Science News Summary: New Zealand base for methane-measuring satellite mission

Following is a summary of current science news briefs. New Zealand base for a methane-measuring satellite mission

A satellite mission to measure global methane emissions from oil and gas facilities will be based in New Zealand, the government said on Wednesday, in a collaboration with a U.S. environmental group. The MethaneSAT, due to be launched in 2022, is designed to locate and measure methane from human sources worldwide, and will provide data to track and reduce those emissions, the government said in a statement. NASA probe provides insight on solar system's border with interstellar space

The journey of NASA's dauntless Voyager 2 spacecraft through our solar system's farthest reaches has given scientists new insight into a poorly understood distant frontier: the unexpectedly distinct boundary marking where the sun's energetic influence ends and interstellar space begin. The U.S. space agency previously announced that Voyager 2, the second human-made object ever to depart the solar system following its twin Voyager 1, had zipped into interstellar space on Nov. 5, 2018, at a point more than 11 billion miles (17.7 billion km) from the sun. Several research papers published on Monday provided scientific details of that crossing. Prehistoric ape from Germany was a pioneer of two-legged walking

Fossils unearthed in southern Germany of a remarkable ape that lived about 11.6 million years ago may dramatically alter the understanding of the evolutionary origins of a fundamental human trait - walking upright on two legs. Scientists on Wednesday said the ape, called Danuvius guggenmosi, combined attributes of humans - straight lower limbs adapted for bipedalism - with those of apes - long arms able to stretch out to grasp tree branches. That indicates Danuvius was able to walk upright on two legs and also use all four limbs while clambering through trees.

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