A piece of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slammed into the Moon on August 5 after drifting through space for more than 18 months. The high-speed collision kicked up a plume of debris and gouged out a fresh crater roughly 18 metres wide and less than three metres deep.Space debris includes defunct satellites, spent rocket … Read more
Sign up to see the future today Unmissable innovations from the cutting edge of science and technology Drilling thousands of kilometers into the Earth to study our planet’s inner layers – its thin crust, rigid mantle, liquid outer core, and solid inner core – is simply not feasible given technological limitations. Instead, geologists often use … Read more
Ganímedes puede contener más agua líquida que todos los océanos de la superficie de la Tierra juntos. La escala es difícil de conciliar con el aspecto seco y maltratado de la Luna. No hay mares abiertos, ni fracturas oscuras que derramen vapor de agua ni ninguna columna confirmada que lleve una muestra al espacio. El … Read more
Venus carries what look, at first glance, like river systems across its volcanic plains. They meander, divide around islands and sometimes preserve abandoned bends. One of them, Baltis Vallis, runs for roughly 6,800 kilometres, making it the longest known channel in the Solar System. Water cannot explain these landforms under present conditions. Venus’s surface is … Read more
Upon arriving in Hanksville, Utah, one of the first things that will immediately strike you is how far away it is. For starters, regardless of where you arrive, it will undoubtedly have taken you hours to get there. The closest international airport is in Salt Lake City, about 220 miles to the north, and even … Read more
American Bradley fighting vehicles were visible on the horizon as they raced towards the city. Smoke, deployed to conceal movement, curled around the outskirts. The assault forces, preparing to assault the enemy fortress, gathered at the northern end, avoiding barbed wire, cars and concrete blocks: enemy obstacles intended to slow the assault. The urban assault, … Read more
Deep in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA, in a former gold mine, a tank of liquid xenon has been used to produce an unusual particle reaction that may be a link to “dark matter”. Scientists conducting an experiment there say they have found a single “unexplained particle interaction” that resembles a dark matter … Read more
Astronomers have used the MeerKAT radio telescope to detect hydrogen gas billions of light years away from us, from a period when the cosmos was billions of years younger than its current age of 13.8 billion years. The research may provide astronomers with a new way to map the large-scale structure of the universe. The … Read more
Miracinonyx trumani, an extinct big cat commonly known as the American cheetah, lived in North America during the Pleistocene. Its nickname comes from its resemblance to modern cheetahs, including physical traits suitable for high-speed pursuit. But scientists’ understanding of this ancient predator has changed in recent years and now researchers have discovered surprising new details … Read more
Scientists are closer than ever to understanding how stars forge the elements that make up our planet, our bodies, and virtually everything around us, and they’re getting a clearer picture of where stellar explosions fit into the story. New research published in two different papers looks at how stars forge elements as they explode, and … Read more