Red

Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 19th flight after historic Red Planet weather delay

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The dust storm couldn’t keep NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity grounded forever. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity aced a 100-second sortie on Tuesday (Feb. 8), its 19th Red Planet flight overall but its first since Dec. 15. The flight had originally been targeted for Jan. 5. But on New Year’s Day, a big dust storm kicked … Read more

Distance to Mars: How far away is the Red Planet?

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The distance to Mars from Earth varies considerably depending on their orbits around the sun.  In theory, the closest Mars and Earth would get  is when Mars reaches its closest point to the sun (perihelion) and Earth is at its farthest (aphelion). This would bring the two planets within 33.9 million miles (54.6 million kilometers) … Read more

Breathtaking New Chandra Pics Show Cosmic Objects Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

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Human vision may be limited to a specific range of wavelengths, but that doesn’t mean we’ll never understand the full complexity of light in our Universe. Instruments can peer into the cosmos in regimes that are otherwise invisible to our eyes, showing us not just the dynamics of the stars, but their absolutely awe-inspiring beauty. … Read more

This Adorable Jumping Spider Can’t Actually See Its Own Most Vivid Color

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Jumping spiders may have exceptional eyes, but one adorable species seems to have a curious lack in the vision department. New experimental evidence suggests that a jumping spider called Saitis barbipes has no photoreceptors capable of perceiving the color red.   What makes this so strange is that S. barbipes – like many jumping spiders … Read more

NASA’s InSight Mars lander awakens from ‘safe mode’ after Red Planet dust storm

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A NASA spacecraft has safely emerged from a precautionary “safe mode” after an intense Martian dust storm. The solar-powered InSight lander, which is designed to study the interior of Mars, entered safe mode to save power on Jan. 7; it went back to “more normal operations” by Jan. 19, the mission said in a Twitter … Read more

Possible sign of Mars life? Curiosity rover finds ‘tantalizing’ Red Planet organics

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NASA’s Curiosity rover has found some interesting organic compounds on the Red Planet that could be signs of ancient Mars life, but it will take a lot more work to test that hypothesis. Some of the powdered rock samples that Curiosity has collected over the years contain organics rich in a type of carbon that … Read more

The 6th Mass Extinction Really Has Begun, Scientists Warn in Newly Published Study

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The signs of death are everywhere, if you look. For years, scientists have rung the alarm bell, warning that grave declines in animal biodiversity around the globe herald the onset of what will be Earth’s sixth mass extinction.   Despite the looming weight of evidence to suggest this grim phenomenon is unfolding all around us, … Read more

We Finally Know The True Extent of Space Destroying Astronauts’ Red Blood Cells

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The human body did not evolve to handle life in space, and it shows in our very blood. Since our species first started to spend extended periods of time beyond our planet, researchers have noticed a curious and consistent loss of red blood cells among astronauts.   The phenomenon is called ‘space anemia’, and until … Read more