Our Planet

Turtle Facts: 10 amazing things about turtles

Turtles are reptiles, and like all reptile species, they’ve been around for a long time: the earliest fossils suggest that the first turtles evolved in the Late Permian Epoch, just before the Triassic period (251.9-201.3 million years ago, or Mya). For more than 200 million years, the body structure of turtles has not undergone any significant changes. Here are 10 amazing turtle facts.

The coldest place in the Universe moves back on Earth

Scientists from the University of Bremen set a new low-temperature record. They cooled matter in a tower to an extremely low temperature: 38 trillionths of a degree warmer than absolute zero which is -273.15°C (-459.67°F). Nowhere in the universe can be any colder, so the coldest place in the Universe moves back on Earth again.

Why Earth and Venus followed different paths

Earth is the only planet we know contains life. Is our planet special? Scientists over the years have mulled over what factors are essential for, or beneficial to, life. The answers will help us identify other potentially inhabited planets elsewhere in the galaxy.

Antony Burnham, Australian National University and Hugh O’Neill, Australian National University

Moon samples returned from Chang’e-5 tell of recent volcanism

A spectacular image of the Moon (cropped)

Change-5 represents China’s first mission to return moon samples to Earth, hence marks a major step forward for China’s lunar exploration program. Now, recent analysis suggests that the Moon samples returned from Chang’e-5 tell of recent volcanism.

Pallas’s cat: 12 things you didn’t know about

Pallas’s cat (scientific name: Felis manul or Otocolobus manul), also known as simply manul, is a small Central Asian wild cat. Its characteristic face, short nose, and long and dense light grey fur make the cat easily distinguishable even from a distance. Here are 12 amazing Pallas’s cat facts.

Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957, and started the “Space Age”

On October 4, 1957, the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union. Thus, began the space age. It orbited the Earth until January 4, 1958. Sputnik 1 made 1440 orbits and traveled about 70 million kilometers (43 million miles).

The successful launch shocked the world, according to NASA, and gave the former Soviet Union the distinction of putting the first human-made object into space. Its “unanticipated” success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and triggered the Space Race, a part of the Cold War.

Developing the Hardest Material on Earth

What is the hardest material on Earth? Traditionally, because of its extreme hardness, diamond is used as a cutting material in a multitude of fields, from aerospace engineering to geothermal energy. Recently, using ultra-high pressures and temperatures, scientists have created a new form of diamond, which is now the hardest material known to humankind.

10 Amazing Tarsier Facts

Tarsiers are small (and very cute!) primates that live in the islands of Southeast Asia (especially the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei). They are the only living member of the family Tarsiidae. Here are 10 amazing tarsier facts.

NASA Worldview: Explore Your Dynamic Planet

NASA’s Worldview tool from Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) provides the capability to interactively browse thousands of global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data.

Tiger Facts: 20 interesting things about the largest panther in the world

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is probably one of the most exotic and beautiful animals in the world. It is one of the five species classified in the genus Panthera, the others being the lion, leopard, jaguar, and snow leopard (see notes 1). Here are 20 amazing tiger facts.