Press Releases - January 2006
| Current Press Releases |
25 January 2006 - ESO
It's Far, It's Small, It's Cool: It's an Icy Exoplanet!
Astronomers discovered a new extrasolar planet significantly more Earth-like than any other planet found so far. The planet, which is only about 5 times as massive as the Earth, circles its parent star in about 10 years. The planet most certainly has a rocky/icy surface. Its discovery marks a groundbreaking result in the search for planets that support life.
22 January 2006 - EMBL
The closest look ever at the cell's machines
Today researchers in Germany announce they have finished the first complete analysis of the "molecular machines" in one of biology's most important model organisms: S. cerevisiae (baker's yeast).
20 January 2006 - ESO
ETICS to improve Grid quality
The kick-off meeting for a new project called ETICS (eInfrastructure for Testing, Integration and Configuration of Software) is being held at CERN1 today. The goal of this project, which is coordinated by CERN and funded partially by the European Commission, is to improve the quality of Grid and distributed software by offering a practical quality assurance process to software projects, based on a build and test service. This is a first of its kind in Grid computing.
13 January 2006 - ESA
Contract for in-orbit validation of Galileo system
After the successful launch of the GIOVE-A satellite on 28 December 2005 and the acquisition of the first "Galileo" signal on 12 January 2006, Galileo is now well on its way with the signing of the contract for the development and in-orbit validation of the constellation's first four satellites.
12 January 2006 - ESA
First Galileo signals transmitted by GIOVE-A
The GIOVE-A satellite is in good health and started transmitting the first Galileo signals from medium earth orbit on 12 January.
11 January 2006 - EMBL
The giant protein titin helps build muscles
Imagine grabbing two snakes by the tail so that they can't wriggle off in opposite directions. Scientists at the Hamburg Outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] and collaborators from King's College in London have now discovered that something similar happens to a protein that is crucial in the formation of muscle tissue.
9 January 2006 - ESRF / EMBL / ILL
A European Centre for Structural Biology inaugurated in Grenoble
On 13 January the new Carl-Ivar Brändén Building (CIBB) was inaugurated on the Polygone Scientifique Campus in Grenoble, France. The CIBB is operated as a collaboration between major international and national partners based in Grenoble and is a further step in the development of the region as a European centre of excellence for structural biology.
4 January 2006 - ESO
Measuring the Size of a Small, Frost World
Observing a very rare occultation of a star by Pluto's satellite Charon from three different sites, including Paranal, home of the VLT, astronomers were able to determine with great accuracy the radius and density of the satellite to the farthest planet.