Meanwhile, the Curiosity rover just narrowly avoided driving over some dangerous, scaly “gator-back” terrain on Mars that may have shortened the robotic explorer’s life span.īotanists discovered clusters of Gasteranthus extinctus in western Ecuador while conducting field research. The new rocket NASA has been testing will help deliver humans to another new lunar site of exploration: the moon’s south pole. And an ancient impact may be the culprit. Our solar system is an endless source of awe.įor years, scientists have puzzled over why the far side of the moon looks so different from the lunar face we see in the sky each night. Now, Fiona is a happy, healthy 1,300 pounds – and we have no doubt she’ll be an incredible big sister. The tiny hippo persevered, and her journey as she navigated those vulnerable early days captured the hearts of many. But Tucker, who arrived at the zoo in 2021, has been “enamored” with Bibi ever since they met.įiona gained attention in 2017 after being born six weeks premature. The news came as a shock because Fiona’s father died in 2017, and Bibi has been on birth control. Fiona’s mother, Bibi, is expecting, and her “big bundle of joy” is due to arrive late this summer. The social media darling of the Cincinnati Zoo is about to become a big sister. John Minchillo/APĬongratulations are in order for everyone’s favorite hippo, Fiona. Scientists are still trying to determine the exact link between atmospheric rivers and the climate crisis, but one thing is certain: The collapse of Larsen C would spell bad news for the sea level around the planet.įiona (right), a baby Nile hippopotamus, and her mother, Bibi (left), walk through their enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo in January 2018. The concern now is that these intense sky rivers could lead to the collapse of the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, called Larsen C. The heat that triggered this event was caused by an atmospheric river, or a long moisture plume that pulls warm air from the tropics. Soaring temperatures caused an ice shelf the size of Los Angeles to collapse in Antarctica in March. But it would be the “holy grail of interstellar objects” if they could.Īnd if that’s not enough weirdness for you, check out this powerful laser, or “megamaser,” that was just detected in deep space.Ī phenomenon known as atmospheric “rivers in the sky” is melting Antarctica’s ice.

Researchers want to retrieve part of it from the Pacific Ocean, which may not be possible.

Little is known about the meteor, including when and where it came from. This one was likely kicked out of its own planetary system before heading toward our corner of the universe.

Interstellar space rocks are rarely observed in our solar system. The first known interstellar meteor to ever hit Earth crashed along the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea in 2014, according to a recently released United States Space Command document. One meteor had the need for speed as it approached our planet from beyond the solar system – but luckily it didn’t reach the danger zone. This illustration shows what it may have looked like when the meteor fell to Earth.

Planet zoo crashing