Three “black mesas”, remnants of the Paleozoic era, create unusual sand dunes in the Sahara Desert — Earth seen from space
simple facts Where is it? Gerou Island, Mauritania [16.930575400, -11.759622605] What is in the photo? Three black mesas surrounded by rare sand dunes in the Sahara Desert Who took the photo? An unknown astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) When was it taken? May 3, 2023 This interesting astronaut photo shows three ancient “black […]
History of Science: Computer Scientists Reveal ‘Moore’s Law’ That Guided Chip Design for Half a Century — December 2, 1964
Milestone: Introducing Moore’s Law Date: December 2, 1964 Location: San Francisco Bay Area People: Gordon Moore In a modest address to a local professional association in 1964, computer scientist and chemist Gordon Moore made a prediction that would define the world of technology for more than 50 years. In an Electrochemical Society presentation titled “Evolving […]
An extrasolar planet once orbited next to Earth – and that may be why we have a moon
The catastrophic collision that formed the moon and was one of the most significant events in Earth’s early history may have been caused not by a distant invader, but by a brother world growing up right next door, a new study reveals. About 4.5 billion years ago, a world the size of Mars collided with […]
New images suggest interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is erupting in an ‘ice volcano’
Comet 3I/ATLAS appears to have spiral jets erupting from its surface, which the authors of the new preprint interpret as a type of cryovolcanism. (Image credit: Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez/B06 Montseny Observatory) New observations suggest that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS may be covered in erupting “cryovolcanoes.” Researchers found evidence that a series of cryovolcanoes (nicknamed “cryovolcanoes”) […]
Oops! Russia accidentally destroys the only operational launch pad as astronauts take off to the ISS
Russia’s only operating launch pad has been temporarily disabled after sustaining severe damage during its recent launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Experts say this leaves the country unable to send humans into space for the first time in more than 60 years. On Thanksgiving Day (November 27), the Soyuz MS-28 […]
AI-generated images of cats on bananas exist because children scavenge in the soil for toxic substances. Is it really worth it?
Behind the achievements of large-scale language models like Chat GPT lie efforts with complex environmental and social impacts, from mineral extraction by children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to training systems that subject people to violent and degrading images in countries like Nigeria, to vast, resource-hungry data centers in regions with cheap access […]
Study finds once-in-100-year floods will become annual events in northeastern U.S. for the next 75 years
Extreme hurricane flooding in the northeastern United States, which once occurred once every 100 years, could become an annual occurrence by the end of this century, a new study has found. The researchers wanted to predict how changes in hurricane behavior (which are expected to become more frequent and intense) and rising sea levels due […]
Early trials suggest a ‘functional cure’ for HIV may be within reach
Approximately 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV. Advances in treatment have meant that infectious diseases are no longer the death sentence they once were, but researchers have so far been unable to find a cure. Instead, people living with HIV must take a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs for the rest of their lives. […]
Today’s Biggest Science News: X-Class Solar Flare | Chernobyl Fungus Modern humans interbred with ‘hobbits’
refresh 2025-12-01T15:15:17.699Z living in the zone And mushrooms aren’t the only strange life forms thriving in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone. Some insects appear to be unaffected by radiation. The wild offspring of a pet dog. And wild horses are an endangered species whose numbers are increasing explosively. Humans make lemonade, or an apple-based moonshine called Atomic, […]
‘Potentially dangerous’ asteroid 2024 YR4 was Earth’s first real planetary defense experiment
At this point in history, astronomers and engineers who grew up watching “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon,” two movies depicting the destructive power of asteroid impacts, are likely to hold relatively high positions in space agencies. Don’t Look Up also offered a more modern, but more pessimistic (or unfortunately realistic?) look at what could potentially happen […]