A space rock slammed into Mars on Christmas Eve. It revealed a hidden surprise - CNN

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You ne'er hide your archetypal Mars mission.

When NASA’s InSight spacecraft arrived astatine the reddish satellite connected November 26, 2018, it was the archetypal clip I covered the landing of a spacecraft connected Mars. The robotic lander made a graceful, ballet-like touchdown connected the Martian surface.

Moments later, it sent backmost a “beep” and a photograph of its landing tract to ngo control, arsenic if to say, “I made it!” As the InSight squad erupted into cheers astatine the Jet Propulsion Laboratory successful Pasadena, California, I was dancing close on with them thousands of miles distant astatine my desk.

The ngo has made unthinkable discoveries about quakes connected the reddish satellite and what Mars’ halfway mightiness beryllium like.

But the InSight ngo is nearing an extremity arsenic particulate obscures its star panels. In a substance of weeks, the lander won’t beryllium capable to nonstop a beep to amusement it’s OK anymore.

Before it bids farewell, though, the spacecraft inactive has immoderate surprises successful store.

When Mars rumbled beneath InSight’s feet connected December 24, NASA scientists thought it was conscionable different marsquake.

The magnitude 4 quake was really caused by a abstraction stone slamming into the Martian surface a mates 1000 miles away.

The meteoroid near rather a crater connected the reddish planet, and it revealed glimmering chunks of crystal successful an wholly unexpected spot — adjacent the lukewarm Martian equator.

Meanwhile, researchers tested a microbe nicknamed “Conan the Bacterium” nether Mars-like conditions. The hardy organism’s quality to withstand harsh conditions led the scientists to judge past microbial beingness mightiness beryllium sleeping heavy beneath the Martian surface.

Humans aren’t the lone beings that prime their nose.

For the archetypal time, an aye-aye, an unusual-looking lemur species, was documented rooting astir successful its chemoreceptor — and past licking its digit clean.

Other nonhuman primates illustration their ain snot, excessively — but the critter’s incredibly agelong mediate digit means it tin scope each the mode backmost into its throat, as depicted successful a CT scan taken by the researchers.

Local legends subordinate the nocturnal aye-aye’s lengthy digit with prophecies of decease successful its autochthonal Madagascar. But researchers anticipation radical volition spot the worth successful redeeming this misunderstood and highly endangered creature.

Emperor penguins whitethorn reign ultimate astatine the South Pole, but the iconic taxon is astatine hazard of going extinct owed to the clime crisis.

As greenhouse state and c emissions lukewarm the Earth, the floating satellite successful the Southern Ocean these marine birds telephone location melts. Sea ice is where they breed and rise their chicks, stay harmless from predators and forage for food.

When oversea crystal disappears, full emperor penguin colonies tin vanish.

The flightless seabirds person present been listed arsenic threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service — that means they’ll person caller protections nether the Endangered Species Act.

Marine archaeologists person finally located an elusive 17th period shipwreck successful Sweden.

The researchers recovered the Äpplet, 1 of 4 warships created connected the bid of King Gustavus Adolphus successful 1625. The vas was a sister vessel to the Vasa, which capsized connected its maiden voyage and is connected show successful a Stockholm museum.

The Äpplet served successful Europe’s Thirty Years’ War and past was deliberately sunk successful 1659 aft being deemed unseaworthy. Researchers present program to marque a 3D representation of the shipwreck arsenic it rests connected the seabed.

The James Webb Space Telescope showcased past week a sparkling presumption of the star-forming portion called the Pillars of Creation.

A new representation of the aforesaid feature, captured successful mid-infrared light, reveals the acheronian underbelly of the usually ethereal country wherever particulate has drowned retired the starlight. Only a fewer reddish stars pierce the darkness.

The towering columns lucifer a tangle of ghostly figures clawing their mode crossed the cosmos. With Halloween astir the corner, it would beryllium a fitting illustration of “the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir” from Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ulalume.”

Additionally, Webb spied a distant astonishment that mightiness beryllium an ancient merger betwixt 2 galaxies during the aboriginal days of the universe. And planetary scientists made a startling find astir exoplanets that whitethorn constrictive the hunt for habitable worlds.

Check retired these intriguing stories:

— A mysterious tract successful China’s Hengduan Mountains is filled with dozens of taxon of rhododendrons. Rather than competing with 1 another, they’ve evolved to unrecorded successful harmony. (add nexus Friday)

— Retired astronaut Scott Kelly is portion of a caller adept squad that volition delve into the mysteries of UFOs. The highly anticipated NASA survey kicked disconnected Monday.

— Meet immoderate adorable additions to the histrion of life. After years of effort, researchers person discovered six caller taxon of rainfrogs connected the eastbound slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes.

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