You can imagine what thoughts go through an astronaut’s mind when he or she looks at our planet from space. But I think that ‘that’s still far away’ might be a good option. But for 62-year-old former NASA space cadet Ron Garan, there was only one thing on his mind… the “sobering realization” that we … Read more
One of the most sought-after objects in the universe has just been discovered in our Milky Way galaxy. At the center of a densely packed globular cluster called Omega Centauri, about 17,000 light-years away, astronomers have found evidence for the existence of an intermediate-mass black hole. The mass of this black hole is at least … Read more
NASA scientists are warning of a hidden, dark side to the dazzling Northern Lights. The visual phenomenon, also known as Aurora Borealis, can cause long-term damage to critical infrastructure at ground level. The risk of damage to nuclear infrastructure is greater during severe geomagnetic stormsSource: Alamy According to the new research report, the aurora borealis … Read more
When we think of unexpected events, asteroid impacts are usually pretty low on the list. After all, it is highly unlikely that a large asteroid will hit Earth in the near future. Given the potential catastrophic damage such an event could cause, NASA experts have made preparing for this distant possibility a priority. Every two … Read more
Thescelosaurines were a group of small to medium-sized, herbivorous dinosaurs that inhabited North America during the Late Cretaceous. The recently discovered thescelosaurine species Fona Herzogae shows that these dinosaurs spent at least part of their time in underground burrows. Fona HerzogaePhoto: Jorge Gonzalez. Fona Herzogae lived about 99 million years ago (Cretaceous Period) in the … Read more
3D printed skull of Fona herzogae. Credit: Lindsay Zanno The age of the dinosaurs was not only explored above ground. A recently discovered ancestor of Thescelosaurus shows that these animals spent at least part of their time in underground burrows. The new species contributes to a more complete understanding of life during the mid-Cretaceous, both … Read more
Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen hydrothermal vent system located in an unlikely place on the Arctic ocean floor. The deep-sea vents, which pump out scorching water and mysterious metals, are in an area that researchers thought was geologically dead. The newly discovered vents, named after various entities from Norse mythology, lie at a depth of … Read more
While none of the interplanetary missions have found traces of life on Mars, both the Viking and China’s Zhurong rovers have discovered astonishing features of the Red Planet that could provide insight into its history and evolution. When Zhurong, China’s first-ever Mars landing mission, orbited the Red Planet for a year, it saw something surreal … Read more
It looks like a distant ring with three glittering jewels, but the latest image from the Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is actually the view of a distant quasar surrounded by a nearby elliptical galaxy. The telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) spotted the faint apparition during a study of dark matter and its distribution in the universe. … Read more
Amaris McCarver, an intern at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Remote Sensing Division, and a team of astronomers have discovered a rapidly spinning neutron star that is beaming radiation across the universe like a cosmic lighthouse. The rapidly spinning neutron star, or “pulsar,” is located in the dense star cluster Glimpse-CO1, which lies in … Read more