moon

A new study suggests that life on Earth is far older than science once suspected. The scientific world's been relying on the oldest known fossils to date the start of life on this planet - they've been doing this for ages. This sort of science works, but because its source material changes, it's not entirely accurate. A study published this week combines both fossil and genome science to date our ancestors well beyond what's been found in the ground.

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If you're located anywhere in North America, you won't be able to see tomorrow's total lunar eclipse...at least not by stepping outside. The celestial event won't be visible in the US, Canada, or Mexico, which is disappointing due to its uniqueness: this will be the longest lunar eclipse of the century. This doesn't mean that you're without options, however.

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The blood moon is upon us, and right now we're going to discuss how and when not to view it best. While we've got the times ready, unfortunate for most likely readers of this article, this eclipse won't be visible from most of North America! If you'll have a peek at the map of the world as provided this week by NASA, you'll find the extreme unluckiness with which the United States and Mexico and Canada have been cursed for this particular event.

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Today we're having a peek at the recovery of recordings of heat data from NASA's Apollo moon missions in 1971 and 1972. A study published just this week explored data from probes installed on our Earth's Moon during those missions, revealing heat sensor data for the first time ever, publicly. The study is at once both engaging and boring, inspiring and entirely unspectacular. Let's talk about why all of this is good.

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China has been saying for at least three years now that it plans to land on the far side of the moon, something that'll go down as a historic achievement if it manages to pull it off successfully. We heard about such ambitions in 2015 and again in 2016, but now the nation is back with a hard launch date: by the end of this year.

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New research on a sort-of old set of data points toward a water plume on Jupiter's moon Europa. This plume of water points toward an environment on the moon which would be habitable by human beings. This is only the latest in a line of findings which point toward habitability on Jupiter's most friendly satellite rock.

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Researchers with Stony Brook University have published a study with concerning implications for future manned lunar missions. Using simulated lunar soil, the team found that moon dust may be toxic to humans, particularly to lungs. As well, the research shows a toxic effect on mouse neurons, indicating other possible health ramifications that await humans traveling to the lunar surface.

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NASA plans to return humans to the lunar surface, but it has apparently hit a stumbling block. The space agency has cancelled its lunar rover mission, though it has plans to send certain instruments to the moon in future "robotic missions." NASA had originally planned to launch the Resource Prospector mission in 2022; its rover component was tested on Earth a few years back.

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This afternoon the folks at NASA revealed a radical new video touring the moon in 4K resolution. This video was made using images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). It's a very, very large video, and you're gonna want to watch it on the most massively pixel-dense device you've got on-hand.

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Researchers report they have a new theory for how our moon formed in the aftermath of our Earth's most major collision. The moon and the Earth - or what started as two planetary bodies - likely collided and formed a donut-shaped type of planetary object called a "synestia." "We looked at the statistics of giant impacts, and we found that they can form a completely new structure," said researcher Sarah Stewart. In May of 2017, the first report of synestia came from some of the same researchers working on the report we're exploring today: Sarah Stewart and Simon Lock.

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How do I see the Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse today? That's the question the entirety of the United States seems to be asking right this minute. By the time this article is released, it might already be in the sky for you! Have a peek at the timeline below to see when and where this extremely rare occurrence is set to take place.

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A statement was released this week by the XPRIZE Foundation: No team will win the Google-financed purse. The original Google Lunar XPRIZE was first announced back in 2007, and 29 teams registered from the start. Here in early 2017, the number of teams still in the running numbered 5, but none of those finalists were prepared for a launch attempt to reach the Moon by the latest deadline.

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