Imagine an archaeological dig far in the future. Scientists are excavating a site somewhere in what was once North America, peeling back layers of dirt in search of the remnants of a vanished civilization. Millions of years having passed, there's not much left, and the archaeologists must be diligent. But, as they scrape and sift, clues to this vanished people emerge, a peephole into a bygone culture.
What objects would these future archaeologists find? What specimens would they ...read more
Organics on Ceres
Data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft show that there is an abundance of carbon on Ceres.
Dawn ended its mission on November 1, 2018. However, the spacecraft has remained in orbit around Ceres 257 million miles from Earth. Propelled by an ion engine, the craft was the first to ever visit a dwarf planet. And, in its orbit around Ceres, Dawn has now collected data that provides evidence of organic matter on the planet's surface.
In a new study detailing these findings, a team ...read more
The dark, high-pressure depths of Earth's interior is an unexpected place to find life. Now, an international group of scientists report there’s 16.5 to 25 billion tons of micro-organisms beneath the planet's surface. The team’s work is redefining what a habitable environment is.
The discoveries “force us to reimagine what the boundaries are that life can exist in,” said Karen Lloyd, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Deep Discovery
Lloyd is a ...read more
If you find yourself swooning over urbanites more than country boys, you’re not alone.
A new study found that female túngara frogs were more attracted to the mating calls of males living in cities than those residing in forests. Researchers found that male túngara frogs in urban areas have more prominent, complex calls than those in the wilderness — a possible adaptation to noisy city life that's enabled by a lack of predators.
A study outlining th ...read more
On Tuesday, two Russian cosmonauts are spending some six hours in space, working to solve the mystery of who or what poked a hole in the Soyuz spacecraft.
Back in August, astronauts noticed a slight drop in pressure on the International Space Station. While not an immediate risk, the astronauts investigated and found a hole on the inside of the Soyuz habitation module, which is currently docked at the space station. Astronauts Sergey Prokopyev and Alexander Gerst repaired the two-millimet ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine