An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Before life began on Earth, the environment likely contained a massive number of chemicals that reacted with each other more or less randomly, and it is unclear how the complexity of cells could have emerged from such chemical chaos. Now, a team led by Tony Z. Jia at the Tokyo Institute of Technology…
Tag: meteorites
Perseid meteors 2019: All you need to know
The Perseid meteor shower has already begun its slow and steady rise to its peak. In 2019, the peak mornings – around August 11, 12 and 13 – will be troubled by moonlight. Plan to watch for Perseid meteors in early August this year, then be prepared for moonlight at the peak. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower…
What gives meteorites their shape? New research uncovers a ‘Goldilocks’ answer
Meteoroids coming from outer space are randomly shaped, but many of these, which land on earth as meteorites, are found to be carved into cones. Scientists have now figured out how the physics of flight in the atmosphere leads to this transformation. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-meteorites-uncovers-goldilocks.html…
Earth Is Littered with Mysterious Space-Cones, and Now We Know Why
A peculiar atmospheric process is sculpting meteorites into surprising shapes as they fall. Source: https://www.livescience.com/65995-space-cones.html
Diamond shines its light on moon rocks from Apollo missions, Martian meteorites and Vesta
Nearly 50 years after our first steps on the moon, samples from the Apollo missions, Mars and Vesta still have a lot to tell us about the formation of the planets and the Earth’s volcanoes, and Diamond Light Source is helping to shine a light on these insights. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-diamond-moon-apollo-missions-martian.html…
What Artemis will teach us about living, working on the moon
Humans have not had much of an opportunity to work on the moon. The 12 Apollo astronauts who got to explore its surface clocked in 80 hours in total of discovery time. From their brief encounters, and from extensive analyses of Apollo samples and lunar meteorites that were found on Earth, scientists have learned nearly as much as is possible to…
Modeling early meteorite impacts on the moon
As our solar system was forming nearly four and a half billion years ago, a planet-sized object struck the early Earth, leading to the formation of the moon, possibly from a hot, spinning cloud of rock vapor called a synestia. But after the Earth and moon had condensed from the vapor, there was another phase of growth as meteorites crashed into…
How shiny are near-Earth objects?
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are small solar system bodies whose orbits sometimes bring them close to the Earth. NEOs are consequently potential collision threats, but scientists are also interested in them because they offer keys to the composition, dynamics and environmental conditions of solar system and its evolution. Most meteorites for example, one of the key sources of knowledge about the early…
Cyanide-Laced Meteorites May Have Seeded Earth’s First Life
Researchers have found cyanide on primitive meteorites. Source: https://www.livescience.com/65821-cyanide-laced-meteorites-fueled-life-maybe.html
Cyanide compounds discovered in meteorites may hold clues to the origin of life
Cyanide and carbon monoxide are both deadly poisons to humans, but compounds containing iron, cyanide, and carbon monoxide discovered in carbon-rich meteorites by a team of scientists at Boise State University and NASA may have helped power life on early Earth. The extraterrestrial compounds found in meteorites resemble the active site of hydrogenases, which are enzymes that provide energy to bacteria…