Afleveringen
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SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to transport two private lunar landers, one by Japan's ispace and the other by U.S.-based Firefly Aerospace, to the Moon in January 2025.
Japan's ispace announced on December 17 that its second lunar lander, Resilience, will share the Falcon 9 launch with Blue Ghost, a lander developed by Firefly Aerospace. The rocket is expected to launch from Florida as early as mid-January 2025.
In its first attempt in April 2023, ispace's Hakuto-R lander, weighing 1,000 kg, failed to land on the Moon due to a height sensor error caused by a crater. For its second mission, ispace has upgraded the design for Resilience, which aims to land at Mare Frigoris (the Sea of Cold), a basaltic plain located at 60.5° north of the Moon's equator. -
American scientists have declared the successful eradication of the Asian giant hornet, marking a rare victory in the battle against invasive insects.
The Asian giant hornet, the world’s largest hornet species, is infamously nicknamed the "murder hornet" due to its dangerous sting and ability to destroy entire honeybee colonies in mere hours. The U.S. announced the eradication of the species five years after its first discovery in Washington state near the Canadian border—a "rare triumph" against invasive insects, according to The Independent.
On December 18, Washington state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that no sightings of the invasive hornets have occurred in Washington since 2021. This success was largely due to local residents who agreed to set traps on their properties and report sightings. Researchers captured a live hornet, attached a miniature radio tracker, and followed it through dense forests to a nest in an alder tree. The nest was destroyed before new queens could disperse. -
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For the first time, experts have closely monitored a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) at Catalina Lake, revealing immense potential for green energy harnessing.Between September 23 and October 11, more than 3 trillion liters of water were released from Catalina Lake in East Greenland, according to IFL Science on December 18. This marks the first instance where scientists have meticulously observed such an event, yielding valuable insights into how floods cause damage in other parts of the world.Catalina is a glacial lake nestled in a valley dammed by the Edward Bailey Glacier. Water had been accumulating in the lake for over two decades but recently reached a critical threshold, lifting the glacier and creating a natural 25-kilometer-long ice tunnel. This tunnel funneled an enormous amount of water from the lake into Scoresby Sound, the world’s largest fjord, causing the water level in Catalina Lake to plummet by 154 meters.
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Between 2014 and 2016, an estimated 4 million common murres (Uria aalge) disappeared in Alaska, a devastating event that scientists now consider the largest single-species mass mortality ever recorded. This catastrophic loss was linked to "The Blob," a vast expanse of unusually warm water in the North Pacific that wreaked havoc on marine ecosystems, according to a study published in Science.Common murres, known for their dense, noisy colonies along rocky cliffs, were once a thriving species in Alaska. However, their numbers plummeted dramatically during the two years The Blob persisted, disrupting food chains and marine habitats. By late 2016, over 62,000 murre carcasses had washed ashore along the Gulf of Alaska. Scientists believe this grim count is just the tip of the iceberg, as most of the birds likely perished at sea and were never recovered.The Blob, which emerged in 2014, stretched from the eastern Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska. This enormous warm-water anomaly severely depleted marine food supplies, particularly small fish and plankton that murres rely on for survival. As a result, many murres starved, and those that survived were too malnourished to reproduce effectively, leading to a catastrophic collapse in their population.
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The Sohar Max, a 400,000-ton Very Large Ore Carrier (VLOC), has become the largest ship ever fitted with wind-assisted propulsion technology. According to Interesting Engineering, five rotor sails were installed on the ship by Anemoi Marine Technologies, a UK-based wind propulsion system provider. These massive rotor sails, each measuring 4.9 meters in diameter and 34.7 meters tall, were fitted on the Sohar Max's deck at COSCO Zhoushan shipyard in China in October 2024.The installation includes custom-designed foldable deployment systems that allow the sails to retract vertically, minimizing interference with cargo operations. Thanks to these rotor sails, Sohar Max is now capable of reducing its energy consumption by up to 6% and cutting annual carbon emissions by 3,000 tons. The ship recently completed a voyage to Tubarão, Brazil, and is now undergoing testing of the rotor sail system.
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The International Space Station (ISS), weighing as much as 77 elephants, orbits Earth at an incredible speed of 8 km/s—fast enough to travel from Atlanta to London in just 14 minutes. While meteoroids burn up as they pass through Earth's atmosphere, the ISS remains intact, circling the planet for decades. Why doesn’t it face the same fiery fate?To understand this, let’s first explore why meteoroids ignite. These space rocks travel at speeds of 12–40 km/s, enough to traverse the U.S. in five minutes. When a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it interacts with air particles, predominantly nitrogen and oxygen.Even at high altitudes where the air is thinner, meteoroids collide with these particles at incredible speeds, compressing them and generating immense pressure and heat. This process causes the meteoroid’s surface to crack and disintegrate, creating the fiery streaks we see in the sky. Most meteoroids burn up in the mesosphere, located 48–80 km above Earth.
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Two Shenzhou 19 astronauts from China have set a new record for the longest spacewalk, surpassing NASA's previous benchmark by more than 10 minutes.
Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong conducted a 9-hour, 6-minute extravehicular activity (EVA) outside the Tiangong space station from late December 16 to the morning of December 17, as announced by the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO). This achievement broke the 8-hour, 56-minute EVA record set in March 2001 by NASA astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms outside the International Space Station (ISS).
During the spacewalk, Cai and Song completed multiple tasks, including installing debris protection equipment, inspecting and discarding external hardware, and other critical maintenance work. Their efforts were closely coordinated with astronaut Wang Haoze, who stayed inside the station, the robotic arm of Tiangong, and ground-based mission control teams. Song, aged 34, also made history as the first Chinese astronaut born in the 1990s to perform an EVA. -
Two astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June will remain in orbit until March 2025, one month later than planned, as they await a "rescue" spacecraft.
NASA announced on December 17 that the next ISS crew rotation, Crew-10, is now scheduled for late March 2025. This mission will bring new astronauts to the station, allowing the current crew to transfer duties before returning to Earth.
Crew-10 will include NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. After their arrival, the current crew—NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—will begin preparations for their return journey. -
The world’s largest iceberg is once again on the move, drifting through the Southern Ocean after months of being trapped and spinning in place.Spanning an impressive 3,672 square kilometers (1,418 square miles) as of August—slightly larger than Rhode Island—iceberg A23a has been closely monitored by scientists since it broke away from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986. For over 30 years, it remained stuck in the Weddell Sea’s shallow seabed until shrinking sufficiently to escape, according to CNN. It was then carried by ocean currents before becoming trapped again in the Taylor column—a swirling vortex created by currents colliding with an underwater mountain.
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Henry, the world’s oldest known crocodile, celebrated his 124th birthday on December 16 at Crocworld Conservation Centre in South Africa.This Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) has lived at Crocworld since 1985 but was originally captured in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, in 1903. As one of the senior residents at the center, Henry has fathered over 10,000 offspring with multiple mates during his nearly four decades there. While his exact birthdate remains unclear, Crocworld estimates he was born around 1900 and marks his birthday annually on December 16.
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After successful tests with its massive Super Heavy booster, SpaceX is now focusing on testing the Starship spacecraft in preparation for its seventh launch attempt, scheduled for early January 2025.
Following a recent static fire test of the Super Heavy booster on the first stage of the system, SpaceX is shifting its focus to the upper stage, Starship. "Starship is ready for pre-flight testing ahead of its 7th flight," SpaceX announced, sharing images of the spacecraft being moved to the test site at the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas. -
The sailfish is often crowned the fastest fish in the ocean, but its title is under threat from the impressive bluefin tuna.
Billfish, a group of marine predators with sharp, elongated snouts, are considered some of the most agile swimmers in the sea. Among them, the sailfish (Istiophorus) is renowned for its extraordinary speed. However, the bluefin tuna poses a serious challenge to this oceanic title, according to IFL Science.
Sailfish are well-adapted for high-speed chases to hunt prey. Reaching up to 3 meters in length, they are members of the Istiophoridae family, easily recognizable by their large, sail-like dorsal fins. There are two species of sailfish: the Atlantic sailfish (I. albicans) and the Indo-Pacific sailfish (I. platypterus).
While the sailfish is often celebrated as the fastest marine animal, modern research suggests its legendary speeds may have been overestimated. In the 1940s, scientists claimed the sailfish could swim at 30 meters per second—equivalent to 108 km/h. However, a 2015 study recalculated this figure, showing a more realistic top speed of about 10 meters per second, or 36 km/h. -
Welcome to Science News, where we dive into the natural world’s most pressing stories. Today, we explore a serious challenge faced by the bluefin tuna, one of the ocean’s most iconic species and the world’s most expensive fish.
In 2019, a single bluefin tuna weighing 278 kilograms—about the size of a North American grizzly bear—sold for a record-breaking $3.1 million at a Tokyo auction. This astonishing price reflects its prized status, particularly in sushi and sashimi dishes, according to Sarah Glaser from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Bluefin tuna are among the most commercially valuable fish on the planet. Their exceptional value once led to rampant overfishing, pushing them to the brink of extinction in 2010. Since then, sustainable fishing quotas and stricter enforcement have allowed populations to recover significantly. The Atlantic bluefin tuna, for example, moved from “endangered” to “least concern” on the IUCN Red List by 2021, while the Pacific bluefin population rebounded a decade ahead of international targets. -
Welcome to Science News, where we uncover fascinating natural phenomena. Today’s episode explores one of nature’s most curious abilities: how many times can a lizard regrow its tail? And why do we sometimes see lizards with multiple tails?
Lizards are incredible creatures with features that many animals could envy. Some species can climb walls; others are masters of camouflage. But their most famous survival trick is tail autotomy—shedding their tail to escape predators and then regrowing a new one. While this ability is well known, scientists have long wondered: is there a limit to how many times this can happen?
According to Dr. Damian Lettoof from Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, the answer is surprisingly complex.
“When a lizard’s original bony tail breaks at a specific fracture plane, a hard cartilage rod replaces it during regeneration,” explains Lettoof. “If the regenerated tail breaks again, further regeneration is far less likely, though evidence suggests it can happen. This can also lead to additional tail buds, resulting in what we call branching—sometimes seen as multiple tails.” -
China is poised to outpace NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) in the race to bring Mars samples back to Earth.According to a report by Live Science, China’s space agency aims to return rock and sediment samples from Mars by 2031 through the ambitious Tianwen-3 mission. A recent article in the National Science Review outlines plans developed by researchers from the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory and other institutes. The mission, consisting of two spacecraft, is set for launch in 2028, according to Jizhong Liu, chief designer of Tianwen-3.Tianwen-3 will include a lander, a Mars ascent vehicle, an orbiter, and an Earth return module. It may also deploy a helicopter and a six-legged robot to collect samples far from the landing site. Zengqian Hou, a scientist at the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, revealed that 86 potential landing sites are under consideration, primarily in Chryse Planitia and Utopia Planitia. These regions are of particular interest due to their relatively smooth terrain and potential to contain ancient Martian sediments that could hold traces of past life.
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A remarkable mosasaur fossil discovered in Angola has unveiled evidence of cannibalism among these prehistoric marine predators. Found with the remains of three other mosasaurs in its stomach—one of which belonged to its own species—the fossil offers a rare glimpse into the behavior of these oceanic rulers from the Late Cretaceous period.Mosasaurs, massive marine reptiles that dominated Earth’s oceans around 100 million years ago, have fascinated scientists since their discovery near Maastricht, Netherlands, in 1766. Often referred to as icons of evolutionary innovation, these fearsome lizards are thought to have marked the emergence of a completely new group of marine animals.Michael Polcyn, a paleontologist from Utrecht University, has conducted the most comprehensive study of mosasaurs’ early evolution, ecology, and feeding habits. Utilizing cutting-edge micro-CT imaging, Polcyn has revisited historical specimens and analyzed newly discovered fossils to shed light on their origins, relationships, and behaviors, according to Interesting Engineering on December 13.
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A massive iceberg, known as A23a, is making headlines as it begins an unpredictable spin in Antarctica after being stuck in the Weddell Sea for more than 30 years. As of early 2024, the iceberg has started rotating aimlessly at a rate of 15 degrees per day, marking a surprising turn in its decades-long journey.First calved from Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986, A23a—a floating giant roughly the size of a city—remained grounded on the seafloor of the Weddell Sea for over three decades. It wasn’t until 2020 that it began to shift slightly, culminating in its newfound motion this year.According to a recent announcement from the British Antarctic Survey, A23a is now drifting across the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Scientists predict that the iceberg will continue its path along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current before eventually reaching the waters near South Georgia Island. There, warmer temperatures are expected to break it into smaller fragments, eventually leading to its complete melt.
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Climate change is accelerating glacial retreat, forcing countries with glacier-defined borders, such as those in the Alps, to reconsider their maps.Last year, Switzerland and Italy worked together to adjust their shared border in the Alps due to rapidly shrinking glaciers. This marks a growing challenge for nations whose natural landmarks define territorial boundaries, New Atlas reported on December 11.Fortunately, Switzerland and Italy cooperated on the matter. Experts attribute this partly to the absence of private land ownership in the affected areas and the fact that the national boundary runs along mountain peaks. In recent years, Switzerland's dividing line has shifted into what was previously Italian territory.
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The duration of a trip from Earth to the Moon varies significantly depending on factors such as fuel availability, the Moon's orbital position, and the mission's objectives.Reaching the Moon is no easy feat. The natural satellite orbits Earth at an average distance of 384,400 km. Based on lunar missions over the past decades, travel time has ranged from as short as 8 hours to as long as 4.5 months. The fastest artificial object to pass by the Moon was NASA's New Horizons probe, launched in 2006 to study Pluto. New Horizons flew past the Moon approximately 8 hours and 35 minutes after launch, according to Live Science.For missions with the Moon as their destination, however, the journey typically takes longer. In 1959, the Soviet Union's Luna 1, humanity’s first lunar mission, took 34 hours to reach its target. This unmanned spacecraft was meant to collide with the Moon's surface but missed by 5,995 km. It eventually lost contact when its batteries depleted and continues to drift in space to this day. In 1969, when Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the Moon, the crew took 109 hours and 42 minutes to travel from launch to Neil Armstrong's historic first step on the lunar surface.
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A Swiss man miraculously survived two months trapped in his car buried under snow during a harsh winter, thanks to the insulating properties of what experts call the "igloo effect."Peter Skyllberg, then 44 years old, became stranded in his car on December 19, 2011, near Umeå in northeastern Sweden. Outdoor temperatures plunged to -30°C, and heavy snowfall nearly encased his vehicle, making escape impossible. Skyllberg was discovered 60 days later, on February 17, 2012, by two snowmobilers who initially thought the abandoned car was a curiosity. Upon clearing snow from the car's windows, they spotted the trapped man and quickly alerted emergency services.
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