Nature Hub

  From - Sky & Telescope, By - Elise Cutts, Edited by - Amal Udawatta,      In 2005 astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the delicate ring system of Uranus, as well as a                    southern collar of clouds and a bright, discrete cloud in the northern hemisphere.      NASA / ESA / M. Showalter (SETI Institute) New research shows diamonds might condense out of Neptune’s mantle, but not Uranus’, explaining a decades-old discrepancy. Below the frosty hydrogen-helium atmospheres of Neptune and Uranus lie fluid mantles rich in water, ammonia, methane, and possibly something far more dazzling: diamonds. Scientists have long suspected these dense gems might rain out of the ice giants’ mantles and into their rocky cores. However, Uranus’ interior might not be as glitzy as previously thought. Theoretical results published February 27th in  Nature Communications  suggest...

 From - Sky & Telescope, By - Monika Young Edited by - Amal Udawatta, These "postage stamp" images (each 1 arcsecond wide) were captured with Keck Observatory’s NIRC2 instrument and adaptive optic. They show X7’s motion and elongation between 2002 and 2021. Sgr A*'s position is marked with a black "X" in the top right panel. A. Ciurlo et al. / UCLA GCOI / W. M. Keck Observatory Two decades of observations show a dusty gas cloud elongating as it approaches our galaxy’s supermassive black hole. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to fall into a black hole, a dusty gas cloud in the galactic center can give you an idea. Observations of the cloud dating back to 2002 show it’s coming apart in the presence of the supermassive behemoth residing there. That black hole, called Sgr A*, exerts  tidal forces  on any objects nearby, pulling harder on the nearer side than on the farther side, and stretching — or  spaghettifying  — them in the process. The extent of the ...

  By Brandon Drenon BBC News, Washington, Edited by Amal Udawatta, IMAGE SOURCE, NASA Image caption, Asteroid 2023 DW has a better chance of hitting a date of 14 February than our planet, NASA says. By Brandon Drenon BBC News, Washington A newly detected asteroid has a very small chance of impacting the Earth in 2046, Nasa tweeted on Tuesday. If it does hit, the asteroid, roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool, may arrive on  Valentine's Day 2046  according to Nasa calculations. The closest the asteroid is expected to get to Earth is about 1.1 million miles (1.8m km), Nasa says. But researchers are still collecting data, which they say may change predictions. The asteroid, dubbed 2023 DW, has about a 1 in 560 chance of hitting Earth, according to Nasa. It's the only space rock on Nasa's risk list that ranks a 1 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale. The scale, which goes from 0-10, measures the risk of space objects colliding with Earth. All other objects on the scale r...

 From - BBC News By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, Edited by Amal Udawatta, IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES A Japanese researcher has told a major genetics conference that he has created eggs from the cells of male mice. The research, still in its early stages, involved turning male XY sex chromosomes into female XX ones. Prof Katsuhiko Hayashi from Osaka University is working on developing fertility treatments. The development, which he has submitted for publication in the scientific journal Nature, raises the prospect of male couples having their own children. Prof George Daley of Harvard Medical School, who is not involved in the research, said that there was still a long way to go before society was faced with such a decision. ''Hayashi's work is unpublished but fascinating. [Doing this on Humans] is harder than the mouse," he said. We still don't understand enough of the unique biology of human gametogenesis (the formation of reproductive cells) to reproduce H...

  By Georgina Rannard BBC climate and science reporter, Edited by - Amal Udawatta, IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Heather and gorse are two flora species native to the UK Parts of Britain's landscape today would be unrecognisable to someone who grew up just 70 years ago, a major survey of plant life suggests. Non-native species have thrived while some native plants have been hit by modern agriculture and climate change. In a 20-year study, botanists counted more non-native than native species in the wild. Thousands of volunteers counted millions of flora to produce a Plant Atlas covering the UK and Ireland. Britain is now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. That decline in biodiversity is also the subject of a new BBC documentary, Wild Isles, presented by Sir David Attenborough. One in every five plant species in the UK is listed as threatened. IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Harebells are native and found throughout the UK The  Plant A...