Scientists examined rock cores taken from the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, site of the asteroid impact that triggered dinosaur extinction, and found iridium, a telltale sign of asteroids. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/asteroid-dust-iridium-chicxulub-crater-dinosaur-extinction…
Tag: FEET
Aptera Promises The World’s First Mass-Produced Solar Car This Year
California-based Aptera Motors “is rolling out the first mass-produced solar car this year,” reports the Washington Post, after successfully crowdfunding a restart of their development effort: It’s a three-wheel, ultra-aerodynamic electric vehicle covered in 34 square feet of solar cells. The car is so efficient that, on a clear day, those cells alone could provide enough energy to drive about 40…
Did you find the message hidden in Perseverance’s parachute?
The striped pattern on the parachute used by the Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a hidden message. Internet sleuths were able to figure it out within a few hours. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/perseverance-secret-message-dare-mighty-things…
FBI Confirms Report of ‘Long, Cylindrical’ UFO ‘Moving Really Fast’ Over New Mex
An anonymous reader shares a PopularMechanics report: An American Airlines flight crew encountered an unidentified flying object over New Mexico on February 21. American Airlines has confirmed the strange incident, during which a “long, cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile” zipped over the Airbus A320, according to a pilot’s transmission obtained by The War Zone. American Airlines Flight…
Why does this galaxy look older than its years?
To the extent that we can see them, galaxies in the very early universe should look relatively young and unformed. But galaxy ALESS 073.1 is a surprise to astronomers: it looks more mature than we’d have any reason to expect. Why? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/galaxy-looks-older-than-its-years-aless-073-1…
How Canadians Derailed a Train in 1998 and Drove It to City Hall for Power After a Brutal Ice Storm
James Gilboy, writing at The Drive: Over the week spanning Jan. 4-10, 1998, a trio of massive ice storms wracked the northeastern United States and parts of Canada. Knocking over transmission towers, the storms deprived up to 1.35 million people of electricity, in some cases for weeks (sound familiar?). Rather than leave town, though, one Canadian mayor stepped up to bring…
Avalanche Warnings Are Issued in Northwest
Two avalanche warnings have been issued for parts of Washington and Oregon as heavier-than-usual rainfall and snowfall is expected to hit part of the West Coast through Monday. From a report: One of the warnings, a Level 4 on a scale of 5, said there was a high avalanche danger for parts of North Cascades National Park by the Canadian border,…
James Webb Space Telescope – Hubble’s successor – to launch in October
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s most complex infrared telescope, built for a wide range of research projects. NASA is now targeting October 31 for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/james-webb-telescope-hubble-successor-to-launch…
Meet Elizabeth Ann, the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret
Her birth represents the first cloning of an endangered species native to North America, and may bring needed genetic diversity to the species. From a report: Last year, Ben Novak drove across the country to spend New Year’s Eve with a black-footed ferret. Elizabeth Ann had just turned 21 days old — surely a milestone for any ferret but a particularly…
How To Fall 35,000 Feet and Survive
Massachusetts-based amateur historian Jim Hamilton, who developed the Free Fall Research Page — an online database of nearly every imaginable human plummet, documents one case of a sky diver who, upon total parachute failure, was saved by bouncing off high-tension wires. Contrary to popular belief, water is an awful choice. Like concrete, liquid doesn’t compress. Hitting the ocean is essentially the…