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Events in space do not often unfold as they do in the movies.
But a spaceship trip can provide inspiring sights and surprising moments that are more impressive than fiction.
SpaceX rolled out its mega moon rocket and Starship capsule on the launch pad this week for its fourth test flight, and the show did not disappoint.
The uncrewed Starship capsule went into orbit before making a controlled re-entry and sending its heat shield through the blistering temperatures of Earth’s atmosphere. Eventually, the rugged craft made its expected landing stream and entered the Indian Ocean.
The milestones achieved during the flight show the eventual reusability of Starship, which will come in handy as the SpaceX team hopes to send their vehicle on trips to the moon, Mars and beyond.
Meanwhile, SpaceX’s competitor Boeing made a historic breakthrough during the first crewed flight of its Starliner spacecraft.
Defying gravity
After liftoff on Wednesday, Starliner and its first human crew set a course for the International Space Station.
But the flight was not without issues, including helium leaks and thruster failures.
After working through potential mission control hurdles, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams received a warm welcome from the station’s board Thursday afternoon. Now, the astronaut duo will spend the next eight days or so on the station.
“We’re as happy as we can be up in space,” Williams said. “It doesn’t get much better.”
Inquiries
A collection of ancient rock carvings found throughout Venezuela and Colombia are giant snake motifs believed to be the largest ever discovered.
Researchers suggest that the monumental works, which include human figures, geometric shapes and also birds, are the boundary markers of the territories where the engravers lived.
One of the snake carvings is about 138 feet (42 meters) long, and may be the largest single rock carving recorded in the world, according to the researchers.
“One could be a warning sign – you’re in our backyard, you better behave. The other could be a sign of recognition – you’re in our backyard, you’re among friends,” said lead study author Dr. Philip Riris, senior lecturer at Bournemouth University in England.
“But I don’t think they had a single purpose, so they could easily be both.”
Dino-mite!
A family trip through the North Dakota Badlands in 2022 yielded a remarkable scientific discovery — and soon, a rare dinosaur find will be on display at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
Sam Fisher, his sons Jessin and Liam, aged 10 and 7, and their cousin Kaiden Madsen, aged 9, saw what appeared to be a dinosaur foot sticking out of a rock, so they went they consult with a researcher at the museum.
An initial dig suggests it is a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, and the fossil will go on display at the museum starting June 21.
Experts at the museum will determine the true nature of the fossil as they clean it up, and the public can watch the entire process in real time.
Once upon a planet
Geologists have uncovered the first evidence of fresh water on Earth locked within ancient crystal grains dating back around 4 billion years, much older than previously thought.
Researchers previously thought that the Earth was completely covered in global oceans at that time, rather than having dry land.
A new study suggests that the Earth’s water cycle was already in place at that time.
The result means, from a geological point of view, that the recipe for the beginning of life was there not long after our world was formed.
Amazing creatures
About 50,000 years ago, giant “thunderbirds” that were taller than humans and weighed hundreds of pounds lived in the forests and grasslands of Australia.
But these flightless birds, called mihirungs, have been hard to find in the fossil record — until now.
When the researchers uncovered a skull belonging to the species, known as Genyornis newtoni, they attempted to create a digital reconstruction of the creature.
The final product revealed that the giant thunderbird had a face not unlike an odd goose with powerful muscular jaws.
Explorations
Go on a journey of curiosity with these stories:
— Engineers have settled on a new plan that will enable NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to continue making mind-boggling observations of the cosmos after the observatory went into “safe mode” several times this year.
— The world’s largest collection of fossils is now on view at the Poozeum in Williams, Arizona, where visitors can “get direct insights into the diets, behaviors and environments of ancient creatures,” said owner George Frandsen.
— An intricately decorated blue room is the latest discovery at the archaeological site of Pompeii, which researchers believe is an ancient Roman shrine.
– Botanists have discovered that the cells of a tiny fern contain more than 50 times as much DNA as those of humans, making it the largest known genome, according to new research.
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