Archivo: Science Alert
JWST Gives Us Our Best Look Yet at Earth-Sized Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1b
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal that the innermost world of the TRAPPIST-1 system, an exoplanet named TRAPPIST-1b with 1.4 times the mass and 1.1 times the radius of Earth, reaches a sizzling 230 degrees Celsius (446 degrees Fahrenheit), and is unlikely to have an atmosphere wrapped around its rocky body.
NASA Is Tracking a Huge, Growing Anomaly in Earth’s Magnetic Field
NASA is actively monitoring a strange anomaly in Earth’s magnetic field: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa.
Terminator Zones on Harsh Planets May Sustain Life in an Endless Twilight
Earth, currently, is our only blueprint for planetary habitability. There may be life elsewhere out there in the big, wide galaxy, but ours is the only world on which we know, for a certainty, that it has emerged.
Scientists Identify Chemical Reaction That May Have Triggered Life on Earth
There was a critical point early in Earth’s history when chemical reactions among the mix of organic molecules began to be powered from within, forming something we might start to think of as biological.
Weird Lifeform From 500 Million Years Ago Wasn’t an Animal at All
We’ve got a curious case of mistaken identity to report. Fossils previously believed to have been left by prehistoric tentacle-bearing aquatic invertebrates called Bryozoans may in fact have been created by a different source: seaweed.
Depressive Symptoms And Memory Loss in Older Adults Linked to Telomere Shortening
There’s a tiny, slow-burning ‘fuse’ attached to the ends of all our chromosomes, and as we naturally age, each of our cells loses more and more of that life-giving line.
How Did Birds Get Wings? We May Have Found The ‘Missing Link’ in Dinosaur Fossils
Dinosaur fossils featuring arms with a suspect bend at the elbow and wrist could hint at the presence of an unpreserved tendon that underpins all modern avian flight.
After a 20-Year Search, Scientists Have Finally Found Earth’s True Innermost Core
A new analysis of Earth’s innards suggests the presence of an inner core within the inner core – a dense ball of iron at the very center of our planet.
A Giant Planet Seems to Be Lurking Somewhere in Our Solar System
The discovery of some of these dwarf planets has given us reason to believe something else might be lurking in the outskirts of the Solar System.
Packing Aerogel With Uranium Could Give Us The Space Engine We’ve Been Looking For
Novel propulsion ideas for moving around space seem like they’re a dime a dozen recently. Besides the typical argument between solar sails and chemical propulsion lies a potential third way – a nuclear rocket engine.