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Meteorologists with the National Weather Service are predicting that the northern polar vortex is likely to split once again later this month, into not just two, but three separate vortices that are expected to bring unseasonably cold and stormy weather to parts of Europe and North America.

The polar vortex is a low-pressure area of air that resides over both of Earth’s poles, with the vortex at each pole spinning in a counter-clockwise direction, and bordered around their edges by the jet stream. Occasionally, the Northern Hemisphere’s vortex splits into a number of separate gyres that drift south, bringing colder Arctic air along with them.
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Ever since a massive subsurface ocean was discovered under the ice on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, scientists have sought to uncover the reason behind the existence of liquid water on a world that should be frozen solid. However, a new study not only illustrates what may be the mechanism behind the presence of Enceladus’ liquid water, but also that the process has been going on for billions of years — more than long enough for life to gain a foothold there.
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After a 4.9 billion mile journey spanning more than two decades and countless major discoveries, the Cassini probe will complete its long voyage by plunging into the clouds of Saturn on September 15th, in what NASA’s mission engineers are calling the probe’s "goodbye kiss". The intentional destruction of the probe is to avoid potentially contaminating the environments of Saturn’s moons — Enceladus in particular — in case extraterrestrial life might be found there.
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Two new discoveries regarding chemical ingredients that are associated with the formation of life on Titan have been announced. With its dense nitrogen, methane and ethane atmosphere, and liquid hydrocarbon seas, Titan is currently of interest to scientists looking to study an environment resembling Earth’s primordial atmosphere, and also are hopeful that the Saturnian moon’s complex chemical soup will yield evidence of extraterrestrial life.
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