News Release Number: STScI-2004-44Oxygen and Carbon Found in Atmosphere of an Extrasolar PlanetView this imageNASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected, for the first time ever, the presence of oxygen and carbon in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.The oxygen naturally exists and is not produced by any sort of life on the gaseous hot world, astronomers caution. Nevertheless, it is a promising demonstration that the chemical composition of atmospheres on planets many light-years away can be measured. This could someday lead to finding the atmospheric biomarkers of life on extrasolar planets.The oxygen and carbon are bleeding off the gas-giant extrasolar planet HD 209458b, orbiting a star lying 150 light-years from Earth. HD 209458b is only 4.3 million miles from its Sun-like star, completing an orbit in less than 4 days. It belongs to a class of planets called "hot Jupiters." Astronomers previously discovered that the upper atmosphere is so hot it boils hydrogen off into space.Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph to discover a rugby-ball shaped evaporating envelope of oxygen and carbon. Analysis of the starlight passing through the envelope shows it is being ripped off by the extreme "hydrodynamic drag" created by its evaporating hydrogen atmosphere.The planet has been dubbed "Osiris" after the Egyptian god that lost part of his body like HD 209458b after having been killed and cut into pieces by his brother to prevent his return to life.The planet HD 209458b is the first transiting planet discovered, the first extrasolar planet known to have an atmosphere, the first extrasolar planet observed to have an evaporating hydrogen atmosphere, and now the first extrasolar planet found to have an atmosphere containing oxygen and carbon.The Hubble team led by Alfred Vidal-Madjar (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, France) is reporting this discovery in a forthcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters. segunda-feira, 23 de Novembro de 2009 | 13:56 Imprimir Enviar por Email O Centro Europeu de Fisica Nuclear (Cern) revelou hoje que feixes de protoes ja estao a circular em direccoes opostas no maior acelerador de particulas do mundo, embora ainda se trate de testes em baixa velocidade.O LHC comecou a funcionar novamente no fim de sexta-feira passada com o lancamento de feixes numa so direccao, depois de 14 meses paralisado.Durante esse tempo, foram reparados dois erros tecnicos ocorridos em Setembro de 2008, apenas nove dias depois de entrar em operacao em meio a uma grande expectativa da comunidade cientifica internacional.Espera-se que as colisoes a altas velocidades, que permitirao aos cientistas obter dados jamais conseguidos sobre a criacao do Universo, sejam produzidos no inicio de 2010. por que o medo de alguns de que sejam construidos miniburacos negros se eles sao gerados indefinidamente na atmosfera. se forem criados, de acordo com as teorias de Stephen Hawking eles evaporariam instantaneamente. Divulgacao Cientificahttp://www.agencia.fapesp.br/fotos/2009/46/foto_dentro11344_1.jpg12/11/2009Agencia FAPESP Embora tenham grande proximidade genetica com os humanos, outros primatas como os chimpanzes nao desenvolveram a capacidade inata da linguagem e da fala. De acordo com um novo estudo, modificacoes em aminoacidos de uma proteina associada com o surgimento da linguagem podem explicar por que