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Study Finds Protein Structures That Could Be Responsible For The Origins of Life

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The question of how life first sparked into existence on our planet is one we haven’t yet fully answered, but science is getting closer all the time – and a new study identifies the structures of the proteins that may well have made it happen.   To begin with, the team behind the study decided … Read more

Huge Project Is Now Underway to Sequence The Genome of Every Complex Species on Earth

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The Earth Biogenome Project, a global consortium that aims to sequence the genomes of all complex life on earth (some 1.8 million described species) in ten years, is ramping up.   The project’s origins, aims and progress are detailed in two multi-authored papers published today. Once complete, it will forever change the way biological research … Read more

A huge asteroid flies will fly safely by Earth today. Here’s how to watch it live.

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You can watch live as a humongous asteroid flies safely past our planet today (Jan. 18). Italy’s Virtual Telescope Project, which is based in Rome, will host a livestream starting at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT), when asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) is almost at its closest approach to our planet: 1 million miles or 1.6 … Read more

Watch the James Webb Space Telescope soar through space in this livestream today!

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Catch a livestream of the James Webb Space Telescope as it zips towards its celestial perch today (Jan. 7).  Starting at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT), astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy will stream live telescope views of the James Webb Space Telescope. You can watch the webcast live in the … Read more

SpaceX will launch 49 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket today. Watch it live!

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is gearing up to launch its first rocket of 2022 on Thursday evening (Jan. 6) and you can watch the action live online.  The private spaceflight company will launch a stack of 49 Starlink satellites on one of its previously flown Falcon 9 rockets. (The company is expected to confirm … Read more

Happy perihelion! Earth reached its closest point to the sun today.

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The sun is just a little bit closer in Earth’s sky right now. Earth is at its closest to the sun Tuesday (Jan. 4) in its 365.25-day journey. This milestone, called perihelion, coincidentally happens near the start of the Gregorian calendar year observed by much of the world, including in North America. The exact moment … Read more

Comet Leonard makes its closest approach to the sun today, one year after its discovery

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The brightest comet in the night sky right now makes its closest approach to the sun Monday (Jan. 3) and — even if it survives the journey — that will be the only time the comet sees our star close up. That icy wanderer is Comet Leonard, which got brighter unexpectedly in late December as … Read more

How a genetic twist in an ‘old’ variant may be driving Omicron and Delta today | Science

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The new Omicron variant of the pandemic coronavirus has provided an avalanche of mutations, many never seen before, for scientists to ponder. And as with earlier variants, Omicron researchers are focused on numerous changes to the spike protein, which studs the surface of SARS-CoV-2 and allows it to latch on to and invade human cells. … Read more