NASA has unveiled a plan to prevent the eruption of supervolcanoes, such as the Yellowstone Caldera in Wyoming. The ambitious, $3.5 billion plan would involve pumping water deep into the Earth to cool the volcano to prevent it from erupting — and the plan would result in the generation of cheap, low-emission electricity in the process.
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NASA has announced the creation of a new position within the space agency titled "Planetary Protection Officer" (PPO), and is currently looking for candidates suitably qualified to protect the Earth — and other planets — from possible biological contamination. The salary for this singular position will be between $124,406 to $187,000 per year, with the successful applicant being responsible for preventing the transmission of potential contamination to and from Earth by astronauts and space probes during their expeditions.
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NASA has announced the discovery of a family of 7 Earth-like exoplanets that are orbiting a nearby star, an ultracool dwarf called TRAPPIST-1. The observations were made using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, building on earlier findings announced last year by a team from the University of Liège in Belgium, using observations from the TRAPPIST (Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope) telescope at the La Silla Observatory in the Atacama desert, Chile. Not only is the TRAPPIST-1 system rich in earth-sized, rocky planets, ripe for comparatively easy study, but also three of these planets lie within their star’s habitable zone.
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NASA has just announced that it will be holding a news conference on Wednesday, February 22 at which a major new exoplanet discovery will be revealed. Does this mean that evidence, or even proof, of life on a planet orbiting another star has been found? That is certainly what the announcement suggests.
Stay tuned!
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