Free Republic

On June 27, the asteroid will approach at a distance of around 0.01715 astronomical units. It hasn't been this close since at least 1600 CE. Potentially hazardous asteroid 152637 (1997 NC1) seen by the Virtual Telescope Project, when it was around 10.5 million kilometers (6.5 million miles) from Earth. Image credit: Gianluca Masi/The Virtual Telescope Project Potentially hazardous asteroid 152637 (1997 NC1) is about to make its closest approach in over 400 years, in an event only seen once every decade. At these distances, and given the size of the asteroid, it should be possible to view using a small...

No, your car isn’t running on liquefied dinosaurs. The good stuff, unless you want a stable environment, of course. Image Credit: Alexander Knyazhinsky/Shutterstock.com At some point, you have probably heard somewhere that oil comes from dinosaurs, as if every time you fill up at the gas station, you are pumping refined velociraptor into your Volvo. It’s a vivid image, but it’s not true. Despite how widespread the belief is, oil isn’t made from decomposed dinosaurs. “For some strange reason, the idea that oil comes from dinosaurs has stuck with many people," geologist Reidar Müller from the University of Oslo explained...

While the study is intriguing, additional observations will be essential to verify or challenge its findings. Astudy analyzing JWST observations of the early universe has uncovered an intriguing mystery: most galaxies appear to be rotating in the same direction. This unexpected pattern, which defies current cosmological models, has led the study's authors to propose a bold possibility: that our universe might exist inside a black hole. The JWST has allowed astronomers to peer back further into the past than any other infrared or optical telescope, seeing infrared light that was emitted by distant galaxies just 300 million years after the...

The impact was captured using a door camera. Image credit: Compass Media/Joe Velaidum For possibly the first time ever, a meteorite has been captured on video and audio as it struck the Earth, just outside one man's home. Joe Velaidum, of Marshfield, Prince Edward Island, Canada, was standing outside his home last July, before setting off for a walk with his dog. If he had lingered a little longer, he may have become the second person in history to have been confirmed to be hit by a meteorite. "It is surreal to think about just rare and how close this...

Using this method, the probe could potentially reach the star system in decades. Proxima centauri, captured by Hubble. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA A team of physicists has outlined a possible way of sending probes deep into interstellar space within a reasonable timescale, using relativistic electron beams. Space is that annoying combination of "really cool" and "really big". We can see really awesome stuff going on out there, but unless we come up with ways to significantly improve our propulsion methods, we aren't going to be taking a look at them any time soon. Traveling at the speed of Voyager,...

You may have noticed that relations between the Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA have soured somewhat in the last few weeks, largely due to threats made by the head of Rosmoscos to crash the International Space Station (ISS) into Earth, the Russian space agency holding the launch of OneWeb to ransom, and — first and foremost — the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. NASA as an organization has been calm and controlled during the tensions, stressing cooperation on the ISS as well as other projects. However, retired American astronaut Scott Kelly, free from having to be diplomatic, has...