#11 Martian Helicopter, Giant Viruses and Extraterrestrial life
Discover 3 recent science news in our #PeerusWhatsNew, now on Medium.
1 The progress made in miniaturization allows to consider missions with new characteristics for Mars in size, mass and cost. This is the case of a Martian helicopter project that can fly in tandem with a rover.
This helicopter could model its environment more efficiently and facilitate its movements. For the moment, it is a simple reconnaissance scout useful for tracing the roads of the rover and recognizing the ground for the mission of return of Martian samples, planned over ten years.
2 Two new giant viruses, called Tupanviruses, have been discovered in Brazil. Exceeding Pandoravirus, the holder of the previous record, they possess almost all the genetic material necessary to produce their own proteins.
French and Brazilian researchers describe the discovery of two new giant viruses. They are the largest ever described: visible with an optical microscope. They measure about a micron long, or even more than two micrometers. These viruses are therefore larger than bacteria. By comparison, the flu virus is 10 to 20 times smaller.
3 Enceladus, the icy little moon of Saturn, appears as a “hot spot” in the search for extraterrestrial life. This world seems to harbor an ocean of liquid water and the probe has detected methane. Researchers have discovered microorganisms that can grow.
Located in the suburbs of Saturn, ten times farther from the Sun than the Earth, Enceladus is a small ice ball that has attracted a lot of attention since the Cassini probe discovered, in 2005, the existence of its geysers. This moon of only 500 kilometers in diameter is one of the few potentially habitable worlds known in our Solar System.
During its 22 overflights, the probe detected particles that could betray the existence of hydrothermal sources.
