Science News Roundup: Elon Musk says to attempt Starship launch in March; With frigid innovation, scientists make a new form of ice

The researchers said they employed a process called ball milling to vigorously shake ordinary ice together with steel balls in a container cooled to minus-328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-200 degrees Celsius).

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Elon Musk says to attempt Starship launch in March

SpaceX may attempt a Starship rocket system launch in March, its billionaire chief Elon Musk said in a tweet on Saturday. "If remaining tests go well, we will attempt a Starship launch next month," Musk said, in a response to a user's tweet about Starship.

With frigid innovation, scientists make a new form of ice

Using a device that might be described as a super-duper cocktail shaker, scientists have fashioned a previously unknown form of ice - one that might exist on our solar system's icy moons - in research that sheds light on water's behavior under extreme conditions. The researchers said they employed a process called ball milling to vigorously shake ordinary ice together with steel balls in a container cooled to minus-328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-200 degrees Celsius). This yielded what they called "medium-density amorphous ice," or MDA, which looked like a fine white powder.

(With inputs from agencies.)