Earth’s plate tectonics fired up hundreds of millions of years earlier than we thought, ancient crystals reveal

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The plate tectonics that cause earthquakes, build mountains and split continents may have started when Earth was in its infancy, new research finds — significantly earlier than many scientists previously thought.  The new study suggests plate tectonics started more than 4 billion years ago — not long after the planet formed 4.5 billion years ago. In this era, known as the Hadean, Earth was fresh and piping hot, with an ammonia-and-methane atmosphere imbued with enough water to eventually condense into a planet-wide ocean. During this period, Earth cooled enough to…

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This Week In Space podcast: This Week In Space podcast: Episode 121 —An Exploding Star Near You!

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An Exploding Star Near You! – A Nova is Coming with Carlos Badenes – YouTube Watch On On Episode 121 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss a star about to go nova with astrophysicist Dr. Carlos Badenes. A nova is a star that periodically sheds mass in a huge flare-up of light and energy. This nova will be visible in the night sky for about 6-7 days! T Corona Borealis (TCrB) is a binary system comprising two stars in the constellation Corona Borealis that bursts…

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‘Double’ meteor shower will light up the skies next week. Here’s how to watch.

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Stargazers will soon be able to witness a “double” meteor shower as both the Alpha Capricornids and the Southern Delta Aquariids peak next week.  The twin-skywatching event is “just an amazing coincidence,” Nicholas Moskovitz, a planetary astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, told Live Science. Meteor showers occur when Earth’s orbit intersects a comet’s path. The rocky debris left behind by the comet burns up as it enters Earth’s atmosphere. During the double meteor showers this month, Earth will cross the orbits of comet 96P/Machholz — which causes the Southern…

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Lego sets up ‘space station’ at San Diego Comic-Con, offers mission crew patch

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Lego is recruiting new members for its “mission crew,” issuing rocket builders with an exclusive mission patch at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). The toy company has launched “Space Station 8R1CK5,” a sprawling booth that highlights many of its recent space-themed building sets within a setting that was inspired by both sci-fi and real-life orbiting outposts. Show-goers will find photo opportunities, panels and show-only opportunities inside Space Station 8R1CK5 (booth 2829), which is open through the convention’s close on Sunday (July 29). “Space is an endless playground for imagination…

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A moon of Uranus could have a hidden ocean, James Webb Space Telescope finds

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Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers discovered that Ariel, a moon of Uranus, could be hiding in a buried liquid water ocean.  The discovery could supply an answer to a mystery surrounding this Uranian moon that has perplexed scientists: the fact Ariel’s surface is covered with a significant amount of carbon dioxide ice. This is puzzling because at the distance Uranus and its moons exist from the sun, 20 times further out from the sun than Earth, carbon dioxide turns to gas and is lost to space. This…

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Sun blasts out most powerful flare of current solar cycle, sends massive coronal mass ejection into space (video)

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On Tuesday (July 23), Europe’s Solar Orbiter (SolO) spacecraft witnessed an extremely powerful X14 class solar flare erupt from the far side of the sun. Although it was not the most powerful flare ever recorded, which was estimated at roughly a X45 back in 2003, solar flares of this magnitude can result in longer-lived radiation storms and even world-wide blackouts if they are directed at Earth. The X-class are the leaders on the classification scale, and blast out energy 10 times more powerful than M class flares, which is second…

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Three NASA Interns Expand Classroom Access to NASA Data

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This summer, NASA welcomed interns with professional teaching experience to help make the agency’s data more interactive and accessible in the classroom. Their efforts are an important step in fostering the education and curiosity of the Artemis Generation of students who will shape the future workforce. Diane Ripollone: Making Activities Accessible for Low-Vision Students In the center, Diane Ripollone smiles in a blue jacket with the blue, white, and red NASA logo on the left and a SOFIA patch…

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‘Wonderlab’ host Emily Calandrelli will fly to suborbital space with Blue Origin

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The Space Gal is headed to the final frontier, as part of Space for Humanity’s Citizen Astronaut Program.  Emily Calandrelli, known for her Emmy-nominated Netflix science series “Emily’s Wonder Lab,” was selected to launch to suborbital space as a citizen astronaut ambassador with Blue Origin, though the launch date has not yet been set.  “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to fly with Blue Origin,” Calandrelli, a West Virginia native, said in a statement from Space for Humanity. “I look forward to representing my home state in this way and…

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Hubble Images a Classic Spiral 

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ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image treats viewers to a wonderfully detailed snapshot of the spiral galaxy NGC 3430 that lies 100 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo Minor. Several other galaxies, located relatively nearby to this one, are just beyond the frame of this image; one is close enough that gravitational interaction is driving some star formation in NGC 3430 — visible as bright-blue patches near to but outside of the galaxy’s main spiral structure. This fine example of a galactic spiral holds a…

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NASA Returns to Arctic Studying Summer Sea Ice Melt

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5 Min Read NASA Returns to Arctic Studying Summer Sea Ice Melt NASA's Gulfstream III aircraft taxis on the runway at Pituffik Space Base as it begins one of its daily science flights for the ARCSIX mission. Credits: NASA/Gary Banziger What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic, and a new NASA mission is helping improve data modeling and increasing our understanding of Earth’s rapidly changing climate. Changing ice, ocean, and atmospheric conditions in the northernmost part of Earth have a large impact on the entire planet. That’s…

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