The sophisticated French-UK seismometer package is just weeks away from being shut off The seismometer on Nasa’s InSight probe will keep listening for Marsquakes even as other systems on the mission have to shut down due to declining power levels. The spacecraft has just detected a Magnitude 5 tremor – the biggest event yet in…
Category: Science
An ancient tooth found in a cave proves an extinct species of archaic humans lived in southeast Asia over 130,000 years ago
An artist’s impression of a Denisovan next to a picture of the tooth found in Laos.Maayan Harel/Fabrice Demeter (University of Copenhagen/CNRS Paris)/Insider A tooth found in a cave in Laos was found to be from an ancient human species called Denisovans. The tooth, most likely a girl’s, places the extinct humans in southeast Asia for…
New inquiry into Australian mother convicted of 4 homicides
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian state attorney general on Wednesday declined to pardon a mother convicted almost 20 years ago of smothering her four children to death and instead ordered a new inquiry into whether there could be a medical explanation for the tragedies. The inquiry will be the second in three years into…
Celebrated Mexican archaeologist wins major Spanish award
MADRID (AP) — Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, a celebrated Mexican archaeologist who led the excavation of the Great Aztec Temple in Mexico City, won this year’s Princess of Asturias award in the social sciences category, the Spanish foundation behind the prizes announced Wednesday. The dig at the shrine, which was discovered by accident in 1978 after…
Four key measures of climate change set records in 2021
Four key measures of climate change hit record highs last year, the United Nations said Wednesday. Greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean temperatures and ocean acidification all hit their highest recorded levels in 2021, leading to “harmful and long-lasting ramifications” for humans and nature, according to the World Meteorological Organization. It said extreme weather…
How much plastic do you use in a week?
plastic mountain Thousands of people will count their plastic waste for a week in a national survey of how much we consume. The count, put together by the organization Everyday Plastic and Greenpeace, starts on Monday. Only the US uses more plastic per person per year than the UK, research suggests. Campaigners say the count…
Climate change swells odds of record India, Pakistan heatwaves
Taking shelter from the scorching heat in New Delhi Climate change makes record-breaking heatwaves in northwest India and Pakistan 100 times more likely, a Met Office study finds. The region should now expect a heatwave that exceeds the record temperatures seen in 2010 once every three years. Without climate change, such extreme temperatures would occur…
Tonga volcano eruption was powerful enough to reach space, new images from NASA show
Satellites captured images of an umbrella cloud generated by the underwater eruption of the Tonga volcano, on January 15, 2022.NASA/NOAA The effects of the Tonga volcano eruption reached space, according to NASA satellite data. The eruption spurred hurricane-speed winds and unusual electric currents in the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. Researchers said it was one…
Global pollution kills 9 million people a year, study finds
A new study blames pollution of all types for 9 million deaths a year globally, with the death toll attributed to dirty air from cars, trucks and industry rising 55% since 2000. That increase is offset by fewer pollution deaths from primitive indoor stoves and water contaminated with human and animal waste, so overall pollution…
InSight Mars lander nears the end of the road
Going out with a bang, NASA’s InSight Mars lander, slowly dying as light-blocking dust builds up on its solar arrays, detected the most powerful marsquake yet recorded May 4, a magnitude 5 tremor 10 times stronger than the previous record holder. Now operating with one-tenth the power its arrays generated when it landed on the…