dust

11 Stories

Athens Blanketed in 'Martian-Like' Glow

Saharan dust clouds are said to be worst in Greece since 2018

(Newser) - On Wednesday morning in Athens, a centuries-old sight seemingly vanished. The Acropolis couldn't be seen due to dust from the Sahara desert that had tinted the sky orange on Tuesday, giving it a "Martian-like filter," as the AP puts it. Officials tell the BBC it's one...

NASA Hits the Jackpot on Its 'Rubble Return Goal'

OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned double the expected samples from asteroid Bennu

(Newser) - NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall—and it's double the rubble return goal. Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 4.29 ounces of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That's just over half a cup and the...

First to Suffer From Asteroid That Doomed Dinos: Plants

Dust particles in atmosphere shut down photosynthesis for 2 years: researchers

(Newser) - It wasn't so much the asteroid impact that killed 75% of the species on Earth some 66 million years ago, but the fact that, for the following two years, little, if anything, could grow. That's according to research offering the first in-depth study of dust particles thrown into...

7-Year-Old Gets Caught in Dust Devil During Baseball Game

17-year-old umpire Aidan Wiles rescues Bauer Zoya in odd phenomenon in Jacksonville, Florida

(Newser) - A young baseball player in Florida got quite the scare over the weekend when he was caught up in what looked like a pint-size tornado of dust in the middle of the game. WPLG reports that 7-year-old Bauer Zoya, a catcher for the Ponte Vedra Sharks, was on a field...

Elon Musk's No Good, Very Bad, $13B-Loss Day

Perfect storm involving 3 of his firms leads to financial fallout for CEO

(Newser) - It's been a challenging few days for Elon Musk: Tesla had a disappointing earnings call on Wednesday, his SpaceX rocket exploded minutes after takeoff on Thursday, and Twitter continues to ... go through some things . The CEO took a big financial hit amid these struggles from all of his three...

Here's What a Dust Devil Sounds Like on Mars
Audio Sent Back From
Mars Is First of Its Kind
NEW STUDY

Audio Sent Back From Mars Is First of Its Kind

NASA's Perseverance rover got caught in a dust devil and recorded what it sounded like

(Newser) - NASA's Perseverance rover was caught in a dust devil on Mars. As a result, we have the first-ever recording of a Martian dust devil, this one more than 400 feet tall and 80 feet across, per the AP . Martian dust devils are common, particularly at Perseverance's landing site...

North Korean Warning: Stay Indoors Due to 'Malicious' Dust

Government says seasonal 'yellow dust' from China could spread coronavirus

(Newser) - Pyongyang looked like a ghost town on Thursday, thanks to governmental warnings on a natural phenomenon that some fear could spread the coronavirus. Per the BBC , state TV aired special weather advisories on Wednesday imploring residents to hunker down indoors and banning construction across North Korea due to seasonal "...

'ET' Dust Extracted From White Cliffs of Dover
'ET' Dust Extracted From
White Cliffs of Dover
NEW STUDY

'ET' Dust Extracted From White Cliffs of Dover

Cosmic particles could offer clues to past major events like asteroid collisions

(Newser) - The White Cliffs of Dover serve as both a stunning photographic subject and as an iconic British symbol of defense during war. Now they're also a geological museum of sorts: Scientists from Imperial College London have discovered 76 particles of fossilized cosmic dust in the chalky limestone, which could...

Scientists Have Solved a Sequoia Mystery
Scientists Solve
Sequoia Mystery

Scientists Solve Sequoia Mystery

Dust from Gobi desert helps them grow: study

(Newser) - The sequoia trees of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range are obvious marvels. But according to new research , an unlikely and far-off source deserves a significant portion of the credit for allowing them to stand tall. The mineral that helps trees grow, phosphorus, is actually found in short supply in...

Dust in Your Home Could Be Teeming With Toxins
10 Toxins Found
in 90% of Indoor
Dust Samples
STUDY SAYS

10 Toxins Found in 90% of Indoor Dust Samples

And they could lead to everything from cancer and respiratory problems to lower IQ

(Newser) - We're surrounded by toxic chemicals, and even holing up in our meticulously kept homes may not save us, Time reports. Ten chemicals that may be hazardous to our health were found in over 90% of indoor dust samples taken for a study published in the Environmental Science & Technology...

What the Dust in Your House Says About You

Our dust contains, on average, 9K unique species of microbes

(Newser) - Last year, volunteers mailed in dust samples taken from above interior and exterior door frames in 1,200 homes across the US as part of a citizen science project called Wild Life of Our Homes . Now, scientists are reporting in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B that our...

11 Stories
Most Read on Newser