Word: vaporous
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...moment long awaited by NASA scientists, the unmanned orbiter Cassini will pass through geysers of ice, water vapor and dust erupting from the southern pole of the 310-mile-wide moon Enceladus, in hopes of collecting fine particles. The 465-mile-high plumes shooting out from fissures, or tiger stripes, in the moon's surface, were first discovered during a similar but much more distant flyby...
...collecting particles from the plumes of gas and water vapor bursting out of Enceladus at approximately 800 miles per hour, scientists hope to better understand the composition of the moon's surface in contrast to its interior - scientists believe that some of the plumes' water-ice particles emerge from within the moon and some bounce off its surface. Scientists also want to know whether there is any liquid water - an essential component to supporting life - below the moon's iced surface. "The thing that makes Enceladus so exciting is that all of the ingredients you would need to support life...
...moon's plumes emit particles that are 90% water, in vaporized form, and contribute to the large rings around Saturn. "It's like the steam coming out of your kettle," Hansen-Koharcheck says. By analyzing the molecular structure of these particles, scientists hope to determine whether the vapor originates as ice or liquid, and whether that means there could be life in Enceladus's interior, beneath the surface...
...linked with greater asthma incidence, experts believe that the large volume of air brought into and out of the lungs during exertion can dehydrate the airways, triggering an inflammatory cascade of immune cells that causes air passages to constrict. "Athletes who are exercising strenuously are losing heat and water vapor in their airways, so they are more prone to developing exercise-induced symptoms," says Dr. Mark Liu, a professor of pulmonary and allergy immunology at Johns Hopkins Hospital...
...Even as carbon emissions from air travel grow rapidly, scientists are investigating claims that they may double the warming effect because of the altitude at which they're emitted. As jets soar they leave behind contrails, vapor threads of condensation that can persist for hours, especially in colder areas, and behave like high-altitude cirrus clouds. Those clouds seem to have a net warming effect, trapping heat in the atmosphere. Planes also create ozone, a greenhouse gas that has a stronger warming effect at high altitudes than low. The science is still being nailed down, but the side effects...