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Underwater snow on Earth gives clues about Europa’s icy shell

Published

10 months ago

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Studying a bizarre underwater snow below ice shelves on Earth can help understand the ice shell Jupiter’s moon Europa, according to researchers.

Europa is a rocky world about the size of the Earth’s moon that is surrounded by a global ocean and a miles-thick ice shell.

Below Europa’s thick icy crust is a massive, global ocean where the snow floats upwards onto inverted ice peaks and submerged ravines.

The underwater snow is much purer than other kinds of ice, which means Europa’s ice shell could be much less salty than previously thought, revealed the study published in the journal Astrobiology.

The finding is important for mission scientists preparing NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will use radar to peek beneath the ice shell to see if Europa’s ocean could be hospitable to life.

Previous studies suggest the temperature, pressure and salinity of Europa’s ocean nearest to the ice is similar to what you would find beneath an ice shelf in Antarctica.

The new information will be critical because salt trapped in the ice can affect what and how deep the radar will see into the ice shell, so being able to predict what the ice is made of will help scientists make sense of the data.

Knowing what kind of ice Europa’s shell is made of will also help decipher the salinity and habitability of its ocean, said the team from the University of Texas at Austin.

“When we’re exploring Europa, we’re interested in the salinity and composition of the ocean, because that’s one of the things that will govern its potential habitability or even the type of life that might live there,” said lead author Natalie Wolfenbarger, a graduate student researcher at the varsity’s Institute for Geophysics (UTIG).

The new study also examined the two different ways that water freezes under ice shelves, congelation ice and frazil ice. Congelation ice grows directly from under the ice shelf. Frazil ice forms as ice flakes in supercooled seawater which float upwards through the water, settling on the bottom of the ice shelf.

Both ways make ice that’s less salty than seawater, which Wolfenbarger found would be even less salty when scaled up to the size and age of Europa’s ice shell.

Further, the frazil ice – which keeps only a tiny fraction of the salt in seawater – could be very common on Europa. That means its ice shell could be orders of magnitude purer than previous estimates. This affects everything from its strength, to how heat moves through it, and forces that might drive a kind of ice tectonics, Wolfenbarger said.

According to co-author Donald Blankenship, a senior research scientist at UTIG, the research is validation for using the Earth as a model to understand the habitability of Europa.

“We can use Earth to evaluate Europa’s habitability, measure the exchange of impurities between the ice and ocean, and figure out where water is in the ice,” he said.

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Opening bell: Markets open in green amid positive global cues; Sensex at 62,889.90, Nifty at 18,609.90

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1 week ago

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May 29, 2023

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The markets on Monday opened higher with Sensex at 62,889.90, up by 388.21 points and Nifty was at 18,609.90 with a gain of 110.55 points. Mahindra and Mahindra, TCS, HDFC, IndusInd Bank and Wipro were the top gainers in the morning session.

The stocks of Adani Transmission, Rail Vikas Nigam, IRCTC, Torrent Power and NHPC will be in focus as the companies are announcing the results for the last quarter today.

Markets on Friday

Thanks to increased buying by Foreign Institutional Investors, Sensex surged 623 points to end the week at 62,496. Nifty also went up by 0.94 per cent to hit 18,495 points at close, buoyed by a rebound for global markets and gains made by US stocks.

Global markets

Wall Street shares on Friday after being on the lower end rose sharply as the US debt ceiling progressed and chip stocks gained for a second straight day due to optimism surrounding AI. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 2.19 per cent to 12,975.69, S&P 500 closed higher at 4,205.45 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to 33,093.34.

With the US debt negotiations reaching closer to a deal the Asian markets on Monday were in green. Singapore’s SGX Nifty saw a gain of 159 points at 18,707, South Korea’s KOSPI was comparatively flat with a gain of 4.12 points at 2,558.81 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was in the green with a gain of 159 points at 31,330.63. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was at 18,723.72 with a drop of 23.20 points.

Oil prices

Oil prices on Monday were were higher after as United States leaders reached a tentative decision to avoid debt default. Brent crude futures went up by 39 cents to $77.34 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $73.12 per barrel with a gain of 45 cents.

Rupee

Indian rupee on Monday opened flat at 82.58 per dollar against Friday’s close of 82.57.

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Business

Let’s build Twitter 2.0 together, new CEO Linda Yaccarino tells Musk

Published

3 weeks ago

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May 15, 2023

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The upcoming Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino, former Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships at NBC Universal, on Sunday said she is prepared to build Twitter 2.0 and transform the business together with Musk and millions of platform users.

Yaccarino, who will start in six weeks in her new position, will focus primarily on business operations.

“I’ve long been inspired by your vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together,” she posted.

“I’m just as committed to the future of this platform. Your feedback is VITAL to that future. I’m here for all of it. Let’s keep the conversation going and build Twitter 2.0 together,” Yaccarino further commented.

There have been some concerns too regarding Yaccarino’s appointment as the new Twitter CEO.

A user posted that she is not here to improve the user experience but wants Twitter to be a ‘safe space’.

“She represents advertisers, and her natural inclination is to limit speech, and pander to those who push woke ideology on the world. You will have to watch her like a hawk. No doubt she’ll bring in advertising revenue in the short term, but she’s a long-term mistake,” posted a user named Billboard Chris.

Musk replied: “I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early. I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.”

Musk is looking forward to working with Yaccarino to transform the platform into X, the everything app, just like China’s WeChat.

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Business

Google unveils its first foldable phone with a teaser, more details inside

Published

1 month ago

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May 6, 2023

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Before touch screen phones took over, flip phones used to be a compact option folding screens and keypads into one, as well as a style statement. When foldable handsets were first floated to bring back the era of flip phones, there were initial apprehensions about how durable their hardware will be.

But years later, smartphone makers such as Samsung are shipping millions of units a year, prompting Google to unveil its first foldable device.

Google’s entry into the fold

  • With the camera setup of its flagship Pixel smartphone, Google’s new marvel features a 7.6-inch foldable display.
  • The handset which folds like a book, has been revealed in a teaser tweeted by Google, and it comes with a full-size screen on the front.
  • The device touted to have the most durable hinge for a foldable device, will compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, since it will be priced at Rs 1.55 lakh.

Packs a powerful battery within

  • The smartphone expected to be launched at Google’s yearly developer conference, will also feature a Google Tensor G2 processor.
  • Although further details are yet to be revealed, the most expensive Pixel to date will also have a 24-hour battery life.
  • The announcement comes after Google trained Android developers to create apps that are suitable for foldable phones.
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