Science news this week: ISS medical evacuation, Mars Sample Return canceled, and woolly rhino flesh found in permafrost wolf
This week’s science news was way over our heads, as astronauts and space agencies dominated the headlines. At the top of the list is the beginning return of crew 11 of the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday (January 15) due to a medical event.
News of the crew’s early return, the first in the station’s 25-year history, was announced less than a week earlier. This was triggered when one of its astronauts experienced an undisclosed medical problem. The evacuation leaves the ISS occupied by just four astronauts until the replacement Crew-12 arrives next month.
The largest river deltas on the planet are sinking rapidly
Our world is warming rapidly, so it’s no surprise that sea level rise is the leading cause of land loss in coastal regions.
However, a surprising study found that this is not the case everywhere. The study released this week found that the world’s largest river deltas, including the Nile, Amazon and Ganges, are now flows faster than the sea rises.
The main culprit is groundwater pumping, with rapid urban growth and decreasing sediment fluxes making the problem worse. The combination of rising oceans and land subsidence means the world’s largest cities will face even greater challenges from catastrophic flooding in the future.
Discover more news about planet Earth
—Fragment of lost tectonic plate discovered where San Andreas and Cascadia faults meet
—New map of Antarctica reveals hidden world of lakes, valleys and mountains buried beneath miles of ice
—Scientists observe microscopic respiration in plant ‘mouths’ in real time using palm-sized tool
The little mysteries of life
Monty Python’s The Dark Knight may insist that losing all four limbs in rapid succession is “just a bodily injury,” but what part of the human body can be removed without a person dying? It turns out that it’s much more than you might think.
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Wooly Rhinoceros Flesh in Wolf Reveals Mysterious Clue to Extinction
The last meal of a naturally mummified cub 14,400 years ago in the Siberian permafrost helps scientists elucidate the fate of the woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis) and the reasons for the extinction of the Ice Age giant.
By extracting a piece of woolly rhino flesh from the wolf’s stomach and sequencing the genome of the partially digested piece, scientists discovered that the horned beast existed in a genetically uniform population that may have struggled to adapt to ancient climate change.
But the new genome is just one piece of evidence in the mystery of the rhino’s extinction. It’s a victory for science: it’s the first time scientists have recovered the DNA of one Ice Age animal from the stomach of another.
Discover more animal news
—Rare night parrots in New Zealand are breeding for the first time in 4 years – here’s why
—Never-before-seen footage captures the moment scientists discover a new species of giant anaconda in the Amazon
—How to Watch ‘Pole to Pole with Will Smith’ – TV and Streaming Details as the Oscar-Winning Actor Mixes Adventure and Scientific Discovery
Also in science news this week
—MIT’s breakthrough in chip stacking could reduce power consumption in power-intensive AI processes
—Diagnostic dilemma: Man’s sudden seizures were triggered by sudoku
—Ötzi, the Iceman Mummy, Carried High-Risk HPV Strain, Study Finds
Science long reading
In December, the Trump administration announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), describing it as “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”
Yet whether forecasting high winds, wildfires, flooding, or hazards in air and space, the research center is at the forefront of global weather and climate research and is essential to reducing risks. In this long reading, Live Science investigated the work done by the center and the likely consequences of its closure.
Something for the weekend
If you’re looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some crosswords, book extracts and quizzes released this week.
—Parkfield, San Andreas and the quest for a ‘crystal ball’ to predict earthquakes before they happen [Book Excerpt]
—Quiz on human origins: How well do you know the history of humanity? [Quiz]
Science in pictures
The Hubble Space Telescope’s photo of “Dracula’s Chivito” – a protoplanetary disk that earned its nickname because of its gothic resemblance to a Uruguayan sandwich – has captured a stunning glimpse into how planets form.
Spanning nearly 640 billion kilometers and containing a hot star at its center, the system is the largest planet-forming disk ever observed around a young star.
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