Second Moon Orbited Earth Before Colliding with Bigger Moon

According to scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Bern in Switzerland, two moons merged in a very slow collision more than 4 billion years ago to create the one that lights up the night sky.

The theory says a collision would explain the vast differences in the lunar landscape. The moon’s far side has mountainous highlands while the side facing Earth is low and flat. Though one prevailing idea is that gravitational tidal forces are to blame for the moon’s lopsided outer layer, commenters on Nature’s website suggested that debris caused many of the moon’s craters on its far side. Read more here

First “Printed Aircraft” Flown

Engineers from University of Southhampton made and flew the first “printed aircraft ever.” The plane is an unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The entire structure of the plane was printed including the control surfaces, access, hatches, and even the wings. During the build of it, no fasteners were used and all the equipment was “snapped in” so it could be put together within minutes. The plane is electric, has a top speed of almost 100 mph, and has a 2 meter wing-span. The plane was printed on an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser sintering machine. These amchines create plastics or metals, by building the object layer by layer.

Dawn Probe Getting Ready to Orbit Vesta Asteroid

The US space agency says its Dawn probe should go into orbit around the Asteroid Vesta early on Saturday

The robotic satellite will be spending a year at the 530km-wide body before moving on to the “dwarf planet” Ceres.

Researchers Change Brain Cells into Heart Cells

For the past decade, researchers have tried to reprogram the identity of all kinds of cell types. Heart cells are one of the most sought-after cells in regenerative medicine because researchers anticipate that they may help to repair injured hearts by replacing lost tissue. Now, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are the first to demonstrate the direct conversion of a non-heart cell type into a heart cell by RNA transfer. For the past decade, researchers have tried to reprogram the identity of all kinds of cell types. Heart cells are one of the most sought-after cells in regenerative medicine because researchers anticipate that they may help to repair injured hearts by replacing lost tissue. Now, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are the first to demonstrate the direct conversion of a non-heart cell type into a heart cell by RNA transfer. Read more here

Final Space Shuttle Launches

Space shuttle Atlantis displayed its power and majesty one final time, rocketing into space from Kennedy Space Center at 11:26 a.m. ET Friday morning despite threatening weather — marking the final launch after 30 years for NASA’s storied fleet of shuttles. Seven million pounds of thrust from the shuttle’s rocket booster carried the vehicle into orbit one last time, at speeds of up to 19,000 miles per hour, for an expected meeting with the International Space Station on Sunday. Read more here

What is Responsible for the “Wild Weather?”

Record snowfall, killer tornadoes, devastating floods: There’s no doubt about it. Since Dec. 2010, the weather in the USA has been positively wild. But why?
Some recent news reports have attributed the phenomenon to an extreme “La Niña,” a band of cold water stretching across the Pacific Ocean with global repercussions for climate and weather. But NASA climatologist Bill Patzert names a different suspect: “La Nada.” Read more here