ScientistPankaj: Space & Physics: A meteorite from a long-lost world

June 11— This week, our top stories include the discovery of a meteorite from a large long-lost world, NASA’s picks for the crew of Artemis III, China’s sample-return mission to a “quasi-moon” of Earth, and the race between humans and AI to solve math’s toughest equations. Enjoy!

Thoughts? Questions? Let me know via e-mail (lbillings@sciam.com), X or Bluesky.

—Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Physical Sciences

Top Stories

From left to right Artemis III astronauts Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Randy Bresnik and Frank Rubio

NASA reveals astronauts who will fly Artemis III, its next step toward a moon landing

NASA’s Artemis III crew includes three NASA astronauts and one European Space Agency astronaut

Claire Cameron

A thin section of a meteorite dotted with rainbowlike, oddly shaped mineral flecks within a matrix of darker rock.

This meteorite could be a relic from a ‘lost world’

Hints of high-pressure chemistry within a rare meteorite suggest this fallen space rock comes from a planet gone wrong in the solar system’s early history

Jenna Ahart

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A swirling, colorful plane of dyed liquid.

The million-dollar race to ‘blow up’ math’s hardest equations

New results challenge AI’s promise for solving how fluids swirl—and suggest a more human path forward

Joseph Howlett

An asteroid drifts through deep space with the Sun in the distant background.

China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft just arrived at a mysterious ‘quasi-moon’ of Earth

The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is slowly closing in on the near-Earth asteroid Kamo‘oalewa, on a mission that would bring China’s first asteroid samples back to Earth in 2027

Andrew Jones

A soaring plane with an exceptionally pointy nose and X-59 written on the tail.

NASA’s X-59 plane goes supersonic for the first time

This experimental plane, which reached supersonic speeds yesterday, is designed to travel faster than the speed of sound without creating bothersome sonic booms

Meghan Bartels

An image of an underwater hydrothermal vent.

Dino-killing asteroid may have sparked millions of years of hydrothermal life

When asteroids slam into Earth, they can create hydrothermal vent systems

Meghan Bartels

Axiom Space and Prada partnered on the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG), designed to be worn by astronauts inside the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) space suit.

This Prada-designed onesie will help keep NASA’s Artemis astronauts cool on the moon

On Sunday Axiom Space and Prada unveiled the cooling inner garment that NASA’s Artemis astronauts will wear under their space suits on the moon

Claire Cameron

Artwork of black hole surrounded by an accretion disc of material, the light from which is warped by the strong gravity. Both the front of the disc and the portion behind the black hole are visible.

Giant black holes may be the universe’s best planet makers

Planets might exist in the least likely place you’d imagine—around the outskirts of supermassive black holes

Phil Plait

A humanoid robot holding a piece of chalk draws on an equation- and figure-filled blackboard.

AI scores a ‘C–’ on its hardest math test yet

The second batch of “First Proof” problems is meant to evaluate AI’s usefulness for research-level math. The best model got six or seven of the 10 questions basically right

Joseph Howlett

A series of modules and solar panels orbit in space above the curve of Earth’s horizon.

Astronauts take shelter on the International Space Station because of air leaks

NASA ordered its astronauts to take refuge inside a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and to prepare for potential evacuation of the International Space Station. But the crew returned to normal operations shortly afterward

Lee Billings

Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman stands in front of a blackboard strewn with notation in his lab in Los Angeles, Californina.

How math can help you decide what to order for dinner

An experiment with 2,520 participants backs Richard Feynman’s answer to every diner’s dilemma: Do I want to try something new?

Davide Castelvecchi, Nature magazine

What We're Reading

FCC lifts looming deadline for Amazon Leo satellite broadband constellation | Ars Technica
People Living Near xAI’s Dirty Data Centers Are Pissed About the SpaceX IPO | WIRED
Hundreds of new moons are revealing our solar system's violent history | New Scientist