Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 1:00am
2005 Science Breakthrough: Revising Earth’s Early History
Researchers at the Carnegie’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) found that Earth’s mantle separated into chemically distinct layers faster and earlier than previously believed. Science magazine recognized the work in its December 23 issue, as one of the science breakthroughs for 2005...
Monday, May 16, 2011 - 7:18pm
Young graphite, old rocks: looking for evidence of earliest life
With Video
Scientists have long debated about the origin of carbon in Earth’s oldest sedimentary rocks and how it might signal the remnants of the earliest forms of life on the planet. New research by a team including five scientists from Carnegie’s Geophysical Laboratory and Department of Terrestrial Magnetism discovered that carbon samples taken from ancient Canadian rock formations are younger than the sedimentary rocks surrounding them, which were formed at least 3.8 billion years ago. Their results indicate that the carbon contained in such ancient rocks should not be assumed to be as old as the rocks, unless it can be shown to have had the same metamorphic history as the host rock.
Monday, December 14, 2009 - 3:28pm
First super-Earths discovered around Sun-like stars
With Video
Two nearby stars have been found to harbor “super-Earths”― rocky planets larger than the Earth but smaller than ice giants such as Uranus and Neptune. Unlike previously discovered stars with super-Earths, both of the stars are similar to the Sun, suggesting to scientists that low-mass planets may be common around nearby stars.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - 5:59pm
High Pressure Yields Novel Single-Element ‘Compound’
With Audio
An international team of researchers including scientists at the Carnegie Institution has discovered a new chemical compound that consists of a single element―boron. Chemical compounds are conventionally defined as substances consist of two or more elements, but the researchers found that a high pressure and temperature pure boron can assume two distinct forms that bond together to create a novel “compound” that can be described as boron boride.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 11:13am
Carnegie Wins DOE Energy Frontier Research Center Award
The Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory has been selected as one of 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) by the U.S. Department of Energy. The five-year, $15.0 million award will establish the Energy Frontier Research in Extreme Environments center (EFree) at the Geophysical lab. The selection was based on the lab’s long legacy of research into materials under extreme pressure and temperature environments.
Monday, January 26, 2009 - 12:14pm
George Preston Chosen for 2009 Henry Norris Russell Lectureship
Dr. George W. Preston of the Carnegie Observatories has been selected by the American Astronomical Society to be the 2009 recipient of its highest distinction: the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship. The Russell Lectureship is awarded each year in recognition of a lifetime of excellence in astronomical research. Preston will deliver the lecture at the 2009 winter meeting of the AAS in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 12:08pm
Closest Sun-like star may have planets
An international team of scientists, including Carnegie’s Paul Butler, has discovered that Tau Ceti, one of the closest and most Sun-like stars, may have five planets. At a distance of twelve light years and visible with a naked eye in the evening sky, Tau Ceti is the closest single star with the same spectral classification as our Sun. Its five planets are estimated to have masses between two and six times the mass of the Earth--making it the lowest-mass planetary system yet detected.
Monday, February 27, 2012 - 4:51pm
Amoeba may offer key clue to photosynthetic evolution
Audio
The major difference between plant and animal cells is the photosynthetic process, which converts light energy into chemical energy. When light isn’t available, energy is generated by breaking down carbohydrates and sugars, just as it is in animal and some bacterial cells. Two cellular organelles are responsible for these two processes: the chloroplasts for photosynthesis and the mitochondria for sugar breakdown. New research from Carnegie’s Eva Nowack and Arthur Grossman has opened a window into the early stages of chloroplast evolution.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - 7:14pm
Counting carbon: pre-industrial emissions make a difference
Video
When evaluating the historic contributions made by different countries to the greenhouse gasses found in Earth’s atmosphere, calculations generally go back no further than the year 1840. New research from Carnegie’s Julia Pongratz and Ken Caldeira shows that carbon dioxide contributions from the pre-industrial era still have an impact on our climate today.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - 2:55pm
Baby Stars Born in Galactic Outback
Co-authors Mark Seibert and Barry Madore of the Observatories are part of team that has produced a stunning new image showing infant stars growing in a remote area of galaxy M83.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 2:39pm
Electronic heat trap grips deep Earth
With Video
The key to understanding Earth’s evolution, including our atmosphere and how volcanoes and earthquakes form, is to look into the lower mantle—a region some 400 to 1,800 miles below the surface. Researchers at the Geophysical Laboratory discovered that the concentration of highly oxidized iron in the two major mantle minerals is key to moving heat in that region and affects material movement throughout the planet.
Monday, May 14, 2012 - 10:22am
Carnegie’s Larry Nittler New Deputy for MESSENGER Mission
Carnegie’s Larry Nittler of Carnegie’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism has been appointed deputy principal investigator of the MESSENGER mission to Mercury. Principal investigator Sean Solomon, also of Carnegie, made the announcement at the first plenary of the 26th science team meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - 2:28pm
Forecasting a Supernova Explosion
Type II supernovae are formed when massive stars collapse, initiating giant explosions. It is thought that stars emit a burst of mass as a precursor to the supernova explosion. If this process were better understood, it could be used to predict and study supernova events in their earliest stages. New observations from a team of astronomers including Carnegie's Mansi Kasliwal show a remarkable mass-loss event about a month before the explosion of a type IIn supernova.
Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 10:21am
CarnegieScience Summer 2008 is available
The summer CarnegieScience features stories from the global limits of using biomass as a source for fuel to the first-ever witnesses of a supernova birth.
Thursday, August 9, 2007 - 12:00am
Rain forest protection works in Peru
Stanford, CA—A new regional study shows that land-use policies in Peru have been key to tempering rain forest degradation and destruction in that country. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology led an international effort to analyze seven years of high-resolution satellite data covering most (79%) of the Peruvian Amazon for their findings. The work is published in the Science Express.
