Science

“This estimate shows that there is more plastic in the form of nanoparticles floating in the this part of the ocean, than there is in larger micro- or macroplastics floating in the Atlantic or even all the world’s oceans!,” said Helge Niemann, researcher at NIOZ and professor of geochemistry at Utrecht University. Mid-June, he received a grant of 3.5 million …

Updated NASA’s Goddard Center Director, Makenzie Lystrup, is to depart after just over two years in the role. NASA veteran warns Hubble faces death by a hundred cuts READ MORE The announcement was made on the same day past and present NASA staffers “exercised their expression of Formal Dissent” regarding the agency’s direction via the Voyager Declaration. Lystrup became Goddard …

Earthquakes are violent events that alter the face of the planet. In many cases, those changes occur beneath the surface and only gradually become visible over thousands of years. Occasionally, however, an earthquake’s effects aren’t just felt—they’re seen. It’s even rarer to actually capture one of those moments on camera, but according to seismologists at Japan’s Kyoto University, the footage …

In the search for life beyond Earth, few places are as intriguing as Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. It’s the only spot in the solar system where there are lakes and seas on the surface – only they’re not made of water. Titan’s lakes overflow with liquid methane and ethane, producing a cold, bizarre, and mysterious world. Scientists have been exploring …

via Rebekah McClean Kersplat … thwack … thunk … wham! There’s nothing quite like a summer road trip and the hail-like sound of bugs hitting your windshield and leaving a streak of splatter. The blobs are icky but they also leave identifiable patterns. Mark Hostetler, a wildlife biologist, noticed how messy his windshield would get, especially in May and September, …

Astronomers have spotted a variety of weirdly blinking phenomena out there in the big wide Milky Way through history, but a newly discovered pulsating object truly appears to be one of a kind. Located several thousand light-years away, the object named CHIME J1634+44 is a rare case of a cosmic light that brightens and fades over inexplicably long timescales. A …

In a groundbreaking study published in Marine Geology, researchers have uncovered a total of 332 submarine canyons under Antarctica’s icy expanse, revealing five times more than previously documented. This new research not only deepens our understanding of the Southern Ocean’s underwater features but also highlights the significant role these canyons play in ocean circulation, ice-shelf dynamics, and global climate change. …

A giant parachute built for Europe’s beleaguered ExoMars mission has aced a drop test with a mock lander during a test campaign in the Arctic. The double parachute system consists of a 50-foot-wide (15-meter) first-stage chute and a secondary 118-foot-wide (35m) chute, which is, according to ESA, the largest ever designed to land an object on Mars. If all goes …

Fossilized bite marks suggest there could have been a dramatic tussle between a gigantic terror bird and an even more massive crocodile around 12 million years ago. Phorusrhacids, commonly known as “terror birds,” were apex predators that terrorized prey in the ancient ecosystems of South America. While these flightless carnivores had little to fear on land, a new study, published …

Victoria Gill Science correspondent, BBC News Link et al/Biology Letters The researchers say the terror bird did not survive the encounter Teeth marks made on the leg bone of a large avian reptile known as a terror bird 13 million years ago suggest an even bigger predator may have killed it, scientists say. Terror birds were top predators – they …