livescience--2020-12-12--Amazing images: The best science photos of the week

Each week at Live Science we find the most interesting and informative articles we can .
Along the way , we uncover some amazing and cool images .
Here you 'll discover the most incredible photos we found this week , and the remarkable stories behind them .
In July 2017 , a gargantuan spanning five times the area of New York 's five boroughs snapped off the coast of and began to drift northward .
Though its edges have crumbled considerably since then , the iceberg — named A-68a — is still the , and it 's currently barreling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South Atlantic Ocean .
New aerial footage taken by the United Kingdom 's Royal Air Force ( RAF ) reveals just what that island might be up against .
For starters , the RAF footage really drives home how massive this ice giant is .
( As of early April , A-68a measured about 2,000 square miles , or 5,100 square kilometers , in area , ) .
The berg 's steep walls tower 100 feet ( 30 meters ) above the sea , , and are gouged with tunnels , fissures and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or `` growlers , '' are rapidly cracking off on all sides , leaving behind a trail of debris that could impede boat traffic in the future .
[ Read more : World 's largest iceberg still barreling toward penguin habitat , new footage confirms ] A nine-armed octopus caught off Japan 's coast nearly ended up being dinner , until the family preparing it noticed its extra limb and sent it to a museum instead , according to news sources .
While unusual , this extra appendage — which was n't fully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a regular arm — is n't unheard of in octopuses , said Michael Vecchione , an invertebrate zoologist at the Smithsonian 's National Museum of Natural History in Washington , D.C. , who was not involved with this octopus 's discovery .
Octopuses are capable of regenerating their arms , but `` sometimes regeneration does n't work quite right , '' Vecchione told Live Science .
`` If an arm gets damaged , it might regenerate wrong ; it could wind up with extra tissue growing out , and that extra tissue could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nine-armed oddity was caught in a trap with three other octopuses on Nov. 13 in Shizugawa Bay , in the northeastern town of Minamisanriku , Japan , according to The Mainichi , a Japanese newspaper .
In space , nobody can hear you scream — or explode , or collapse , or slowly collide with a neighboring galaxy .
But now , thanks to a new `` `` program at NASA , you can at least get a sense of what some of the most extreme phenomena in the universe might sound like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instruments .
To hear what that sounds like , we turn to NASA 's Chandra center — which has been imaging distant galaxies with its Chandra X-ray observatory for 20 years now .
In their new initiative , Chandra researchers have taken three iconic images from their archives and translated different frequencies of light into different pitches of sound .
The first video shows the ( a supernova remnant powered by a windy , shown above ) .
In NASA 's data sonification of the nebula , X-ray light ( blue and white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ optical light ( purple ) is played by string instruments ; and infrared light ( pink ) is represented by woodwinds .
The sounds converge near the center of the nebula , where a rapidly swirling pulsar is blasting gas and radiation in all directions .
Listen to this cosmic symphony ( and two others ) at the link below .
[ Read more : This is what a supernova sounds like , according to NASA ] Nearly nothing is known about the family tree of — iconic reptiles that flew alongside the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fossil record with already developed wings and senses adapted for flying , with researchers having nary a clue about their immediate evolutionary history .
But now , the pterosaur 's family tree has a new branch ; an enigmatic group of small reptiles , known as lagerpetids , might be the closest-known pterosaur relatives on record , the researchers of a new study say .
Unlike pterosaurs , however , lagerpetids did not fly .
`` Now , we have an idea of what a flightless pterosaur relative would look like , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech , told Live Science .
From vanishing sea ice to blistering air temperatures to , is reshaping the Arctic .
And that transformation may be permanent , researchers said on Tuesday ( Dec. 8 ) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union ( AGU ) .
The Arctic has warmed and melted at an alarmingly accelerating pace over the last 15 years , and the impacts are accumulating so rapidly that `` there 's no reason to think that in 30 years anything will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thoman , an Alaska climate specialist with the International Arctic Research Center ( IARC ) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks ( UAF ) , said at the conference , held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic , on Tuesday .
This year 's news was not good : June snow cover across the Eurasian Arctic was at its lowest in 54 years ; coastal permafrost erosion is increasing ; and glaciers and ice sheets in continued a trend `` of significant ice loss , '' according to the report .
[ Read @ @ @ @ @ @ @ landscape may be permanent ] SpaceX 's Starship spaceflight system just took a big step on its path to Mars .
The latest Starship prototype , a shiny silver vehicle known as SN8 , launched on an epic high-altitude test flight on Dec. 9 , taking off at 5:45 p.m. EST from SpaceX 's facility near the South Texas village of Boca Chica .
The goal was to soar about 7.8 miles ( 12.5 kilometers ) into the sky , perform some complex aerial maneuvers — including a `` belly flop '' like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when coming back to Earth on operational flights — and then land safely near the launch stand .
The 165-foot-tall ( 50 meters ) SN8 appeared to notch all of these big milestones , except for the final one : The vehicle hit its landing mark but came in too fast , exploding in a dramatic fireball 6 minutes and 42 seconds after liftoff .
SN8 's rapid unplanned disassembly did nothing to dampen the spirits of SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk , who was thrilled by the results of today 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a helicopter flying over the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest have detected a vast network of long-abandoned circular and rectangular-shaped villages dating from 1300 to 1700 , a new study finds .
The round villages all had remarkably similar layouts , with elongated mounds circling a central plaza , like marks on a clock .
`` These latter elongated mounds , when seen from above , look like the rays of the sun , which gives them the common name of 'Sóis , ' '' the Portuguese word for `` suns , '' the researchers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is part of a new archaeological focus on the pre-Columbian Amazon .
Within the past 20 years , researchers have learned that the rainforest 's southern rim was home to a great diversity of soil-sculpting cultures that engineered the landscape before the Europeans arrived .
Within the past decade , scientists have uncovered the remnants of so-called `` mound villages , '' which are shaped as circles or rectangles , and connected by road networks .
[ Read more : Archaeologists find vast network of Amazon villages laid out like the cosmos ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blaze across the sky at the same time ?
If you 'd like to , the European Space Agency ( ESA ) is offering you two options : Either stare at the night sky for about half a million years as our drifts steadily through the ( some patience required ) — or , watch a new 60-second time-lapse simulation of the same thing , courtesy of the ESA 's Gaia space observatory .
In the new simulation , 40,000 stars — all located within 325 of Earth 's sun — whiz through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behind them .
Each point of light represents one real object in the Milky Way , and each shining trail shows that object 's projected movement through the galaxy over the next 400,000 years .
Brighter , faster streaks are located closer to our solar system , while dimmer , slower ones live much farther away .
[ Read more : Epic time-lapse shows what the Milky Way will look like 400,000 years from now ] A family in England was weeding their garden when they unearthed a valuable treasure — a buried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1400s , depicting English monarchs from Edward IV to Henry VIII .
The hoard — a stash of 63 gold coins and one silver coin — contains money minted over a period of nearly 100 years , from the late 15th to the 16th centuries .
Four of the coins feature Henry VIII and , curiously , one of the initials of three of his wives : Catherine of Aragon , Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour .
Upon finding the cache , the family , in the New Forest district of Hampshire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ notified the British Museum , which runs the Portable Antiquities Scheme ( PAS ) .
This program partners with local people who find historical artifacts in the United Kingdom , so the findings can be documented and studied , the British Museum Thursday ( Dec. 10 ) .
[ Read more : Gold coin stash from time of Henry VIII found in English garden ] Divers trying to remove old fishing nets from the Baltic sea have accidentally stumbled on a Nazi code-making machine .
The Enigma machine , as it 's called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In fact , the diver who found the device on the ocean floor initially thought that 's what the artifact was , .
But the diving team , on assignment for the conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF ) , quickly realized that they had something much stranger .
During World War II , Enigma machines were used to encode German military messages , in hopes of preventing Allied powers from learning about troop movements and other plans .
The devices consisted of a keyboard and a series of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rotors substituted different letters for the ones typed in ; different Enigma machines used between three and eight rotors , which moved independently after each keystroke so that the same initial letter typed into the machine would appear as multiple different letters in the final code .
The Enigma machine found by the WWF diving crew was at the bottom of the Bay of Gelting in northeast Germany .
It had three rotors , making it the type used on warships , not U-boats .
That suggests that the machine may have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World War II , in an attempt to keep the technology out of enemy hands , historian Jann Witt of the German Naval Association told the DPA news agency .
[ Read more : Nazi 'Enigma ' machine found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea ] • Earth from Above : 101 Stunning Images from Orbit • From Big Bang to Present : Snapshots of Our Universe Through Time

Each week at Live Science we find the most interesting and informative articles we can. Along the way, we uncover some amazing and cool images. Here you'll discover the most incredible photos we found this week, and the remarkable stories behind them.
Gargantuan "growlers"
(Image credit: RAF)
In July 2017, a gargantuan iceberg spanning five times the area of New York's five boroughs snapped off the coast of Antarctica and began to drift northward.
Though its edges have crumbled considerably since then, the iceberg — named A-68a — is still the largest on Earth , and it's currently barreling toward an island wildlife refuge in the South Atlantic Ocean. New aerial footage taken by the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF) reveals just what that island might be up against.
For starters, the RAF footage really drives home how massive this ice giant is. (As of early April, A-68a measured about 2,000 square miles, or 5,100 square kilometers, in area, Live Science previously reported ). The berg's steep walls tower 100 feet (30 meters) above the sea, according to RAF News , and are gouged with tunnels, fissures and caves. Huge chunks of ice, or "growlers," are rapidly cracking off on all sides, leaving behind a trail of debris that could impede boat traffic in the future.
[Read more: World's largest iceberg still barreling toward penguin habitat, new footage confirms ]
Clear head, nine arms, can't lose
(Image credit: Kyodo News via Getty Images)
A nine-armed octopus caught off Japan's coast nearly ended up being dinner, until the family preparing it noticed its extra limb and sent it to a museum instead, according to news sources. While unusual, this extra appendage — which wasn't fully formed, but a small offshoot on a regular arm — isn't unheard of in octopuses, said Michael Vecchione, an invertebrate zoologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., who was not involved with this octopus's discovery.
Octopuses are capable of regenerating their arms, but "sometimes regeneration doesn't work quite right," Vecchione told Live Science. "If an arm gets damaged, it might regenerate wrong; it could wind up with extra tissue growing out, and that extra tissue could turn into an arm."
The nine-armed oddity was caught in a trap with three other octopuses on Nov. 13 in Shizugawa Bay, in the northeastern town of Minamisanriku, Japan, according to The Mainichi , a Japanese newspaper.
[Read more: Rare 9-armed octopus found off Japan coast ]
The sound of a supernova
(Image credit: NASA)
In space, nobody can hear you scream — or explode, or collapse, or slowly collide with a neighboring galaxy. But now, thanks to a new " data sonification " program at NASA, you can at least get a sense of what some of the most extreme phenomena in the universe might sound like when converted to sound played by Earthly instruments.
To hear what that sounds like, we turn to NASA's Chandra X-ray center — which has been imaging distant galaxies with its Chandra X-ray observatory for 20 years now. In their new initiative, Chandra researchers have taken three iconic images from their archives and translated different frequencies of light into different pitches of sound.
The first video shows the crab nebula (a supernova remnant powered by a windy neutron star , shown above). In NASA's data sonification of the nebula, X-ray light (blue and white) is represented by brass instruments; optical light (purple) is played by string instruments; and infrared light (pink) is represented by woodwinds. The sounds converge near the center of the nebula, where a rapidly swirling pulsar is blasting gas and radiation in all directions. Listen to this cosmic symphony (and two others) at the link below.
[Read more: This is what a supernova sounds like, according to NASA ]
Pterosaur's missing cousin
(Image credit: Rodolfo Nogueira)
Nearly nothing is known about the family tree of pterosaurs — iconic reptiles that flew alongside the dinosaurs . These now-extinct beasts appear in the fossil record with already developed wings and senses adapted for flying, with researchers having nary a clue about their immediate evolutionary history.
But now, the pterosaur's family tree has a new branch; an enigmatic group of small reptiles, known as lagerpetids, might be the closest-known pterosaur relatives on record, the researchers of a new study say.
Unlike pterosaurs, however, lagerpetids did not fly. "Now, we have an idea of what a flightless pterosaur relative would look like," study co-researcher Sterling Nesbitt, an associate professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, told Live Science.
[Read more: Missing link in pterosaur origins discovered ]
The changing face of ice
(Image credit: NOAA/Photo courtesy of Caitlin Bailey, GFOE, The Hidden Ocean 2016: Chukchi Borderlands)
From vanishing sea ice to blistering air temperatures to zombie fires , climate change is reshaping the Arctic. And that transformation may be permanent, researchers said on Tuesday (Dec. 8) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
The Arctic has warmed and melted at an alarmingly accelerating pace over the last 15 years, and the impacts are accumulating so rapidly that "there's no reason to think that in 30 years anything will be as it is today," Rick Thoman, an Alaska climate specialist with the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), said at the conference, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on Tuesday.
This year's news was not good: June snow cover across the Eurasian Arctic was at its lowest in 54 years; coastal permafrost erosion is increasing; and glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland continued a trend "of significant ice loss," according to the report.
[Read more: Dramatic transformation of the Arctic landscape may be permanent ]
Starship down
(Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX's Starship spaceflight system just took a big step on its path to Mars. The latest Starship prototype, a shiny silver vehicle known as SN8, launched on an epic high-altitude test flight on Dec. 9, taking off at 5:45 p.m. EST from SpaceX's facility near the South Texas village of Boca Chica.
The goal was to soar about 7.8 miles (12.5 kilometers) into the sky, perform some complex aerial maneuvers — including a "belly flop" like the one the final Starship will perform when coming back to Earth on operational flights — and then land safely near the launch stand. The 165-foot-tall (50 meters) SN8 appeared to notch all of these big milestones, except for the final one: The vehicle hit its landing mark but came in too fast, exploding in a dramatic fireball 6 minutes and 42 seconds after liftoff.
SN8's rapid unplanned disassembly did nothing to dampen the spirits of SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, who was thrilled by the results of today's flight.
[Read more: SpaceX's Starship SN8 prototype soars on epic test launch, with explosive landing ]
Amazonian universe
Billions of lasers shot from a helicopter flying over the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest have detected a vast network of long-abandoned circular and rectangular-shaped villages dating from 1300 to 1700, a new study finds.
The round villages all had remarkably similar layouts, with elongated mounds circling a central plaza, like marks on a clock. "These latter elongated mounds, when seen from above, look like the rays of the sun, which gives them the common name of 'Sóis,'" the Portuguese word for "suns," the researchers wrote in the study.
The discovery is part of a new archaeological focus on the pre-Columbian Amazon. Within the past 20 years, researchers have learned that the rainforest's southern rim was home to a great diversity of soil-sculpting cultures that engineered the landscape before the Europeans arrived. Within the past decade, scientists have uncovered the remnants of so-called "mound villages," which are shaped as circles or rectangles, and connected by road networks.
[Read more: Archaeologists find vast network of Amazon villages laid out like the cosmos ]
The sky is falling
(Image credit: ESA)
Have you ever seen 40,000 shooting stars blaze across the sky at the same time?
If you'd like to, the European Space Agency (ESA) is offering you two options: Either stare at the night sky for about half a million years as our solar system drifts steadily through the Milky Way (some patience required) — or, watch a new 60-second time-lapse simulation of the same thing, courtesy of the ESA's Gaia space observatory.
In the new simulation, 40,000 stars — all located within 325 light-years of Earth's sun — whiz through space, leaving long trails of light behind them. Each point of light represents one real object in the Milky Way, and each shining trail shows that object's projected movement through the galaxy over the next 400,000 years. Brighter, faster streaks are located closer to our solar system, while dimmer, slower ones live much farther away.
[Read more: Epic time-lapse shows what the Milky Way will look like 400,000 years from now ]
Gold in the garden
(Image credit: © The Trustees of the British Museum)
A family in England was weeding their garden when they unearthed a valuable treasure — a buried hoard of gold coins dating back to the 1400s, depicting English monarchs from Edward IV to Henry VIII.
The hoard — a stash of 63 gold coins and one silver coin — contains money minted over a period of nearly 100 years, from the late 15th to the 16th centuries. Four of the coins feature Henry VIII and, curiously, one of the initials of three of his wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.
Upon finding the cache, the family, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, a county in southeastern England, notified the British Museum, which runs the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). This program partners with local people who find historical artifacts in the United Kingdom, so the findings can be documented and studied, the British Museum said in a statement Thursday (Dec. 10).
[Read more: Gold coin stash from time of Henry VIII found in English garden ]
Enigma of the deep
(Image credit: Florian Huber/WWF)
Divers trying to remove old fishing nets from the Baltic sea have accidentally stumbled on a Nazi code-making machine. The Enigma machine, as it's called, looks a bit like a typewriter. In fact, the diver who found the device on the ocean floor initially thought that's what the artifact was, according to AFP . But the diving team, on assignment for the conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), quickly realized that they had something much stranger.
During World War II, Enigma machines were used to encode German military messages, in hopes of preventing Allied powers from learning about troop movements and other plans. The devices consisted of a keyboard and a series of rotors that did the encoding. The rotors substituted different letters for the ones typed in; different Enigma machines used between three and eight rotors, which moved independently after each keystroke so that the same initial letter typed into the machine would appear as multiple different letters in the final code.
The Enigma machine found by the WWF diving crew was at the bottom of the Bay of Gelting in northeast Germany. It had three rotors, making it the type used on warships, not U-boats. That suggests that the machine may have been tossed overboard in the final days of World War II, in an attempt to keep the technology out of enemy hands, historian Jann Witt of the German Naval Association told the DPA news agency.
[Read more: Nazi 'Enigma' machine found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea ]
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-12-12--How does a secure phone line work?

How does a secure phone line work?

We 've all seen those corny , binge-watchable spy action series where , upon uncovering a plot , the agent must alert the White House post haste to thwart an imminent attack on the nation .
Cue to the horse voice of TV drama `` 24 '' 's star Kiefer Sutherland : `` Get me a secure line to the president . ''
But what exactly does that mean ?
`` I get a lot of these movie-style questions and I 'll say they 're often not accurate portrayals , '' said Ben Caudill , founder and CEO of Rhino @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based in Seattle .
`` But basically , secure phones are meant to protect the caller against being phone tapped . ''
This is achieved through encryption technology working in tandem at both ends of a call .
Before the dial-er 's phone sends its signals down the line , encryption jumbles them to render them utterly incomprehensible should somebody physically tap the wires of a landline phone or remotely capture a cell phone ’ s radio waves .
`` Even if I managed to get hold of the signals or if I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I would n't be able to hear the conversation if it 's encrypted , and neither would a phone provider or a government intelligence agency , '' Caudill told Live Science .
But crucially , the legitimate recipient 's phone already has the key needed to unlock all that scrambled nonsense and reassemble it into comprehensible sound packages or text messages .
All of this happens automatically and seamlessly , so the call is n't interrupted or jittery .
There are two ways to achieve this end-to-end encryption — through software or through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enigma-esque technology is actually pretty commonplace these days .
The Facebook-owned application WhatsApp uses it and so do many other smartphone messaging apps like Signal .
So , does this mean your iPhone is actually a secure phone ?
Well , that 's probably pushing things , Caudill said .
Religiously using secure apps to send and receive calls and texts might not be as secure as you think .
`` If you have malware on your phone , for example , then the hackers may well be able to listen in to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` So there 's a question of how rigorously secure encryption through smartphone software can be , but it 's definitely better than just using regular cell signals to make calls . ''
That 's why the kind of calls made by the likes of `` 24 '' 's Jack Bauer to the president are far more likely to use hardware encryption technology , reasoned Caudill .
`` The president has a physical phone that 's not an off-the-shelf kind of device .
It has decryption stuff built right into the hardware rather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to other similarly-built phones . ''
So there you have it , Hollywood ’ s presidential phrase , “ Get me a secure line , ” really is a thing .

We've all seen those corny, binge-watchable spy action series where, upon uncovering a plot, the agent must alert the White House post haste to thwart an imminent attack on the nation. Cue to the horse voice of TV drama "24"'s star Kiefer Sutherland: "Get me a secure line to the president."
But what exactly does that mean?
"I get a lot of these movie-style questions and I'll say they're often not accurate portrayals," said Ben Caudill, founder and CEO of Rhino Security Labs, a security advisory firm based in Seattle. "But basically, secure phones are meant to protect the caller against being phone tapped."
Related: How do fax machines work?
This is achieved through encryption technology working in tandem at both ends of a call. Before the dial-er's phone sends its signals down the line, encryption jumbles them to render them utterly incomprehensible should somebody physically tap the wires of a landline phone or remotely capture a cell phone’s radio waves.
"Even if I managed to get hold of the signals or if I physically tapped your home phone cable, I wouldn't be able to hear the conversation if it's encrypted, and neither would a phone provider or a government intelligence agency," Caudill told Live Science.
But crucially, the legitimate recipient's phone already has the key needed to unlock all that scrambled nonsense and reassemble it into comprehensible sound packages or text messages. All of this happens automatically and seamlessly, so the call isn't interrupted or jittery. There are two ways to achieve this end-to-end encryption — through software or through hardware.
As a software, this enigma-esque technology is actually pretty commonplace these days. The Facebook-owned application WhatsApp uses it and so do many other smartphone messaging apps like Signal. So, does this mean your iPhone is actually a secure phone? Well, that's probably pushing things, Caudill said. Religiously using secure apps to send and receive calls and texts might not be as secure as you think.
"If you have malware on your phone, for example, then the hackers may well be able to listen in to your calls," Caudill said. "So there's a question of how rigorously secure encryption through smartphone software can be, but it's definitely better than just using regular cell signals to make calls."
That's why the kind of calls made by the likes of "24"'s Jack Bauer to the president are far more likely to use hardware encryption technology, reasoned Caudill. "The president has a physical phone that's not an off-the-shelf kind of device. It has decryption stuff built right into the hardware rather than software, and it can talk to other similarly-built phones."
So there you have it, Hollywood’s presidential phrase, “Get me a secure line,” really is a thing.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-12-12--How long can human embryos stay frozen?

How long can human embryos stay frozen?

On Oct. 26 , a healthy baby girl was born from an embryo that had been frozen for 27 years , a possible record for the longest a human embryo has stayed frozen before being born , according to recent news reports .
Molly Everette Gibson was born from an embryo frozen in 1992 and stored in a cryogenic ( ultra-cold ) freezer in the Midwest , according to The Washington Post .
In 2012 , the embryo was packed into a liquid nitrogen shipping container and sent to an embryo adoption facility ; in February of this year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tina Gibson 's uterus , who was herself only 1 year old when the embryo was frozen .
Molly 's journey breaks the record set by her biological older sister , Emma Wren Gibson , whose embryo was frozen for 24 years before Gibson gave birth to her .
So theoretically , how long can embryos stay frozen for ?
Related : Why do babies lose their hair ?
`` Indefinitely , '' said Barry Behr , a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University Medical Center .
Through a process called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cells that mark the earliest stage of human development — are frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit ( minus 196 degrees Celsius ) , a temperature that stops all biological activity , Behr told Live Science .
`` If all biological activity has ceased , then you essentially hit the pause button and things should resume when you take the pause button off . ''
Even if an embryo is put on pause for decades , once it 's thawed and implanted , it will continue to grow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to how long you can freeze an embryo biologically , there are outside factors that can damage the embryo , Behr said .
Ionizing radiation from the sun `` arguably puts some sort of limit on the indefinite lifespan '' of the frozen embryo because it can cause little mutations or damage to the cells ' , Behr said .
The radiation can penetrate through any material except for lead — even the giant stainless steel or aluminum thermoses where frozen embryos are kept .
But experts have hypothesized that it would still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , or a couple of lifetimes , for this radiation to `` substantially '' affect the viability of the embryo , he said .
Dr. Mary Ellen Pavone , an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medicine in Illinois , agreed that with modern freezing methods , embryos can `` be pretty much stored indefinitely . ''
The field of embryology and freezing methods have both greatly advanced since the time when experts first started freezing embryos in the 1980s , Pavone told Live Science .
Embryos used to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are now frozen with a very fast-freezing technique called `` vitrification , '' she said .
What 's more , embryos are now frozen at a later developmental stage , when they 're more robust ; in the early days , embryos were frozen when they were made up of two cells or six to eight cells , now they 're frozen when they have over a thousand cells , Pavone said .
Evidence has n't shown any health differences in babies that were born from frozen embryos when compared with babies born @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There are slight differences reported in the literature between the two , but those are differences in the endometrium , or mucous membrane of the surrogate 's uterus , rather than the embryo , he said .
The vast majority of implanted embryos that do n't result in have intrinsic abnormalities , ones that were not caused by the freezing process , Pavone said .
But if an embryo frozen for many centuries did achieve pregnancy , `` there 's really nothing that suggests that pregnancy would be altered because of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frozen , '' she said .
Still , embryos are `` typically not stored indefinitely because patients come back to use them , '' Pavone said .
Parents can also choose to donate them or have them thawed and discarded , she said .
To store their embryos , people have to pay yearly fees , she said .
Eggs can be similarly preserved indefinitely , Pavone said , but because an egg is a single cell , the success rate for egg implantation is lower than it is for embryos that have @ @ @ @ @ @

On Oct. 26, a healthy baby girl was born from an embryo that had been frozen for 27 years, a possible record for the longest a human embryo has stayed frozen before being born, according to recent news reports.
Molly Everette Gibson was born from an embryo frozen in 1992 and stored in a cryogenic (ultra-cold) freezer in the Midwest, according to The Washington Post . In 2012, the embryo was packed into a liquid nitrogen shipping container and sent to an embryo adoption facility; in February of this year, the embryo was implanted into now 29-year-old Tina Gibson's uterus, who was herself only 1 year old when the embryo was frozen.
Molly's journey breaks the record set by her biological older sister, Emma Wren Gibson, whose embryo was frozen for 24 years before Gibson gave birth to her. So theoretically, how long can embryos stay frozen for?
Related: Why do babies lose their hair?
"Indefinitely," said Barry Behr, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University Medical Center.
Through a process called cryopreservation, embryos — a group of cells that mark the earliest stage of human development — are frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 196 degrees Celsius), a temperature that stops all biological activity, Behr told Live Science. "If all biological activity has ceased, then you essentially hit the pause button and things should resume when you take the pause button off."
Even if an embryo is put on pause for decades, once it's thawed and implanted, it will continue to grow naturally. While there's no limit to how long you can freeze an embryo biologically, there are outside factors that can damage the embryo, Behr said.
Ionizing radiation from the sun "arguably puts some sort of limit on the indefinite lifespan" of the frozen embryo because it can cause little mutations or damage to the cells' DNA , Behr said. The radiation can penetrate through any material except for lead — even the giant stainless steel or aluminum thermoses where frozen embryos are kept. But experts have hypothesized that it would still take up to a couple of hundred years, or a couple of lifetimes, for this radiation to "substantially" affect the viability of the embryo, he said.
Dr. Mary Ellen Pavone, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medicine in Illinois, agreed that with modern freezing methods, embryos can "be pretty much stored indefinitely."
The field of embryology and freezing methods have both greatly advanced since the time when experts first started freezing embryos in the 1980s, Pavone told Live Science. Embryos used to be frozen using a slow-freezing method, and are now frozen with a very fast-freezing technique called "vitrification," she said.
What's more, embryos are now frozen at a later developmental stage, when they're more robust; in the early days, embryos were frozen when they were made up of two cells or six to eight cells, now they're frozen when they have around a hundred cells, Pavone said.
Evidence hasn't shown any health differences in babies that were born from frozen embryos when compared with babies born from fresh embryo transfers, Behr said. There are slight differences reported in the literature between the two, but those are differences in the endometrium, or mucous membrane of the surrogate's uterus, rather than the embryo, he said.
The vast majority of implanted embryos that don't result in pregnancy have intrinsic abnormalities, ones that were not caused by the freezing process, Pavone said. But if an embryo frozen for many centuries did achieve pregnancy, "there's really nothing that suggests that pregnancy would be altered because of the length of time that the embryo is frozen," she said.
Still, embryos are "typically not stored indefinitely because patients come back to use them," Pavone said. Parents can also choose to donate them or have them thawed and discarded, she said. To store their embryos, people have to pay yearly fees, she said. Eggs can be similarly preserved indefinitely, Pavone said, but because an egg is a single cell, the success rate for egg implantation is lower than it is for embryos that have the strength of multiple cells.
Originally published on Live Science.
Editor's note: This article was updated on Dec. 24 to correct a statement about when embryos are frozen. Nowadays, embryos can be frozen at later developmental stages like the blastocyst stage which is made up of about 100 cells, not thousands.


livescience--2020-12-13--How will sea levels change with climate change?

Sea level rise is not a new phenomenon .
For much of the 20th century , the global mean sea level has been inching upward — about 0.05 inches ( 1.4 millimeters ) per year , according to the United Nations ' .
Global mean sea level is an average of all the seas covering the .
But during the last two decades , the rate has more than doubled .
From 2005 to 2015 , sea levels rose by 0.1 inches ( 3.6 mm ) per year .
But is this rise consistent worldwide ?
Nope , not at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not very uniform across the globe , '' said Kathy McInnes , a senior principal research scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO ) in Australia .
She leads the Climate Extremes and Projections Group of CSIRO 's Climate Science Centre .
Related : Could we ever pull enough carbon out of the atmosphere to stop climate change ?
Many places are experiencing a rise as the global mean rises , but in a few places sea level is falling , said Jacky Austermann , an assistant professor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York .
`` There 's not a place that 's immune from sea level change , '' Austermann told Live Science .
What 's causing sea levels to change ?
, mostly .
Rising temperatures warm the air and the water .
As water warms , it expands .
The warm air and water also melts ice sheets .
`` In , warming oceans are the biggest contributor to disintegration of ice sheets , '' Austermann said .
As the glaciers melt , more water flows into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the seas .
But where does that extra water go ?
It does n't spread out evenly across the globe , McInnes said .
Globally , there are two main factors — thermal expansion and the gravitational pull of ice sheets .
With , ocean currents redistribute heat , which moves cold and warm water around .
`` If there 's greater heat in some areas and less heat in others , '' warmer ocean areas will expand more , while colder places will have less expansion , McInnes said .
Atmospheric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she added .
Moreover , those wind patterns are also changing as the planet warms , .
When gigantic ice sheets melt , they do n't just simply add water to the ocean .
Mass attracts mass .
The Antarctic and ice sheets are so large that their masses exert a gravitational pull on the sea around them , Austermann said .
This makes the sea level a bit higher in those areas .
But when the ice sheets melt , their masses reduce , too .
As the mass decreases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force pulling up the water .
In effect , sea levels are falling close to the melting ice sheets , for instance in Greenland , but rising on the opposite side of the world , in this case the Southern Hemisphere , she added .
`` This pattern of sea level change on the globe , called a sea level fingerprint , is distinct for that particular ice sheet , '' Austermann said , explaining how the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets each have their own fingerprint patterns .
Local effects like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and compaction of sediment also worsen sea level rise , McInnes said .
In some areas , especially cities built on deltas like Tokyo and New Orleans , the land is falling while sea levels rise .
`` Some of these large mega-deltas are actually sinking at a much faster rate than sea level is rising , '' McInnes said .
`` That 's a double whammy where the land is going down and sea levels are going up at the same time . ''
Natural climate cycles contribute to sea level rise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effect where all the water piles up on one side of the [ Pacific Ocean ] basin in one phase , and then piles up on the other side of the basin in the other phase , '' McInnes said .
Rising sea levels across the globe may lead to more destructive storm surges and more frequent nuisance flooding , or flooding that causes public inconveniences , for instance road closures .
Stormwater drainage systems rely on between the inland area and the ocean to function properly , so if ocean sea levels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the right way through drainage system pipes , especially during storms .
`` If we continue to have storm surges , they will elevate water levels on top of already higher sea levels , '' Austermann said .
`` That 's the most pressing short-term problem regarding sea level rise . ''

Sea level rise is not a new phenomenon. For much of the 20th century, the global mean sea level has been inching upward — about 0.05 inches (1.4 millimeters) per year, according to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . Global mean sea level is an average of all the seas covering the Earth . But during the last two decades, the rate has more than doubled. From 2005 to 2015, sea levels rose by 0.1 inches (3.6 mm) per year.
But is this rise consistent worldwide?
Nope, not at all. "Sea level rise is not very uniform across the globe," said Kathy McInnes, a senior principal research scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia. She leads the Climate Extremes and Projections Group of CSIRO's Climate Science Centre.
Related: Could we ever pull enough carbon out of the atmosphere to stop climate change?
Many places are experiencing a rise as the global mean rises, but in a few places sea level is falling, said Jacky Austermann, an assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York. "There's not a place that's immune from sea level change," Austermann told Live Science.
What's causing sea levels to change? Climate change , mostly. Rising temperatures warm the air and the water. As water warms, it expands. The warm air and water also melts ice sheets. "In Antarctica , warming oceans are the biggest contributor to disintegration of ice sheets," Austermann said. As the glaciers melt, more water flows into the ocean, thus adding more volume to the seas.
But where does that extra water go? It doesn't spread out evenly across the globe, McInnes said. Globally, there are two main factors — thermal expansion and the gravitational pull of ice sheets. With thermal expansion , ocean currents redistribute heat, which moves cold and warm water around. "If there's greater heat in some areas and less heat in others," warmer ocean areas will expand more, while colder places will have less expansion, McInnes said. Atmospheric winds can also depress and raise oceans, she added. Moreover, those wind patterns are also changing as the planet warms, Live Science previously reported .
When gigantic ice sheets melt, they don't just simply add water to the ocean. Mass attracts mass. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are so large that their masses exert a gravitational pull on the sea around them, Austermann said. This makes the sea level a bit higher in those areas. But when the ice sheets melt, their masses reduce, too. As the mass decreases, so does the strength of the gravitational force pulling up the water. In effect, sea levels are falling close to the melting ice sheets, for instance in Greenland, but rising on the opposite side of the world, in this case the Southern Hemisphere, she added. "This pattern of sea level change on the globe, called a sea level fingerprint, is distinct for that particular ice sheet," Austermann said, explaining how the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets each have their own fingerprint patterns.
Local effects like groundwater pumping, fossil fuel extraction, and compaction of sediment also worsen sea level rise, McInnes said. In some areas, especially cities built on deltas like Tokyo and New Orleans, the land is falling while sea levels rise. "Some of these large mega-deltas are actually sinking at a much faster rate than sea level is rising," McInnes said. "That's a double whammy where the land is going down and sea levels are going up at the same time."
Natural climate cycles contribute to sea level rise, too." El Niño and La Niña cause a see-saw-like effect where all the water piles up on one side of the [Pacific Ocean] basin in one phase, and then piles up on the other side of the basin in the other phase," McInnes said.
Rising sea levels across the globe may lead to more destructive storm surges and more frequent nuisance flooding, or flooding that causes public inconveniences, for instance road closures. Stormwater drainage systems rely on gravity between the inland area and the ocean to function properly, so if ocean sea levels rise, then water won't move the right way through drainage system pipes, especially during storms. "If we continue to have storm surges, they will elevate water levels on top of already higher sea levels," Austermann said. "That's the most pressing short-term problem regarding sea level rise."
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-12-14--Spectacular Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight. Here's how to watch the show.

The best shooting stars of the year should be visible on Sunday night ( Dec. 13 ) into the wee hours of Monday morning ( Dec.14 ) .
That 's when the is expected to peak , .
This annual meteor shower gets its name because the bulk of the meteors seem to emanate from near the constellation Gemini .
The space rocks come from an object called 3200 Phaethon , which is a rocky asteroid that sheds as it travels in orbit around the sun .
Some of the chunks of rock shed by 3200 Phaethon zip into 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spectacular light show every December .
`` It 's worth braving the cold during this shower 's peak , '' Diana Hannikainen , the observing editor at Sky & Telescope , .
`` The Geminids offer the best display of 'shooting stars ' all year . ''
The show peaks at around 8 p.m. EST on Sunday ( Dec. 13 ) night ( 1 a.m. UTC Dec. 14 ) and should continue well past midnight .
The radiant — or point from which the most meteors will appear to emanate — will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2 a.m. EST ( 7 a.m. UTC ) on Dec. 14 , making for some of the best viewing .
However , the radiant will be above the horizon for most Northern Hemisphere viewers by Sunday at 9 p.m. EST ( 2 a.m. UTC ) , making for great viewing even earlier in the night .
Even better , the moon is new on Sunday night , creating darker sky conditions .
`` If you 've got a clear , dark sky with no light pollution , you might see a meteor streak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 10 p.m. until dawn on the night of the peak , '' says Hannikainen .
• Find a dark spot , away from city lights or other light pollution .
• Go outside early ; allow your eyes to adjust for about 20 minutes to better see fainter meteors .
• Look toward the darkest part of the sky , which is usually straight up .
Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky .
• If Sunday night is cloudy , do n't give up .
Geminids may also be visible the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with fainter meteors more likely on the night of Dec. 13 , and brighter meteors more likely on the night of Dec.14 .
The debris you 'll see streaking through the sky is sand- to pea-sized .
These fragments slough off 3200 Phaethon as it nears the sun , which heats its surface to about 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit ( 700 degrees Celsius ) .
The particles hit Earth 's atmosphere at 79,000 mph ( 127,138 km/h ) and vaporize due to the friction of air .
After the Geminids , the next chance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ursids in late December and the Quadrantids from late December 2020 to early January 2021 .

The best shooting stars of the year should be visible on Sunday night (Dec. 13) into the wee hours of Monday morning (Dec.14).
That's when the Geminids meteor shower is expected to peak, according to Sky & Telescope magazine . This annual meteor shower gets its name because the bulk of the meteors seem to emanate from near the constellation Gemini. The space rocks come from an object called 3200 Phaethon, which is a rocky asteroid that sheds as it travels in orbit around the sun. Some of the chunks of rock shed by 3200 Phaethon zip into Earth 's atmosphere and burn up, creating a spectacular light show every December.
"It's worth braving the cold during this shower's peak," Diana Hannikainen, the observing editor at Sky & Telescope, said in a statement . "The Geminids offer the best display of 'shooting stars' all year."
Related: Dazzling Draconids: Images of a meteor shower
The show peaks at around 8 p.m. EST on Sunday (Dec. 13) night (1 a.m. UTC Dec. 14) and should continue well past midnight. The radiant — or point from which the most meteors will appear to emanate — will be at its peak above the horizon at 2 a.m. EST (7 a.m. UTC) on Dec. 14, making for some of the best viewing. However, the radiant will be above the horizon for most Northern Hemisphere viewers by Sunday at 9 p.m. EST (2 a.m. UTC), making for great viewing even earlier in the night. Even better, the moon is new on Sunday night, creating darker sky conditions.
"If you've got a clear, dark sky with no light pollution, you might see a meteor streak across the sky every minute or two from 10 p.m. until dawn on the night of the peak," says Hannikainen.
Sky & Telescope offered these tips for successful meteor showing viewing:
Find a dark spot, away from city lights or other light pollution.
Go outside early; allow your eyes to adjust for about 20 minutes to better see fainter meteors.
Look toward the darkest part of the sky, which is usually straight up. Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky.
Bundle up!
If Sunday night is cloudy, don't give up. Geminids may also be visible the night before and after the peak, with fainter meteors more likely on the night of Dec. 13, and brighter meteors more likely on the night of Dec.14.
The debris you'll see streaking through the sky is sand- to pea-sized. These fragments slough off 3200 Phaethon as it nears the sun, which heats its surface to about 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius). The particles hit Earth's atmosphere at 79,000 mph (127,138 km/h) and vaporize due to the friction of air.
After the Geminids, the next chance to see meteor showers will be the Ursids in late December and the Quadrantids from late December 2020 to early January 2021.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-12-14--'Planet Nine' cousin found

'Planet Nine' cousin found

An enormous exoplanet found circling a double star 336 light-years away may provide clues to a mystery closer to home .
In the far reaches of the , out beyond Neptune , exists a cluster of icy celestial objects known as extreme trans-Neptunian object that move in unexpected ways .
Some astronomers think these objects are responding to the gravitational pull of a yet-unobserved planet , known as , which orbits very , very far away .
Others think the weird objects are responding to the cumulative pull of other small objects , not to one large planet .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 106906 b could help explain how a planet could get kicked to the far edges of the solar system without being ejected altogether , according to researchers with the Hubble Space Telescope .
Related : The 12 strangest objects in the universe The planet is 11 times the size of Jupiter and was first discovered in 2013 .
However , until now , its orbit was a mystery .
That 's because the exoplanet circles mind-bogglingly far from the pair of stars at the center of its system : more than 730 times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And because the gravitational pull of the stars is relatively weak at that distance , the planet orbits slowly , making a revolution once every 15,000 years .
Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope enabled researchers to characterize this snail-slow orbit .
They discovered that the orbit is elongated and inclined at an odd angle .
It 's also outside a dusty disc of debris circling the star pair .
Related : 10 interesting places in the solar system we 'd like to visit '' To highlight why this is weird , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system and see that all of the planets lie roughly in the same plane , '' study leader Meiji Nguyen , an astronomer at the University of California , Berkeley , .
`` It would be bizarre if , say , Jupiter just happened to be inclined 30 degrees relative to the plane that every other planet orbits in .
This raises all sorts of questions about how HD 106906 b ended up so far out on such an inclined orbit . ''
Here 's what scientists think may have happened : The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , even closer than Earth is to the sun .
Over time , though , drag caused the exoplanet 's orbit to decay , which would have pulled it even closer to its host stars .
Instead of colliding into them , though , the complex of the pair of stars would have kicked the exoplanet into a new orbit , this one taking it far into space .
Such an orbit could have sent the exoplanet beyond the gravitational reach of its host stars , kicking it out of the system altogether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another star passed close to the alien system , stabilizing the exoplanet 's orbit and preventing it from being ejected .
Something similar may have happened in our own solar system , if Planet Nine exists .
The hypothetical planet could have formed close to the sun , only to be kicked toward the edges of the solar system by Jupiter 's gravity .
A passing star could have saved Planet Nine from being ejected altogether by pushing the planet away from Jupiter and toward the inner planets of the solar system .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Space Agency , is working to build a three-dimensional map of the galaxy over time that would help identify such possible stellar interactions early in the solar system 's history .
`` It 's as if we have a time machine for our own solar system going back 4.6 billion years to see what may have happened when our young solar system was dynamically active and everything was being jostled around and rearranged , '' study researcher Paul Kalas of the University of California , Berkeley said in the statement .
The new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to look for in a possible Planet Nine .
If it is anything like HD 106906 b , it should have an oddly inclined orbit , too .
Astronomers are also planning to study HD 106906 b itself more carefully , in an attempt to learn how it formed and where .
The new findings appear today ( Dec. 10 ) in .

An enormous exoplanet found circling a double star 336 light-years away may provide clues to a mystery closer to home.
In the far reaches of the solar system , out beyond Neptune, exists a cluster of icy celestial objects known as extreme trans-Neptunian object that move in unexpected ways. Some astronomers think these objects are responding to the gravitational pull of a yet-unobserved planet, known as Planet Nine , which orbits very, very far away . Others think the weird objects are responding to the cumulative pull of other small objects, not to one large planet.
The new discovery of an exoplanet named HD 106906 b could help explain how a planet could get kicked to the far edges of the solar system without being ejected altogether, according to researchers with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Related: The 12 strangest objects in the universe
Mysterious orbit
The planet is 11 times the size of Jupiter and was first discovered in 2013. However, until now, its orbit was a mystery. That's because the exoplanet circles mind-bogglingly far from the pair of stars at the center of its system: more than 730 times the distance between the Earth and sun. And because the gravitational pull of the stars is relatively weak at that distance, the planet orbits slowly, making a revolution once every 15,000 years.
Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope enabled researchers to characterize this snail-slow orbit. They discovered that the orbit is elongated and inclined at an odd angle. It's also outside a dusty disc of debris circling the star pair.
Related: 10 interesting places in the solar system we'd like to visit
"To highlight why this is weird, we can just look at our own solar system and see that all of the planets lie roughly in the same plane," study leader Meiji Nguyen, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement . "It would be bizarre if, say, Jupiter just happened to be inclined 30 degrees relative to the plane that every other planet orbits in. This raises all sorts of questions about how HD 106906 b ended up so far out on such an inclined orbit."
Artist's illustration of Planet Nine, a world about 10 times more massive than Earth that may lie undiscovered in the far outer solar system. (Image credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC))
A path to Planet Nine
Here's what scientists think may have happened: The exoplanet formed quite close to its stars, even closer than Earth is to the sun. Over time, though, drag caused the exoplanet's orbit to decay, which would have pulled it even closer to its host stars. Instead of colliding into them, though, the complex gravity of the pair of stars would have kicked the exoplanet into a new orbit, this one taking it far into space. Such an orbit could have sent the exoplanet beyond the gravitational reach of its host stars, kicking it out of the system altogether. But at the right moment, another star passed close to the alien system, stabilizing the exoplanet's orbit and preventing it from being ejected.
Something similar may have happened in our own solar system, if Planet Nine exists. The hypothetical planet could have formed close to the sun, only to be kicked toward the edges of the solar system by Jupiter's gravity. A passing star could have saved Planet Nine from being ejected altogether by pushing the planet away from Jupiter and toward the inner planets of the solar system. The Gaia project , an effort of the European Space Agency, is working to build a three-dimensional map of the galaxy over time that would help identify such possible stellar interactions early in the solar system's history.
"It's as if we have a time machine for our own solar system going back 4.6 billion years to see what may have happened when our young solar system was dynamically active and everything was being jostled around and rearranged," study researcher Paul Kalas of the University of California, Berkeley said in the statement.
The new exoplanet gives astronomers a hint of what to look for in a possible Planet Nine. If it is anything like HD 106906 b, it should have an oddly inclined orbit, too. Astronomers are also planning to study HD 106906 b itself more carefully, in an attempt to learn how it formed and where.
The new findings appear today (Dec. 10) in The Astronomical Journal .
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-12-14--The only total solar eclipse of 2020 may be one few get a chance to see

It would only seem appropriate that the final eclipse in this eccentric year of 2020 will be visible only from Patagonia — nicknamed `` the end of the world , '' because it reaches all the way to the bottom of the South American continent .
While parts of Chile and Argentina will experience a total solar eclipse , with the moon completely blocking out the sun , a partial solar eclipse will be visible only from the lower two-thirds of South America and a narrow slice of southwestern Africa .
North America will not see any part of it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total solar eclipse starts over the South Atlantic Ocean at 9:33 a.m. EST ( 1433 GMT ) , about 2,400 miles ( 3,900 kilometers ) southeast of the Hawaiian Islands , and 87 minutes later will reach the Pacific coast of Chile , at 11 a.m. EST ( 1600 GMT ) .
It will take about 25 minutes to sweep southeast through the Patagonia section of Chile and Argentina , then continues out over the South Atlantic Ocean for about 4,350 miles ( 7,000 km ) , with no further landfall , before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 230 miles ( 370 km ) southwest of the coast of Namibia at 12:54 p.m. EST ( 1754 GMT ) .
Video : Total Solar Eclipse in December 2020 - Where is it visible ?
Related : Total solar eclipse 2020 : Here 's how to watch it online The regions of Chile and Argentina traversed by the total eclipse are , unfortunately , rather sparsely populated .
Fortunately , during its 4-minute passage over Chile , the moon 's dark shadow will pass over the cities of Villaricca ( pop .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 22,000 ) , two popular tourist resort areas that are quite popular during the summertime which officially begins only a week later .
Both cities have favorable climatological prospects , suggesting that the weather might be fair and dry for eclipse viewing .
The point of greatest eclipse is 18 miles ( 29 km ) northwest of Sierra Colorada , a village and municipality in Río Negro Province in Argentina ( pop .
1,300 ) .
Here the path width is 55 miles ( 90 km ) and the total eclipse will last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 500 miles ( 600-800 km ) to the north are the big metropolitan areas of Santiago , Buenos Aires and Montevideo .
All three cities will see a fairly large amount of the sun obscured by the moon ( about 75-80 % ) .
Unfortunately , they are all too far away to experience the panoply of amazing sights that accompany that magic word `` totality ! ''

It would only seem appropriate that the final eclipse in this eccentric year of 2020 will be visible only from Patagonia — nicknamed "the end of the world," because it reaches all the way to the bottom of the South American continent.
While parts of Chile and Argentina will experience a total solar eclipse, with the moon completely blocking out the sun, a partial solar eclipse will be visible only from the lower two-thirds of South America and a narrow slice of southwestern Africa. North America will not see any part of it.
The narrow path of the 2020 total solar eclipse starts over the South Atlantic Ocean at 9:33 a.m. EST (1433 GMT), about 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) southeast of the Hawaiian Islands, and 87 minutes later will reach the Pacific coast of Chile, at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT). It will take about 25 minutes to sweep southeast through the Patagonia section of Chile and Argentina, then continues out over the South Atlantic Ocean for about 4,350 miles (7,000 km), with no further landfall, before coming to an end at local sunset about 230 miles (370 km) southwest of the coast of Namibia at 12:54 p.m. EST (1754 GMT).
Video: Total Solar Eclipse in December 2020 - Where is it visible?
Related: Total solar eclipse 2020: Here's how to watch it online
This NASA map shows the region of visibility for the path of totality of the total solar eclipse of Dec. 14, 2020. (Image credit: NASA)
The regions of Chile and Argentina traversed by the total eclipse are, unfortunately, rather sparsely populated. Fortunately, during its 4-minute passage over Chile, the moon's dark shadow will pass over the cities of Villaricca (pop. 46,000) and Pucon (pop. 22,000), two popular tourist resort areas that are quite popular during the summertime which officially begins only a week later. Both cities have favorable climatological prospects, suggesting that the weather might be fair and dry for eclipse viewing.
The point of greatest eclipse is 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Sierra Colorada, a village and municipality in Río Negro Province in Argentina (pop. 1,300). Here the path width is 55 miles (90 km) and the total eclipse will last 2 minutes 9.6 seconds.
A map of the Dec. 14, 2020 total solar eclipse. (Image credit: Fred Espenak/NASA)
Approximately 400 to 500 miles (600-800 km) to the north are the big metropolitan areas of Santiago, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. All three cities will see a fairly large amount of the sun obscured by the moon (about 75-80%). Unfortunately, they are all too far away to experience the panoply of amazing sights that accompany that magic word "totality!"
Pre-empted views, thanks to pandemic


livescience--2020-12-14--What's behind the mysterious, earth-shaking boom of the 'Seneca Guns'?

Enigmatic booming sounds called the `` Seneca Guns '' have reverberated off parts of coastal North Carolina for more than 150 years , with some powerful enough to rattle windows and vibrate buildings .
Now , scientists are using seismic data to pinpoint where the explosions come from and what causes them .
They presented their findings on Dec. 7 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union ( AGU ) , held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
But spoiler alert : They have n't quite solved the mystery yet .
The name Seneca Guns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Lake Seneca in upstate New York where a similar phenomenon occurred .
The lake 's ominous booming sounds , described in 1850 by the writer James Fenimore Cooper in his short story `` The Lake Gun , '' had at the time been heard for centuries .
`` It is a sound resembling the explosion of a heavy piece of artillery , that can be accounted for by none of the known laws of nature , '' Cooper .
`` The report is deep , hollow , distant and imposing .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surrounding hills , which send back the echoes of its voice in accurate reply .
No satisfactory theory has ever been broached to explain these noises . ''
Coastal North Carolina residents frequently report hearing similar booming noises , with explanations ranging from distant storms or , to quarry blasts or even military exercises .
To get to the bottom of them , the scientists combed through accounts dating back to 2013 , to create a catalog of observations .
They then compared those incidents to data collected by the , a network @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Launched in 2003 , the array migrates between 1,700 locations in the continental U.S. , and the highly localized seismic data that it collects is freely available to the public .
Currently located in Alaska , it was installed in North Carolina between 2013 and 2015 .
`` We wanted to go through local news articles , create a catalog of instances of the Seneca Guns , and then try to verify them with actual seismo-acoustic data , '' , said researcher Eli Bird , an undergraduate studying geological sciences at the University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Though the Seneca Guns can cause ground shaking , the scientists did n't find any earthquake records that coincided with the events , effectively ruling out ground shaking as the cause of these booms .
`` Generally speaking , we believe this is an atmospheric phenomenon — we do n't think it 's coming from seismic activity , we 're assuming it 's propagating through the atmosphere rather than the ground , '' Bird told Live Science .
`` The data I 've most focused on in this project is infrasound data rather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ referring to sound that has a frequency below that of human hearing .
One atmospheric explanation could be bolides — space rocks that are traveling so fast when they hit that they explode .
Another possibility could be events that originate in the ocean , such as the crash of very large waves or thunder far offshore — `` the atmospheric conditions could be such that that gets amplified in a particular direction , or is primarily affecting this localized area , '' Bird said .
Signals associated with booming varied in length @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seconds , with the station near Cape Fear picking up the most prominent signals .
Anecdotally , the Cape Fear region is also known for having numerous Seneca Gun incidents .
However , the sensor array was n't dense enough to pinpoint where the signals were coming from , and more data will be required to trace these big bangs , the researchers wrote .
`` Presumably , these are not all the same thing producing the booming sounds , '' Bird said .
Some military planes that fly in the area have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the `` gun '' sounds may , in fact , be sonic booms .
And even in those cases , a natural signal could be amplifying them even more , he added .
With the Cape Fear region identified as the most promising location to keep looking , next steps for solving this puzzle would involve collecting more data over several years , using an array of at least three stations with three microphones on each , to more accurately triangulate where the sounds originate .
`` Ideally , a dense array @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are most often detected will allow for a more extensive analysis , '' the scientists reported at AGU .
But for now , the booming Seneca Guns remain a mystery .

Enigmatic booming sounds called the "Seneca Guns" have reverberated off parts of coastal North Carolina for more than 150 years, with some powerful enough to rattle windows and vibrate buildings.
Now, scientists are using seismic data to pinpoint where the explosions come from and what causes them.
They presented their findings on Dec. 7 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But spoiler alert: They haven't quite solved the mystery yet.
Related: 50 interesting facts about Earth
The name Seneca Guns comes not from North Carolina, but from Lake Seneca in upstate New York where a similar phenomenon occurred. The lake's ominous booming sounds, described in 1850 by the writer James Fenimore Cooper in his short story "The Lake Gun," had at the time been heard for centuries.
"It is a sound resembling the explosion of a heavy piece of artillery, that can be accounted for by none of the known laws of nature," Cooper wrote . "The report is deep, hollow, distant and imposing. The lake seems to be speaking to the surrounding hills, which send back the echoes of its voice in accurate reply. No satisfactory theory has ever been broached to explain these noises."
Coastal North Carolina residents frequently report hearing similar booming noises, with explanations ranging from distant storms or earthquakes , to quarry blasts or even military exercises. To get to the bottom of them, the scientists combed through accounts dating back to 2013, to create a catalog of observations. They then compared those incidents to data collected by the EarthScope Transportable Array , a network of 400 atmospheric sensors and seismographs. Launched in 2003, the array migrates between 1,700 locations in the continental U.S., and the highly localized seismic data that it collects is freely available to the public. Currently located in Alaska, it was installed in North Carolina between 2013 and 2015.
"We wanted to go through local news articles, create a catalog of instances of the Seneca Guns, and then try to verify them with actual seismo-acoustic data,", said researcher Eli Bird, an undergraduate studying geological sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Though the Seneca Guns can cause ground shaking, the scientists didn't find any earthquake records that coincided with the events, effectively ruling out ground shaking as the cause of these booms.
"Generally speaking, we believe this is an atmospheric phenomenon — we don't think it's coming from seismic activity, we're assuming it's propagating through the atmosphere rather than the ground," Bird told Live Science. "The data I've most focused on in this project is infrasound data rather than seismic," Bird said, referring to sound that has a frequency below that of human hearing.
One atmospheric explanation could be bolides — space rocks that are traveling so fast when they hit Earth's atmosphere that they explode. Another possibility could be events that originate in the ocean, such as the crash of very large waves or thunder far offshore — "the atmospheric conditions could be such that that gets amplified in a particular direction, or is primarily affecting this localized area," Bird said.
Signals associated with booming varied in length from about 1 second to nearly 10 seconds, with the station near Cape Fear picking up the most prominent signals. Anecdotally, the Cape Fear region is also known for having numerous Seneca Gun incidents. However, the sensor array wasn't dense enough to pinpoint where the signals were coming from, and more data will be required to trace these big bangs, the researchers wrote.
"Presumably, these are not all the same thing producing the booming sounds," Bird said. Some military planes that fly in the area have broken the sound barrier, so some of the "gun" sounds may, in fact, be sonic booms. And even in those cases, a natural signal could be amplifying them even more, he added.
With the Cape Fear region identified as the most promising location to keep looking, next steps for solving this puzzle would involve collecting more data over several years, using an array of at least three stations with three microphones on each, to more accurately triangulate where the sounds originate.
"Ideally, a dense array located in an area where the signals are most often detected will allow for a more extensive analysis," the scientists reported at AGU.
But for now, the booming Seneca Guns remain a mystery.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-12-14--Massive supercontinent will form hundreds of millions of years from now

Supercontinents — giant landmasses made up of multiple continents — could emerge again on Earth 200 million years from now , and where they form on the globe could drastically affect our planet 's climate .
Scientists recently modeled this `` deep future '' view of Earth with a supercontinent makeover , presenting their findings Dec. 8 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union ( AGU ) , held online this year .
They explored two scenarios : In the first , around 200 million years in the future , nearly all continents push into the Northern Hemisphere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Southern Hemisphere ; in the second scenario , about 250 million years in the future , a supercontinent forms around the equator and extends into Northern and Southern Hemispheres .
For both , the researchers calculated the impact on global climate based upon the supercontinents ' topography .
They were surprised to find that when continents were pushed together in the north and the terrain was mountainous , global temperatures were significantly colder than in the other models .
Such an outcome could herald a deep freeze unlike any in Earth 's past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , scientists reported at AGU .
Earth 's continents did n't always look the way they do today .
Over the past 3 billion years or so , the planet has cycled through multiple periods where continents first crowded together to form immense supercontinents and then broke apart , according to lead study author Michael Way , a physical scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York .
The most recent supercontinent ( relatively speaking ) was , which existed from about 300 million to 200 million years ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe , North America and South America .
Before Pangaea was the supercontinent Rodinia , which existed from 900 million to 700 million years ago , and prior to that was Nuna , which formed 1.6 billion years ago and broke apart 1.4 billion years ago , Live Science .
Another team of scientists had previously modeled supercontinents of the far distant future .
The supercontinent they dubbed `` Aurica '' would coalesce in 250 million years from continents collecting around the equator , while `` Amasia '' would come together around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his team took the Aurica and Amasia landmasses and different topographies — highly mountainous ; flat and close to sea level ; or mostly flat but with some mountains — and plugged them into a circulation model called , Way told Live Science .
In addition to , other parameters informed the models ' calculations for deep future Earths , based on how Earth changes over time .
For example , 250 million years from now , Earth will spin just a little slower than it does today , which the model @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Earth 's rotation rate is slowing down over time — if you move 250 million years into the future , the day length increases by about 30 minutes , so we put that into the model to see if that had an effect , '' Way said .
Solar luminosity will also slightly increase in 250 million years , `` because the sun is gradually getting brighter through time , '' he said .
`` We put that into the model also , so we increased the amount of radiation the planet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their models was that global temperatures were colder by nearly 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit ( 4 degrees Celsius ) in a world with a mountainous Amasia supercontinent in the Northern Hemisphere .
This was mostly because of a strong ice albedo feedback .
Snow and ice in this northern supercontinent at high latitudes created permanent cover over land during the summer and winter months , `` and that tends to keep the surface temperature a couple of degrees colder than in all the other scenarios , '' Way said .
By comparison , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , lakes and inland seas were able to form .
They transported atmospheric heat northward from the equator , seasonally melting snow and ice so that the land would n't be permanently frozen .
On Earth today , ocean circulation carries heat to far northern regions , traveling around and through the Bering Strait .
But when a supercontinent forms and those avenues close , `` then you ca n't transport that warm ocean heat from lower latitudes or southern summer up north to melt and keep things warm , '' Way said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lasted for tens of thousands of years .
But the formation of Amasia could usher in an ice age that would be significantly longer .
`` In this case , we 're talking about 100 million years , 150 million years , '' Way said .
What might that mean for life on Earth ?
As tropical lowlands vanish , so too would the incredible biodiversity that they support .
`` But when you give evolution enough time , it finds a way to fill every ecological niche in some way , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as this , where exceptional cold would dominate the planet for 100 million years or more , `` that 's a long time for evolution to work , '' he said .

Supercontinents — giant landmasses made up of multiple continents — could emerge again on Earth 200 million years from now, and where they form on the globe could drastically affect our planet's climate.
Scientists recently modeled this "deep future" view of Earth with a supercontinent makeover, presenting their findings Dec. 8 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), held online this year. They explored two scenarios: In the first, around 200 million years in the future, nearly all continents push into the Northern Hemisphere, with Antarctica left all alone in the Southern Hemisphere; in the second scenario, about 250 million years in the future, a supercontinent forms around the equator and extends into Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
For both, the researchers calculated the impact on global climate based upon the supercontinents' topography. They were surprised to find that when continents were pushed together in the north and the terrain was mountainous, global temperatures were significantly colder than in the other models. Such an outcome could herald a deep freeze unlike any in Earth's past, lasting at least 100 million years, scientists reported at AGU.
Related: Earth's 8 biggest mysteries
Earth's continents didn't always look the way they do today. Over the past 3 billion years or so, the planet has cycled through multiple periods where continents first crowded together to form immense supercontinents and then broke apart, according to lead study author Michael Way, a physical scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
The most recent supercontinent (relatively speaking) was Pangaea , which existed from about 300 million to 200 million years ago and included what is now Africa, Europe, North America and South America. Before Pangaea was the supercontinent Rodinia, which existed from 900 million to 700 million years ago, and prior to that was Nuna, which formed 1.6 billion years ago and broke apart 1.4 billion years ago, Live Science previously reported .
Another team of scientists had previously modeled supercontinents of the far distant future. The supercontinent they dubbed "Aurica" would coalesce in 250 million years from continents collecting around the equator, while "Amasia" would come together around the North Pole . For the new study, Way and his team took the Aurica and Amasia landmasses and different topographies — highly mountainous; flat and close to sea level; or mostly flat but with some mountains — and plugged them into a circulation model called ROCKE-3D , Way told Live Science.
Simulations show possible land configurations for supercontinents in a "far future" Earth. (Image credit: M.J. Way, H.S. Davies, Joao Duarte, J.A.M. Green)
In addition to plate tectonics , other parameters informed the models' calculations for deep future Earths, based on how Earth changes over time. For example, 250 million years from now, Earth will spin just a little slower than it does today, which the model took into account, Way explained.
"Earth's rotation rate is slowing down over time — if you move 250 million years into the future, the day length increases by about 30 minutes, so we put that into the model to see if that had an effect," Way said. Solar luminosity will also slightly increase in 250 million years, "because the sun is gradually getting brighter through time," he said. "We put that into the model also, so we increased the amount of radiation the planet sees."
Related: How North America grew as a continent
The most unexpected result in their models was that global temperatures were colder by nearly 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) in a world with a mountainous Amasia supercontinent in the Northern Hemisphere. This was mostly because of a strong ice albedo feedback. Snow and ice in this northern supercontinent at high latitudes created permanent cover over land during the summer and winter months, "and that tends to keep the surface temperature a couple of degrees colder than in all the other scenarios," Way said.
By comparison, in models of a less mountainous Amasia, lakes and inland seas were able to form. They transported atmospheric heat northward from the equator, seasonally melting snow and ice so that the land wouldn't be permanently frozen.
On Earth today, ocean circulation carries heat to far northern regions, traveling around Greenland and through the Bering Strait. But when a supercontinent forms and those avenues close, "then you can't transport that warm ocean heat from lower latitudes or southern summer up north to melt and keep things warm," Way said.
Earth's more recent ice ages lasted for tens of thousands of years. But the formation of Amasia could usher in an ice age that would be significantly longer.
"In this case, we're talking about 100 million years, 150 million years," Way said.
What might that mean for life on Earth? As tropical lowlands vanish, so too would the incredible biodiversity that they support. However, new species could emerge that would be adapted to survive in extremely cold environments, like they did during earlier ice ages.
"When you give evolution enough time, it finds a way to fill every ecological niche in some way," Way said. And in a situation such as this, where exceptional cold would dominate the planet for 100 million years or more, "that's a long time for evolution to work," he said.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-12-14--Longest-exposure photo ever was just discovered. It was made through a beer can.

Eight years and one month ago , a Master of Fine Art student at the University of Hertfordshire fitted a beer can with photographic paper and created a low-tech .
She then placed the can on a telescope at the university 's Bayfordbury Observatory and eventually forgot about the project .
Now , the resulting photograph has been rediscovered — and it may be the longest-exposure photo ever taken .
`` I had tried this technique a couple of times at the Observatory before , but the photographs were often ruined by moisture and the photographic paper curled up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photography technician at Barnet and Southgate College , .
`` I had n't intended to capture an exposure for this length of time and to my surprise , it had survived . ''
Related : Spaced out !
101 astronomy images that will blow your mind The photograph shows the sun 's journey through the sky since 2012 ; 2,953 arcs of light tracing its path as the sun rose and set .
Part of the telescope 's dome is also visible at the left of the photograph .
On the right is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ observatory , which was built halfway through the exposure .
Prior to this photo , the longest-exposure picture was thought to be four years , eight months , taken by German artist , according to the university .
Wesely takes long-exposure photographs of various scenes , such as the renovation of the Museum of Modern Art ( MOMA ) in New York City .
Long-exposure photography requires very small apertures , or openings in the camera lens , in order not to flood the photographic paper with light .
The beer-can camera is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very simple device without any lens at all .
Light enters through the only opening in the camera — the pinprick-sized hole — and falls on photosensitive paper inside .
This creates an inverted image of whatever the camera `` sees . ''
Because of the long exposure time , only slow-moving or permanent objects appear in the resulting image ; fast-moving objects are lost .
Valkenborgh 's image was rediscovered by the Bayfordbury Observatory 's principal technical officer , David Campbell , who found and removed the unassuming beer can from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of luck that the picture was left untouched , to be saved by David after all these years , '' Valkenborgh said .

This image shows 2,953 arced trails of the sun, as it rose and fell over a period of eight years and one month.
Eight years and one month ago, a Master of Fine Art student at the University of Hertfordshire fitted a beer can with photographic paper and created a low-tech pinhole camera . She then placed the can on a telescope at the university's Bayfordbury Observatory and eventually forgot about the project.
Now, the resulting photograph has been rediscovered — and it may be the longest-exposure photo ever taken.
"I had tried this technique a couple of times at the Observatory before, but the photographs were often ruined by moisture and the photographic paper curled up," photographer Regina Valkenborgh, now a photography technician at Barnet and Southgate College, said in a statement . "I hadn't intended to capture an exposure for this length of time and to my surprise, it had survived."
Related: Spaced out! 101 astronomy images that will blow your mind
The photograph shows the sun's journey through the sky since 2012; 2,953 arcs of light tracing its path as the sun rose and set. Part of the telescope's dome is also visible at the left of the photograph. On the right is a gantry structure designed to straddle the observatory, which was built halfway through the exposure.
Prior to this photo, the longest-exposure picture was thought to be four years, eight months, taken by German artist Michael Wesely , according to the university. Wesely takes long-exposure photographs of various scenes, such as the renovation of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City.
Long-exposure photography requires very small apertures, or openings in the camera lens, in order not to flood the photographic paper with light. The beer-can camera is a type of pinhole camera, a very simple device without any lens at all. Light enters through the only opening in the camera — the pinprick-sized hole — and falls on photosensitive paper inside. This creates an inverted image of whatever the camera "sees." Because of the long exposure time, only slow-moving or permanent objects appear in the resulting image; fast-moving objects are lost.
Valkenborgh's image was rediscovered by the Bayfordbury Observatory's principal technical officer, David Campbell, who found and removed the unassuming beer can from the telescope.
"It was a stroke of luck that the picture was left untouched, to be saved by David after all these years," Valkenborgh said.
Originally published on Live Science.