Just Look Up: New asteroid tracking system can monitor entire sky
A state-of-the-art asteroid alert system can scan the entire dark sky every 24 hours for dangerous bodies that could plummet toward Earth.
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The Brighter Side of News features good news, compassionate news and inspirational news from around the world
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Joseph Shavit
- Jan 23, 2022
Tug from sun and moon might be the actual cause of earthquakes
Earth’s plates might be shifting because the sun exerts such a strong gravitational pull on the moon that its orbit is elongating.
Joseph Shavit
- Jan 15, 2022
New study sheds light on origins of life on Earth
Researchers discovered the structures of proteins that may be responsible for the origins of life in the primordial soup of ancient Earth.
Joseph Shavit
- Jan 15, 2022
Astronomer and citizen scientists find gigantic planet hidden in plain sight
An astronomer and a group of eagle-eyed citizen scientists have discovered a giant gas planet hidden from view by typical stargazing tools.
Joseph Shavit
- Jan 10, 2022
Remarkable link between the number of supernovae and life on Earth discovered
Evidence demonstrates a close connection between the fraction of organic matter buried in sediments and changes in supernovae occurrence.
Joseph Shavit
- Dec 29, 2021
Largest collection of free-floating planets found in the Milky Way
Astronomers have discovered at least 70 new free-floating planets — planets that wander through space without a parent star.
Joseph Shavit
- Dec 12, 2021
A young, sun-like star may hold warnings for life on Earth
Astronomers spying on a stellar system located dozens of lightyears from Earth have, for the first time, observed a troubling fireworks show
Joseph Shavit
- Dec 1, 2021
Study suggests Sun is likely source of the Earth's water
Researchers have helped unravel the enduring mystery of the origins of the Earth's water, finding the Sun to be a surprising likely source.
Joseph Shavit
- Dec 1, 2021
Killer asteroids abound. NASA is ready to do something about it
A chunk of rock and iron, which was 60 feet across, served as a violent reminder that Earth, bombarded daily with tons of space-going debris
Joseph Shavit
- Nov 23, 2021
NASA to deflect asteroid in first-ever test of 'planetary defense'
NASA plans to crash a spacecraft traveling at a speed of 15,000 miles per hour into an asteroid next year to test 'planetary defense'.
Joseph Shavit
- Nov 13, 2021
Researchers answer a century old question about the origin of life
The missing link isn’t a not-yet-discovered fossil, after all. It’s a tiny, self-replicating globule called a coacervate droplet
Joseph Shavit
- Nov 12, 2021
Near-earth asteroid might be a lost fragment of the moon
A near-Earth asteroid named Kamo`oalewa could be a fragment of our moon, according to a new paper. Kamo`oalewa is a quasi-satellite.
Joseph Shavit
- Nov 10, 2021
Major endorsement for new space mission to find 'Earth 2.0'
A major new space telescope searching for 'Earth 2.0'—to Succeed Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope —is one step closer to reality.
Joseph Shavit
- Nov 5, 2021
NASA to deflect asteroid in test of 'planetary defense'
NASA plans to crash a spacecraft traveling at a speed of 15,000 miles per hour into an asteroid next year in a test of "planetary defense".
Joseph Shavit
- Nov 4, 2021
On ancient Earth, it never rained but it poured
Earth may have experienced cycles of dryness followed by massive rain storms hundreds of miles wide that could dump feet of rain per hour.
Joseph Shavit
- Oct 20, 2021
Did the Earth tip on its side 84 million years ago?
We know that the continents are moving slowly due to plate tectonics, but continental drift only pushes the tectonic plates past each other.
Joseph Shavit
- Oct 16, 2021
Would nuking an incoming asteroid actually work? New study has the answer
Firing a nuclear warhead at a small asteroid on a collision course with the Earth could stop 99 percent of it from hitting the planet.
Joseph Shavit
- Oct 16, 2021
A first for search and rescue from space
Between 1982 and 2020, at least 51,512 people were rescued on land and at sea with help from a network of Earth-orbiting satellites.
Joseph Shavit
- Oct 14, 2021
Physicists propose a new method for defending the Earth against cosmic impacts
Skywatchers around the world turned their attention toward asteroid 2012 DA14, a cosmic rock about 150 feet (50 meters) in diameter.
Joseph Shavit
- Oct 14, 2021
Did Venus ever have oceans?
The planet Venus can be seen as the Earth's evil twin. At first sight, it is of comparable mass and size as our home planet.
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