5,000 possible alien worlds in less than 4 years for NASA planet-hunting mission

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It’s been a busy four years for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the scientists who seek planets in its data. The mission just hit a major discovery milestone, passing 5,000 of what the team calls TESS Objects of Interest, or TOIs, which include exoplanet candidates and other intriguing signals. Astronomers select objects from … Read more

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos

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(Image credit: NASA via collectSPACE.com) While Artemis 1 will be uncrewed, it plans to carry several mannequin-type devices to test out how the lunar environment will affect humans.  One example is “Commander Moonikin Campos,” named after Apollo 13 engineer Arturo Campos in a NASA contest. Campos will fly in the commander’s seat and wear an … Read more

Eta Carinae’s epic supernova explosion comes to life in new visualization

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A new visualization shows the power of an epic supernova erupting in deep space. The video shows the famous explosion in the Eta Carinae star system that briefly made it the brightest object in the sky in the year 1843. More than 170 years later, the two lobes of the supernova are still expanding into … Read more

Wild New Paper Suggests Earth’s Tectonic Activity Has an Unseen Source

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Earth is far from a solid mass of rock. The outer layer of our planet – known as the lithosphere – is made up of more than 20 tectonic plates; as these gargantuan slates glide about the face of the planet, we get the movement of continents, and interaction at the boundaries, not least of which is … Read more

Hippos Will Aggressively Spray Poop at The Mere Sound of a Stranger’s Wheeze Honk

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The hippopotamus is a surprisingly mysterious beast. Although it’s the third largest land mammal, can run a spritely 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances, and is far more dangerous to humans than a grizzly bear, we know relatively little about its social communication.   A new study working to rectify this lack of knowledge … Read more

What’s The Deal With 5G And Plane Safety? Here’s What You Need to Know

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Several international airlines recently cancelled flights into certain US airports over concerns the rollout of 5G mobile communication technology could interfere with some planes’ equipment.   After warnings about the potential problem from aviation bosses and the Federal Aviation Administration, telecommunications companies AT&T and Verizon delayed activating some 5G masts around US airports. But how … Read more

Tonga Eruption Was Equivalent to ‘100s of Hiroshima Bombs’, Says NASA

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The volcanic eruption in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga peaked on January 15 with more explosive force than 100 simultaneous Hiroshima bombs, NASA scientists reported on Monday 24 January.   Using a combination of satellite and surface-based surveys, researchers calculated the explosive power of the volcano based on the amount of rock that was removed during the blast from the … Read more

Tonga shock wave created tsunamis in two different oceans | Science

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When Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai, a mostly submerged volcanic cauldron in the South Pacific Ocean, exploded on 15 January, it unleashed a blast perhaps as powerful as the world’s biggest nuclear bomb, and drove tsunami waves that crashed into Pacific shorelines. But 3 hours or so before their arrival in Japan, researchers detected the waves of … Read more

After Omicron, some scientists foresee ‘a period of quiet’ | Science

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Barely 2 months after it began, the Omicron wave is already ebbing in some countries. And although it has sickened huge numbers of people, caused massive disruption, and left many health care workers exhausted, it is also leaving something unusual in its wake: a sense of optimism about the pandemic’s trajectory. In countries where many … Read more