Category: science

Second giant ‘murder hornet’ escapes after it was captured by scientists in Washington State

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Another “murder” hornet that could have led scientists to its nest has evaded experts once more, following a lost signal.



a hand holding a fork and knife: A live Asian giant hornet is affixed with a tracking device using dental floss on October 7 before being released in a photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

© Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP
A live Asian giant hornet is affixed with a tracking device using dental floss on October 7 before being released in a photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Last week, scientists with the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA)captured a live Asian giant hornet — known as “murder” hornets for their ability to decimate honeybee populations — and used dental floss to attach a tracking device to its body, which “worked quite well,” said Sven Spichiger, WSDA’s managing entomologist, during a news conference on Monday.

When scientists released the hornet into the wild onto an apple tree, they were initially successful in tracking the insect, but after some time they were unable to locate a signal when

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First-gen Acura NSX owners may get official US restoration program

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Do you want your ’91 NSX to run until the cows come home? Acura may soon have a program to enable that.


Acura

It doesn’t happen often, but when an automaker has a special vehicle further back in its lineup, it will occasionally offer up factory-backed programs to help keep these rolling monuments to The Good Ol’ Days on the road. First-gen Acura NSX owners might be the next to join this club… if the demand is there.

Acura is considering an official restoration program for the first-generation Acura NSX, according to a report from Tire Meets Road. The report claims that a member of the NSX team discussed the idea with owners during a virtual version of the NSXPO annual gathering for NSX owners. “We have research going out to 2,000 [NSX owners] in the United States asking their level of interest in the overall idea of a refresh

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‘Very High Risk’ Two Large Pieces Of Space Junk Will Collide This Week

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A defunct Russian satellite and a spent Chinese rocket just floating around high over Earth could smash into each other within a few days, potentially creating a big mess in orbit with potentially dire long-term consequences.

LeoLabs, which tracks space debris, put out the alert on Tuesday warning that the two large hunks of junk will come within 25 meters of each other and have up to a twenty percent chance of colliding Thursday evening.

That’s considered way too close for comfort by space standards. The two objects have a combined mass of 2,800 kilograms and if they were to smash into each other, the “conjunction” could create thousands of new pieces of space junk that would put actual functioning satellites at risk.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, who keeps a close eye on objects in orbit, identified the old crafts

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Eight nations, including U.S., sign accords for moon missions

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ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 13 (UPI) — Eight nations have signed NASA’s new framework to govern lunar exploration missions, the agency’s administrator, Jim Bridenstine, announced Tuesday.

By signing the agreement, the eight nations commit to peaceful activities on the moon and in travel to the moon.

Provisions in the Artemis Accords stipulate that nations, and private companies in those nations, will openly disclose plans for lunar missions, and mine resources on the moon in accordance with the international Outer Space Treaty that dates to 1967.

The accords also commit signing nations to render aid to other nations on the moon if necessary, to minimize space debris and to register all objects taken to the lunar surface.

In addition to the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates and Britain signed the Artemis Accords.

“We are one human race and we are in this together. The Accords help us

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Baby Coral Deaths Threaten the Great Barrier Reef’s Recovery

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(Bloomberg) — The mass death of young and old corals in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is threatening the recovery of the largest living structure on Earth. 



underwater view of a coral: An undated handout photo received from the ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies on October 14, 2020 shows a damaged part of the Great Barrier Reef - the vast World Heritage-listed reef off Australia's northeastern coast.

© Bloomberg
An undated handout photo received from the ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies on October 14, 2020 shows a damaged part of the Great Barrier Reef – the vast World Heritage-listed reef off Australia’s northeastern coast.

The bleaching of corals off Australia’s northeastern coast due to ocean warming and acidification is happening across all species and to specimens of all ages, according to a new study that analyzed coral demographics. The study, led by Andy Dietzel at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Australia, confirmed the Great Barrier Reef lost half its corals between 1995 and 2017.

“We measured changes in colony sizes because population studies are important for understanding demography and the corals’ capacity to

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Mars will appear especially bright Tuesday night, at opposition with the sun

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Opposition describes the occasion marked by the sun, Earth and Mars all lining up perfectly. Earth is in the middle, so the sun is on one side while Mars is on the other. That means Mars will be at the opposite point in the sky, above the horizon after the sun has set.

It also means Mars will appear fully illuminated from the vantage point of Earth-dwellers, causing it to appear especially bright.

Where to look

Mars was closest to Earth a week ago on Oct. 6, in fact the closest in 15 years, but appears more brilliant Tuesday night. That’s because it’s in a better position to reflect more sunlight back at us. Last week, it was doing so at a slanted angle, acutely diminishing its apparent magnitude.

If you’re looking to catch Mars at its most effulgent, all you have to do is look east an hour or

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Watch NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and two cosmonauts launch into space tonight

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Four years after her first flight to the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins will return to space today (Oct. 14). 

Today at 1:45 am EDT (0545 GMT), Expedition 64 astronaut Rubins will fly to the space station aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft, launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan along with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. Soon after her arrival at the station, Rubins will welcome a SpaceX crew aboard and celebrate space station history.

You can watch Rubins and her crewmates launch live here and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of NASA TV. Launch coverage will begin at 12:45 a.m. EDT (0445 GMT).

Related: NASA astronaut Kate Rubins will vote from space

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins (left) and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov (center) and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (right) of Roscosmos pose for a photo while in quarantine on Oct. 13, 2020 ahead of their Oct. 14, 2020

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Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket Launches a New Line of Business

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West Texas is not quite like the moon. But it can serve as a handy stand-in.

On Tuesday, Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeffrey P. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, launched — and landed — its small New Shepard rocket and capsule for the 13th time as part of tests to verify safety before any passengers climb aboard.

One day, this will be New Shepard’s main business: flying well-to-do people above the 62-mile altitude generally considered the beginning of outer space where they will experience a few minutes of weightlessness as the capsule arcs.

Blue Origin is not a new company — Mr. Bezos founded it in 2000 — but for most of its existence, it operated in secret without generating much revenue. Three years ago, Mr. Bezos said he was selling a billion dollars a year in Amazon stock to finance Blue Origin’s research and development.

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Crayfish ‘trapping’ doesn’t control invasive species

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Oct. 13 (UPI) — In Britain, a handful of celebrity chefs have encouraged the practice of crayfish “trapping” to control the invasion of American signal crayfish.

Unfortunately, new research — published Tuesday in the Journal of Applied Ecology — suggests the practice doesn’t work. In fact, crayfish trapping can have a host of unintended consequences.

“Trapping has been linked to a range of risks to our waterbodies, including the spread of invasive species on wet or unclean equipment, as well as the direct capture and release of invasive crayfish to seed new harvestable populations,” study co-author Eleri Pritchard told UPI in an email.

“Sadly, trapping also risks protected native wildlife, and has been responsible for the deaths of otters and water voles,” said Pritchard, a postdoctoral researcher at University College London.

American signal crayfish have led to significant declines of native crayfish in Britain and Europe. The invasive species is

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UK signs up to Nasa’s Moon exploration principles

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Artwork: Moon lander
Artwork: Nasa aims to get astronauts back on the surface of the Moon in 2024

The UK has signed up to the principles that will guide the American-led return to the Moon this decade.

The US plans to put the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface in 2024, in a project called Artemis.

This would mirror the Apollo missions of the 1960s/70s but with the difference this time that astronauts would set up a permanent presence.

The so-called Artemis Accords are intended as a framework for best practice in space and on the Moon.

They cover areas such as the utilisation of resources, mining water-ice for drinking water and to make rocket fuel; common standards, open data, safe operations, and providing emergency assistance.

America, which devised the accords, has signed them, followed by the UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Italy, Luxembourg and UAE. More countries are certain

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