Photo:
Inspiration4,
The
TerraMar
Project,
Dean
Mouhtaropoulos
(Getty
Images),
NASA,
PEnsell
Photography
(Shutterstock),
Screenshot:
ESA
&
NASA/Solar
Orbiter/EUI
Team,
Illustration:
NASA,
Image:
Rita_Kochmarjova
(Shutterstock),
ESA/Webb,
NASA,
CSA,
K.
Misselt
(University
of
Arizona)
and
A.
Abergel
(IAS/University
Paris-Saclay,
CNRS),
Photo:
Shutterstock
Graphics:
Vicky
Leta
In
our
top
stories
this
week,
reporter
Passant
Rabie
describes
the
rediscovery
of
a
satellite
lost
in
the
1990s
and
why
we
sometimes
lose
sight
of
our
orbital
property.
Researchers
have
discovered
what
they
claim
is
the
world’s
deepest
blue
hole,
the
Taam
Ja’
Blue
Hole
in
Mexico’s
Chetumal
Bay,
and
have
yet
to
determine
its
true
depth.
A
new
video
from
Europe’s
Solar
Orbiter
offers
some
of
the
best
close-up
views
of
our
host
star
ever
captured,
and
perhaps
unsurprisingly,
alpaca
sex
is
really
weird.
-
George
Dvorsky
A
view
of
Earth
from
orbit.
Photo:
Inspiration4
An
experimental
satellite
that
launched
in
1974
disappeared
from
ground-based
sensors
in
the
1990s,
only
to
be
found
again
this
week.
Some
defunct
satellites
or
debris
can
often
go
missing
for
years,
presenting
hazards
within
an
increasingly
crowded
Earth
orbit.
But,
how
exactly
do
objects
disappear
in
space?
-
Passant
Rabie
Read
More
Belize’s
Great
Blue
Hole,
pictured
here,
is
probably
the
most
recognizable
blue
hole.
The
newly
discovered
blue
hole
off
the
coast
of
Mexico
is
even
deeper.
Photo:
The
TerraMar
Project
Researchers
have
found
a
blue
hole
they
say
is
the
deepest
in
the
world—and
they’ve
yet
to
find
where
it
bottoms
out.
The
formation
is
the
Taam
Ja’
Blue
Hole
in
Mexico’s
Chetumal
Bay,
and
it
has
so
far
been
measured
to
1,378
feet
deep,
or
420
meters
below
sea
level.
-
Isaac
Schultz
Read
More
This
single
image
from
the
video
shows
a
small
eruption
on
the
Sun,
and
by
“small”
we
mean
an
eruption
the
same
size
as
Earth.
Screenshot:
ESA
&
NASA/Solar
Orbiter/EUI
Team
The
recent
total
solar
eclipse
on
April
8
provided
a
rare
glimpse
of
the
Sun’s
roiling
corona,
including
some
eye-grabbing
prominences.
Those
views
were
neat,
but
a
new
video
captured
by
Europe’s
Sun-buzzing
probe
is
providing
some
of
the
best
close-up
views
of
our
host
star
that
we’ve
ever
seen.
-
George
Dvorsky
Read
More
An
artist’s
concept
of
the
Solar
Sail
mission
in
orbit.
Illustration:
NASA
Nearly
a
week
after
launching
to
space,
a
microwave-sized
cubesat
phoned
home
for
the
first
time
as
it
prepares
to
embark
on
its
mission
of
sailing
through
low
Earth
orbit.
-
Passant
Rabie
Read
More
Three
alpacas.
Image:
Rita_Kochmarjova
(Shutterstock)
Just
in
case
you’d
like
to
know:
Alpaca
sex
is
weird,
biologically
speaking.
In
a
recent
paper,
scientists
have
presented
evidence
that
male
alpacas
impregnate
their
partners
by
thrusting
their
penises
all
the
way
up
inside
the
female’s
uterus—a
tactic
not
documented
with
any
other
mammal
species
to
date.
-
Ed
Cara
Read
More
The
Webb
Telescope
captured
this
image
of
the
Horsehead
Nebula
that
revealed
the
small-scale
structures
of
its
illuminated
edge.
Image:
ESA/Webb,
NASA,
CSA,
K.
Misselt
(University
of
Arizona)
and
A.
Abergel
(IAS/University
Paris-Saclay,
CNRS)
The
Webb
Space
Telescope
has
given
us
another
cosmic
treat.
The
young
observatory
captured
a
closer
look
of
the
ethereal
clouds
of
dust
and
gas
that
form
the
nearby
Horsehead
Nebula,
illuminated
by
a
companion
star
in
the
constellation
Orion.
-
Passant
Rabie
Read
More
A
T.
rex
skeleton
at
the
Natural
History
Museum
of
Leiden.
Photo:
Dean
Mouhtaropoulos
(Getty
Images)
Tyrannosaurus
rex
was
just
about
as
smart
as
modern
crocodiles
and
other
reptiles,
according
to
a
team
of
researchers
that
investigated
recent
claims
that
the
Cretaceous
predators
may
have
been
as
smart
as
monkeys.
-
Isaac
Schultz
Read
More
NASA’s
Orion
spacecraft
splashed
down
in
the
Pacific
Ocean
on
December
11,
2022.
Photo:
NASA
As
NASA
prepares
to
send
astronauts
to
the
Moon
as
part
of
the
upcoming
Artemis
2
mission,
the
space
agency
still
needs
to
resolve
a
few
lingering
issues
with
its
Orion
capsule
that
could
jeopardize
the
safety
of
the
crew
on
board,
according
to
a
new
report.
-
Passant
Rabie
Read
More
A
photo
of
an
unidentified
Sumatran
orangutan.
Photo:
PEnsell
Photography
(Shutterstock)
Humans
aren’t
the
only
primates
with
a
medicine
cabinet,
it
seems.
In
a
new
paper
published
today,
scientists
document
a
male
orangutan
named
Rakus
using
a
plant
with
known
medicinal
properties
to
help
heal
his
facial
wound.
While
there
have
been
other
recent
accounts
of
animals
using
medicine
in
the
wild,
this
appears
to
be
the
first
report
of
an
animal
applying
plants
to
their
wounds
as
a
sort
of
topical
salve,
the
authors
say.
-
Ed
Cara
Read
More
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