NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Just Became The Fastest Human-Made Object Of All Time
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has become the fastest human-made object ever, smashing its own record set last year to zip through the Sun's outer atmosphere at 532,000 kph. To put it into context, a human-made object just swung past the Sun at 0.05 percent of the speed of light. The probe also smashed its previous record for closest human-made object to the Sun at just 10.4 million km away.
World’s First Pregnant Ancient Egyptian Mummy Surprises Researchers Expecting Male Priest
The first known pregnant Egyptian mummy has been discovered, surprising researchers studying the body of what was thought to be a male priest according to the sarcophagus. Scans of the mummy revealed something unexpected: a tiny foot. The mummy was revealed to be female, though it’s not known why she was buried with the fetus, as mummification typically involved removing all organs. This has never been seen before.
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Released In US For First Time To Combat Disease
Genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the US for the first. No, this isn’t a mad experiment. The species Aedes aegypti spreads mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika, and yellow fever in the Florida Keys. The modified male mosquitos have a protein that when passed on to young through mating with wild females, kills the offspring. This will suppress the population and hopefully reduce the number of transmitted diseases.
Newly Described Ant Species Becomes First Named To Honor Gender Diversity
A rare new miniature trap-jaw ant discovered in the tropical forest of Ecuador has become the first to be given a scientific name with the suffix “they” to honor gender diversity. The ant has distinctively long trap-jaw mandibles, which makes it stand out in a genus of over 850. Species named after people either have the male or female Latin suffix, but this ant has been named Strumigenys ayersthey so the language can reflect modern times.
Large Chunk Of Europe "Annihilated" In NASA's Latest Asteroid Impact Simulation Exercise
Every two years, NASA and the world’s space agencies get together to simulate an asteroid strike and how to save the world. For the exercise, over a few days, they were fed information about the asteroid's size, trajectory, and chances of impact. Unfortunately, humanity failed to prevent the fictitious space rock in the 6-month timeframe and it crashed into eastern Europe. Six months, it seems, is too short notice to prepare for an asteroid hitting Earth.
Featured article: 100-Year-Old Haunted House Mystery Solved By Professor And Ophthalmologist
A curious case report reveals the mystery behind a haunted house 100 years ago. Footsteps, bangs, doors slamming, and even apparitions of ghostly people, this story has it all. It took a professor and a ophthalmologist to work out what was going on. Can you guess?
