A very rare rainbow in the Atacama Desert in Chile. (Credit: Carlos González-Silva)
Exterminating Rains
The rain fell in the Atacama Desert in Chile for the first time in hundreds of years, and it caused a mass extinction.
It might seem natural to think that such rains would be followed by blooming flowers and new life. But, an international team of planetary astrobiologists found, this precipitation killed most of the microbial life in the region.
“When the rains came to the ...read more
Sputnik Planitia on Pluto, where strange ridges can be found. (Credit: NASA/Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/O. White)
Scientists have traced strange landforms on Pluto back to their ancient glacial origins.
A letter by SETI Institute scientist Oliver White and colleagues shows how ridged landforms on Pluto provide evidence for glaciers on the dwarf planet some 4 billion years ago. Their research targeted the landscape that borders the ice-covered impact basin Sputn ...read more
Kratom is a drug popular in Southeast Asia that’s derived from the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa, a tree in the coffee family. Kratom’s pain relieving properties allowed it to surge in popularity in the United States in the wake of the opioid crisis. (Rattiya Thongdumhyu/shutterstock)
Across America, thousands of people are throwing away their prescription drugs and picking up kratom, a plant-based drug from Southeast Asia usually brewed as a tea. Within the leaves of this tropical ...read more
This stunning view of the total solar eclipse in 2017 was made by combining seven exposures ranging from short to long. The surface of the Moon is visible in this image because it is illuminated by light reflected off Earth, called Earthshine. (Credit: Michael S. Adler)
On August 21, 2017, over half of the population of United States took at least a few minutes out of their busy schedules to glimpse the first total solar eclipse to cross the continental U.S. in nearly 40 years. As many of us g ...read more
The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with Cygnus spacecraft aboard, is seen on Pad-0A, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)
An Impending Launch
This week, Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket will launch the Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. The craft will deliver supplies and scientific equipment to the astronauts on board as part of Northrop Grumman’s NG-10 mission.
Originally scheduled to l ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
