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Categories: Geoscience: Landslides, Offbeat: Space
Published Astronomers witness the birth of a very distant cluster of galaxies from the early Universe



Astronomers have discovered a large reservoir of hot gas in the still-forming galaxy cluster around the Spiderweb galaxy -- the most distant detection of such hot gas yet. Galaxy clusters are some of the largest objects known in the Universe and this result further reveals just how early these structures begin to form.
Published Brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed reveals new mysteries of cosmic explosions


Scientists believe the gamma-ray emission, which lasted over 300 seconds, is the birth cry of a black hole, formed as the core of a massive and rapidly spinning star collapses under its own weight.
Published Redness of Neptunian asteroids sheds light on early Solar System


Asteroids sharing their orbits with the planet Neptune have been observed to exist in a broad spectrum of red color, implying the existence of two populations of asteroids in the region, according to a new study by an international team of researchers.
Published Some coastal salt marshes are keeping up with sea level rise -- for now


The world's salty, tidal marshes are hotspots of carbon storage and productivity, building up sediments and plant material to stay above sea level. However, as sea level rises at an increasing rate, scientists debate whether it's possible for wetlands to win the race. New research reveals how salt marshes along the U.S. East Coast have responded to accelerating sea level rise by building elevation more quickly to keep pace with the sea over the last century.
Published Temperature of a rocky exoplanet measured


An international team of researchers has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to measure the temperature of the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b. The measurement is based on the planet's thermal emission: heat energy given off in the form of infrared light detected by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). The result indicates that the planet's dayside has a temperature of about 500 kelvins (roughly 450 degrees Fahrenheit) and suggests that it has no significant atmosphere.
Published Artificial intelligence discovers secret equation for 'weighing' galaxy clusters


Astrophysicists have leveraged artificial intelligence to uncover a better way to estimate the mass of colossal clusters of galaxies. The AI discovered that by just adding a simple term to an existing equation, scientists can produce far better mass estimates than they previously had. The improved estimates will enable scientists to calculate the fundamental properties of the universe more accurately, the astrophysicists have reported.
Published Surprisingly simple explanation for the alien comet 'Oumuamua's weird orbit


When the first interstellar comet ever seen in our solar system was discovered in 2017, one characteristic -- an unexplained acceleration away from the sun -- sparked wild speculation, including that it was an alien spacecraft. An astrochemist found a simpler explanation and tested it with an astronomer: in interstellar space, cosmic rays converted water to hydrogen in the comet's outer layers. Nearing the sun, outgassed hydrogen gave the tiny comet a kick.
Published Searching for life with space dust


Following enormous collisions, such as asteroid impacts, some amount of material from an impacted world may be ejected into space. This material can travel vast distances and for extremely long periods of time. In theory this material could contain direct or indirect signs of life from the host world, such as fossils of microorganisms. And this material could be detectable by humans in the near future, or even now.
Published Hunting Venus 2.0: Scientists sharpen their sights


With the first paper compiling all known information about planets like Venus beyond our solar system, scientists are the closest they've ever been to finding an analog of Earth's 'twin.'
Published Uracil found in Ryugu samples


Samples from the asteroid Ryugu collected by the Hayabusa2 mission contain nitrogenous organic compounds, including the nucleobase uracil, which is a part of RNA.
Published Scientists find a common thread linking subatomic color glass condensate and massive black holes


Atomic nuclei accelerated close to the speed of light become dense walls of gluons known as color glass condensate (CGC). Recent analysis shows that CGC shares features with black holes, enormous conglomerates of gravitons that exert gravitational force across the universe. Both gluons in CGC and gravitons in black holes are organized in the most efficient manner possible for each system's energy and size.
Published 'Terminator zones' on distant planets could harbor life


In a new study, astronomers describe how extraterrestrial life has the potential to exist on distant exoplanets inside a special area called the 'terminator zone,' which is a ring on planets that have one side that always faces its star and one side that is always dark.
Published Evidence that Venus is volcanically active


Venus appears to have volcanic activity, according to a new research paper that offers strong evidence to answer the lingering question about whether Earth's sister planet currently has eruptions and lava flows.
Published East Coast, US, landslide impacts from Puerto Rico to Vermont and in between


In the U.S., we may often think of landslides as primarily a West Coast problem, mostly plaguing the mountainous terrain of California, Oregon, and Washington. New research highlights the major impacts of landslides on the U.S. East Coast and what is being done to save lives and deal with the damages.
Published Remains of a modern glacier found near Mars' equator implies water ice possibly present at low latitudes on Mars even today


Scientists revealed the discovery of a relict glacier near Mars' equator. Located in Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus at coordinates 7° 33' S, 93° 14' W, this finding is significant as it implies the presence of surface water ice on Mars in recent times, even near the equator. This discovery raises the possibility that ice may still exist at shallow depths in the area, which could have significant implications for future human exploration.
Published Mix-and-match kit could enable astronauts to build a menagerie of lunar exploration bots


The Walking Oligomeric Robotic Mobility System, or WORMS, is a reconfigurable, modular, multiagent robotics architecture for extreme lunar terrain mobility. The system could be used to assemble autonomous worm-like parts into larger biomimetic robots that could explore lava tubes, steep slopes, and the moon's permanently shadowed regions.
Published Spatial patterns in distribution of galaxies


In an unlikely pairing, a chemist and an astrophysicist applied the tools of statistical mechanics to find similarities in spatial patterns across length scales.
Published ALMA traces history of water in planet formation back to the interstellar medium


Observations of water in the disk forming around protostar V883 Ori have unlocked clues about the formation of comets and planetesimals in our own solar system.
Published The planet that could end life on Earth


A terrestrial planet hovering between Mars and Jupiter would be able to push Earth out of the solar system and wipe out life on this planet, according to a recent experiment.
Published Can artificial intelligence help find life on Mars or icy worlds?


Researchers have mapped the sparse life hidden away in salt domes, rocks and crystals at Salar de Pajonales at the boundary of the Chilean Atacama Desert and Altiplano. Then they trained a machine learning model to recognize the patterns and rules associated with their distributions so it could learn to predict and find those same distributions in data on which it was not trained. In this case, by combining statistical ecology with AI/ML, the scientists could locate and detect biosignatures up to 87.5 percent of the time and decrease the area needed for search by up to 97 percent.