A gargantuan space rock over 2.5 times the size of the Empire State Building is set to whiz past planet Earth on Jan. 18, 2022—not unlike the one that, some theorize, put an end to the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. But fear not! Despite the object’s official NASA designation as “potentially hazardous,” the…
‘Potentially Hazardous’ Asteroid Bigger Than Empire State Building to Whiz by Earth on Jan 18—Here’s What You Need to Know:
Goodbye Pandemic, Hello Endemic
Commentary In early 1918, when World War I entered its final year, the H1N1 influenza A virus infected millions of people, causing the Spanish flu pandemic. By April 1920, after four waves and almost 100 million deaths, the pandemic ended. H1N1 became much less deadly and caused only ordinary seasonal flu. It had become an…
Fossil Hunters Unearth Enormous Jaws and Teeth of 180-Million-Year-Old Predatory Sea Reptile: The Ichthyosaur
While scouring the glacial till that comprises England’s eastern coastal cliffs, a pair of Yorkshire fossil hunters made a colossal discovery some 180 million years in the making. Late last summer, Mark Kemp, 34, a self-taught, professional fossil finder and preparator, and a friend who shares the pastime were exploring the rugged cliffline of Holderness, northwest…
Virgin Orbit Successfully Launches 7 Satellites Into Orbit
LOS ANGELES—A Virgin Orbit rocket released from a jet flying off the California coast carried seven small satellites into space on Thursday as the company kicked off a year in which it plans to ramp up the pace of launches, including two originating from Britain. Virgin Orbit’s modified Boeing 747 took off from Mojave Air…
Study Nixes Mars Life in Meteorite Found in Antarctica
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A 4 billion-year-old meteorite from Mars that caused a splash here on Earth decades ago contains no evidence of ancient, primitive Martian life after all, scientists reported Thursday. In 1996, a NASA-led team announced that organic compounds in the rock appeared to have been left by living creatures. Other scientists were skeptical and…
Anemia in Astronauts Could Be a Challenge for Space Missions
The next “giant leap” for humans may be a trip to Mars, but having enough oxygen-carrying red blood cells for the journey might present a challenge, new research suggests. Even space tourists lining up for short trips might have to stay home if they are at risk for anemia, or red blood cell deficiency, researchers…
NASA Begins Process of Bringing New Space Telescope Into Focus
NASA on Wednesday embarked on a months-long, painstaking process of bringing its newly launched James Webb Space Telescope into focus, a task due for completion in time for the revolutionary eye in the sky to begin peering into the cosmos by early summer. Mission control engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland,…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Launch 3 South African-Made Nanosatellites: Why This Is Historically Important
Elon Musk is giving a major hat-tip to his birthplace by launching the first nanosatellite constellation made entirely in South Africa on today’s SpaceX Transporter-3 mission. What Happened According to a report from South Africa’s News24, the three nanosatellites are part of the first Maritime Domain Awareness Satellite constellation (MDASat-1) and will be deployed in…
Second Alien Moon Identified Is Much Like the First: Big and Strange
WASHINGTON—For only the second time, astronomers have detected what appears to be a moon orbiting a planet in another solar system. Just like the first time, this one has traits suggesting that such moons may differ greatly from those populating our solar system. Data obtained by NASA’s Kepler space telescope before it was retired in…
EPA Disapproves Wyoming Coal Plant Plan Despite Signaling Support Under Trump
After more than a year of inaction, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Jan. 12 that it proposes to disapprove the State of Wyoming’s changes to its regional haze plan for PacifiCorp’s Jim Bridger coal power plant, potentially closing down Unit 2 of the facility for a year or more. Yet in an exclusive interview…
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