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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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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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Astronomers have discovered what is now the smallest known star in the galaxy, in a system roughly 600 light-years from Earth. Part of a trinary star system, the smaller of the pair, EBLM J0555-57Ab, is estimated to only be 8 percent of the mass of our own Sun, in a compact package no bigger than Saturn.

This itty-bitty sun may represent the smallest size that a star can be: to sustain the hydrogen fusion process that provides a star’s energy, the gases within must be brought to a high pressure and temperature, meaning that there needs to be enough mass present in the star to provide these conditions.
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