Sci-tech
NASA's Insight Mars Mission set to land on the Red Planet Monday
The spacecraft will hit the top of the Martian atmosphere at 19,800 kilometres per hour (kph) and slow down to 8 kph - about human jogging speed - before its three legs touch down on Martian soil, NASA said. "What this helps us understand is how we got to here", said JPL's Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, during a pre-landing briefing with reporters last week. [Full Article...]
Anxiety at Nasa as spacecraft nears Mars
Mars Odyssey will pass over the landing zone, with its cameras pointed down to capture whether the lander deployed its solar panels, however it will not send that information until 5 hours after the landing. After that, the spacecraft turns, so its heat shield is pointing in the right direction. This intense heat could cause temporary dropouts in radio signals. [Full Article...]
Elon Musk plans to move to Mars despite "good chance of death"
However, critics have claimed that Mr Musk's ambitions and timeframe are unrealistic. " I'm talking about moving there ", he added. But Musk denied that trips to Mars could be an exit strategy for the wealthy on Earth, what Axios' Mike Allen called an "escape hatch for rich people". [Full Article...]
More than 140 whales die after becoming stranded on New Zealand beach
DoC Rakiura operations manager Ren Leppens revealed to the publication that the remainder of the whales were euthanised due to their condition and the remoteness of Mason Bay. Mass strandings are less common but still happen regularly in Australia and New Zealand. In recent years, the biggest stranding of whales was at Farewell Spit in 2017 when 650 pilot whales were stranded. [Full Article...]
White House Lashed For 'Burying' Bombshell Climate Report With Holiday Release
The report is the latest scientific work to warn that the planet is due to undergo devastating changes in the coming years that will permanently alter the coastlines, worsen droughts and storms and foster the outbreaks of unsafe diseases as temperatures climb. [Full Article...]
Greenhouse gas levels in atmosphere hit new high
Echoing the recent findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Secretary-General of the WMO , Petteri Taalas , said that climate change will have "increasingly destructive and irreversible impacts" without "rapid cuts" in emissions. [Full Article...]
Scientist uncovers hidden region of the human brain
This structure, which may be involved in fine motor control, hasn't been found in other primates and could be unique to humans. The Endorestiform Nucleus was found at the junction of the brain and the spinal cord. Human brains are generally just like a monkey's brain - only much bigger. This new area was first discovered when Professor Paxinos combined chemical stains with the latest ima... [Full Article...]
Labor offers $2K rebate for solar batteries
Shorten will also recommit to a 45 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, the ABC reports and will also pledge to boost funding for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation by up to $10 billion. In a speech to be delivered on Thursday, Shorten stresses a Labor government would seek bipartisanship on the NEG. "But let's be clear: we will work with the Coalition - but we will not wait for them... [Full Article...]