Science

The Orionids meteor shower, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful showers of the year, could light up the sky with shooting stars through most of next month.NASA said the Orionids peak during mid-October every year, and the meteors are known for their brightness and speed.The ability to see the shooting stars depends on clear nighttime skies, as a bright waning gibbous moon moves between full and last quarter phases, outshining more faint meteors and reducing the number of meteors visible to sky-gazers.According to NASA, some of the Orionids leave behind glowing "trains," or incandescent bits of debris in the wake of the meteor, which could last up to several minutes, and some faster meteors could also become fireballs.NASA SPACECRAFT TO SCOUR JUPITER'S ICY MOON IN SEARCH...

Researchers have discovered a new species of glowing sea slug deep in the ocean’s midnight zone.Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) scientists said in a press release on Tuesday that while Bathydevius caudactylus is classified as a sea slug, it was nicknamed the "mystery mollusk" because the creature was unlike any other that’s been encountered before.  The mystery mollusk’s genus name, Bathydevius, is a play on the deep-sea animal’s "devious" nature that fooled researchers, the researchers said.Bathydevius is the first nudibranch, or sea slug, known to live in the deep sea. The sea slug’s body is made up of a large gelatinous hood and paddle-like tail. It can glow with bioluminescence. A LOOK AT THE WORLD'S LONGEST SNAKE WHICH MEASURES OVER 32 FEET, A RECORD-BREAKING SLIT...

Planet Earth is bidding farewell to a "mini moon," a harmless asteroid named 2024 PT5, which has been trailing Earth for two months and will leave on Monday, drawn away by the sun’s stronger gravitational pull.First spotted in August, the asteroid began its brief gravitational interaction with Earth in late September.After its departure, the asteroid is not expected to return near Earth until 2055.Planet Earth is parting company with an asteroid that’s been tagging along as a "mini moon" for the past two months.The harmless space rock will peel away on Monday, overcome by the stronger tug of the sun’s gravity. But it will zip closer for a quick visit in January.NASA will use a radar antenna to observe the 33-foot asteroid then. That should deepen scientists’ understanding of the object...

NASA has confirmed that after a pause in communications with Voyager 1 in late October, the spacecraft has regained its voice and resumed regular operations.Voyager unexpectedly turned off its primary radio transmitter, known as its X-band, before turning on its much weaker S-band transmitter in October.The interstellar spacecraft is currently located about 15.4 billion miles away from Earth and the S-band had not been used in over 40 years.Communication between NASA and Voyager 1 has been spotty at times and the switch to the lower band prevented the Voyager mission team from downloading science data and information about the spacecraft’s status.NASA RECONNECTS WITH INTERSTELLAR VOYAGER 1 SPACECRAFT USING TECHNOLOGY NOT USED IN DECADES NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this ...

A homeowner in New York uncovered a complete mastodon jaw in their backyard in what officials are calling a "remarkable discovery." The jaw of the extinct mammal, which was similar to an elephant, and several bone fragments were excavated from a property in Scotchtown by researchers from the New York State Museum and SUNY Orange. "The fossils – discovered by a curious homeowner – will undergo carbon dating and extensive scientific analysis to determine the mastodon’s age, diet, and habitat," the New York State Museum said in a statement. "Once preserved and studied, the jaw and related findings will be showcased in public programming in 2025, offering visitors a glimpse into New York’s rich Ice Age history." The Albany-based Museum said the homeowner first noticed the jaw when they spo...

This week, NASA finalized its strategy for sustaining a human presence in space. A document emphasized the importance of maintaining the ability for extended stays in orbit after the International Space Station is retired."NASA's Low Earth Orbit Microgravity Strategy will guide the agency toward the next generation of continuous human presence in orbit, enable greater economic growth, and maintain international partnerships," the document stated.The commitment comes amid questions of whether the new space stations will be ready to go. With the incoming Trump administration’s effort to cut spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, there are also fears NASA could face cuts.INTERSTELLAR VOYAGER 1 RESUMES OPERATIONS AFTER PAUSE IN COMMUNICATIONS WITH NASA"Just like everybod...

Elon Musk’s sense of humor is out of this world. Seven years after the SpaceX CEO launched a Tesla Roadster into orbit, astronomers from the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts confused it with an asteroid earlier this month. A day after the astronomers with the Minor Planet Center registered 2018 CN41, it was deleted on Jan. 3 when they revealed that it was in fact Musk’s roadster. The center said on its website that 2018 CN41’s registry was deleted after "it was pointed out the orbit matches an artificial object, 2018-017A, Falcon Heavy Upper stage with the Tesla Roadster. The designation2018 CN41 is being deleted and will be listed as omitted." DEBRIS FROM SPACEX STARSHIP STREAKS THROUGH THE SKY Seven years after the SpaceX CEO la...

Recent photos taken by India’s Space Research Organization moon orbiter, known as Chandrayaan 2, clearly show the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 landing sites more than 50 years later. The photos were taken by the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter in April 2021 and were reshared on Curiosity’s X page – which posts about space exploration – on Wednesday. "Image of Apollo 11 and 12 taken by India's Moon orbiter. Disapproving Moon landing deniers," Curiosity wrote on X, along with the overhead photos that show the landing vehicles on the surface of the moon. Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, making Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first men to walk on its surface. US PREPARES TO DEORBIT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AMID CHINA COMPETITION  Recent photos taken by India’s Space Research Organiza...

A study published last week proposed that dark matter may be responsible for an observable wobble in Mars’ orbit.The study, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Physical Review, postulates the theory that dark matter compromises microscopic, or primordial, black holes.Unlike astrophysical black holes, these primordial black holes formed when dense pockets of gas collapsed in the seconds after the Big Bang and scattered throughout the universe because of expansion. Despite being as small as an atom, these primordial black holes would be heavier than thousands of solar masses and constitute dark matter. AMAZING TIME-LAPSE VIDEO OF PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE CAPTURED IN ALABAMA A panoramic view of Mars (NASA)First theorized in the 1930s by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky, dark matt...

After a brief pause in communications with Voyager 1, NASA re-established a connection with the interstellar spacecraft located more than 15 billion miles away from Earth, using a frequency not used more than forty years.Communication between NASA and Voyager 1 has been spotty at times. In fact, the spacecraft stopped sending readable data to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Nov. 14, 2023, and it was not until April that mission controllers began receiving commands once again.More recently, the spacecraft turned off one of its two transmitters after what engineers suspected was due to Voyager 1’s fault protection system, which autonomously responds to onboard issues.For instance, if the spacecraft uses too much power from its supply source, fault protection wi...