Nov 30, 2015 09:04 PM
Earth May Be “Hairy” with Dark Matter
http://www.universetoday.com/123583/eart...rk-matter/
EXCERPT: [...] dark matter forms “fine-grained streams” of particles that move at the same velocity and orbit galaxies such as ours. Streams can be much larger than our Solar System and criss-cross the galaxy. Prézeau compares the formation of fine-grained streams of dark matter to mixing chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Swirl a scoop of each together a few times and you get a mixed pattern, but you can still see the individual colors. But a different scenario unfolds when a stream passes by an obstacle like the Earth or a moon. Prézeau used computer simulations to discover that when dark matter stream passes through a planet — dark matter passes right through us unlike ordinary matter — it’s focused into an ultra-dense filament or hair. Not a solo strand but a luxuriant crop bushy as a brewer’s beard....
"Dismissing 500 Billion Galaxies" --The Extraterrestrial-Life 'Probability' Debate
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/201...traor.html
EXCERPT: The recent Kepler Space-Telescope discoveries of planets similar to Earth in size and proximity to the planets' respective suns have sparked scientific and public excitement about the possibility of also finding Earth-like life on those worlds. But the Princeton University researchers have found that the expectation that life — from bacteria to sentient beings — has or will develop on other planets as on Earth might be based more on optimism than scientific evidence....
Comets May Have Caused 'Alien Megastructure' Star's Strange Dimming
http://www.space.com/31211-alien-megastr...omets.html
EXCERPT: A faraway star's mysterous dimming was most likely caused by comets, a new study suggests — though it doesn't rule out the much-ballyhooed possibility of an "alien megastructure" in the system....
http://www.universetoday.com/123583/eart...rk-matter/
EXCERPT: [...] dark matter forms “fine-grained streams” of particles that move at the same velocity and orbit galaxies such as ours. Streams can be much larger than our Solar System and criss-cross the galaxy. Prézeau compares the formation of fine-grained streams of dark matter to mixing chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Swirl a scoop of each together a few times and you get a mixed pattern, but you can still see the individual colors. But a different scenario unfolds when a stream passes by an obstacle like the Earth or a moon. Prézeau used computer simulations to discover that when dark matter stream passes through a planet — dark matter passes right through us unlike ordinary matter — it’s focused into an ultra-dense filament or hair. Not a solo strand but a luxuriant crop bushy as a brewer’s beard....
"Dismissing 500 Billion Galaxies" --The Extraterrestrial-Life 'Probability' Debate
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/201...traor.html
EXCERPT: The recent Kepler Space-Telescope discoveries of planets similar to Earth in size and proximity to the planets' respective suns have sparked scientific and public excitement about the possibility of also finding Earth-like life on those worlds. But the Princeton University researchers have found that the expectation that life — from bacteria to sentient beings — has or will develop on other planets as on Earth might be based more on optimism than scientific evidence....
Comets May Have Caused 'Alien Megastructure' Star's Strange Dimming
http://www.space.com/31211-alien-megastr...omets.html
EXCERPT: A faraway star's mysterous dimming was most likely caused by comets, a new study suggests — though it doesn't rule out the much-ballyhooed possibility of an "alien megastructure" in the system....