Rock that punched hole in New Jersey house confirmed to be 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite

A metallic-looking rock that smashed through the roof of a residential home in New Jersey’s Hopewell Township earlier this week is indeed a meteorite — a rare one about 4.6 billion years old, scientists confirmed on Thursday (May 11). “It was obvious right away from looking at it that it was a meteorite in a class called stony chondrite,” Nathan Magee, chair of the physics department at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), whose office was contacted by the Hopewell Township police soon after the rock was found on Monday…

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The Mandalorian has forgotten what made us fall in love with it in the first place

When James Cameron was pitching his vision for Aliens, many believed that making a follow-up to Ridley Scott’s genre-defining sci-fi horror was the quintessential no-win scenario. The Terminator director didn’t share their doubts. He was so confident, in fact, that he made his point to studio executives in characteristically bombastic style, writing ALIEN on the back of his script, before adding an S and drawing a couple of lines through it to turn it into a dollar sign.  Whether ALIEN$ was the reason the suits gave the iconic sequel the…

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‘Silo’ showrunner Graham Yost on his riveting new sci-fi series and stellar cast (exclusive)

Feeling like a shut-in ready to burst outdoors for a sweet springtime frolic? Rejoice in your freedom to do so as the fearful folks in Apple TV+’s new post-apocalyptic mystery “Silo” haven’t seen blue sky in hundreds of years, let alone colorful tulips. “Silo” launched last week to great fanfare and glowing reviews and it’s a perfectly accurate assessment of this timely dystopian treat based on the highly-regarded trilogy of “Silo” novels by New York Times bestselling author Hugh Howey.  Apple TV+’s 10-episode event series centers around a cavernous 144-story…

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Don’t miss Venus in the late night sky right now before it turns into a ‘Morning Star’

The planet Venus is at its peak of visibility in the evening sky this week.  Officially, Venus became an “evening star” on October 22 of last year when it appeared from our earthly vantage point to be situated on the far side of its orbit, invisible due to its proximity to the sun in our sky. It wasn’t until the end of November or the early part of December before Venus finally began to make itself evident, very low in the western sky right after sunset. Soon after the winter…

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