April 3, 2024: Getting our hands on a piece of Mars, a lenticular cloud lit by lava, and a new law allows creationism in science classrooms. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Bringing samples back to Earth from other moons, asteroids and planets allows scientists to study them with the full breadth of existing laboratory technology, whereas only limited analyses are possible on other worlds. But retrieving samples from such locations requires not just getting there but launching off the surface and getting home, too. "It's hard to do, and as a result, it hasn't been done very often," says space historian Roger Launius. Notable missions: The Stardust, Genesis and Hayabusa missions brought back pieces of a comet, solar wind particles, and an asteroid sample, respectively. Last September, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned to Earth with samples from the asteroid Bennu, and scientists have already begun analyzing those pieces and rewriting the history of our solar system.
The red prize: Humans have sent 10 successful landers to Mars, no one has yet brought bits of Mars to Earth. That could change in the coming decade, though, as NASA and space agencies in Europe, China, Russia and Japan have proposals in the works to achieve this milestone. NASA's Perseverance rover has already collected samples on the Red Planet in preparation for a future retrieval mission. | | | Lenticular clouds form when moist air flows up a mountain, volcano, or other geographic feature. Mountainous formations act like rocks in a stream, forcing air to travel around them in a stable, eddy-like pattern. As water-filled air rises into this current, it cools and condenses into visible clouds that drop after pushing over the summit, creating a circular UFO-like cloud formation.
Why this is so cool: These eddies play a vital role in global wind circulation. For example, they act as speed bumps that help to slow the Southern Hemisphere's jet stream, trapping clouds and leading to precipitation (we wouldn't have many of our rainforests without large moisture-trapping mountain ranges).
The technique: Chile's Villarrica volcano is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. When the volcano entered a period of activity, photographer Francisco Negroni camped at its snowy base for 10 days as he waited for the right moment. When a lenticular cloud materialized, Negroni set up his camera and opened the lens for a full four minutes to capture enough light. | | | Credit: Francisco Negroni | | | • Early today, a major earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck the central east coast of Taiwan. Here's what we know so far. | 4 min read | | | • Kate Middleton announced she had cancer last month. Many cancer patients undergo surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments in combination. | 4 min read | | | • Last month, West Virginia governor Jim Justice signed a bill that purports to protect the ability of the state's public school educators to teach "alternative" scientific theories like creationism. People of all faiths and none should unite in fighting for the separation of church and state, writes Amanda L. Townley, executive director of the National Center for Science Education. Otherwise we may be opening a door we wished were closed. "Why not [teach] geocentrism or flat-Earthery? Why not crystal healing? Why not racist views claiming that white people and Black people have separate ancestry? All of these notions, which stem from religious beliefs, not science, have been held up by their proponents as scientific theories, and West Virginia's legislature and governor just opened the public classroom door to them," she says. | 4 min read | | | • The most accurate clock in the world loses less than one second every 40 billion years. | New Scientist | | | • It's shockingly easy for fraudsters to scam the health insurance industry, driving up costs. | ProPublica | | | Why is it that holding something in your hand makes it feel more…real? Laboratory studies of samples of other planets, moons and asteroids offer tremendous value to science, yes. But so much appeal is in the physical presence of the object on Earth. I suspect it's the same reason people pay thousands to possess meteorites, or they'll break federal laws to bring home rocks from national parks. I'm not sure they got the saying quite right: It seems that touching is believing. | This newsletter is for you! Let me know what you think of it by emailing: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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