Could the asteroid Ryugu be a remnant of an extinct comet?
Asteroids hold many clues about the formation and evolution of planets and their satellites. Understanding their history can, therefore, reveal much about our solar system. While observations made from a distance using electromagnetic waves and teles.....»»
10 years preparing for "Armageddon"
It's a scenario made famous by the 1998 film "Armageddon": an asteroid is spotted on a collision course with Earth, and experts scramble to plan a space mission to rendezvous with the asteroid and mitigate the danger. It's classic science fiction, bu.....»»
Asteroid that impacted near Berlin identified as a rare aubrite
An official classification now aligns with what many suspected from merely looking at the images of the strange meteorites that fell near Berlin on January 21, 2024. They belong to a rare group called "aubrites.".....»»
Asteroid making its closest approach to Earth this week
On 4 February, asteroid 2011 MD will make its closest approach to the Earth. Though it will not be visible with the naked eye, the asteroid will pass 15,000,000 km away from Earth—much closer than those in the asteroid belt and less than 10% of the.....»»
Skyscraper-size asteroid will buzz Earth on Friday, safely passing within 1.7 million miles
An asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday......»»
St. Louis Zoo helps oryx species come back from near-extinction
The status of one species has gone from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered," thanks in part to the efforts of the St. Louis Zoo. The scimitar-horned oryx, a member of the antelope family, had stopped existing in its native habitat as of 1991, accor.....»»
Cognitive archaeology and the psychological assessment of extinct minds
This week, Emiliano Bruner, a paleoneurologist at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), has published a wide-ranging review in the Journal of Comparative Neurology that describes the relationship between fossils a.....»»
Endangered seabird shows surprising individual flexibility to adapt to climate change
How individual animals respond to climate change is key to whether populations will persist or go extinct. Many species are shifting their ranges as the environment warms, but up to now the mechanisms underlying this have been unclear. For Europe's m.....»»
A rhino got pregnant from embryo transfer, in a success that may help nearly extinct subspecies
Researchers say a rhinoceros was impregnated through embryo transfer in the first successful use of a method that they say might later make it possible to save the nearly extinct northern white rhino subspecies......»»
NASA"s Lucy ready for 2024 mission milestones
After its successful first asteroid encounter in 2023, NASA's Lucy mission has its sights firmly set on its main targets, the never-before-explored Jupiter Trojan asteroids. In 2024, the Lucy spacecraft will transition from its current orbit around t.....»»
NASA automated system predicts asteroid impact over Germany
NASA recently predicted the impact of a small asteroid which burned up in the atmosphere over Germany, using its impact prediction system, Scout......»»
"Hell chicken" species suggests dinosaurs weren"t sliding toward extinction before the fateful asteroid hit
Were dinosaurs already on their way out when an asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago, ending the Cretaceous, the geologic period that started about 145 million years ago? It's a question that has vexed paleontologists like us for more than 40 year.....»»
IVF breakthrough could revive nearly extinct rhino species
Scientists have carried out the first successful in vitro fertilization of a southern white rhino, a major breakthrough that could pave the way to saving its highly endangered northern cousin......»»
Ancient brown bear genomes shed light on Ice Age losses and survival
The brown bear is one of the largest living terrestrial carnivores, and is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. Unlike many other large carnivores that went extinct at the end of the last Ice Age (cave bear, sabretoothed cats, cave hyen.....»»
The Megalodon was more slender than depicted in movies, study shows
A new study shows the Megalodon, a gigantic shark that went extinct 3.6 million years ago, was more slender than earlier studies suggested. This finding changes scientists' understanding of Megalodon behavior, ancient ocean life, and why the sharks w.....»»
Daily Telescope: A beautiful supernova remnant from an uncertain age
Sometimes astronomy can be a bit imprecise. Enlarge / Behold, the Jellyfish Nebula. (credit: Hamza Syed) Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little.....»»
The largest great ape to ever live went extinct because of climate change, study finds
An ancient species of great ape was likely driven to extinction hundreds of thousands of years ago when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists reported Wednesday......»»
NASA cracks open its first sample from an asteroid, foiling two sticky screws
NASA returned its first sample of an asteroid to Earth last year, but getting at the full sample proved difficult due to a couple of troublesome fasteners......»»
Were California"s grizzlies really ravenous meat eaters? Not so much, new report shows
Forget what you were taught in elementary school about the supposed ravenous meat-eating grizzly bear: New research has found that California's extinct bear was actually more of a vegetarian......»»
NASA"s OSIRIS-REx team clears hurdle to access remaining Bennu sample
Curation team members at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston have successfully removed the two fasteners from the sampler head that had prevented the remainder of OSIRIS-REx's asteroid Bennu sample material from being accessed......»»
Centaurs gain comet-like characteristics through close encounters with Jupiter, Saturn
A rapid reshaping of orbits resulting from a close encounter with Jupiter or Saturn can lead Centaurs to exhibit comet-like activity, according to a Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Eva Lilly paper......»»