Mysterious space object has dual personality A space object called 2005 QN173 is both a comet and an asteroid, according to a study set for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The object is icy, leaves a dust trail like a comet and has an orbit of an asteroid, circling the sun on the outer […]
Deep canyons on Mars created by ancient floods Deep canyons and valleys on Mars were likely carved by flooding caused by overflowing lakes billions of years ago. “Our results show that many Martian valleys are in fact more analogous to catastrophic floods on Earth, such as those that shaped the northwest United States at the […]
Humans walked the Americas earlier than once thought Archaeologists have uncovered footprints in New Mexico that date back as much as 23,000 years, suggesting humans traversed the Americas much earlier than previously believed. The 61 footprints, described in the journal Science, were found near a dry lake bed and hint that humans were trying to […]
Organic molecules found in planet-forming disk material Planet-forming disk material orbiting some young stars has been found to contain a large amount of organic molecules, “some which are implicated in the origins of life here on Earth,” said Karin Oberg, an author of one of 20 papers on the discovery scheduled for publication in The […]
Smoke from wildfires may block clouds’ rainmaking ability Water droplets are more abundant in clouds affected by wildfire smoke but, surprisingly, those clouds are less likely to produce rain and may contribute to drought conditions in the Western US. Scientists say the droplets inside the affected cumulus clouds are much smaller and less likely to […]
Early Homo groups once trekked to a well-watered Arabia The Arabian Peninsula was once a green oasis that attracted ancient Homo groups as early as 400,000 years ago during wet periods. Researchers have found evidence of animals migrating to the area’s lakes, rivers and wetlands as well as stone tools. Science News Amputees feel sensations […]
Galaxy photos from Hubble feature merger, 3-armed spiral NASA has released the latest images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope since mission scientists repaired a major computer glitch that hobbled the spacecraft on June 13. The images, which haven’t been colourized, show the merger of a pair of galaxies and an unusual spiral galaxy with […]
Coral cells are seen merging with algae Researchers have observed the merging of coral cells enveloping algae at the start of their symbiotic relationship for the first time. “We were able to directly observe the interactions and symbiosis with video and confirmed what we saw by preserving the cells in plastic resin and taking semi-thin […]
Ancient star yields new idea about origin of heavy elements A magnetorotational hypernova explosion, rather than a neutron star merger, probably created SMSS J2003-1142, an ancient star in the halo of the Milky Way, according to David Yong and Gary Da Costa, who published their team’s findings in Nature. “[N]eutron star mergers, together with magnetorotational […]
Deep Space Atomic Clock aces test Researchers say the Deep Space Atomic Clock has outpaced other kinds of space clocks, heralding what it could do for the future of navigation in space. The atomic clock, which has been orbiting Earth in a satellite for about two years in its first test run, uses ions to […]