Could a nuclear reactor help solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance?

A team of researchers at Penn State are subjecting an old, worn sheet of aluminum to a particle beam from the heart of a nuclear reactor in the hopes of cracking the mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance. Source: https://www.livescience.com/amelia-earhart-nuclear-reactor-puzzle.html

Anniversary of mysterious parade of meteors

On February 9, 1913, lucky observers witnessed the Great Meteor Procession, when bright meteors soared horizontally across the sky in a stately marching rank for minutes at a time. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-great-meteor-procession-of-february-9-1913…

Clovis made stone tools for only around 300 years

The Clovis, some of North America’s earliest inhabitants, only made stone tools during a brief 300-year period from 13,050 to 12,750 years ago, new research shows. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/clovis-stone-tools-300-years…

Spies in Silicon Valley: Twitter Breach Tied To Saudi Dissident Arrests

An internal breach at Twitter a half decade ago yielded data that was later used by Saudi Arabia to harass or arrest people critical of the government, according to lawsuits, human rights groups and the relative of a person apprehended in 2018. From a report: In 2015, two Twitter employees allegedly accessed more than 6,000 accounts while acting as spies for…

Can other gases help explain Mars methane mystery?

The European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter has unexpectedly detected carbon dioxide and ozone in Mars’ atmosphere where the elusive methane should be, researchers in the UK and Russia have announced. The two gases may be hindering the probe’s methane detections. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-methane-mystery-tgo-carbon-dioxide-ozone…

A cosmic mystery: Very Large Telescope captures the disappearance of a massive star

Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have discovered the absence of an unstable massive star in a dwarf galaxy. Scientists think this could indicate that the star became less bright and partially obscured by dust. An alternative explanation is that the star collapsed into a black hole without producing a supernova. “If true,” says team leader and…

Insects have declined worldwide since 1925

A new study has offered the clearest indication yet of how insects all over the world are faring. The researchers studied data on the numbers and total weight of insects and arachnids (spiders and mites) sampled in 41 countries on five continents. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/insects-declined-worldwide-since-1925…

Why did Ecuador’s tallest waterfall stop flowing?

With water dropping 150 meters (490 feet) through a thick patch of cloud forest, San Rafael Waterfall was one of Ecuador’s most captivating landscapes and attracted tens of thousands of visitors per year. But on February 2, the water stopped flowing. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/disappearance-ecuador-san-rafael-waterfall…