Press Releases - May 2007
Archive
31 May 2007 - ESO
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Using ESO's VLTI on Cerro Paranal and the VLBA facility operated by NRAO, an international team of astronomers has made what is arguably the most detailed study of the environment of a pulsating red giant star. They performed, for the first time, a series of coordinated observations of three separate layers within the star's tenuous outer envelope: the molecular shell, the dust shell, and the maser shell, leading to significant progress in our understanding of the mechanism of how, before dying, evolved stars lose mass and return it to the interstellar medium.
31 May 2007 - ESA
Celebrating Space with ESA in Paris
The French capital has been chosen to host a celebration of space, "Paris fête l'Espace", to be held on the place du Trocadéro on 15 June starting at 9.30pm.
30 May 2007 - ESA
From the Earth to . the Earth, with ESA, at 'Le Bourget 2007'
The 47th international Paris Air Show will open its doors on Monday 18 June, until Sunday 24 June, and promises to be an outstanding event, with almost 2000 exhibitors present, and over 200 000 visitors expected. This year, a highly significant one for the space sector throughout the world, the European Space Agency is returning to le Bourget to take visitors to its pavilion on a special journey from the Earth to . the Earth!
23 May 2007 - ESO
A Brown Dwarf Joins the Jet-Set
Jets of matter have been discovered around a very low mass 'failed star', mimicking a process seen in young stars. This suggests that these 'brown dwarfs' form in a similar manner to normal stars but also that outflows are driven out by objects as massive as hundreds of millions of solar masses down to Jupiter-sized objects.
22 May 2007 - EMBL
The first public nucleotide sequence database turns 25
Today EMBL-Bank, the nucleotide sequence database of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), celebrates its 25th anniversary. It was the world's earliest public database of DNA and RNA sequences and remains Europe's primary nucleotide sequence resource. The database is maintained by EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute in Hinxton (UK) in collaboration with its US and Japanese counterparts GenBank and the DNA Databank of Japan.
22 May 2007 - ESA
Europe's Space Policy becomes a reality today
A stronger Europe in space, better equipped and better coordinated to face the future needs of its citizens. A wider strategic scope to address new challenges, including in the areas of security and defence space programmes, and space as an added dimension to the EU's external relations: all this in a novel policy designed to fit European interests and values.
16 May 2007 - EMBL
Mechanism of microRNAs deciphered
Over 30% of our genes are under the control of small molecules called microRNAs. They prevent specific genes from being turned into protein and regulate many crucial processes like cell division and development, but how they do so has remained unclear. Now researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] have developed a new method that uncovered the mode of action of microRNAs in a test tube.
16 May 2007 - ESA
A giant leap for space activities in Europe: ministers to adopt European Space Policy in Brussels
Ministers in charge of space activities in the European Space Agency's Member States and those responsible for the internal market, industry and research in the European Union's Competitiveness Council are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 22 May to adopt the European Space Policy.
10 May 2007 - ESO
A Galactic Fossil
How old are the oldest stars? Using ESO's VLT, astronomers recently measured the age of a star located in our Galaxy. The star, a real fossil, is found to be 13.2 billion years old, not very far from the 13.7 billion years age of the Universe. The star, HE 1523-0901, was clearly born at the dawn of time.
4 May 2007 - EMBL
A matter of force
When a cell divides, normally the result is two identical daughter cells. In some cases however, cell division leads to two cells with different properties. This is called asymmetric cell division and plays an important role in embryonic development and the self-renewal of stem cells. Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have now worked out the mechanism underlying asymmetric cell division in nematode worms.