giant

2 giant blobs in Earth’s mantle may explain Africa’s weird geology

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Deep within Earth’s mantle, there are two giant blobs. One sits under Africa, while the other is almost precisely opposite the first, under the Pacific Ocean. But these two blobs are not evenly matched.  New research finds that the blob under Africa extends far closer to the surface — and is more unstable — than … Read more

A Giant Tortoise Species Unknown to Science Has Been Discovered in Galapagos

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A new species of giant tortoise has been discovered in the Galapagos after DNA testing found animals living on one island had not yet been recorded, Ecuador’s environment ministry said.   Researchers compared the genetic material of tortoises currently living on San Cristobal with bones and shells collected in 1906 from a cave in the … Read more

A Rare, Repeatedly Exploding Star Has Been Caught Producing Powerful Gamma Rays

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A rare star that repeatedly explodes appears to be also generating the most energetic form of light in the Universe. Analysis of an eruption from the binary system RS Ophiuchi has revealed that the shock wave expanding out into space acts as a particle accelerator that generates gamma radiation. This suggests the conditions that generate … Read more

Giant radiation bubbles created by monster black hole feeding frenzy, new study suggests

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Two giant bubbles of gamma rays and X-rays that erupted from the center of the Milky Way may stem from a supermassive black hole‘s feeding frenzy at the heart of the galaxy, a new study finds. Recently, the X-ray telescope eROSITA onboard the Spektr-RG space observatory discovered a pair of gigantic X-ray-emitting bubbles, each about … Read more

Spiders Caught Hunting in Giant Synchronized Swarms, And Now We Know How

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Pack hunting spiders exist in places other than your nightmares. While most spiders enjoy solitary lives, 20 of the roughly 50,000 known spider species live in colonies. One species, Anelosimus eximius, lives in extremely large colonies of up to 1,000 individual spiders that work together to build webs spanning several meters.   When prey falls into their … Read more

Jupiter’s big moon Ganymede casts giant shadow in stunning Juno photo by citizen scientist

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A powerful new picture of Jupiter posted by a citizen scientist shows the planet looming large with the shadow of its biggest moon Ganymede blanketing its clouds. The image comes from Kevin M. Gill, who posted copies on Twitter and Flickr  after analyzing data from the Juno spacecraft’s 20th close flyby of May 2019. Like … Read more

Giant Bubbles Expanding From The Milky Way Could Be Explained by a Single Event

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Two sets of giant bubbles that extend thousands of light-years above and below the plane of the Milky Way could have been produced by the same event, in spite of their significant difference in size.   They’re called the Fermi bubbles and the eROSITA bubbles, and astronomers believe they were the result of activity by … Read more

Stonehenge may have been a giant calendar and now we know how it works

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The sarsen stones of the Stonehenge monument could have been designed as a calendar to track a solar year, with each of the stones in the large sarsen circle representing a day within a month Humans 2 March 2022 By Alison George Stonehenge – an ancient calendar? nagelestock.com / Alamy Stonehenge has long been thought … Read more

A giant Mars dust pile is sculpted by the wind in this photo by a European probe

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The Medusae Fossae Formation on Mars.  (Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) An enormous dust deposit on Mars shows the power of Martian wind in a new image snapped from orbit.  Standing on the surface of Mars is possibly the largest single dust source on the Red Planet: the Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF). … Read more

Giant Haul of Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Spills The Lost Secrets of Mummification

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A deposit of hundreds of embalming tools uncovered in Abusir, Egypt – probably the largest ever found – offers clues into a lavish funeral that likely took place about 2,600 years ago.    The deposit of at least 370 ceramic jars – some of which carried heads to represent sacred animal deities – could provide … Read more