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Mimas doesn’t show any hints of liquid water, and it seems impossible that it could have an ocean under its surface, but that’s exactly what a new set of simulations suggest Space 11 January 2022 By Leah Crane Mimas, a moon of Saturn, imaged by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Saturn’s moon Mimas may … Read more
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has some rocks stuck in its throat. Perseverance drilled and collected its sixth Red Planet rock sample late last month, but the car-sized rover hasn’t been able to seal up the titanium tube containing the material yet. “I recently captured my sixth rock core and have encountered a new challenge. Seems … Read more
By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu and Layal Liverpool Commuters wait on the platform at Auber RER train station in Paris, France Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 10 January More than 50 per cent of … Read more
Concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere continued to rise in 2021 in spite of climate pledges and the economic slowdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite data reveal. Methane concentrations in particular showed a worrying trend, rising to a new maximum of nearly 1,900 parts per billion (ppb), according to the European Earth … Read more
Every January nearly half of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. We resolve to eat better, exercise more, get organized, spend less money, and so on. Unfortunately, several studies suggest that most of these resolutions don’t stick. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you’ve made a resolution this year and would like help … Read more
This zoomed image of the “mystery hut” spotted by China’s Yutu 2 rover in Von Kármán crater on the far side of the moon shows it to be a rabbit-shaped rock called “jade rabbit.” (Image credit: Ourspace/CNSA) China’s Yutu 2 rover has reached the so-called “mystery hut” on the far side of the moon that … Read more
Cut marks on animal bones suggest ancient hominins butchered them for their meat, and that they were first on the scene instead of having to scavenge from carnivores like big cats Humans 11 January 2022 By Michael Marshall Notches on a bone left by human butchering activity Jennifer A. Parkinson, Thomas W. Plummer, James S. … Read more
China’s “artificial sun” has set a new world record after superheating a loop of plasma to temperatures five times hotter than the sun for more than 17 minutes, state media reported. The EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) nuclear fusion reactor maintained a temperature of 158 million degrees Fahrenheit (70 million degrees Celsius) for 1,056 seconds, … Read more
The characters used to write the Vai script, which was invented in Liberia in 1833, have become visually simpler over time, reflecting the evolutionary pressures acting on writing Humans 11 January 2022 By Colin Barras A character representing the syllable “bi” in Vai script Kelly et al The symbols we use to write words evolve … Read more
To health care workers in the COVID era, holidays mean death, and we knew Omicron was coming before it had a name. The wave caused by this variant has barely begun, rapidly gathering steam, and we are exhausted, attempting to pull from reserves badly drained by earlier surges. Back in August, the beds of my … Read more