The small asteroid burst into flames when it got above Africa

People have always been fearing the threat of an asteroid heading towards our planet. Although none of the recent impacts has actually been serious, researchers still keep an eye on any cosmic object that might approach Earth. Recently, they have spotted a small asteroid when it was already close to our atmosphere but, given its poor size and strength, it disintegrated while it was still above Africa.

A small asteroid got through our atmosphere

To avoid unpleasant situations, researchers always monitor all the objects that come near Earth. However, not all of them are big enough to pose a threat to our planet, and they are sometimes hard to spot until they reach our atmosphere.

This was the case of a small asteroid that entered our atmosphere and burst into smaller pieces above Africa. The object penetrated the atmosphere at the impressive speed of 38,000 mph. Fortunately, it measured only six feet in length, so there was no way it could produce any damage. While above Africa, not a long way from the ground, it caught fire and disintegrated in smaller pieces, producing an impressive display of lights.

The asteroid was much too small to cause any damage

Everything happened very quickly, leaving researchers no time to act. Soon after they spotted the small asteroid, they calculated its trajectory and saw it would come really close to Earth. However, soon afterwards, they realized the object might really strike Earth. Fortunately, its size made it harmless.

In fact, the small asteroid was a lot smaller than the equipment is trained to detect. However, this event was pretty welcome. It didn’t only give the researchers the chance to spot an asteroid coming dangerously close to Earth. This way, they tested their simulations and their ability to predict the outcome of an impact.

This small asteroid has first got the name of ZLAF9B2, but only as a temporary denomination. The name that is going to stick is asteroid 2018 LA.

Image source: NASA

Astronaut Mike Massimino craved pizza so bad that he ordered it from space

Many people would agree that pizza is one of the best foods on the planet. It’s probably hard to live in a place where you cannot eat a cheesy slice of goodness whenever you feel like it, so we can understand what astronauts have to experience. One of them got his love of the Italian dish so far that he even ordered pizza from space.

The astronaut ordered pizza from space to wait for him at his landing

Spending some time on the International Space Station is one of the best experiences one can live. However, there is one disadvantage that is hard to cope with. There is no pizza in space, and none of the popular fast food chains will open a franchise there too soon.

This is why one astronaut found a smart solution to appease his cravings. Mike Massimino was about to end his stay in space and was getting ready for his journey back to Earth. Now, when he was so close to going back home, he suddenly became impatient. This way, he ordered pizza from space so that the dish will wait for him when he is back.

Astronauts often bake a space alternative to pizza that is much better than frozen food

Massimino revealed that all astronauts were crazy about pizza. They went so far that they created a space alternative for the dish but, unfortunately, it’s not even half as good as the real food. To bake this space pizza, they use food that is suitable to bring on the ISS. While it’s far from being the ideal dish, it’s still a lot better than the typical frozen food they eat.

Other astronauts actually enjoy this space pizza. Randy Bresnik, for instance, said this dish was the best thing he got to eat while on the ISS. In fact, he and his colleagues filmed all the baking process and, since the resulting dish was so different than other space foods, they praised it as being the best. However, none of these people took their love for pizza so far that they ordered pizza from space.

Image source: PxHere

The Antarctic canyon might make the effects of global warming more acute

By using a powerful radar to scan the ice in Antarctica, researchers from Northumbria University, UK, have made a breathtaking discovery. In the west part of the continent, they spotted some mountainous geology and traces of Antarctic canyons of impressive size. While they somehow expected such formations to hide there, it was their size that took them by surprise.

The Antarctic canyons took researchers by surprise

Researchers knew there was something hiding behind the ice in western Antarctica. This way, they decided to use a special radar to peek beneath the ice and perform some aerial studies of this region. When this study was over, they expected to find some formations that resembled mountains and other similar geological formations.

However, what they found took them by surprise. Apart from some mountainous features, the ice hid three massive Antarctic canyons. The biggest of them was Foundation Trough that sported a length of over 215 miles and width of over 20 miles. If you thought this was big, the second Patuxent Trough also features an impressive size, with 180 miles in length and the third Offset Rift Basin with over 90 miles.

The Antarctic geology can reveal more about reactions to climate change

These Antarctic canyons aren’t only scary because of their size, as their effect can be even more damaging. If global warming keeps causing the Antarctic ice to thin, these formations might cause some serious trouble. More precisely, the flow of melted ice to occur more rapidly from the center to the sea. As a result, sea levels will rapidly increase.

However, the discovery of these formations is extremely important for researchers. After mapping the exact distribution of the Antarctic canyons, they might get a clear picture of how the entire continent is reacting to climate change and its damaging effects.

Also, this discovery marks another landmark. This is the first time when researchers make public the results of PolarGAP, the radar that keeps an eye on Antarctica. They will continue studying the region and find out more about what lies beneath the ice. The study on these impressive Antarctic canyons was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Image source: Wikipedia

Sally Ride was the first American woman in space and the second in the entire world

On June 18^th, we are celebrating the 35^th anniversary of the flight of the first American woman in space, Sally Ride. In her honor, the US Postal Service (USPS) will launch a special stamp that should commemorate this landmark event. The stamp will feature the portrait of Ride wearing a blue astronaut suit with a spaceship in the background.

Sally Ride is the first American woman in space

On June 18^th, 1983, NASA’s shuttle Challenger took off on the STS-7 mission. Ride was aboard and became the first American woman in space. However, she was only the second woman in the world to ever travel beyond our atmosphere. In fact, her flight took place precisely 20 years and two days after the first woman in space. The winner of the title was a Soviet astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova, who performed her flight in 1963.

However, the launch of this special stamp commemorates something else as well. It also marks six years since the death of Sally Ride. She passed away at age 61 on July 23^rd, 2012. Given the title of first American woman in space and her importance for astronomy and science, USPS thought she deserved such an honor.

The stamps are followed by a series of other collectibles

You will be able to buy Sally Ride stamps for 50 cents each. Given it’s a special issue, you will be able to use such a stamp to send one ounce letters via First Class mail. However, others might be stamp collectors, so they are not looking for sending them away. The stamps come in a sheet of 20 but, if you order them online, you can even get sheets of 4 or 10 each.

If this wasn’t enough to honor the first American woman in space, USPS is releasing some more collectible objects. You can even get special postmarks if you attach the stamp to a regular envelope and mail it the USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services. One first special feature of the postmark would be Ride’s signature. Once you get these postmarks, your envelope will be delivered back to you, together with many other goodies you can opt for.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

When they reach the coldest temperature in the universe, atoms acquire an interesting quantum behavior

NASA is about to produce the coldest temperature in the universe by using some lasers and a tiny lab the size of a box. Called the Cold Atom Laboratory, the box in question will reach the International Space Station where it will produce a spot with a temperature 10 billion times lower than the one of the space vacuum.

The box-sized lab should achieve the coldest temperature ever recorded in the universe

Temperatures affect the properties of atoms, so studying them when they are hot or cold will return interesting observations. However, nobody has actually managed to look at the state of extremely cold atoms and see what quantum properties they exhibit. For this, NASA scientists decided to create the Cold Atom Laboratory.

The purpose of this box-sized lab is to achieve the coldest temperature in the universe. It will take a bundle of atoms, slow them down, and then bring them to the lowest temperature ever achieved in the universe. This is only a bit higher than absolute zero, but it’s known as zero Kelvin. In other words, it translates as -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit.

Atoms exhibit interesting quantum properties when they reach such low temperatures

Therefore, this is not precisely the coldest temperature in the universe, but it’s coldest than anything in the outer space. The absolute low is absolute zero, but this is basically impossible to achieve or to measure. At that temperature, atoms stop moving, so no observations are possible.

However, the Cold Atom Laboratory brings the atoms as close as possible to this coldest temperature. At that state, atoms get incredibly slow, and researchers are interested in the quantum phenomena they exhibit at this point.

It was absolutely necessary that the experiment should happen in space. Such slow atoms are technically possible to create on Earth. However, there’s one factor that intervenes, namely gravity. This makes them impossible to observe for more than a second, but the microgravity on the ISS will keep these atoms visible for up to 10 seconds.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Dinosaurs arranged their nests in a spiral formation

Birds need to sit on their eggs if they want them to hatch, as the tiny embryos need warmth and protection. The same went for prehistoric reptiles, but can you imagine hatching dinosaur eggs without the massive monsters squashing them? A recent study developed by researchers from the University of Calgary discovered that dinosaurs used a different technique that kept the eggs safe.

Dinosaurs arranged their eggs in spiral formations

Incubation is essential for any egg. This process basically consists of the birds sitting on their eggs and keeping them warm until they hatch. Birds can easily do this without squashing the eggs but, throughout history, there have been bigger animals that had to bring their eggs to hatching.

If you think of the process in a classical manner, you might say dinosaur eggs were in great danger. However, researchers discovered the massive lizards adopted a completely different technique. This way, they could avoid squashing the eggs and keep their young ones safe.

It turns out dinosaurs arranged their eggs around themselves in a spiral shape. All formations depended on the actual size of the dinosaurs, so there were various shapes and sizes of each egg arrangement. Researchers discovered this phenomenon when they stumbled upon 40 dinosaur nests. These contained eggs fossilized in interesting formations that belonged to bird-like species, oviraptorosaurs.

The strange formation might have had a different purpose

Each nest had a different shape and appearance. Some of them were small and the dinosaur eggs were crowded against each other, while others had plenty of space. This means that dinosaurs of all sizes adopted this formation without crushing their eggs.

This doesn’t really resemble bird nests, so things might be really different here. Birds sit on their eggs for warmth, but dinosaurs might have done it with something else in mind. The strange formation of the nests might mean they were more interested in protecting the eggs.

The study on dinosaur eggs was published in the journal Biology Letters.

Image source: Pixabay