Science News Roundup: Chinese astronauts return to earth after 'successful' six-month mission; Prehistoric 'wonderfully weird beast' Whatcheeria grew big quickly and more

The construction launch outside the remote town of Carnarvon, Northern Cape, marks the next phase of developing a complex instrument aimed at revealing events since the cosmic dawn, when the first stars and galaxies were formed. Japanese billionaire to make ‘big announcement’ on space after Musk meeting Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa tweeted on Monday that he plans to make a "big announcement" related to space after a meeting with SpaceX owner Elon Musk.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Mysteries of universe in focus for South African mega telescope

South African officials and scientists on Monday celebrated a milestone towards building the world's largest radio astronomy instrument, which is co-hosted with Australia and aims to unlock mysteries of the universe. The construction launch outside the remote town of Carnarvon, Northern Cape, marks the next phase of developing a complex instrument aimed at revealing events since the cosmic dawn, when the first stars and galaxies were formed.

Japanese billionaire to make ‘big announcement’ on space after Musk meeting

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa tweeted on Monday that he plans to make a "big announcement" related to space after a meeting with SpaceX owner Elon Musk. Yusaku Maezawa, founder of online fashion site Zozo Inc, completed a tourist trip to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Soyuz spacecraft in December last year and plans to journey around the moon with Musk's rocket and satellite company SpaceX in 2023.

Prehistoric 'wonderfully weird beast' Whatcheeria grew big quickly

It looked like a cross between a crocodile and a salamander - and definitely was not an animal to be messed with. Long before the dinosaurs or even the advent of the earliest true amphibians and reptiles, a unique creature called Whatcheeria was a genuine apex predator. New research is providing a deeper understanding of Whatcheeria, which lived roughly 330 million years ago during the Carboniferous period and arose during a time of evolutionary experimentation and innovation that unfolded in the tens of millions of years after vertebrates first conquered the land.

Chinese astronauts return to earth after 'successful' six-month mission

Three Chinese astronauts landed back on earth on Sunday on board the re-entry capsule of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft, state broadcaster CCTV reported, bringing to an end a six-month mission on China's space station. The three astronauts - commander Chen Dong and teammates Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe - who had been overseeing the final, pivotal period of construction at the space station, which was completed in November, all said they were feeling well after landing in audio aired on CCTV.

(With inputs from agencies.)