Global Scientist Day

                                                         Water is essential to life as we know it, and wherever liquid water exists on Earth, life seems to thrive — from deep-sea hydrothermal vents to subglacial lakes in Antarctica. This fundamental connection between water and life is what drives NASA’s search for extraterrestrial life. Surprisingly, some of the most promising places to find life in our solar system are not dry, rocky planets, but icy moons with hidden oceans beneath their surfaces — the so-called "ocean worlds."  Why Water Matters Liquid water acts as a solvent, allowing complex chemistry to occur. In Earth’s oceans, life persists in the darkest, most extreme environments — without sunlight, but with heat and nutrients from hydrothermal vents. Similar environments may exist in ocean worlds, especially if their oceans ar...

                                                                          Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Northern Borders Region witnessed a rare celestial spectacle on Wednesday evening, June 11, with the rise of the full moon of Dhul- Hijjah , commonly referred to as the Strawberry Moon . This marks the final full moon of the year 1446 AH, rising from the furthest point on the south-eastern horizon. This phenomenon occurs only once every 18.6 years, with the next occurrence expected in 2043. Astronomical specialists explain that this event is linked to the Moon’s extreme southern declination, part of the Metonic Cycle, which lasts approximately 19 years, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Upon rising, the Moon displayed a golden-pink hue due to atmospheric effects, earning it the name “ Str...

A                                        Fascinating discovery spanning millions of years has emerged as researchers have uncovered more than 260 matching dinosaur tracks on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. This revelation not only sheds light on ancient migration paths but also offers critical insights into the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. The tracks, preserved in what is now northern Cameroon and northeastern Brazil, have provided scientists with remarkable evidence of an ancient connection between Africa and South America. This discovery was detailed in a study led by paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs and his team, published by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. The Dinosaur Dispersal Corridor: Connecting Two Continents The study of dinosaur footprints found in the Koum Basin of Cameroon and the Borborema region of Brazil has opened a new chapter in p...

                                      Rocket Launch  — SpaceX is once again dominating the spaceflight scene this weekend with  two major Falcon 9 rocket launches  — one from the  West Coast of California  and another from  Florida’s Space Coast .  Both missions successfully lifted off as part of the company’s ongoing expansion of satellite-based internet services and commercial satellite delivery operations.  Early Sunday morning, Southern California skywatchers had the chance to witness a spectacular launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried  26 new Starlink satellites  into low-Earth orbit.  The launch window opened at  6:34 a.m. PT  from  Launch Complex 4E , and despite the possibility of weather delays, the mission proceeded as scheduled.  The reusable Falcon 9 booster landed smoot...

  The encore comes two years after the company’s first moonshot ended in a  crash landing  , giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Resilience holds a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist’s toy-size red house that will be lowered onto the moon’s dusty surface .  Long the province of governments, the moon became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than wins along the way.  Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. It shared a SpaceX ride with Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, which reached the moon faster and became the first private entity to successfully land there in March.  Another U.S. company, Intuitive Machines, arrived at the moon a few days after Firefly. But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the moon’s south pole and was declared dead within hours.  Resilience is targeting the top of the ...

The phrase “the world’s smallest violin ” is dripping with sarcasm and reserved for disdain, but for some researchers it’s a mark of pride . Thanks to the latest nanotechnology tools, a team at the United Kingdom’s Loughborough University recently crafted what is  literally  the world’s smallest violin. At only 35 micrometers long and 13 micrometers wide, the “instrument” is thinner than a human hair and makes tardigrades look imposing by comparison.  Don’t expect to hear any scaled down sonatas, however. In this case, engineers designed a nanoscale image of a violin instead of a playable instrument. Regardless, the milestone wasn’t intended as a stunt—it’s helping experts push the boundaries for future generations of electronics and computer chips.  “Our nanolithography system allows us to design experiments that probe materials in different ways—using light, magnetism, or electricity—and observe their responses,” experimental physics professor ...

Heat records fall so often now that most people barely look up from their phones when the news flashes across the screen. Yet every fraction of a degree matters, because hidden in that extra warmth are hair-trigger switches built into Earth systems that are critical for all life on our planet . Push them too far and enormous ice sheets, ocean currents, and forests may snap into a new state – one that pulls polar bears, fishers, and farmers down a road none of them chose.  Scientists call those switches “tipping points.” Cross one and the change races ahead on its own. Glaciers speed up, rainforests dry out, and deep-sea conveyors stall.  The concern is no longer for some distant era. The time is now, as global temperature average already exceeded the 1.5 °C line in 2024 – the line that years of diplomacy drew in the sand has already been crossed.  The   World Meteorological Organization   now expects the planet to spend its second full year above 1.5 °C of war...