NASA: John Glenn speaks to ISS Crew

Senator John Glenn talks, via satellite, with the astronauts on the International Space Station, in Columbus, Ohio. 

Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around it three times in 1962, and also became the oldest person in space, at age 77, by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998.

 

Picture: Jay LaPrete/AP

NASA SDO: Shifting Plasma Images

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has released images of plasma shifting back and forth above the sun's surface for 30 hours.

On February 7th - 8th an active region rotating into view provides a bright backdrop to the gyrating streams of plasma.

The particles are being pulled in various directions by competing magnetic forces.

They are tracking along strands of magnetic field lines.

This kind of detailed solar observation with high-resolution frames and a four-minute cadence was not possible until SDO, which launched two years ago on February 11th, 2010.

Picture: NASA SDO / Rex Features

Rocket Launch Image: University of Alaska's Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska

A rocket flies through the aurora borealis after lifting off from the University of Alaska's Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska. 

The mission was launched by a NASA funded group of 60 researchers studying electrical activity in the aurora borealis and the likelihood it is interfering with GPS and other signals. 

Cornell University says the 46-foot rocket sent back data as it flew through the aurora at an altitude of 217 miles.

Picture: NASA Wallops, Lee Wingfield/AP

Sylene stenophylla plant regenerated from tissue of fossil fruit

This photo provided by the Institute of Cell Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences show a Sylene stenophylla plant regenerated from tissue of fossil fruit. 

The plant has been regenerated from tissues found in a squirrel burrow that had been stuck in Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years.

 It is the oldest plant ever to be regenerated and it is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds.

Picture: The Institute of Cell Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences / AP

NASA Satellite Image: Pipeline ablaze outside Homs, Syria

This satellite image shows a pipeline fire in Homs, Syria. 

The pipeline, which runs through the rebel-held neighbourhood of Baba Amr, had been shelled by regime troops for the previous 12 days, according to two activist groups, the Local Coordination Committees and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

The state news agency, SANA, blamed "armed terrorists" for the pipeline attack.

Picture: DigitalGlobe/AP

Mars HiRise Image: Spring on Mars

Spring on Mars. This image provided by NASA/JPL and the University of Arizona shows barchan (crescent-shaped) sand dunes in the North Polar region on Mars. 

In this image, taken during the northern spring season, the dunes and ground are still covered in seasonal frost.

The speckled appearance is due to the warming of the area.

As the carbon dioxide frost and ice on the dunes warms, small areas warm and sublimate (turn from solid to gas) faster, creating small jets that expose/deposit dark sand and dust onto the surface. 

Notice that there are no spots on the ground between the dunes - that is because the ground stays more uniformly cold, unlike the darker dune sand.

Picture: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/AFP/Getty

Antispila oinophylla: New moth species invades Italy's Chardonnay vineyards

Antispila oinophylla: A moth with a taste for Chardonnay leaves, which has infested vineyards across northern Italy, is a new species of leafminer, scientists say. 

The pest was first discovered by Italian scientists in 2006, but they were unable to identify it.

Now, by examining a snippet of the moth's genetic code, researchers have confirmed that it is a previously unnamed species.

The team published their findings in the journal ZooKeys.

The Italian team enlisted the help of insect expert Erik van Nieukerken from the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity in Leiden.

"We first turned to the [scientific] literature to find out what was already known, which was appallingly little for this group [of moths]," Dr van Nieukerken said.

He and his colleagues used a method known as DNA barcoding to examine a section of the insect's genetic code.

New Species
The new species, which now bears the name Antispila oinophylla, had previously been confused with a North American species (Antispila ampelopsifoliella), which feeds on Virginia creeper.

Only the genetic studies revealed it to be a different species with a taste for grapevines. Its native range is across eastern North America, where it feeds on several species of wild grapes.

So far, the species has been found in vineyards in Italy's Trento and Veneto regions, spreading and increasing in population since it was first recorded.


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