Climate Chaos and Cosmic Quests: A Dive into Recent Science News

Recent science news highlights include the severe impact of climate change on Brazil's floods, Boeing and NASA's upcoming Starliner crew flight, and China's historic lunar missions. Scientists noted that climate change doubled the likelihood of devastating Brazilian floods. Meanwhile, China’s lunar missions aim to uncover solar system mysteries.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Climate change made devastating Brazil floods twice as likely, scientists say

Climate change made the recent flooding that devastated southern Brazil twice as likely, a team of international scientists said on Monday, adding that the heavy rains were also intensified by the natural El Nino phenomenon. More than 170 people were killed and nearly 580,000 displaced after storms and floods battered Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul last month, with local authorities describing it as the worst disaster in the region's history.

Boeing, NASA target June 5 for Starliner's debut crew flight

Boeing and NASA said on Sunday that their teams are preparing to launch the new Starliner space capsule on June 5 after scrubbing its inaugural test flight launch attempt on Saturday. The Starliner capsule had stood ready for blast-off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday before a ground system computer triggered an automatic abort command that shut down the launch sequence.

China lands on moon's far side in historic sample-retrieval mission

China landed an uncrewed spacecraft on the far side of the moon on Sunday, overcoming a key hurdle in its landmark mission to retrieve the world's first rock and soil samples from the dark lunar hemisphere. The landing elevates China's space power status in a global rush to the moon, where countries including the United States are hoping to exploit lunar minerals to sustain long-term astronaut missions and moon bases within the next decade.

China's lunar probe could return with answer to origins of solar system

China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe looks set to begin its historic journey back to Earth from the moon's far side after collecting samples that scientists expect will help answer key questions about the early evolution of the solar system. Chang'e-6, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, was launched on May 3 from the southern Chinese island province of Hainan.