Only a little over a week after scientists announced NASA’s Perseverance rover may have detected a potential biosignature in a Martian rock named Sapphire Canyon, a new study suggests similar habitable conditions were widespread across Jezero Crater — the site of that major discovery — broadening the stage for the search for ancient life on Mars. In the study, scientists …
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78 million years ago, a 1.6 km asteroid slammed into what is now Finland, creating a crater 23 km (14 mi) wide and 750 km deep. The catastrophic impact created a fractured hydrothermal system in the shattered bedrock under the crater. There’s evidence from other impact structures that in the aftermath of a collision, life colonized the shattered rock and …
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Farley, K. A. et al. Mars 2020 mission overview. Space Sci. Rev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00762-y (2020). Farley, K. A. et al. Aqueously altered igneous rocks sampled on the floor of Jezero Crater, Mars. Science 377, eabo2196 (2022). Article ADS CAS PubMed Google Scholar Simon, J. I. et al. Samples collected from the floor of Jezero Crater with the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. …
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IN A NUTSHELL 🌍 Popigai Crater in Siberia, formed by a massive meteorite impact, is the fourth-largest known on Earth. 💎 The impact at Popigai transformed graphite into industrial-quality diamonds due to extreme pressure. 🌌 North American Tektite strewn field possibly formed rings around Earth, influencing climate change. 🦖 The Eocene–Oligocene extinction event saw significant species loss, particularly among aquatic …
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A hidden lake beneath Greenland’s Harder Glacier unexpectedly erupted, unleashing a powerful surge of water that carved a massive crater in the ice. The dramatic event caught researchers off guard, as water surged upward through thick ice, creating a profound impact on the glacier. Over just ten days, the lake released 23.8 billion gallons (90 million cubic meters) of water, …
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When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A large impact crater in Arizona. | Credit: NASA Earth Observatory via Wikimedia Commons This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Ever been late because you misread a clock? Sometimes, …
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A landmark on Pluto that was previously designated as an impact crater may actually be the caldera of a supervolcano that has exploded in the past few million years, new research suggests. When NASA’s New Horizons mission flew by Pluto in 2015, it revealed a geologically rich world, rather than the cold, dark landscape many had anticipated. Almost immediately, researchers …
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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Ever been late because you misread a clock? Sometimes, the “clocks” geologists use to date events can also be misread. Unravelling Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history with rocks is tricky business. Case in point: the discovery of an ancient meteorite impact crater …
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QUICK FACTS Where is it? Lake Iro, Chad [10.10150087, 19.41766527] What’s in the photo? Sunlight reflecting off the lake and the surrounding river Who took the photo? An unnamed astronaut on board the International Space Station (ISS) When was it taken? Dec. 21, 2024 This stunning astronaut photo shows a rare phenomenon, known as a “sunglint”, transforming a potential meteor …
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America’s spring homebuying season just hit its weakest point in over a decade — marking the slowest market since 2012 and sparking fears that a full-blown price collapse could be next. Spring is traditionally the hottest time for pending home sales but that’s no longer the case in the in the now struggling US housing market. In 2025, April through June …
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