Top 10 things to know about asteroid Bennu

Take a video tour of asteroid Bennu’s remarkable terrain and read a list of 10 cool things scientists know about this pristine remnant from the early days of our solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-10-things-to-know-about-asteroid-bennu-video-tour…

Is QAnon an 8Chan Game Gone Wrong?

This week London’s prestigious Financial Times published a 15-minute video investigating the question: “Is QAnon a game gone wrong?” In 2017, the Q team, whoever they may be, made use of the modern equivalent of the Playboy’s letters page. It’s a message board called 4Chan… A YouTuber called defango has since claimed the work was his. He says he created Q…

The puzzle of the strange galaxy made of 99.9% dark matter is solved

At present, the formation of galaxies is difficult to understand without the presence of a ubiquitous, but mysterious component, termed dark matter. Astronomers have measure how much dark matter there is around galaxies, and have found that it varies between 10 and 300 times the quantity of visible matter. However, a few years ago, the discovery of a very diffuse object,…

UK Ad Authority Bans Misleading Homescapes and Gardenscapes Ads

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Two misleading ads for mobile games that bear little relation to the actual product have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ads, for the Homescapes and Gardenscapes games, both come from developer Playrix. They showed a game where users pull pins in a specific order to solve a puzzle…

Searching for habitable exoplanets? Look for phosphorus

Scientists develop a new way to search for potentially habitable exoplanets by measuring the amount of phosphorus in their stars. Such planets should also have abundant phosphorus – necessary for life on Earth – increasing the chances for life. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/phosphorus-in-stars-and-biomarker-habitable-exoplanets…

Mysterious dimming of Betelgeuse explained?

Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope revealed a large amount of dense hot gas moving outwards through Betelgeuse’s extended atmosphere. This gas might have cooled and formed a dust cloud that partially blocked the star’s light as seen from Earth, earlier this year. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/betelgeuses-early-2020-dimming-explained…

How To Sell Books in 2020: Put Them Near the Toilet Paper

If you want to sell books during a pandemic, it turns out that one of the best places to do it is within easy reach of eggs, milk and diapers. From a report: When the coronavirus forced the United States into lockdown this spring, stores like Walmart and Target, which were labeled essential, remained open. So when anxious consumers were stocking…

LIGO and Virgo find a mystery object in the “mass gap”

The science world is buzzing today about a new discovery made via the LIGO-Virgo collaboration. It’s a new object found in the so-called “mass gap” between neutron stars and black holes. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/gw190814-mystery-object-in-mass-gap…

Saturn’s large moon Titan is drifting away 100 times faster than anyone knew

Saturn’s largest moon Titan is drifting away from the planet 100 times faster than previously thought, according to a new study from researchers in the U.S., France and Italy. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/saturn-moon-titan-drifting-away-100-faster…