Category: 7. Science

  • Earth’s faster spin may cause shorter days, scientists warn — should you be concerned |

    Earth’s faster spin may cause shorter days, scientists warn — should you be concerned |

    Scientists have discovered that Earth is rotating slightly faster than usual, making our days shorter by a few milliseconds. While the change is minimal, it has significant implications for global timekeeping systems. Typically, leap seconds are added to atomic clocks to match Earth’s slower rotation. However, if this faster spin continues, experts predict that by 2029, we may need to subtract a leap second for the first time in history. This would mark a major milestone in how we align human-made timekeeping with natural planetary rhythms, highlighting how even time is influenced by Earth’s subtle yet dynamic changes.

    How Earth’s day length has evolved over millions of years

    The Earth takes approximately 86,400 seconds to complete one full rotation, which equals one day. However, this duration is not perfectly constant. Various natural phenomena from gravitational forces to internal geophysical changes cause slight variations in how fast Earth spins.Historically, Earth’s rotation has gradually slowed down. For example, during the era of the dinosaurs, days lasted only about 23 hours. By the Bronze Age, they had lengthened but were still about half a second shorter than today. In the long term, Earth may experience 25-hour days, but scientists estimate that will take another 200 million years.

    Earth’s rotation is changing: What it means for the length of a day

    Since 2020, Earth has been spinning slightly faster, a trend that has surprised scientists. According to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), based in Washington, D.C., this acceleration has continued steadily.The result? Shorter days by just a few milliseconds. If this trend persists, experts say we might need to remove a leap second from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by 2029. This would be the first time in history that a leap second is subtracted rather than added. A leap second is a one-second adjustment added periodically to atomic clocks to align them with Earth’s irregular rotation. Since Earth’s spin is not perfectly synchronized with atomic time, leap seconds help bridge that gap.So far, leap seconds have only been added to account for the Earth’s slowing rotation. However, if Earth continues to spin faster, we may have to remove a second from atomic time for the first time ever. This adjustment would ensure that clocks continue to match Earth’s actual rotation.

    Shortest days of 2025 expected in July and August, say scientists

    According to timeanddate.com, the trend of shorter days is expected to continue into 2025. Scientists have pinpointed three specific dates when Earth’s spin is expected to be fastest:

    • July 9, 2025
    • July 22, 2025
    • August 5, 2025

    According to USA Today reports, on August 5, the length of a day could be 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24 hours—a noticeable deviation in scientific terms, even if humans won’t perceive it.

    What’s causing Earth’s faster spin

    The exact reason behind the recent acceleration remains unclear. Scientists are currently exploring several possibilities:

    • Seismic activity
    • Changes in Earth’s core dynamics
    • Glacial rebound (land rising after ice melt)
    • Shifts in ocean currents or atmospheric pressure

    However, Leonid Zotov, a researcher at Moscow State University, told timeanddate.com, “Nobody expected this.” He co-authored a 2022 study on the topic, but he admitted that no current model fully explains the phenomenon. While changes in the oceans and atmosphere may contribute to fluctuations in Earth’s spin, they likely aren’t strong enough to account for this significant acceleration. Some researchers believe that movement within Earth’s molten outer core could be influencing rotational speed.

    Scientists reassure: Leap second removal is routine and won’t impact daily life

    Despite the unusual findings, scientists are not alarmed. While it is rare for Earth’s rotation to speed up, such fluctuations are not unprecedented. Over centuries, the planet still trends toward a gradual slowdown.The potential removal of a leap second in 2029 is simply a technical correction—one that helps keep atomic clocks in sync with Earth’s rotation. It will not affect daily life, devices, or global operations. However, it is a fascinating reminder that even something as reliable as time is influenced by complex natural forces beneath our feet.Also Read | Buck Moon 2025: When and where to watch July’s Full Moon of the summer with top viewing tips


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  • New neurons form in the hippocampus even in late adulthood

    New neurons form in the hippocampus even in late adulthood

    A study in the journal Science presents compelling new evidence that neurons in the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus, continue to form well into late adulthood. The research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden provides answers to a fundamental and long-debated question about the human brain’s adaptability.

    The hippocampus is a brain region that is essential for learning and memory and involved in emotion regulation. Back in 2013, Jonas Frisén’s research group at Karolinska Institutet showed in a high-profile study that new neurons can form in the hippocampus of adult humans. The researchers then measured carbon-14 levels in DNA from brain tissue, which made it possible to determine when the cells were formed.

    Identifying cells of origin

    However, the extent and significance of this formation of new neurons (neurogenesis) are still debated. There has been no clear evidence that the cells that precede new neurons, known as neural progenitor cells, actually exist and divide in adult humans.

    “We have now been able to identify these cells of origin, which confirms that there is an ongoing formation of neurons in the hippocampus of the adult brain,” says Jonas Frisén, Professor of Stem Cell Research at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, who led the research.

    From 0 to 78 years of age

    In the new study, the researchers combined several advanced methods to examine brain tissue from people aged 0 to 78 years from several international biobanks. They used a method called single-nucleus RNA sequencing, which analyses gene activity in individual cell nuclei, and flow cytometry to study cell properties. By combining this with machine learning, they were able to identify different stages of neuronal development, from stem cells to immature neurons, many of which were in the division phase.

    To localize these cells, the researchers used two techniques that show where in the tissue different genes are active: RNAscope and Xenium. These methods confirmed that the newly formed cells were located in a specific area of the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus. This area is important for memory formation, learning and cognitive flexibility.

    Hope for new treatments

    The results show that the progenitors of adult neurons are similar to those of mice, pigs and monkeys, but that there are some differences in which genes are active. There were also large variations between individuals – some adult humans had many neural progenitor cells, others hardly any at all.

    This gives us an important piece of the puzzle in understanding how the human brain works and changes during life. Our research may also have implications for the development of regenerative treatments that stimulate neurogenesis in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.”


    Jonas Frisén, Professor of Stem Cell Research, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet

    The study was conducted in close collaboration with Ionut Dumitru, Marta Paterlini and other researchers at Karolinska Institutet, as well as researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

    The research was funded by the Swedish Research Council, the European Research Council (ERC), the Swedish Cancer Society, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the StratRegen programme, the EMBO Long-Term Fellowship, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and SciLifeLab. Jonas Frisén is a consultant for the company 10x Genomics.

    Source:

    Journal reference:

    Dumitru, I., et al. (2025). Identification of proliferating neural progenitors in the adult human hippocampus. Science. doi.org/10.1126/science.adu9575.

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  • University researchers use clay to peek at Mars’ past – The Daily Texan

    A study led by University researchers published on June 16 analyzed the clay terrains of the neighboring red planet, Mars, finding a possible history of a habitable environment. 

    The study examined Mars’ surface through NASA images and data. It found that clay formed near bodies of water and could have helped the planet with an environment where life could arise. The study also analyzed what the planet’s environment potentially looked like in the past. 

    “The takeaway of this study is sort of a fundamental re-look at how we view Mars’s history,” study lead Rhianna Moore said. “When planetary scientists think of past Mars climate, it used to have water and then it dried up on a global scale. Thinking about the planet in its entirety, this study tries to piece that part a little bit more (to) understand variations across the surface.” 

    Moore said a lack of plate tectonics prevented Mars’ environment from being stable, helping the clay preserve some history of the planet. 

    “On Earth, we have this cycle driven by plate tectonics and our oceans, and that cycle sort of keeps the climate relatively stable,”  Moore said. “When you have a stable climate and generally a relatively consistent amount of water throughout time, that will enable you to have a sustained habitable environment. (Mars) did not have large-scale tectonics like the Earth has … because of this lack of recycling of materials through tectonics, everything we are proposing gets trapped in these clays.” 

    Through this preserved clay, Moore said inferences about the planet’s environment could be made, such as areas having sustained rainfall for a long period of time and a potentially habitable environment. 

    Moore said one of the most surprising finds from the study was the presence of clay close to the Martian dichotomy, a region of the planet with sharp contrasts in altitudes. 

    “It has been proposed that there was an ancient ocean in the north,” Moore said. “The fact that these trend along that possible shoreline of an ocean was really interesting to find.”

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  • Heaviest tin isotopes provide insights into element synthesis

    Heaviest tin isotopes provide insights into element synthesis

    An international team of researchers, led by scientists of GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, Germany, has studied r-process nucleosynthesis in measurements conducted at the Canadian research center TRIUMF in Vancouver. At the center of this work are the first mass measurements of three extremely neutron-rich tin isotopes: tin-136, tin-137 and tin-138. The results are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

    Dr. Ali Mollaebrahimi inspects the MR-TOF-MS setup at TRIUMF in Canada

    © Coulter Walls

    The high-precision measurements, combined with nucleosynthesis network calculations, help to better understand how heavy elements are formed in the universe, especially through the rapid neutron capture process (the r-process) occurring in neutron star mergers. The data reveal the neutron separation energy, which defines the path of the r-process on the nuclear chart. The study found unexpected changes in the behavior of tin nuclei beyond the magic neutron number N=82, specifically, a reduction in the pairing effect of the last two neutrons.

    “These changes could affect the r-process path on the nuclear chart at large and even alter where the limit of stability in this region of the chart of nuclides lies. Combining these mass measurements, with new isotope production capabilities and cutting-edge theoretical calculations, this work improves our understanding of nuclear forces far away from the valley of stability,” explains Dr. Ali Mollaebrahimi, first author of the publication and spokesperson of the experiment. He has recently been appointed as a FAIR Fellow in the GSI/FAIR department “FRS/Super-FRS Experiments” and works closely with the departments “Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics”, as well as the IONAS group at Justus Liebig University (JLU) Giessen.

    A multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS)— developed by researchers from the IONAS group and GSI/FAIR and tailored to the specific opportunities of the TITAN facility at TRIUMF — plays a key role in the successful measurements, as well as the secondary beams that are available at TRIUMF, which provide the highest yields of exotic isotopes. A new type of reaction target was also employed.

    “This achievement marks a significant milestone made possible through long-term collaboration among scientists from several research groups in Germany and Canada,” says Dr. Timo Dickel, head of the GSI/FAIR research group “Thermalized exotic nuclei” that also Mollaebrahimi belongs to. “The MR-TOF-MS was installed and commissioned in Canada for the first experiments in 2017. In this year alone, the successful collaboration resulted in two more high-level publications on element synthesis and nuclear structure. In the past, the mass spectrometer allowed for the discovery of the isotope ytterbium-150, marking the first isotope discovery with an MR-TOF-MS.”

    The results reported in the publication mark an important contribution to the FAIR Phase 0 activities, where young researchers are trained with the future tools for experiments of the MATS and Super-FRS Experiment collaborations at the FAIR facility.

    Original publication

    A. Mollaebrahimi, C. Walls, T. Dickel, T. Miyagi, A. Sieverding, C. Andreoiu, J. Ash, B. Ashrafkhani, …; “Precision Mass Measurements Reveal Low Neutron Pairing in Tin beyond N=82 and Its Impact on Stellar Nucleosynthesis”; Physical Review Letters, Volume 134, 2025-6-10

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  • First Visual Evidence Confirms A Star Exploded Twice : ScienceAlert

    First Visual Evidence Confirms A Star Exploded Twice : ScienceAlert

    All supernovae are massively energetic stellar explosions. The classic supernovae are massive stars that explode near the end of their lives, leaving behind either a neutron star or a black hole, and a remnant made of expanding gas and dust.

    But supernovae are not all the same. Some occur in binary systems, and they’re called Type 1a supernovae. As it turns out, some of these Type 1a SNe can detonate twice.

    Astronomers working with the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) have detected patterns showing that an ancient supernova exploded twice as a Type 1a. The supernova remnant is called SNR 0509-67.5 and it’s about 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

    The discovery is explained in new research in Nature Astronomy titled “Calcium in a supernova remnant as a fingerprint of a sub-Chandrasekhar-mass explosion.” The lead author is Priyam Das, a PhD student at the University of New South Wales Canberra, in Australia.

    Related: Rare Star Doomed to Explode Finally Confirms Astronomical Prediction

    One of the stars in a Type 1a supernova is always a white dwarf. White dwarfs are the evolutionary end-states of stars that aren’t massive enough to become a neutron star or a black hole. Our own Sun will end its life as a white dwarf after it has ceased fusion.

    The white dwarf’s companion star can range from another white dwarf to a massive star. White dwarfs are extremely dense and their gravity draws gas from the companion onto the white dwarf’s surface. If enough mass accretes, the white dwarf crosses a threshold and can reignite and trigger a supernova explosion.

    However, astronomers are uncertain about some of the details surrounding these supernovae. Type 1a SNe play an important role in the galaxy by creating iron, and astronomers want to know more about them.

    “Type 1a supernovae play a fundamental role as cosmological probes of dark energy and produce more than half of the iron in our Galaxy,” the researchers write in their article.

    “Despite their central importance, a comprehensive understanding of their progenitor systems and triggering mechanism is still a long-standing fundamental problem.”

    “The explosions of white dwarfs play a crucial role in astronomy,” said lead author Das in a press release. “Yet, despite their importance, the long-standing puzzle of the exact mechanism triggering their explosion remains unsolved.”

    Astrophysicists have struggled to explain how Type 1a white dwarfs work. One popular explanation is the Chandrasekhar-mass explosion model. The Chandrasekhar limit is a mass limit for white dwarfs of about 1.4 solar masses.

    Below this limit, the white dwarfs electron degeneracy pressure supports the star against gravitational collapse. When the white dwarf breaches this mass limit by drawing matter from its companion, carbon fusion ignites across the star and it explodes as a Type 1a SN.

    As researchers have observed more and more WDs, this model has been called into question. It can’t account for the number of Type 1a SNe, and many of them appear to be exploding below the Chandrasekhar mass limit. These are sub-Chandrasekhar mass Type 1a SNe.

    A new model emerged to explain these sub-Chandrasekhar mass SNe called the double-detonation model. In this model, the WD accretes helium onto its surface until it explodes. The explosion sends shockwaves both inward and outward.

    White dwarfs have carbon-oxygen cores, and the inward-travelling shock compress that core. If the shock is powerful enough, it triggers a second detonation in the core, hence the term “double detonation.”

    Even though astrophysicists have predicted these double-detonation SNe, there was no clear visual evidence. As researchers worked on the problem, they predicted what chemical ‘fingerprint’ these SNe would leave behind. They found that two separate shells of calcium would be the result of double-detonation Type 1a SNe.

    The research team used the VLT and its Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument to examine SNR 0509-67.5 and found two distinct calcium shells. “We uncover a double-shell morphology of highly ionized calcium [Ca XV] and a single shell of sulphur [S XII], observed in the reverse shocked ejecta,” the authors write.

    Distribution of calcium in the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. The overlaid curves outline two concentric shells of calcium that were ejected in two separate detonations when the star died several hundred years ago. (ESO/P. Das et al., Nature Astronomy, 2025)

    The results show “a clear indication that white dwarfs can explode well before they reach the famous Chandrasekhar mass limit, and that the ‘double-detonation’ mechanism does indeed occur in nature,” according to research co-author Ivo Seitenzahl.

    Seitenzahl led the observations and was at Germany’s Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies when the study was conducted.

    These double-detonation Type 1a SNe explain some of the things astrophysicists have observed. They can explain the diverse brightness and spectral profiles of Type 1a SNe, and the helium burning can produce intermediate-mass elements seen in their spectral signatures. It can also explain the Type 1a SNe astronomers see with different WD masses and companion types.

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    The authors explain that a quadruple-detonation SN is also possible when a binary pair of white dwarfs merge.

    “Recent multidimensional double-detonation simulations show that, in the WD merger scenario, in addition to the primary WD undergoing a double detonation, the companion WD can also undergo a double detonation (resulting in a ‘quadruple detonation’) upon being impacted by ejecta from the exploding primary WD,” they write in their conclusion.

    “Such a double double detonation could possibly also lead to the observed double-shell structure of calcium.”

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    Type 1a SNe play important roles and a deeper understanding of these cosmic explosions will help scientists understand a couple things.

    The SNe serve as standard candles in the cosmic distance ladder and understanding them will help cosmologists understand dark energy, the mysterious force that drives the expansion of the Universe.

    They also produce a lot of the iron in the Universe. Earth’s mass is about 32% iron, and it’s unlikely that rocky planets can form without iron. Iron also transports oxygen in our blood, a critical part of our nature. Understanding where it comes from helps us understand Nature’s overall architecture.

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    They also produce a lot of the iron in the Universe. Earth’s mass is about 32% iron, and it’s unlikely that rocky planets can form without iron. Iron also transports oxygen in our blood, a critical part of our nature.

    Understanding where it comes from helps us understand nature’s overall architecture.

    This article was originally published by Universe Today. Read the original article.

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  • Meet the Goblin Prince: Newly discovered dinosaur-era lizard looks like it crawled out of a myth

    Meet the Goblin Prince: Newly discovered dinosaur-era lizard looks like it crawled out of a myth

    Image: (Natural History Museum of Utah)/ Science Alert

    Sometimes, groundbreaking scientific discoveries don’t come from deep digs in far-off deserts. Sometimes, they’re hiding in plain sight—in this case, in a tiny jar sitting in a dusty museum drawer in Utah. That’s where a new species of prehistoric armored lizard—yes, armored—was just identified, and it’s got a name straight out of Middle-earth.Meet Bolg amondol, a spiky, tank-like lizard that lived around 76 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. It was about three to four feet long, covered in body armor, and definitely not the kind of lizard you’d want to mess with. Think of it as a mini dinosaur-age monster, one that roamed ancient Utah alongside T. rex and other big-name dinos—and held its own.

    From “lizard” drawer to lizard legend

    The story of Bolg amondol started not in the field but at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where paleontologist Dr. Hank Woolley was going through drawers labeled with basic terms like “lizard.” Inside one drawer, he found a small jar filled with fossil fragments—skull pieces, limb bones, vertebrae, and those signature osteoderms (bony plates under the skin). The fossils had been sitting there for decades, unstudied and unlabeled beyond the generic tag.But once Woolley took a closer look, he realized he was holding something special. The bones were surprisingly well-preserved—enough to piece together a nearly complete picture of the animal. And it was unlike anything paleontologists had seen before.

    What kind of creature was Bolg?

    Bolg amondol wasn’t your average lizard. It belonged to a group called Monstersauria—the ancient ancestors of today’s Gila monsters and beaded lizards. These creatures weren’t massive like the dinosaurs they lived beside, but they were tough. Bolg had sharp, spiked teeth, armored skin, and a bony, ridged skull that looked like it was built for battle.Its name reflects its fierce look. “Bolg” is a nod to the goblin prince in The Hobbit, while “amondol” comes from Tolkien’s Elvish, meaning “mound head”—a reference to its thick, armored skull. Nerdy? Absolutely. Fitting? Even more so.Scientists believe Bolg was a bold little predator, probably snacking on insects, small vertebrates, and even dinosaur eggs when it could. Its armored body would have offered protection while it slinked around ancient floodplains on the hunt.

    A peek into prehistoric ecosystems

    What makes Bolg’s discovery even cooler is the context. It was found in southern Utah’s Kaiparowits Formation, a fossil hotspot that paints a detailed picture of life in Late Cretaceous North America. In the same region, scientists have uncovered several large lizards, suggesting a diverse and thriving community of mid-sized predators living alongside the giants.One of the most fascinating details? Bolg amondol has close relatives in Asia, suggesting these monstersaurs weren’t just local legends—they were international travelers. This supports the idea that, back in the day, animals could move freely between continents using land bridges that connected North America and Asia.And the fact that this amazing creature was sitting in a museum drawer for years, unnoticed? It’s a perfect reminder of just how much we still have to learn from fossils that have already been found but never fully studied.So next time you walk past a museum display or peek into an old collection, remember: the next great discovery might not require a shovel—just a closer look.


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  • your body’s hidden weight loss engine

    your body’s hidden weight loss engine




    open the door to new ways of using brown fat to fight obesity and related diseases





    (Web Desk) – Scientists have discovered a hidden switch in the body that helps special fat cells, known as brown fat, burn calories and produce heat, especially when it’s cold.

    This fat acts like a natural furnace, keeping us warm and lean by using up stored energy. The researchers found that when temperatures drop, a protein that normally blocks this process fades away, letting the fat cells kick into high gear. While it’s early days, this discovery could someday lead to new ways to boost metabolism and fight weight gain.

    Brown Fat: Nature’s Internal Heater

    Your body contains a special type of fat called brown fat, and it does something remarkable—it burns energy to generate heat. This process not only helps keep you warm but may also protect against weight gain and metabolic issues like diabetes.

    Now, an international team of researchers led by Professor Alexander Bartelt from the Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention (IPEK) has uncovered a key mechanism that boosts the activity of these fat-burning cells. Their exciting findings, published in The EMBO Journal, could open the door to new ways of using brown fat to fight obesity and related diseases.

    Cold-Driven Calorie Burning

    Brown fat becomes especially active in the cold. It pulls energy from stored fat to fuel thermogenesis, the body’s natural heat production system. According to Bartelt, people who regularly expose themselves to colder temperatures can “train” their brown fat to become more efficient. These individuals tend to be leaner and less likely to develop cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

    What makes brown fat so powerful? It’s packed with mitochondria, tiny energy factories in our cells. These mitochondria help burn fuel, but scientists are still working to understand exactly how this process can be amplified for health benefits.

    Protein Switch Unlocks Thermogenesis

    One of brown fat’s secret weapons is a molecule called uncoupling protein-1. It helps mitochondria produce heat instead of storing energy as ATP, the body’s standard energy currency. “The high metabolic activity of brown fat cells must also influence the production of ATP,” says Bartelt, “and we hypothesized that this process would be regulated by cold.”

    Together with Brazilian colleagues from São Paulo, the researchers identified “inhibitory factor 1,” which ensures that ATP production is maintained instead of thermogenesis. When temperature goes down, the levels of inhibitory factor-1 fall, and thermogenesis can take place. When artificially increased, inhibitory factor 1 disrupts the activation of brown fat in the cold.

    Awakening Dormant Heat Cells

    These findings were obtained in isolated mitochondria, cultivated cells, and an animal model. “While we have found an important piece of the puzzle for understanding thermogenesis, therapeutic applications are still a long way off,” explains Dr. Henver Brunetta, who conducted the study.

    According to the authors, most people use their brown fat too little, and it becomes dormant. The new study results indicate that there are molecular switches that allow mitochondria of brown fat cells to work better.

    Bartelt and his colleagues plan to build on this discovery. “Ideally, we’ll find new ways, based on our data, to also restore the fitness of mitochondria in white fat cells, as most people have plenty if not too many of them,” concludes Bartelt.

     

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  • Newly spotted comet is third interstellar object seen in our solar system – Science & Tech

    Newly spotted comet is third interstellar object seen in our solar system – Science & Tech

    stronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system.

    According to US space agency NASA, the interloper – named 3I/ATLAS – was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system. 

    Journeying at a speed of around 37 miles (60 km) per second from the direction of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 420 million miles (670 million kilometers) from Earth.

    “Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition,” University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday.

    The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1l/’Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019.

    “The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10 km (6.2 miles) in diameter,” Denneau said.

    “It currently has a faint coma,” Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet’s nucleus, “but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don’t know what will happen, so that’s exciting.”

    Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 150 million miles (240 million km) away, equivalent to more than 1-1/2 times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 416 million miles (670 million km) from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 130 million miles (210 million km) away from our star.

    The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth.

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  • Two ‘never seen’ stars explode into sky in extremely rare event

    Two ‘never seen’ stars explode into sky in extremely rare event



    Technology


    This is without question an extremely rare event





    (Web Desk) – Two new stars have suddenly appeared in the night sky, caused by some of the most powerful explosions in the universe.

    Two distant stellar explosions have burned so bright that we can now see them from Earth with the naked eye.

    It is the first time in recorded history that more than one of these luminous outbursts has been visible to humans at the same time, according to scientists.

    The first nova, dubbed V462 Lupi, was first spotted 12 June in the Lupus constellation.

    The distant star that existed before the dramatic transformation was 3 million times dimmer than it is now.

    Then on 25 June, astronomers detected another nova, dubbed V572 Velorum, within the Vela constellation, according to EarthSky.org.

    A classic nova – a space explosion that is shorter-lived than a supernova – typically appears in the night sky once a year at most.

    More than one of these events simultaneously are almost unheard of.

    “This is without question an extremely rare event, if not an historical one,” astronomer and author Stephen O’Meara, told Spaceweather.com.

    “I have yet to find an occurrence of two simultaneous nova appearing at the same time.”

    The last time we came close to simultaneous novas visible to the naked eye was in 1936 – but both V630 Sgr and V368 Aql were still weeks apart.

    O’Meara, who has been trawling historical records for similar events, added: “They were not at maximum brightness at the same time.”

    V572 Velorum shines with brilliant blue-white light, while V462 Lupi has a purple hue, according to Live Science.

    Eventually, the stars will turn red before disappearing, as the longer blue-colored wavelengths of light fade first.

    V462 Lupi’s brightness peaked on 20 June, at a magnitude of +5.5 – which is how the brightness of stars is measured.

    That would make it dimmer than Polaris and Sirius, the brightest stars in the sky.

    Since then, the star has weakened slightly but remains above the +6 magnitude threshold, which means it is detectable by the naked eye.

    V572 Velorum is brighter, peaking at +4.8 on 27 June.

    Both the Lupus and Vela constellations are in the southern sky – which means they are below the horizon in the UK but visible in some parts of North America, including Mexico, California and Texas. 

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  • Largest Mars Rock on Earth Could Sell For US$4 Million : ScienceAlert

    Largest Mars Rock on Earth Could Sell For US$4 Million : ScienceAlert

    The most massive chunk of Mars ever found on Earth could sell for up to US$4 million in a Sotheby’s auction later this month.

    Believed to be the largest individual Martian rock recovered so far, the meteorite (officially named NWA-16788) weighs in at 24.67 kilograms (54.39 pounds). That’s about 70 percent larger than the previous record-holder, Taoudenni 002, a meteorite found in Mali back in 2021 that weighed 14.51 kg.

    A meteorite hunter came across NWA-16788 in November 2023, in the sparsely populated Agadez region of Niger, which is far better known for its dinosaur fossils than its meteorites. The Shanghai Astronomy Museum confirmed the rock’s Martian identity based on a small sample sent there, and now this interplanetary treasure has a price tag, too.

    Related: Man Keeps a Rock For Years Hoping It’s Gold. It Turns Out to Be Far More Valuable.

    The meteorite “shows minimal terrestrial weathering, indicating that its physical and chemical makeup have not been significantly altered since its arrival in the Sahara Desert,” the Sotheby’s listing explains.

    “In other words, NWA-16788 is likely a relative newcomer here on Earth, having fallen from outer space rather recently.”

    Does your rock collection need an upgrade? (Sotheby’s)

    Based on the high percentage of a glass called maskelynite, and a few shock-melted areas, we know that this rock was probably sent flying when a severe asteroid crashed into its home planet.

    The Sotheby’s listing states the meteorite was “formed from the slow cooling of Martian magma and [is] characterized by a coarse-grained texture composed primarily of pyroxene, maskelynite, and olivine.”

    Some scientists question whether such a rare specimen should be up for sale.

    “It would be a shame if it disappeared into the vault of an oligarch,” paleontologist Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh told Jack Guy at CNN. “It belongs in a museum, where it can be studied, and where it can be enjoyed by children and families and the public at large.”

    But planetary scientist Julia Cartwright from the University of Leicester gave CNN a different opinion: “The scientific interest will remain, and the new owner may be very interested in learning from it, so we may still gather lots of science from this.”

    The Sotheby’s auction will begin on July 16 at 14:00 UTC.

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