Science News Roundup: Tiny walking rover bound for the moon; Saturn is the solar system's 'moon king,' with 20 more spotted


Reuters | Updated: 11-10-2019 02:30 IST | Created: 11-10-2019 02:27 IST
Science News Roundup: Tiny walking rover bound for the moon; Saturn is the solar system's 'moon king,' with 20 more spotted
Image Credit: Twitter (@newscientist)

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Two-thirds of U.S. birds face extinction due to climate-linked 'emergency': Audubon

Two-thirds of bird species in North America, already disappearing at an alarming rate, face extinction unless immediate action is taken to slow the rate of climate change, the National Audubon Society said on Thursday. "We are in the midst of a bird emergency," Audubon's Chief Executive David Yarnold said at a news briefing. "This is as much about the future that we face and our children face as the birds face."

Nobel prize winner laments lack of money for young physicists

Swiss scientist Michel Mayor, who shared the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics, said on Wednesday he was concerned about how hard is it for young physicists to make a living from their science work. "For young people doing science it is always a problem to find a permanent position, and some of them are extremely good," Mayor said in an interview with Reuters Television at an event near Madrid.

Germany should aim to be a leader in hydrogen technology: minister

Germany should aim to be a leader in technologies needed to make and utilize hydrogen, which offers a green alternative to fossil fuels in the shift toward a low carbon economy, the economy minister said on Wednesday. The government has been pushing renewables and other technologies to help cut Germany's carbon emissions by 55% of their 1990 level by 2030 and by 80% to 95% by 2050. But it is already set to miss a target of a 40% cut in emissions by 2020.

Tiny walking rover bound for the moon

A lunar rover which will explore the moon on foot in 2021 was unveiled in London on Thursday. The new concept, with four legs rather than wheels, will send data back to a larger mothership, which will transmit it back to Earth.

Ten years after 'suicide' mission, NASA thirsts for lunar water

A decade after NASA sent a rocket crashing into the moon's south pole, spewing a plume of debris that revealed vast reserves of ice beneath the barren lunar surface, the space agency is racing to pick up where its little-remembered project left off. The so-called LCROSS mission was hastily carried out 10 years ago Wednesday in a complex orbital dance of two "suicide" spacecraft and one mapping satellite. It proved a milestone in the discovery of a natural lunar resource that could be key to NASA's plans for renewed human exploration of the moon and ultimately visits to Mars and beyond.

NASA boss to tour SpaceX factory after feud over capsule delays

SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk opened up his private rocket factory to the top official of NASA on Thursday for a tour and progress report on the company's long-delayed Crew Dragon astronaut capsule. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is paying commercial launch contractors SpaceX and Boeing Co $6.8 billion to build rocket-and-capsule systems to return astronauts to the International Space Station from U.S. soil for the first time since America's space shuttle program ended in 2011.

Battery pioneers who made mobile revolution possible win Nobel chemistry prize

Three scientists have won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for putting power in peoples pockets by developing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries which made the global information technology, mobile and fossil-fuel free revolutions possible. American John Goodenough, at 97, became the oldest winner of a Nobel prize and shares the 9 million Swedish crown ($906,000 award equally with Stanley Whittingham from Britain and Akira Yoshino of Japan, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Committee said on Wednesday.

Saturn is the solar system's 'moon king,' with 20 more spotted

Saturn is now being recognized as the "moon king" of our solar system, with astronomers spotting 20 more of them orbiting the giant ringed planet, bringing its total count to 82 - three more than Jupiter. The newly identified small moons, ranging from about 2 to 4 miles (3 to 6 km) in diameter, were detected using the Subaru telescope in Hawaii by a research team led by astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington.

Fossils of 'shark-toothed' carnivorous dinosaur found in Thailand

Fossils of a large carnivorous dinosaur that was a top predator about 115 million years ago have been unearthed in Thailand -- a brute that was among the early members of an impressive group of flesh-ripping dinosaurs known for their shark-like teeth. Scientists on Wednesday said the dinosaur, named Siamraptor suwati, was more than 26-foot-long (9 meters) long and weighed at least 3.5 tons. Siamraptor, the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever discovered in Thailand, lived during the Cretaceous Period in an environment centered on a meandering river system and preyed on plant-eating dinosaurs, the researchers said.

Also Read: Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 awarded to Peebles, Michel Mayor and Queloz

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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