In their search for life in solar systems near and far, researchers have often accepted the presence of oxygen in a planet’s atmosphere as the surest sign that life may be present there. A new Johns Hopkins study, however, recommends a reconsideration of that rule of thumb.
Recent news from The Johns Hopkins University
This section contains regularly updated highlights of the news from around The Johns Hopkins University. Links to the complete news reports from the nine schools, the Applied Physics Laboratory and other centers and institutes are to the left, as are links to help news media contact the Johns Hopkins communications offices.
Hubble Finds Far-Away Planet Vanishing at Record Speed
The speed and distance at which planets orbit their respective blazing stars can determine each planet’s fate—whether the planet remains a longstanding part of its solar system or evaporates into the universe’s dark graveyard more quickly.
In their quest to learn more about far-away planets beyond our own solar system, astronomers discovered that a medium-sized planet roughly the size of Neptune, GJ 3470b, is evaporating at a rate 100 times faster than a previously discovered planet of similar size, GJ 436b.
Keeping it cool: The Parker Solar Probe’s high-performance heat shield
Media advisory: Background for reporters on the heat shield that will protect NASA’s Parker Solar Probe as it swoops through the solar atmosphere, less than 4 million miles from the surface of the sun.
Where Martian Dust Comes From
The dust that coats much of the surface of Mars originates largely from a single thousand-kilometer-long geological formation near the Red Planet’s equator, scientists have found.
Evidence for New Property of Quantum Matter Revealed
A theorized but never-before detected property of quantum matter has now been spotted in the lab at Johns Hopkins.
Szalay to lead what could become world’s largest scientific data storage network
Johns Hopkins University’s Alex Szalay will lead a two-year national effort to begin building a network allowing scientists to more efficiently store and analyze huge caches of data and share them with other researchers.
Science and Health News Tips from Johns Hopkins
News tips for reporters from stories in the spring 2018 issue of Johns Hopkins Magazine.
Local Girl Scouts to Build Mini Roller Coasters During Contest at Johns Hopkins
Maryland Girl Scouts will learn about the physics involved in how roller coasters work and what it takes to be an engineer. Then, the scout troops will design and build their own mini roller coasters.
JHU Performs First Lab Simulation of Exoplanet Atmospheric Chemistry
Scientists have conducted the first lab experiments on haze formation in simulated exoplanet atmospheres, an important step for understanding upcoming observations of planets outside the solar system with the James Webb Space Telescope.
Johns Hopkins Scientist Proposes New Definition of a Planet
Pluto hogs the spotlight in the continuing scientific debate over what is and what is not a planet, but a less conspicuous argument rages on about the planetary status of massive objects outside our solar system. The dispute is not just about semantics, as it is closely related to how giant planets like Jupiter form. Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist Kevin Schlaufman aims to settle the dispute.
Johns Hopkins Scientists Explain Rudolph, Grinch, Scrooge
This festive season, Johns Hopkins University researchers dug deep into their reserves of scientific expertise to explain how these unexplainable plot lines in holiday classics like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Grinch That Stole Christmas, and A Christmas Carol just might be (almost) (possibly) possible.
Johns Hopkins Astrophysicist Shares $3 Million Breakthrough Prize
Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Charles L. Bennett of Johns Hopkins University has been named a recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his work that established the Standard Model of Cosmology – a precise physics-based description of the contents, dynamics, and shape of the universe.
JHU Scientist Crowdsources Rocks Harboring Earthly “Extraterrestrials”
Crowdsourcing has been used to create an online photography archive, finance a British rock band’s tour and search for intelligent life on other planets. Now, Johns Hopkins University biologist Jocelyne DiRuggiero is hoping the approach can help her find rocks.
Science and Health News Tips from Johns Hopkins
These news tips, from stories in the fall 2017 issue of Johns Hopkins Magazine, include an engineer/fisherman’s idea for a “smart” lure and the need for a really high SPF sunscreen for a new solar probe.
Media Advisory: Cassini Saturn Mission Team Member at Johns Hopkins Available to Talk About What Scientists Have Discovered and the Work Ahead
Professor Darrell Strobel, an astrophysicist with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, has been part of the Cassini-Huygens mission from the early planning stages and is available to speak with reporters.
Media Advisory: Johns Hopkins Physics Fair Returns to Homewood Campus
The Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy is hosting its 14th Annual Physics Fair. The day will include more than 200 physics demonstrations.
Media Advisory: Astronaut Kate Rubins to Speak at Johns Hopkins University
Kate Rubins, the first person to sequence DNA in space aboard the International Space Station last year, will talk about her work as a scientist and astronaut.
Scientists Make the Case to Restore Pluto’s Planet Status
Johns Hopkins University scientist Kirby Runyon wants to make one thing clear: Regardless of what one prestigious scientific organization says to the contrary, Pluto is a planet. So is Europa, commonly known as a moon of Jupiter, and the Earth’s Moon, and more than 100 other celestial bodies in our solar system that are denied this status under a prevailing definition of “planet.”
Exotic Insulator May Hold Clue to Key Mystery of Modern Physics
Experiments using laser light and pieces of gray material the size of fingernail clippings may offer clues to a fundamental scientific riddle: what is the relationship between the everyday world of classical physics and the hidden quantum realm that obeys entirely different rules?
Scientists Find New Ways to Track Stars Eaten by Black Holes
Research led by Johns Hopkins University astrophysicists using information from a NASA space telescope breaks new ground in ways to observe a star swallowed by a black hole, promising to help paint a more clear picture of this cosmic phenomenon.
Can One Cosmic Enigma Help Solve Another?
Astrophysicists from Johns Hopkins University have proposed a clever new way of shedding light on the mysterious dark matter believed to make up most of the universe. The irony is they want to try to pin down the nature of this unexplained phenomenon by using another, an obscure cosmic emanation known as “fast radio bursts.”
Did Gravitational Wave Detector Find Dark Matter?
When an astronomical observatory in the United States this winter detected a whisper of two black holes colliding in deep space, scientists celebrated a successful effort to confirm Albert Einstein’s prediction of gravitational waves. A team of Johns Hopkins University astrophysicists wondered about something else: Had the experiment found the “dark matter” that makes up most of the mass of the universe?