Scientists discover gigantic 'structure' under the surface of the Moon
The Moon has been a subject of awe and fascination for millennia, with its shape-shifting powers and enigmatic dark side. And though it’s the one celestial body on which man has taken (small) steps, we still have big leaps to go in understanding its potential and uncovering its secrets. However, one hidden feature of the Moon has been unearthed by scientists and it’s very, very big, and very, very heavy. Buried beneath its South Pole-Aitken basin – one of the largest preserved craters in the Solar System – is a structure which weighs at least 2.18 billion kilogrammes and measures more than 300km (186 miles) in depth and 2,000km (1,243 miles) in length. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The researchers who made the discovery, all based in the US, posited that the “anomaly” could be made out of metal from the core of an asteroid or oxides from the crystallisation of a magma ocean. "One of the explanations of this extra mass is that the metal from the asteroid that formed this crater is still embedded in the Moon's mantle,” lead author Peter B. James, from Houston’s Baylor University, said in a statement shared with IFLScience. Illustrating just how gigantic this thing is, he went on: "Imagine taking a pile of metal five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii and burying it underground. That's roughly how much unexpected mass we detected.” The groundbreaking finding was made thanks to NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, which measures changes in the Moon’s gravitational field. Data collected by GRAIL can then be used to study the internal composition of our cratered companion. The South Pole-Aitken Basin has been at the centre of numerous investigations because of just how unique it is. The region offers clues both on the interior composition of our closest satellite and its history, and who knows what other mysteries it holds... Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
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Rare moments captures python engaging in cannibalism
A species of snake has been seen engaging in cannibalistic behaviour after the incident was captured on camera. In Far North Queensland, Australia, a coastal region in the north of Queensland, a black-headed python was witnessed eating another member of the same species. The rare scene was witnessed at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s (AWC) Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Sanctuary where the manager, Nick Stock, was in for quite a shock. In fact, Stock had to get closer to the snakes to realise that what he was witnessing was a scene of cannibalism, as he saw a black-headed python that had constricted another smaller one and was eating it, tail first. In a statement about the incident, Stock explained: “Fortunately for me but not-so-fortunately for the python being consumed, it took around 15 minutes from when I first witnessed the initial constriction to the python finishing its meal and returning to its burrow which was only about 10 feet away.” Stock revealed he grabbed his camera and documented the rare event. While experts have witnessed pythons eating other species of snake, capturing a species eating one of its own kind on camera is unusual. “I have previously witnessed Black-headed Pythons eating an Eastern Brown Snake and a Yellow Spotted Monitor, however, this was the first time I witnessed a Black-headed Python eating another Black-headed Python,” Stock said. The behaviour is rarely caught on camera outside of captivity, but ecologist Helena Stokes says the phenomenon is not as uncommon as people might think. She explained: “Black-headed Pythons prefer to eat reptiles over mammals and are known to eat larger reptiles including goannas, and even venomous snakes, so I’m not surprised that they would consume another python if the opportunity arose.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
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Playing Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth continually could make you 'sick'
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TikTok: 9 easy steps to find and use filters on most loved platform
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