Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has made history with its closest-ever approach to the Sun on Christmas Eve. On December 24 at 6:40 am Eastern time, the spacecraft flew just 3.8 million miles from the Sun’s surface, breaking its own record and getting more than seven times closer than any previous mission, according to Space.com. During the flyby, the probe travelled at a breath-taking speed of 430,000 miles per hour, making it the fastest man-made object ever. The Parker Solar Probe aims to help scientists solve the mystery of why the Sun’s corona is millions of degrees hotter than its surface.
Amity University, Mumbai, is preparing to make history as it launches spinach cells into space aboard ISRO’s Spadex mission. The experiment, known as the Amity Plant Experimental Module in Space (APEMS), aims to study how plant cells grow and adapt in the unique conditions of space. The mission will launch on ISRO’s PSLV-C60 rocket, as part of the fourth PS4-Orbital Experiment Module (POEM-4) series. The research will compare the behavior of the plant cells under microgravity in space and normal gravity on Earth. To achieve this, two identical experiments will be conducted simultaneously: one aboard POEM-4 and the other in a controlled lab environment at Amity University. ISRO will demonstrate docking, undocking of two satellites in space with the SpaDeX mission.
ESA and NASA deliver first joint picture of Greenland Ice Sheet melting 🛰️🛰️
— ESA's CryoSat mission (@esa_cryosat) December 20, 2024
CryoSat and ICESat-2 measurements of Greenland Ice Sheet elevation change agree to within 3% of changes
Between 2010 and 2023, the ice sheet thinned by 1.2 m on average, or 2347 cubic km altogether 📉 pic.twitter.com/8O1M9Mu0zz
(Credit - X/@esa_cryosat)
Researchers from Northumbria University have joined an international research team that has utilised satellite data to monitor changes in the thickness of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The research team has successfully delivered the first measurements of ice sheet thickness changes using data from the CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 missions, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, respectively. Between 2010 and 2023, the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced an average thinning of 1.2 meters, with the ablation zone seeing a dramatic average thinning of 6.4 meters. The total volume loss over the 13-year period amounted to 2,347 cubic kilometers, enough to fill Lake Victoria.
A mammoth discovery! A well-preserved baby mammoth carcass, believed to be 50,000 years old, was uncovered by thawing permafrost in Siberia. pic.twitter.com/sptd93xRxP
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 24, 2024
(Credit -X/@USATODAY)
Researchers in Siberia are conducting tests on a juvenile mammoth whose remarkably well-preserved remains were discovered in thawing permafrost after more than 50,000 years. The creature resembles a small elephant with a trunk, which was recovered from the Batagaika crater, a huge depression more than 80 metres (260 feet) deep which is widening as a result of climate change. Last month, scientists in the same vast northeastern region - known as Sakha or Yakutia - showed off the 32,000-year-old remains of a tiny sabre-toothed cat cub, while earlier this year a 44,000-year-old wolf carcass was uncovered.
