The boundary zone between Earth’s molten metal core and the mantle, its rocky middle layer, might be a diamond factory. A new laboratory experiment finds that, under extreme temperatures and pressures, the combination of iron, carbon and water — all potential ingredients found at the core-mantle boundary — can form diamond. If this process also … Read more
In 1859, British astronomer Richard Carrington saw a blast of white light on the surface of the sun. This was the Carrington Event, as scientists now call it, and it is the largest recorded solar storm ever recorded. It was linked with extraordinary auroras — the Northern and Southern Lights — that were visible in … Read more
A new image captured by NASA’s Juno Jupiter explorer reveals features in the turbulent atmosphere of the solar system’s largest planet in the same colors a human observer would see them. Juno(opens in new tab) took the image on July 5, 2022, during its 43rd close flyby of Jupiter(opens in new tab) using its JunoCam instrument. The spacecraft … Read more
As a boy, Shuhei Komatsu loved Star Wars movies, especially the lightning-fast land speeders. So when he grew up, he decided to make one of his own, he said. “I wanted to make something from the movie real,” Komatsu said. “It’s a land speeder for the Dark Side.” On Wednesday, he and his AERWINS Technologies … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope captured mysterious concentric rings around a distant star that astronomers are still working to explain. The image, taken in July, was released on Twitter (opens in new tab) by citizen scientist Judy Schmidt, prompting a torrent of comments and head-scratching. It shows a star (opens in new tab) known as … Read more
How far would you go to increase your life span by 500%? One ant species engages in brutal colony-wide brawls to replace recently deceased queens — and the victor not only gains the throne, but also gets a dramatic boost to their longevity. Upon the death of a queen, Indian jumping ants (Harpegnathos saltator) battle … Read more
A mysterious ancient writing system called Linear Elamite, used between about 2300 B.C. and 1800 B.C. in what is now southern Iran, might have finally been deciphered, although some experts are skeptical about the findings. What’s more, it’s unclear whether all the artifacts used to decipher the writings were legally acquired. Only about 40 known … Read more
The Denisovans, together with the Neanderthals, are the closest extinct relatives of modern humans. It wasn’t until 2010 that scientists announced that the they existed, so much about them remains unknown. However, fossil and genetic evidence suggests the Denisovans lived across a wide range of areas and conditions, from the cold mountains of Siberia and … Read more
In Liu Cixin’s short story “The Wandering Earth (opens in new tab)” (first published in Chinese magazine Science Fiction World in July 2000), Cixin portrays a scenario in which the planet’s leaders agree to propel Earth out of the solar system to escape an imminent solar flare that is expected to decimate all of the … Read more
Somewhere out there, there’s probably a person who has your face. And this unrelated look-alike may have more in common with you than appearances, a new study suggests. The surprising research, based on 32 pairs of unrelated doppelgängers from around the world, shows that two people who have a strong facial similarity to each other … Read more
