Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
Elon musk gifted Our Honourable Prime Minister , Modi sir, a piece of Heat Tile that flew on 5th test flight of Starship on October 13 , 2024. Giving space relics should become mainstream gifting culture now. 🇮🇳🙏 pic.twitter.com/nL44riX4ND
— Radha Krishna Kavuluru (@iamkrishradha) February 14, 2025
(Credit - X/@iamkrishradha)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Elon Musk, the Head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, in Washington on Thursday. During the meet, Elon Musk gifted a heatshield tile from his behemoth Starship spacecraft that went to space. Starship's heatshield tiles are hexagonal ceramic tiles designed to protect SpaceX’s Starship during atmospheric reentry, when the spacecraft faces extreme temperatures as it returns to Earth. Apart from that, both of them discussed on strengthening collaboration between Indian and US entities in several key areas, including innovation, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development.
The Great Barrier Reef, home to over 1500 marine species, and a world heritage site, is dying as ocean surface temperature rises. 2024 was the hottest year on record for global oceans. An in-water surveys done by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) found up to 72% coral mortality on 12 of 19 reefs surveyed in the north of the Great Barrier Reef. To save the reefs primarily from global warming, Australian researchers are designing a global real-time monitoring system.A multimodal platform will distil all research data relating to coral reefs, including underwater videos and photographs, satellite images, text files and time-sensor readings, onto a central dashboard for real-time global monitoring.
The ancient Romans were known for their exceptional engineering and building skills, with their iconic aqueducts standing as a testament to their expertise. These enduring structures were made possible by a unique material known as pozzolanic concrete, which played a key role in their incredible strength and longevity. The secret to the durability of these structures has long been attributed to the composition of their concrete-pozzolana, a volcanic ash found in the Italian city of Pozzuoli, mixed with lime. When combined with water, these materials form a remarkably strong concrete. However, the new study suggests that these tiny lime clasts gave the concrete a previously unrecognized self-healing capability.
Clouds cpatured on Mars
— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) February 13, 2025
140 million miles away pic.twitter.com/Z4hqLPQI9V
(Credit - X/@DimaZeniuk)
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared a breathtaking video of colourful clouds in the Martian sky. Captured by the Curiosity Rover, exploring the Red Planet, it used its Mastcam to record a 16-minute video of these colourful clouds on January 17, 2025. the photos show the latest observations of twilight clouds, also known as noctilucent clouds (Latin for "night shining"). The clouds display red and green hues caused by the scattering of light from the setting sun. Despite having a similar appearance to our planet, the Martian clouds contain dry ice or frozen carbon dioxide, said the space agency. NASA also mentioned that Martian clouds are made of either water ice or carbon dioxide ice. Carbon dioxide makes up over 95% of Mars' atmosphere.
