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A chip of zircon found in Western Australian rocks at a place called North Pole Dome revealed the age of Earth's oldest known impact crater. The team that found it was working on age-dating the crater, which is located in a region called the Pilbara Craton. They used mineral dating to pinpoint the exact time it was dug out by an impactor. Team lead Chris Kirkland from the Timescales of Minerals Systems Group within Curtin University's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the findings help resolve a longstanding question about the timing of the impact. The results of the team's analysis of several minerals at the site, along with zircon, indicated that the North Pole Dome impact occurred at 3.024 billion years ago (plus or minus a few million years).

Stars form inside molecular clouds where cold gas collapses gravitationally on itself. But there's more to this process than gravity. New research shows how magnetic field lines funnel gas through sub-filaments into star formation sites.

Growing numbers of homeowners are installing batteries that store electricity when it is cheap, which helps balance the grid and cuts emissions, and cheaper plug-in batteries will soon let more people do the same

Growing numbers of homeowners are installing batteries that store electricity when it is cheap, which helps balance the grid and cuts emissions, and cheaper plug-in batteries will soon let more people do the same

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy.

NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy. Webb’s new view of M82, added to archival data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, gives us a more complete picture of this starburst galaxy. Because Webb can see infrared light, it is able to peer through clouds of dust and gas to see the shape of this edge-on galaxy, as well as approximately 16.5 million of its stars.

M82’s rapid star formation, thought to be the result of its merger with another galaxy, will only be a (relatively) brief period in its history. Ironically, the extreme star formation is causing plumes of material to be ejected above and below the disk of the galaxy – something that will disrupt future stellar birth.

Read the full story.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy. Webb’s new view of M82, added to archival data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, gives us a more complete picture of this starburst galaxy. Because Webb can see infrared light, it is able to peer through clouds of dust and gas to see the shape of this edge-on galaxy, as well as approximately 16.5 million of its stars.

M82’s rapid star formation, thought to be the result of its merger with another galaxy, will only be a (relatively) brief period in its history. Ironically, the extreme star formation is causing plumes of material to be ejected above and below the disk of the galaxy – something that will disrupt future stellar birth.

Read the full story.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

We have identified the gene that, when activated, initiates the developmental programme that results in cells forming a human body

We have identified the gene that, when activated, initiates the developmental programme that results in cells forming a human body

The loss of Antarctica’s doomsday glacier would transform our planet. Now scientists are revealing the secrets of this remotest of places, and asking the question: is its demise inevitable?

The loss of Antarctica’s doomsday glacier would transform our planet. Now scientists are revealing the secrets of this remotest of places, and asking the question: is its demise inevitable?

For a long time, astrophysicists thought that the Universe's first stars, called Population III stars, were uniformly massive. It seemed like the conditions they formed in were calm and serene, which favoured massive stars. But new research based on high-resolution simulations show that conditions were more chaotic than thought, and gas cloud turbulence means that Population III stars were not all massive. This affected the metallicity of the next stars to form.

This August a total solar eclipse is set to be visible across parts of Europe, while a partial eclipse will sweep across about a quarter of the planet – here’s how to catch it

This August a total solar eclipse is set to be visible across parts of Europe, while a partial eclipse will sweep across about a quarter of the planet – here’s how to catch it

Scorching temperatures across France rose to a record-breaking average 30 degrees on Wednesday

A new study claims that the universe isn’t entirely the same no matter where you look—a radical proposal

The extreme heat currently being felt in Europe isn’t the new normal – much worse is to come, and we are doing far too little to adapt, says Michael Le Page

The extreme heat currently being felt in Europe isn’t the new normal – much worse is to come, and we are doing far too little to adapt, says Michael Le Page

Of the more than 624,000 highway bridges in the U.S., an estimated 220,000 need repairs. Quantum sensors could help engineers better safeguard these vital pieces of infrastructure

Video: 00:02:07

Europe is facing an intense heatwave, with record temperatures and several cities under red alert. On 23 June, France recorded its hottest June day ever.

This image was captured the same day by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite, which measures land surface temperature from space.

Unlike air temperature, land surface temperature shows how hot the ground itself becomes, often much higher as rock and asphalt absorb heat throughout the day.

Sentinel-3 uses thermal sensors to monitor Earth’s land, oceans, ice, and atmosphere, supporting everything from weather response to long-term climate monitoring.

View image: Europe feels the heat beneath our feet

Learn more about the Sentinel-3 mission