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To say that space is a challenging environment is putting it lightly.
During a recent spacewalk outside the International Space Station, a tool bag escaped NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara. The bag has entered orbit around Earth and may be visible through binoculars until it disintegrates in our planet’s atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Mars and Earth now orbit on opposite sides of the sun, temporarily disrupting communications between NASA and its robotic explorers exploring the red planet.
Until the solar conjunction ends on November 25, the fleet of orbiters and rovers has significant to-do lists to complete before it’s time to contact ground control again.
No gravity, harsh radiation and vast distances are just some of the obstacles to space exploration that will take years of technological development and research to overcome.
And after months of rebuilding after an explosive first launch in April, SpaceX made a second attempt to launch its Starship space rocket system, but not everything went according to plan.
Defying gravity
The unmanned Starship spacecraft was launched aboard the most powerful rocket ever built on Saturday morning, but both were lost shortly after launch.
The Super Heavy rocket booster ignited its 33 massive engines and Starship enjoyed a safe launch. SpaceX tried “hot staging” for the first time, a step in which blunt force trauma causes the spacecraft to separate from the rocket booster.
After a hot staging, the rocket booster exploded in a fireball over the Gulf of Mexico. Starship initially continued fine before SpaceX lost the spacecraft’s signal and activated the system software to end the flight so it didn’t go off course.
Starship was intended to fly nearly one lap around the planet before returning to Earth, but data from this second test flight will be used to determine SpaceX’s next steps to make humanity “multiplanetary.”
A long time ago
Pests like head lice have been around as long as humans have existed – and analysis of their DNA offers unexpected insight into the first humans to live in America.
When modern humans left Africa and began settling around the world, head lice hitched a ride with them. Two different populations of head lice emerged.
But scientists recently found evidence of hybrid lice that could represent a “signal of contact between Europeans and Native Americans,” says Marina Ascunce, a molecular biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Ocean secrets
The puffadder shyshark is just one of many unique marine animals found only in the Great African Marine Forest off the coast of South Africa.
Although the drawing of the small shark resembles a poisonous South African snake, it is anything but confrontational.
True to its name, the shy shark wraps its tail over its eyes and flexes its body to protect itself from predators. But the small shark species is disappearing and is on the endangered species list.
Now conservationists hope that the use of artificial intelligence called Fin Spotter will protect the population before it reaches a critical tipping point.
Power of nature
Seismic activity in Iceland – home to 32 active volcanoes – indicates an eruption is imminent, the national civil protection agency said.
Experts are monitoring a corridor of underground molten material on the island’s southwestern peninsula that now extends for 15 kilometers and could affect the coastal town of Grindavík.
While the country is no stranger to volcanic eruptions, there are concerns about the nature of the possible explosion, which could occur underwater or on land.
In addition, the world’s newest island, formed by an undersea volcanic eruption, has appeared off the coast of Japan’s Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean.
Throughout the universe
Astronomers have discovered a highly unusual stellar corpse that came back to life in a violent struggle that continued for months after it initially exploded.
The rare cosmic phenomenon, called a luminous fast blue optical transient, is brighter and fades faster than a typical supernova. But the subsequent bursts released by the stellar remnant were just as powerful as the explosion that resulted in the star’s death.
The event, nicknamed the “Tasmanian Devil,” reveals the afterlife of stars, said Anna YQ Ho, assistant professor of astronomy at Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Explorations
Take a closer look at these compelling lyrics:
– Ancient hunter-gatherer societies may have provided mothers with more childcare support than modern mothers, a new study finds.
— Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to spy a surprising Milky Way-like galaxy that formed shortly after the Big Bang, and it’s changing the way they think about the evolution of galactic galaxies.
— The colorful ornate boxfish is covered in distinctive hexagonal spots, and the intricate pattern inspired researchers to update the theory of how animals get their spots and stripes.
— The Leonid meteor shower peaked early Saturday morning, but flaming meteors will still be visible streaking across the night sky in the coming days.
The Wonder Theory team is taking some time off for Thanksgiving. Although there won’t be a new edition on Saturday, November 25, you can expect a new dose of space and science wonders in your inbox on December 2. Until then!
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