Science News Roundup: Hong Kong scientists seek good fortune for endangered horseshoe crabs; Private US moon lander reaches lunar orbit ahead of touchdown attempt and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs. US achieves first moon landing in half century with private spacecraft A spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed near the moon's south pole on Thursday, the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever achieved by the private sector.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

US achieves first moon landing in half century with private spacecraft

A spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed near the moon's south pole on Thursday, the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever achieved by the private sector. NASA, with several research instruments aboard the vehicle, hailed the landing as a major achievement in its goal of sending a squad of commercially flown spacecraft on scientific scouting missions to the moon ahead of a planned return of astronauts there later this decade.

India eases approval process for foreign direct investment in space sector

India will allow 100% foreign direct investment in the manufacture of satellite systems without official approval and eased the rules for launch vehicles, a government statement said, aiming for a greater share of the global space market. India's space ambitions got a boost when it became the first country to land a spacecraft near the unexplored south pole of the moon in August - and the fourth to achieve a soft landing - just days after a similar Russian mission failed.

Scientists discover the anatomy behind the songs of baleen whales

It is one of Earth's most haunting sounds - the "singing" of baleen whales like the humpback, heard over vast distances in the watery realm. Now scientists have finally figured out how these filter-feeding marine mammals do it. Baleen whales - a group that includes the blue whale, the largest animal in Earth's history - use a larynx, or voice box, anatomically modified to enable underwater vocalization, researchers said on Wednesday. They have evolved a novel structure - a cushion consisting of fat and muscle that sits inside the larynx, the researchers said.

Scientists identify neutron star born out of supernova seen in 1987

When a star up to 20 times the mass of our sun exploded in a nearby galaxy, the blast was so violent that it was visible to the naked eye from Earth's southern hemisphere for weeks in 1987. Scientists have finally identified the progeny of that supernova - an enormously dense object called a neutron star. Two instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that observed the supernova at infrared wavelengths spotted telltale chemical evidence involving argon and sulfur atoms indicating that a newborn neutron star is shrouded behind the debris left over from the blast, researchers said on Thursday.

Study shows how snakes got an evolutionary leg up on the competition

Since first appearing during the age of dinosaurs, snakes have authored an evolutionary success story - slithering into almost every habitat on Earth, from oceans to tree tops. New research details how these limbless reptiles that evolved from four-legged lizards got a figurative leg up on the competition. Scientists generated a comprehensive evolutionary tree of snakes and lizards aided by genomic data spanning roughly 1,000 species, while reviewing the fossil record and compiling data on snake diet, skull anatomy, reproductive biology and geographical range.

Hong Kong scientists seek good fortune for endangered horseshoe crabs

Hong Kong conservationists on Wednesday began underwater tracking of endangered horseshoe crabs, which date back to before the dinosaurs, in a bid to help them survive the perils of modern life. The spine-tailed sea creatures named for the shape of their body shells face numerous threats, including the loss of nursery beaches for baby crabs, entanglement in fishing nets and human exploitation for food.

Private US moon lander reaches lunar orbit ahead of touchdown attempt

A moon lander built by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines reached lunar orbit on Wednesday, heading for an attempt at the first U.S. touchdown on Earth's nearest celestial neighbor in more than 50 years, and the first ever by a private spacecraft. The six-legged robot lander, dubbed Odysseus, entered a circular orbit 57 miles (92 km) above the lunar surface after firing its main rocket thruster for nearly seven minutes in an orbital insertion maneuver, the company said in an online statement.