a bit of space & earth http://abitofastro.com/ en-us Top space & earth news story of the day selected by a computer algo Historic Launch of Space Capsule Scrubbed A technical problem has forced SpaceX to abort what would have been the first launch of a privately owned capsule to the International Space Station. The pre-dawn launch of the Dragon Capsule ... http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123572/ Sat, 19 May 2012 08:01:03 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123572/ Stanford scientists document fragile land-sea ecological chain Intricate, often invisible chains of life are threatened with extinction around the world. A new study quantifies one of the longest such chains ever documented. http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123504/ Fri, 18 May 2012 18:01:03 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123504/ NASA survey counts potentially hazardous asteroids Observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to the best assessment yet of our solar system's population of potentially hazardous asteroids. The results reveal ... http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123210/ Fri, 18 May 2012 12:01:03 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123210/ It's (just barely, sort of) alive! Below the ocean floor, microbes are surviving on 100,000 oxygen molecules a day. http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123340/ Thu, 17 May 2012 18:01:03 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123340/ Some Sun-like Stars Put Off Superflares New research shows that other sun-like stars in the universe can send off flares much larger than those seen on our sun. Solar flares are the result of broken magnetic-field loops as they pass ... http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123135/ Wed, 16 May 2012 16:01:03 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/123135/ UMD finding may hold key to Gaia hypothesis Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122972/ Wed, 16 May 2012 12:01:04 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122972/ Statistical analysis projects future temperatures in North America For the first time, researchers have been able to combine different climate models using spatial statistics - to project future seasonal temperature changes in regions across North America. http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122897/ Wed, 16 May 2012 02:01:04 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122897/ Living Planet Report Details Threats To Earth's Biodiversity Brett Smith for RedOrbit.com Thousands of populations of animals, both terrestrial and aquatic, are in decline and living in increasingly threatened habitats, according to the 2012 Living Planet ... http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122796/ Tue, 15 May 2012 08:01:03 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122796/ Nearly one-tenth of hemisphere's mammals unlikely to outrun climate change A safe haven could be out of reach for 9 percent of the Western Hemisphere's mammals, and as much as 40 percent in certain regions, because the animals just won't move swiftly enough to outpace ... http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122759/ Mon, 14 May 2012 18:01:04 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122759/ Rapid Rates of Short Submarine Eruptions Measured at Monowai in the Kermadec Islands I saw (and was sent) a lot of articles about the findings from Anthony Watts and others in Nature Geosciences on the submarine volcanism in the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand. A group ... http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122656/ Mon, 14 May 2012 12:01:03 EST http://abitofastro.com/news/cluster/122656/