How do you test a theory about how to decipher a priceless archaeological artifact? According to a team of researchers, children are paid to make false versions. A team of scientists has proposed a new approach to reading the famous Herculaneum scrolls: 2,000-year-old texts that are impossible to unroll because Mount Vesuvius burned them to … Read more
The galaxies hosting the James Webb Space Telescope’s mysterious ‘little red dots’ may have revealed their secrets. Japanese Space Supercomputer Simulations May Explain Webb’s Small Red Dots Phys.org Massive Black Holes May Have Started As Small Red Dots The New York Times Supermassive Black Holes and Small Red Dots Form Naturally in Simulations Nature Black … Read more
You may be familiar with apex predators, but what about apex scavengers? These large animals play an equally important role in ecosystems as nature’s clean-up crew, feeding on carrion (animal remains) and preventing the spread of disease. Apex scavengers can help structure scavenger communities and often dominate trophic levels (the position in which an organism … Read more
Sky watchers will be in for a treat with a bright peak from Venus on September 18. Here you will find everything you need to know. – Photo courtesy of Zelch Csaba of PexelsSkywatchers, take note: the brightest thing you’ll see this week may not be the moon. Rather, a bright Venus will light up … Read more
Here’s the bottom line first, because it’s the part that doesn’t yet seem possible: No one photographs the disappearance of water from an aquifer in California or the thinning of the ice under Greenland. Nobody can. Instead, two satellites called GRACE-FO observe each other, pick up a laser bouncing between them, and notice when one … Read more
The road to launch was long and arduous, but NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope finally reached space in late August. While Roman is still en route to his final destination, on Thursday he reached an important milestone: the first light of day. In a blog post, NASA reported that Roman’s technical team successfully activated the … Read more
A newly discovered crater on the Moon is giving scientists a rare glimpse into the immediate aftermath of a lunar impact. Called McGetchin Crater, the feature formed sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, when an asteroid or comet fragment collided with the Moon. McGetchin, measuring about 728 feet (222 meters) wide and about … Read more
In a fjord in West Greenland there is a glacier that flows so fast that it generates about 41 billion metric tons of icebergs each year. Day after day, building-sized blocks of blue-white ice break off from the ocean and float like a fleet of frozen ships through the calm waters of the fjord. Each … Read more
Over the past decade, the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR has become a familiar scientific tool, used to create life-saving cures, make crops more productive, and even engineer allergy-free dogs. But scientists didn’t invent CRISPR from scratch. They discovered it in bacteria and other microbes, which use it as a defense against invading viruses. On … Read more
Star Trek Actors Welcome Space Shuttle Enterprise 50 Years Ago Today Photo of the Day September 17, 2026 SpaceIntrepid Museum to Commemorate 50th Anniversary of Space Shuttle Enterprise with Panel Discussion Vintage Aviation NewsNASA Unveils Enterprise, the First Space Shuttle NASA (.gov)NASA Shuttle Enterprise Continues to Fly with Star Trek 50 Years After Launch compilesSPACE.comTHIS … Read more