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Exploring space has opened our eyes to many wonders, but these cosmic feats have not come without challenges.
Each SpaceX Starship launch from South Texas creates a stunning spectacle, providing a glimpse of maneuvers that could one day be used to transport humans to Mars.
But also the most powerful rocket ever built triggers a heartbreaking sonic boom when its Super Heavy rocket booster returns for a landing.
Now, with more launches on the horizon, new research suggests noise could lead to problems, including environmental hazards and potential hearing damage.
Meanwhile, a massive fragment of a crashed space object on Earth in a remote village in Kenya.
Space debris is just one of many pieces that have fallen back onto the planet. However, experts are more concerned about the growing number of objects circulating in our world.
Tens of thousands of identifiable people pieces of space junk orbit Earth, along with potentially millions more that cannot be seen or tracked. These wandering objects pose a risk to astronauts, satellites and other space technologies that we rely on for the Internet and other services.
“The number of objects into space that we have launched over the last four years has increased exponentially,” said Dr. Vishnu Reddy, a professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “So we are heading towards the situation we always fear. »
The scenario in which space debris collides and creates more debrisis called Kessler syndrome. Ultimately, proliferation could make Earth’s orbit too obstructed for satellites to orbit or space missions to launch.
Although we may not be in dire straits yet, space traffic needs to be addressed as soon as possible, experts say.
Scientists studying comb jellies, one of the oldest animals on Earth, have discovered that individuals have the ability to merge their bodies, as well as their nervous and digestive systems, to form a single organism.
Injured comb jellies could merge and move as a unit, biologists found.
Time-lapse imaging of the melting process showed how quickly the jellies were capable of synchronize their muscle movements and become one.
According to the researchers, this pairing, which gives rise to a single animal with several sensory organs, could constitute a survival mechanism.
Researchers have finally identified the location of a “mystery volcano” that erupted so violently that it cooled Earth’s climate in 1831.
The eruption, the most powerful of the 19th century, released so much sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere that average annual temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere fell about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
An in-depth study of ice cores taken in Greenland allowed researchers to go back in time and isolate shards of volcanic glass deposited almost 200 years ago.
Analyzing and mapping the likely trajectory of the particles helped scientists zero in on the problem. Zavaritskii volcano on the remote and uninhabited island of Simushirwhich is part of the Kuril Islands archipelago disputed by Russia and Japan.
A devastating heat wave caused the worst documented single species mortality event in modern historyand birds affected by disaster do not bounce back, according to a recent study.
The marine heatwave, known as “The Blob,” stretched across the ocean from California to the Gulf of Alaska between 2014 and 2016. Rising temperatures killed an estimated 4 million common murres in Alaska, which represents half of the state’s population. seabirds. Birds play a vital role as predators in the marine food chain.
“There are about 8 million people in New York, so it would be like losing half the population … in just one winter,” said Brie Drummond, a wildlife biologist at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge .
A little seahorse relative, an adventurous butterfly and a Vegetarian Piranha Named After a ‘Lord of the Rings’ Villain are just some of the hundreds of previously unknown species predicted by scientists in 2024.
Scientific divers had the opportunity to explore South African reefs, where they spotted a pygmy bagpipe horse. The golf tee-sized species was found camouflaged near some sponges, expanding the creature’s known range from the waters of New Zealand’s North Island to the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, a moth found its way into the boot of a photographer, who had accidentally carried the insect from South America to her home in Wales. Her daughter, conservationist Daisy Cadet, spotted the unusual butterfly as it flew around the house and went to the Natural History Museum in London.
Catch up on what you may have missed:
— Mark your calendars! Here are the key dates for “Blood” moons, eclipses and meteor showers which will light up the night sky all year round.
— Microplastics have been discovered from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest ocean trenches. Today, Chinese scientists may have developed a solution to rid ecosystems of this threat: biodegradable sponges made from squid bones and cotton.
— A homeowner in Orange County, New York discovered a complete mastodon jaw while doing gardening work.
Do you like what you read? Oh, but there’s more. Register here to get the next edition of Wonder Theory delivered to your inbox, brought to you by the editors of CNN Space and Science Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt And Jackie Wattles. They marvel at the planets beyond our solar system and at the discoveries of the ancient world.