InSight | Common News Update

Feb242020 by adminNo Comments

NASA’s InSight lander mission yields first scientific paper on Marsquakes

Science

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Researchers have published the first scientific papers that rely on data collected by NASA's InSight lander, which touched down on Mars just over a year ago. Observations made by the lander's super-sensitive seismometer, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, have allowed scientists to gain new insights into the structure of the Red Planet's interior. In September 2019, InSight's seismometer recorded 174 seismic events. Since then, SEIS has recorded a total of 450 Marsquakes, an average of nearly two a day in recent months, but they have not yet been formally analyzed by scientists. According to the new research, published Monday in the journal Nature, the quakes take two forms. One type of Marsquake features low-frequency seismic waves and register magnitudes ...

Jun212019 by adminNo Comments

DNA analysis offers insight into Japan’s ancient population boom, bust

Science

June 20 (UPI) -- Scientists have gained new insights into the history of Japan's early residents by analyzing the Y chromosomes of modern Japanese men. The analysis allowed researchers to estimate the ancient human population living on Japan's main island some 2,500 years ago. "Evidence at archaeological dig sites has been used to estimate the size of ancient human populations, but the difficulty and unpredictability of finding those sites is a big limitation," Jun Ohashi, an associate professor of human evolutionary genetics at the University of Tokyo, said in a news release. "Now we have a method that uses a large amount of modern data." Researchers estimate Japan was occupied by the Jomon people prior to 500 B.C. Around 2,500 years ago, they were joined by Yayoi people. The Yayoi migr...

Apr242019 by adminNo Comments

InSight lander detects Marsquake for the first time

Science

April 23 (UPI) -- For the first time, a tremor has been detected on the surface of Mars. The so-called marsquake was detected by the InSight lander's SEIS seismometer. The seismic quake was so small it wouldn't have registered on Earth's surface, but because the Martian surface is so still, the instrument's sensor was able to detect the slight tremor. Unfortunately, the tremor was so small that it's signature failed to offer any insights into Mars' interior. Scientists aren't sure what caused the miniature quake, but they're fairly certain it originated from inside Mars and wasn't caused by wind. Researchers are working to confirm what exactly triggered the vibrations. Studying the structural makeup of the Red Planet's interior is the main scientific mission of NASA's Insight lander. Whi...

Feb132019 by adminNo Comments

Pangolins: Rare insight into world's most trafficked mammal

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device The secret life of the world's most trafficked mammal, the pangolin, has been caught on camera in Africa.Footage gives a rare insight into the behaviour of the giant pangolin, the largest of all the scaly animals.Observed by remote-operated cameras, a baby takes a ride on its mother's back, while an adult climbs a tree.Scientists are releasing the footage to highlight the plight of the animals, which are being pushed to extinction by illegal hunting for scales and meat.Large numbers of their scales have been seized this month alone, including Malaysia's biggest-ever interception of smuggled pangolin products.The images and video clips of giant pangolins, one of four species in Africa, were taken at ...

Dec212018 by adminNo Comments

InSight lander places seismometer on the surface of Mars

Science

Dec. 20 (UPI) -- NASA's InSight lander has finally placed one of its instruments on the surface of Mars. The spacecraft laid the first seismometer in history on the Martian soil. Since InSight landed on the Red Planet in late November, the spacecraft has been surveying its surroundings and performing systems checks to ensure everything is in working order. The preparations went smoothly. "InSight's timetable of activities on Mars has gone better than we hoped," Tom Hoffman, mission project manager and scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a news release. "Getting the seismometer safely on the ground is an awesome Christmas present." As InSight has prepared for the deployment of its two main external instruments, one of its internal instruments has been studying the Martia...