Massive Clouds Colliding in Space Could be Birthing Huge Stars

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

This star-forming region is one of many in M33 that's birthing new stars from massive clouds of dust and gas. (Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA) Astronomers have witnessed a rare event: the birth of massive stars 2.73 million light-years away in the Triangulum Galaxy (Messier 33). At the center of two giant colliding gas clouds are some 10 young stars with masses tens of times that of the Sun. Their discovery indicates that such cloud-cloud collisions are a main pathway to creating giant stars in ...read more

NASA Just Added a Helicopter to Its Mars 2020 Rover

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

The Mars 2020 rover will be equipped with a helicopter, as seen in this artist's concept, that will fly above the Red Planet's surface like no craft before it. (NASA/JPL) Just under a year before launch, NASA’s unnamed Mars 2020 rover is getting ready for its big mission with the new addition of the Mars Helicopter Scout. The Helicopter Scout will be the first rotorcraft to fly on another planet. And though the mission is considered high-risk, it could also come with a high reward. I ...read more

These Might be the Spacesuits Astronauts Wear on Mars

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

The Astro suit designed by ILC Dover. (Credit: ILC Dover) Fifty years after Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon wearing an ILC Dover-made spacesuit, the Delaware-based aerospace manufacturing company is coming out with two brand-new designs. The company announced two new spacesuits on Aug. 28 called Astro and Sol. Unlike other suits the company has produced, like the extravehicular mobility unity (EMU) and the Apollo suit, these new spacesuits are built with adaptability in mind. A ...read more

What Scientists Found After Analyzing Cases of Inbreeding in the UK

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Charles II, the last of the Spanish Hapsburgs. Generations of inbreeding left him infertile, in addition to numerous additional health problems. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) Inbreeding, or mating between two closely-related people, is a strong taboo across the world. There's good reason for this, of course. The potential for sexual abuse and lasting trauma is high, and the odds of inheriting rare genetic diseases goes up exponentially among children who are the result of inbreeding. But in ...read more

The Death of a Prominent Scientist Can Actually Help Their Field

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

(Credit: l i g h t p o e t/Shutterstock) Prominent scientists can be guiding beacons for an entire field. Their work can define research for years to come, and sets a precedent for successive generations. The life of an eminent researcher is obviously a boon to science. But, says a new study, their death might be important as well. Now researchers discover the death of a science superstar also has a major impact on research. Reporting in the August issue of the American Economic R ...read more