merelygifted:

Potential new meteor shower is ‘all or nothing event,’ says NASA astronomer | Space

A shattering comet might generate a new tau Herculids shower on May 30 and 31

A blast of new meteors may emerge during a tau Herculid meteor shower on May 30 and 31, but that’s not a sure thing.

NASA astronomer Bill Cooke termed the potential meteor shower milestone an “all or nothing event” in a blog post from the agency earlier in May, as astronomers track the debris from the broken-up comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (also known as SW 3).

“If the debris from SW 3 was traveling more than 220 miles [354 kilometers] per hour when it separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower,” Bill Cooke, who leads NASA’s meteoroid environment office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement (opens in new tab).

“If the debris had slower ejection speeds,” Cooke added, “then nothing will make it to Earth and there will be no meteors from this comet.“  …

merelygifted:

A ‘meteor storm’ of 1,000 shooting stars per hour may light up the skies over North America next week | Live Science

Ready to embrace some meteoric uncertainty?

The Tau Herculids meteor shower may light up the skies over North America on May 30 and 31. Or it may not. There’s a chance we might pass through the thickest part of the comet fragment that is creating the debris, in which case the night skies will be filled with shooting stars.

If the shower happens in the right way, it could lead to a spectacular “meteor storm,” in which Earth passes through an especially thick forest of space rocks, leading to up to 1,000 shooting stars per hour, according to the Washington Post (opens in new tab). And as a bonus, the moon will be new and the radiant, or apparent direction of the shower, is in the high-up constellation of Hercules in the northern sky. This means there will be a minimum of natural light pollution to contend with when looking for shooting stars.

But the sky show is not a guarantee, NASA cautioned….

merelygifted:

Pompeii victim’s genome successfully sequenced for first time | Italy | The Guardian

Scientists say man shares similarities with modern Italians and others who lived in region during Roman empire

…  The man was aged between 35 and 40 when he was killed in the violent eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. Comparisons of his DNA with genetic codes obtained from 1,030 ancient humans, as well as 471 modern western Eurasian individuals, suggested his DNA shared the most similarities with modern individuals from central Italy and those who lived during the ancient Roman period. Analysis of his mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA also identified groups of genes commonly found in Sardinia, but not among those who lived in Italy during the empire, suggesting there may have been high levels of genetic diversity across the Italian peninsula at that time.

Further analysis of the man’s skeleton also identified lesions in one of the vertebrae and DNA sequences suggested he may have had tuberculosis before his death.  …

movieposters1:

sixpenceee:

Anolis aquaticus lizards can submerge into water for up to 15 minutes by breathing from air pockets in there heads | source                          

badtaste87-deactivated20221107:

merelygifted:

A large earthquake has struck near the Peru-Bolivia border.  The U.S. Geological Survey has rated the tremor at a preliminary 7.2 magnitude.

The quake struck at a depth of 135 miles, according to the initial survey.  The shaking began at 8:02 a.m. EDT Thursday morning, according to the USGS.

The epicenter was located in southern Peru, about 8 miles west-northwest of the town of Azangaro.  La Paz, Bolivia, is located about 200 miles southeast of the epicenter.  No damage was immediately reported in the city.  …

johnbrownfunclubofficial:

paxamericana:

ALT

almost certainly false if you’re having to come out and say this. this is not a normal thing to say.

probably covering for that game of fucking Marco Polo. “We didn’t do it!”

sixpenceee:

The water colour in the Siwa oasis, Egypt | source                          

the2dstagesfg:

“Natural Born Killer” A stage by Matter