An Underground Martian Lake May Exist

On July 25th 2018, a team of researchers from Italy announced in the Journal Science, that they have found what they believe to an underground reservoir of water on Mars. Using the European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter, which is orbit around Mars, the researchers say that the possible underground lake is near Mars' south pole, in the Planum Australe region. The Mars Express's radar revealed that the underground lake is about 12 miles wide and at least one mile deep.

While water has been detected on Mars before, this marks the first time that a sizable body of it has been detected. Water is essential for life, but the researchers are confident that this new find does not present such a possibility. One reason is because the lake is in the polar region, and the water temperature is believed to be minus 92 to minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, which is far below the freezing point of water. Another is that the water stays in liquid form due to a very high salt content. 

New Moons Of Jupiter

On July 16th 2018, a team of astronomers at Carnegie Institute for Science, announced that they have discovered twelve more moons orbiting the planet Jupiter. The discovery of the new moons brings Jupiter's total of moons to a whopping 79. Dr. Scott S. Shepard who led the team said that the new moons were first discovered in the spring of 2017. At that time the search was on for the much theorized planet nine, believed to exist somewhere in the Kuiper belt.

Nine of the newly discovered moons orbit Jupiter in an outer group that move in retrograde motion, which is in the opposite direction in which the planet rotates.These moons are believed to what remains of some larger objects that broke up over time. Two of the new moons are located in an inner group that orbit in prograde motion, or with Jupiter's rotation. They too are believed to be pieces of larger objects, or possible moons that use to orbit the planet.

The twelfth moon is considered an, "odd ball," because it orbits out where the retrograde moons orbit, but in prograde motion. This means that it will at time cross the orbit of the other new moons. Dr Shepard said, "This is an unstable situation." He also said, "Head on collisions would quickly break apart and grind the objects down to dust." The team has decided to name this moon, Valetudo after the Roman god Jupiter's granddaughter, goddess of health and hygiene.

Parker Solar Probe Is Ready To Face The Sun

On July 6th 2018, NASA announced that its Parker Solar Probe has just been fitted with a new heat shield in preparation for its rendezvous with the sun. The Parker Solar Probe's mission is to study the sun's outer layer, or corona. To do so, the space craft will fly within 4 million miles of the sun's surface, making it the first man made object to fly that close. The Parker Solar Probe's mission will last a total of seven years.

Over the course of the Parker Solar Probe's mission, the space craft will make seven gravity assisted flybys of Venus in order to get it into its closest approach of the sun. The space craft will make a total of 24 orbits. While in orbit, the Parker Solar Probe will examine the sun's plasma and magnetic fields, trace the flow of energy that heats the corona, and explore the mechanisms that transport energetic particles.

While in the sun's orbit, the Parker Solar Probe will experience temperatures approaching 1,400 degrees Celsius. For this reason a heat shield that can handle the extreme exposure is needed. The space craft's heat shield consists of two layers that weigh 160 lbs. These layers are made of carbon composite with a layer of 4.5 inch thick carbon foam tucked in between them. The side of the heat shield facing the sun has a special white coating that will reflect the sun's energy.

The expected launch date for the Parker Solar probe is August 4th, 2018.

Temperature Sensors Are Coming To Your Smartphone

On July 3rd 2018, a team of researchers announced in the Journal Nature, that they have created a new addition to the smartphone fingerprint scanner. They are calling it a, "transparent and flexible sensor array with multiplexed detection of tactile pressure and skin temperature." The new technology comes from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology's Samsung Display - UNIST Center , in south Korea.

The new sensors are transparent, so they can easily be be place underneath a smartphone's screen. Unlike other finger print scanners, this new technology is capable of detecting the skin temperature of a user. This added feature allows the device to determine if the user is an actual human or some one using some type of tool that uses artificial finger prints to gain access. This will give mobile device users another layer of security.