Could Our New (& Really Weird) Interstellar Comet be an Artificial Object?
Despite the high probability that the latest interstellar object to pass through our solar system is a comet, 3I/ATLAS is exhibiting odd behavior that runs counter to what astronomers expect of such an object: while it is surrounded with a comet-like cloud of dust and gas, it completely lacks a tail; that gaseous cloud appears to be […]
New Evidence for the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis Has Emerged, This Time From the Ocean Floor of the Arctic
New evidence for the case of a large comet impacting the Earth’s atmosphere over North America nearly 13,000 years ago has been discovered, this time in the form of microscopic debris recovered from beneath the ocean floor in the Arctic. The powerful, high-altitude explosion that would have resulted from such an event would go a […]
High-Energy Cosmic Rays Could Feed Life Forms in Environments on the Edge of the Solar System
Forget the much-vaunted ‘Goldilocks zone’ assumed to be the stellar sweet spot for life as we know it to exist on other planets: a new study suggests that the effect of cosmic rays on extraterrestrial environments could support life without the need for sunlight or geothermal energy, an idea that might open up new possibilities—and […]
City-Killer Asteroid Appears to be Disk-Shaped; was Interstellar Visitor ʻOumuamua the Same?
While the chance of it hitting the Earth has been ruled out since its discovery late last year, the city-killer-sized asteroid 2024 YR4 appears to be shaped like a squat disk, more akin to a hockey puck than the usual rounded lump that most asteroids form. This is a concept similar to the one proposed […]