south

A Strain of Tuberculosis Traveled Across The Pacific Thousands of Years Pre-Contact

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Centuries before first contact with Europeans, new research suggests a strain of tuberculosis was already circulating from the South American coasts to the mountains. Deadly European diseases, like tuberculosis (TB), whooping cough, and smallpox, were spread around the world with colonization, but recent evidence indicates this wasn’t the first time TB arrived in South America. … Read more

Russia halts Soyuz rocket launches from South America over European sanctions on Ukraine invasion

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The Russian space agency Roscosmos is stopping all Soyuz rocket launches from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana due to European Union sanctions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  “In response to EU sanctions against our enterprises, Roscosmos is suspending cooperation with European partners in organizing space launches from the Kourou cosmodrome and withdrawing its personnel, including … Read more

Newly Discovered Dinosaur From Argentina Belongs to a Rather ‘Armless’ Family

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Paleontologists in Argentina have identified a new species of dinosaur which likely had such feeble forearms, it would make Tyrannosaurus rex look like Popeye in comparison. The dinosaur, named Guemesia ochoai and identified from a single skull, is thought to belong to a clade of tiny-armed carnivores known as abelisaurids, which once tramped across Europe, Africa, South … Read more

NASA prepares for moon’s dark south pole in eerie lights-out ‘spacewalk’ (photo)

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NASA is preparing for the day its astronauts explore the south pole of the moon by heading underwater with the lights out. NASA has long used a vast swimming pool dubbed the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory to prepare for spacewalks, since the underwater work experience is the closest they can get to reduced-gravity environments before blasting … Read more

World-Record ‘Megaflash’ of Lightning Stretched Across The US For Almost 500 Miles

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A jaw-dropping lightning megaflash that snaked across three states in the southern US just won a world record. A megaflash is not your standard cloud-to-ground lightning bolt. It’s an enormous electric zigzag that travels from one electrified cloud to the next, almost instantaneously.   A big enough thunderstorm system can allow a megaflash to cover hundreds of … Read more

Planet Earth Contains Over 9,000 Tree Species Yet to Be Discovered, Scientists Say

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An ambitious, first-of-its-kind effort to estimate how many different kinds of trees exist on Earth suggests our planet is teeming with thousands of tree species that still haven’t been discovered.   The huge international research effort – involving the work of over 100 scientists – estimates that there are approximately 73,000 tree species in total … Read more

South Atlantic Anomaly: Have astronomers finally explained space’s Bermuda Triangle?

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There is an area of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle where ships, airplanes and people have been known to disappear without explanation. No-one knows for certain why more than 50 ships and 20 planes have vanished since the mid-19th century. But that’s not to say people haven’t had some fun seeking … Read more

Mars water: Spots at south pole thought to be lakes could be volcanic rock

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Radar images of Mars’s southern ice cap indicated that there could be a lake there – but a new set of simulations hints that it could be volcanic rock instead Space 24 January 2022 By Leah Crane The icy cap over Mars’s south pole, photographed by Mars Express ESA/DLR/FU Berlin / Bill Dunford There may … Read more

Antarctic ‘Megaberg’ Released 152 Billion Tons of Freshwater Just Before Melting

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Scientists have been keeping a close eye on the ‘megaberg’ designated as A68a since it split off from Antarctica back in July 2017 – and new research highlights just how much freshwater it’s released into the ocean during its late melting process.   Satellite monitoring systems indicate that for three months at the end of its … Read more