NASA’s Plan to Turn the Moon Into a Telescope Looks Like the Death Star
A newly funded concept envisions a kilometer-wide radio telescope built inside a crater on the far side of the Moon.
Science
An Experimental Peptide Could Block Covid-19
MIT chemists are testing a protein fragment that may inhibit coronaviruses’ ability to enter human lung cells.
In Earth’s Largest Extinction, Land Animal Die-offs Began Long Before Marine Extinction
The mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period 252 million years ago — one of the great turnovers of life on Earth — appears to have played out differently and at different times on land and in the sea, according to newly redated fossils beds from South Africa and Australia.
New Feathered Dinosaur Was One Of The Last Surviving Raptors
Dineobellator notohesperus lived 67 million years ago.
MIT-Based Team Works to Rapidly Deploy Open-Source, Low-Cost Ventilator For As Little As $400 In Parts
Clinical and design considerations will be published online; goal is to support rapid scale-up of device production to alleviate hospital shortages.
Worldwide Scientific Collaboration Unveils Genetic Architecture Of Gray Matter
For the first time, more 360 scientists from 184 different institutions have contributed to a global effort to find more than 200 regions of the genome and more than 300 specific genetic variations that affect the structure of the cerebral cortex and likely play important roles in psychiatric and neurological conditions.
A Weird X-Ray Signal Is Coming From Nearby Galaxies and Nobody Knows Why
For years, scientists debated whether the glow was a telltale sign of dark matter. A new study refutes that theory, but that only deepens the mystery.
Elections: Early warning system to fight disinformation online
A new project is an effort to combat the rise of coordinated social media campaigns to incite violence, sew discord and threaten the integrity of democratic elections.
‘Little Foot’ Skull Reveals How This Human Ancestor Lived More Than 3 Million Years Ago
Micro-CT scanning of “Little Foot” skull reveals new aspects of the life of this more than 3-million year-old-human ancestor.
Parkinson’s Disease Linked To Gene Targeted By Blue-Green Algae Toxin
Scientists have discovered a possible link between Parkinson’s disease and a gene impacted by a neurotoxin found in blue-green algae.
Soldier Ants Reveal That Evolution Can Go In Reverse
Turtle ant soldiers and their oddly-shaped heads suggest that evolution is not always a one-way street toward increasing specialization.
New Minor Planets Found Beyond Neptune
Using data from the Dark Energy Survey, researchers have found and cataloged more than 300 minor planets beyond Neptune, including more than 100 new discoveries. This updated catalog of trans-Neptunian objects, and the methods used to find them, could aid in future searches for undiscovered planets in the far reaches of the solar system.
Exoplanet Where It Rains Iron Discovered
Researchers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed an extreme planet where they suspect it rains iron. The ultra-hot giant exoplanet has a day side where temperatures climb above 2400 degrees Celsius, high enough to vaporise metals. Strong winds carry iron vapour to the cooler night side where it condenses into iron droplets.
Ancient shell shows days were half-hour shorter 70 million years ago
Earth turned faster at the end of the time of the dinosaurs than it does today, rotating 372 times a year, compared to the current 365, according to a new study of fossil mollusk shells from the late Cretaceous. The new measurement informs models of how the Moon formed and how close to Earth it has been over the 4.5-billion-year history of the Earth-Moon gravitational dance.
Earth Has Captured a Temporary New “Mini-Moon” Called 2020 CD3 In Its Orbit
A likely “mini-moon” found orbiting Earth last month is moving away from our planet now, but it could be a harbinger of new small moons to come.