PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Fresh evidence for how water reached Earth found in asteroid debris

Fresh evidence for how water reached Earth found in asteroid debris
2015-05-07
(Press-News.org) Quantity of water on Earth not unique Water likely reached Earth via comets and asteroids crashing into Earth's surface Evidence found in the atmosphere of white dwarf star Asteroid found to contain 30-35% Earth's water content Research led by the University of Warwick and published by Royal Astronomical Society

Water delivery via asteroids or comets is likely taking place in many other planetary systems, just as it happened on Earth, new research strongly suggests.

Published by the Royal Astronomical Society and led by the University of Warwick, the research finds evidence for numerous planetary bodies, including asteroids and comets, containing large amounts of water.

The research findings add further support to the possibility water can be delivered to Earth-like planets via such bodies to create a suitable environment for the formation of life.

Commenting on the findings lead researcher Dr Roberto Raddi, of the University of Warwick's Astronomy and Astrophysics Group, said: "Our research has found that, rather than being unique, water-rich asteroids similar to those found in our Solar System appear to be frequent. Accordingly, many of planets may have contained a volume of water, comparable to that contained in the Earth.

"It is believed that the Earth was initially dry, but our research strongly supports the view that the oceans we have today were created as a result of impacts by water-rich comets or asteroids".

In observations obtained at the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands, the University of Warwick astronomers detected a large quantity of hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere of a white dwarf (known as SDSS J1242+5226). The quantities found provide the evidence that a water-rich exo-asteroid was disrupted and eventually delivered the water it contained onto the star.

The asteroid, the researchers discovered, was comparable in size to Ceres - at 900km across, the largest asteroid in the Solar System. "The amount of water found SDSS J1242+5226 is equivalent to 30-35% of the oceans on Earth", explained Dr Raddi.

The impact of water-rich asteroids or comets onto a planet or white dwarf results in the mixing of hydrogen and oxygen into the atmosphere. Both elements were detected in large amounts in SDSS J1242+5226.

Research co-author Professor Boris Gänsicke, also of University of Warwick, explained:

"Oxygen, which is a relatively heavy element, will sink deep down over time, and hence a while after the disruption event is over, it will no longer be visible.

"In contrast, hydrogen is the lightest element; it will always remain floating near the surface of the white dwarf where it can easily be detected. There are many white dwarfs that hold large amounts of hydrogen in their atmospheres, and this new study suggests that this is evidence that water-rich asteroids or comets are common around other stars than the Sun".

The research, Likely detection of water-rich asteroid debris in a metal-polluted white dwarf, is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society by Oxford University Press.

INFORMATION:

Notes for Editors:

A high res illustration can be found here: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/water_discovered_in/wateryasteroidscience.jpg

For which the caption is "Artist's impression of a rocky and water-rich asteroid being torn apart by the strong gravity of the white dwarf star. Similar objects in the Solar System likely delivered the bulk of water on Earth and represent the building blocks of the terrestrial planets. Image copyright Mark A. Garlick, space-art.co.uk, University of Warwick".

The research was carried out at the UK William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands.

A copy of the paper can be found here after the embargo is up: http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/stv701

Professor Boris Gänsicke from the University of Warwick is available for interview on +44 (0)2476574741 or email Boris.Gaensicke@warwick.ac.uk

Or for further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Policy University of Warwick
Tel UK: 024 76523708 office 07767 655860 mobile Tel
Overseas: +44 (0)24 76523708 office +44 (0)7767 655860
Email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Fresh evidence for how water reached Earth found in asteroid debris

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Using a shopping list may aid food desert residents

2015-05-07
PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 7, 2015 -- For residents of areas with limited access to healthy foods, also known as food deserts, multiple barriers exist that amplify the health risks of living in those areas. Likewise, risks for poor diet and being overweight or obese are also increased. Researchers from the RAND Corporation, however, found that use of a list when shopping among low-income, predominantly African-American participants living in a food desert was associated with a better-quality diet and lower weight. Their results are published in the current issue of the Journal ...

Mobile tracking application may help users meet vitamin D requirements

2015-05-07
PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 7, 2015 - Vitamin D is essential for the maintenance of bone health and may be implicated in other chronic diseases, as well as immunity, but adults in Canada are consistently deficient in dietary vitamin D, by nearly 400 international units per day (IU/d) on average. Coupled with low vitamin D synthesis from the sun during fall and winter at Canadian latitudes, tracking intake of vitamin D is vital for those lacking the nutrient. In an article in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, a group from the University of Guelph examined the validity ...

How climate science denial affects the scientific community

2015-05-07
Climate change denial in public discourse may encourage climate scientists to over-emphasise scientific uncertainty and is also affecting how they themselves speak - and perhaps even think - about their own research, a new study from the University of Bristol, UK argues. Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, from Bristol's School of Experimental Psychology and the Cabot Institute, and colleagues from Harvard University and three institutions in Australia show how the language used by people who oppose the scientific consensus on climate change has seeped into scientists' discussion ...

Study reveals why almost half of patients opt out of comprehensive cancer testing

2015-05-07
Philadelphia - Some at-risk patients opted out of comprehensive cancer gene screening when presented with the opportunity to be tested for the presence of genes linked to various cancers, according to a recent study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Basser Center for BRCA in Penn's Abramson Cancer Center. Concern for uncertainty and potential distress were cited among the most common reasons to refuse testing. The results, published in Genetics in Medicine, were released just weeks ahead of an announcement of ...

A healthy lifestyle before bowel cancer diagnosis could help improve survival

2015-05-07
Following lifestyle guidelines about diet, physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight is associated with an improved likelihood of survival when diagnosed with bowel cancer. This is based on the findings of a large study of over 500,000 published in the open access journal BMC Medicine. Bowel cancer, also called colorectal cancer, is the second most common cancer in men and the third most common cancer in women worldwide, with 55% cases occurring in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe. Survival rates of bowel cancer have wide variations ...

Extreme excavation: Fire ant style

2015-05-07
Fans of The Lord of the Rings may disagree, but when it comes to exquisite excavation, the dwarves of Moria have nothing on the mighty fire ants of Georgia Tech. But Dan Goldman and Michael Goodisman aren't fascinated by the aesthetics of fire ant architecture alone. 'I have an interest in animals interacting with complex materials', explains Goldman, who has studied creatures such as sidewinder snakes and sandfish lizards moving through and across sand. With the ants on their doorstep, Goldman and Goodisman were intrigued to learn more about how the insects work together ...

Non-Euclidean geometries for grid cells

2015-05-07
"It took human culture millennia to arrive at a mathematical formulation of non-Euclidean spaces", comments SISSA neuroscientist Alessandro Treves, "but it's very likely that our brains could get there long before. In fact, it's likely that the brain of rodents gets there very naturally every day". Treves coordinated a study just published in the journal Interface. Euclidean geometry is the kind of geometry we normally study at school, whereas non-Euclidean geometries are all those that reject one or more of Euclid's five postulates. A geometry that unfolds on a curved ...

The Lancet: New developments in personalized medicine could save billions of dollars in improved health

2015-05-07
New developments in personalised and precision medicine (PPM) could offer enormous gains in healthy life expectancy for Americans, but the incentives to develop them are weak, according to Dr Victor Dzau, President of the US Institute of Medicine, and colleagues [1], writing in a Personal View in The Lancet. PPM tailors medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient, according to their susceptibility to a particular illness. But PPM goes beyond just targeting therapies at individuals who are ill; it includes the ability to identify those at highest ...

Perception of US care for the dying worsens

2015-05-07
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Surveys of loved ones who lost elderly relatives show that the perception of the quality of care for the dying in the United States has worsened over the last decade. For all the health care industry has done to try to make progress, huge gaps remain between how care is delivered and what patients and their loved ones want, reports a new study in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. "People are less satisfied with care at the close of life, and I think it's now urgent for us to start thinking about what interventions we can do to ...

Comprehensive stroke centers may improve bleeding stroke survival

2015-05-06
DALLAS, May 6, 2015 -- People with hemorrhagic strokes (brain bleeds) are more likely to survive if they are treated at a comprehensive stroke center, according to research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Hemorrhagic strokes, which account for about 13 percent of all strokes, are caused when a weakened blood vessel in the brain ruptures and bleeds in the surrounding brain. Comprehensive stroke centers typically have the specialists and trained personnel to deal with patients with these ruptures or other types of bleeding in the brain. They ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Sleep apnea linked to increased risk of Parkinson’s, but CPAP may reduce risk

New insights into drug addiction: The role of astrocytic G protein-coupled receptors

Digital twin technology: Transforming road engineering and its lifecycle applications

Next-generation AI and big data: Transforming crop breeding

Biomimetic synthesis of natural products: Progress, challenges and prospects

New limits found for dark matter properties from latest search

SCAI expresses disappointment over ABMS decision to deny independent cardiovascular medicine boar

Rice researchers develop efficient lithium extraction method, setting stage for sustainable EV battery supply chains

Statement on ABMS denying new cardiovascular board

St. Jude scientists solve mystery of how the drug retinoic acid works to treat neuroblastoma

New device could allow you to taste a cake in virtual reality

Illinois researchers develop next-generation organic nanozymes and point-of-use system for food and agricultural uses

Kicking yourself: Going against one’s better judgment amplifies self-blame

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis

Revolutionary copper-infused microvesicles: a new era in biofunctional medicine

Primary care practices with NPs are key to increasing health care access in less advantaged areas, Columbia Nursing study shows

TTUHSC conducting study to help patients that experience traumatic blood loss

Next top model: Competition-based AI study aims to lower data center costs

Innovative startup awarded $10,000 to tackle cardiovascular disparities

Study compares indoor transmission-risk metrics for infectious diseases

Micro-expression detection in ASD movies: a YOLOv8-SMART approach

Machine learning on blockchain: A new approach to engineering computational security

Vacuum glazing: A promising solution for low-carbon buildings

Racial and ethnic differences in out-of-pocket spending for maternity care

Study reveals racial and ethnic disparities in maternity care spending

Changes in food insecurity among US adults with low income during the COVID-19 pandemic

After NIH decision to cap indirect costs, prominent molecular biologist calls for swift action, petition signatures

Omitting race from lung function equations increases detection of asthma in Black children

The role of solute carrier family transporters in hepatic steatosis and hepatic fibrosis

Cold sore discovery IDs unknown trigger for those annoying flare-ups

[Press-News.org] Fresh evidence for how water reached Earth found in asteroid debris