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Science Archive

Archives for July 2024

Justine Calma
Justine Calma
Sunday was probably the hottest day on Earth since at least 1940.

That’s according to preliminary data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The world has been smashing records lately thanks to climate change: 2023 was the hottest year on record. Last summer was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in at least 2,000 years. And there’s still time to break more records this summer.

Justine Calma
Justine Calma
“Dark oxygen” from the ocean’s abyss baffles scientists.

Mining companies want to harvest polymetallic nodules — which are rich in metals that can be used to make batteries — from the deep sea. But scientists just discovered that these so-called “batteries in a rock” might be creating oxygen through seawater electrolysis. It’s a wild revelation that poses new questions about the consequences of mining the deep sea before fully understanding what’s down there.

Wes Davis
Wes Davis
NASA discovered sulfur crystals on Mars for the first time.

Scientists realized they’d found a field of pure sulfur stones after the Curiosity rover accidentally crushed one of them, exposing the crystals, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote this week.

The rover then collected samples to try to explain them, as elemental sulfur “shouldn’t be there,” according to one of the project’s scientists.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
A Star Mount for your Starlink Mini.

The company that specializes in mobile 12V conversions of SpaceX’s internet-from-space kits has just released its first mount for Starlink’s smallest dish yet. Despite its size, Mini even integrates the Wi-Fi router (usually a separate box) into the laptop-sized package.

$249 gets you a versatile mount with shock absorption for your RV, boat, or overlanding rig.

<em>The mount protects the Starlink Mini dish and router.</em>
<em>It includes magnets and suction cups, with a new quick release add-on “available soon.” It also has through holes so it can be bolted into place.</em>
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The mount protects the Starlink Mini dish and router.
Image: Star Mount Systems
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Tuesday morning boom over New York may have been a “daylight fireball” meteor

After people in NYC reported a large boom at around 11:17AM that some attributed to military weapons tests, NASA Meteor Watch reports it was actually a meteor. With more reports collected from eyewitnesses, its latest update says the space rock’s path took it west over New Jersey at 38,000 miles per hour.

Map of New York City with arrow showing the estimated path of the meteor moving west.
Image: NASA Meteor Watch (Facebook)