From Reuters:

Shrimp-like krill can thrive in icy waters 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) deep off Antarctica as well as near the surface, according to a study on Monday that shows krill stocks can survive far deeper than previously thought.

The British researchers said, however, that the discovery of krill in the depths does not mean that stocks of the crustaceans sometimes called “pink gold” are far bigger than previously expected nor that trawlers can expect bigger quotas.

“Scientists have found Antarctic krill living and feeding down to depths of 3,000 meters in waters around the Antarctic peninsula,” the British Antarctic Survey said of a study by a robot submarine to the sea floor.

Exobiologists are ecstatic about this because it increases the likelihood of finding similar creatures under the ice of Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus. And Enceladus for certain we know (well, almost) there’s a large warm lake under it’s ice because it spouts geysers.

Antarctic krill found in waters 3,000 meters deep

Krill living in water 9,800 feet below Antarctica offer hope for life on other planets.

Hat tip to Mac at Post Human Blues.

From Centauri Dreams:

We’ve detected almost three hundred exoplanets, some of them (via microlensing) thousands of light years from home. Why haven’t we been able to track down planets around these closest of all stars? The answer lies in the limitations of our radial velocity methods, but as Laughlin and team show, the right kind of survey may be able to surmount them.

But first, what work has been done on Centauri planets? In fact, we have excellent observations of these stars dating back over 150 years because of their proximity and sky-dominating visibility, with radial velocity data for both Centauri A and B tabulated since 1904. A 1999 study was able to determine, for example, that the stars are not orbited by any planet with a mass above ten Jupiter masses. Two years later, a new analysis placed tighter limits on Centauri planets: No planets larger than 2.5 Jupiter masses for Centauri A and 3.5 Jupiter masses for Centauri B could exist.

You want a good science class in astronomy and astrophysics? Visit this site. Paul Gilster and other members of the Tau Zero Society bring interstellar possibilities down to Earth. Well, kind of. You do have to have an idea of what astronomy is, and most of the commenters appear to be very well versed in the subject(s). It’s definitely brain-food.

Detecting Centauri Planets

From Space Daily:

Several weeks after launch from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, Jules Verne will reach the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting about 400 km above our heads, and rendezvous and dock with the Russian segment of the ISS. Jules Verne and the Russian Service Module will then form an integrated European/Russian complex that will have to function as one vehicle for up to 6 months.

The ATV and the Russian Service Module will not only support together critical functions such as refuelling in orbit and re-boosting the ISS, but they will also share numerous interfacing systems like power, data handling, thermal and life support systems.

The ATV is a joint EU/Russia project that uses advanced auto-pilot tech perfected by the Russians with their Progress and un-manned Soyuz capsules that restock the International Space Station. It is also human rated, so it can bring up and take home ISS crews after the shuttle is retired. Which might be for a while because the Orion capsule which was scheduled for take-off got pushed back from 2012 to 2015, possibly longer if the American economy goes down as hard as people say it is.

Joint ESA and Russian Team In Moscow Ready To Support Jules Verne

And from UFO Digest:

The old man took me and my mom around the book store showing us books that would help me in my studies.

I wrote a check for about $200 for the books I bought. My mom wrote a check for the books she bought. He rang them up on the till.

I was overjoyed with what I had learned. As soon as I was off work the next day my mom and I went back to the book store. I was very excited about talking to him again. Excited is putting it mildly. We looked all around for the old man. He was not there.

When my mom and I could not find him we went over to the owner and I asked her when the old man would be working again. She looked at me and asked ‘ what old man?’

This story sounds similar to another I read years ago titled “The Science-Fiction of Our Youth”. The protagonist kept branching off into parallel realities each time he died, though he didn’t realise it until the end when he discovered he kept branching off into universes where “he was least likely to exist”.

Confused? I still am!

The Old Man Who Was Not There