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China’s Chang’e 5 lunar lander is first to find water on the moon up close

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China’s Chang’e 5 lunar lander just marked a historic first: The spacecraft became the first to detect water on the moon at its landing site in real time. Chang’e 5 found water at its landing site near Oceanus Procellarum on the moon’s near side, using an instrument that detects water by determining spectral reflectance measurements … Read more

A Giant Asteroid Bigger Than The Empire State Building Is About to Zip Past Earth

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A large, rocky asteroid is going to fly by Earth next week. At 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) long, it’s roughly two and a half times the height of the Empire State Building, and it’s been classed a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” due to its size and its regular close visits to our planet.   But don’t … Read more

China Accuses US of Unsafe Space Conduct After Near-Miss With Elon Musk’s Starlink

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Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space over two “close encounters” between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk‘s SpaceX.   Tiangong, China’s new space station, had to maneuver to avoid colliding with one Starlink satellite in July and with another in October, according to … Read more

Ozone hole: One of the longest-lived on record is about to close

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By Adam Vaughan The ozone layer in late November 2021 Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, ECMWF One of the longest ozone holes on record is expected to close this Wednesday after several weeks of exposing wildlife and people in Antarctica to very high levels of ultraviolet radiation.  The Montreal Protocol’s ban on the CFC gases causing … Read more

The First FDA-Approved Eye Drops to Treat Blurry Vision Are Now Available in The US

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The joke about “needing longer arms” when you grow older and try to read small print is common enough. The cause – a natural decline in our eyes’ ability to focus on nearby objects, or presbyopia – is the reason so many people end up getting reading glasses in older age.   Now, for the first … Read more

Mysterious Object That Survived a Close Encounter With a Black Hole Is Unmasked

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A mysterious cloud that somehow survived a close encounter with a supermassive black hole has now been unmasked. According to a new study of the object, called G2, it’s actually three baby stars, shrouded in a thick cloud of the gas and dust from which they were born. This interpretation offers a very tidy solution … Read more