paranal in...