News release archives
Partnerships of Deep-Sea Methane Scavengers Revealed
05/09/2008 - The sea floor off the coast of Eureka, California, is home to a diverse assemblage of microbes that scavenge methane from cold deep-sea vents. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a technique to directly capture these cells, lending insight into the diverse symbiotic partnerships that evolved among different species in an extreme environment. The community's interconnected metabolism sheds light on how the anaerobic microbes, which consume nearly 80 percent of the methane leaked from marine sediments, limit oceanic emissions of this potent greenhouse gas.
A Grand Canyon as Old as the Dinosaurs?
04/10/2008 - The origin of the Grand Canyon has been a topic of scientific controversy for nearly 140 years. Now, with geochronologic data from the canyon and surrounding plateaus, geologists from the California Institute of Technology present significant evidence that lends new insight into its history of formation. The researchers found that a large canyon, directly above and just as deep as the deepest part of the modern-day Grand Canyon, had already formed by 55 million years ago in overlying strata.
Water Vapor Detected in Protoplanetary Disks
03/18/2008
- Water is an essential ingredient for forming planets, yet has remained hidden from scientists searching for it in protoplanetary systems, the spinning disks of particles surrounding newly formed stars where planets are born. Now the detection of water vapor in the inner part of two extrasolar protoplanetary disks brings scientists one step closer to understanding water's role during terrestrial planet formation.
"This is a much larger story than just one or two disks," says Geoffrey Blake, professor of cosmochemistry and planetary sciences and professor of chemistry at Caltech. "With upcoming observations of tens of young stars and disks, we can construct a story for how water concentrations evolve in disks, and hopefully answer questions like how Earth acquired its oceans."
From Rockets to Spacecraft: Making JPL a Place for Planetary Science (pdf)
01/02/2008 - From its humble beginnings as a remote patch of the Arroyo Seco used to test rockets, JPL has grown into the leading U.S. center for robotic space exploration.
The Fall and Rise (and Fall?) of Life on Mars (pdf)
01/02/2008 - After decades of searching, no one's found life on Mars—or have they?
