Scientist reveals what the mysterious black dust on the Bennu asteroid sample is likely to be - as NASA halts work until it is formally identified
UPDATED: 11:53 EDT, 28 September 2023
NASA's adventurous OSIRIS-REx space capsule that delivered a sample of an asteroid about 200 million miles away is already yielding surprises.
The agency's staff cracked open the space capsule on Tuesday to discover that the inside of the lid is lined with mysterious black material, forcing them to halt work.
Unlike the handful of rocks and dust snatched from the asteroid's surface, the black material looks finer, almost like grime layering a dirty car.
NASA said that the material will undergo a 'quick-look analysis' to see what exactly it is, but a scientist has weighed in ahead of the official verdict.
Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University in Canberra, said the fine dust is also likely material from the asteroid.
'The asteroid dirt is very dark, and fine,' Dr Tucker told MailOnline.
'When OSIRIS-REx did the original touch-and-go manoeuvre to capture the samples, it had so much the lid could not close.'
NASA admitted shortly after the grab in October 2020 that asteroid material was leaking from OSIRIS-REx, because a stone was jammed in the mechanism.
'Eventually they sorted it out, so this seems likely to be dust and soil from that,' Dr Tucker added.
Professor Trevor Ireland, a geochemist at the University of Queensland, agreed that the black dust was kicked up during the sample collection.
'Under microgravity there's nothing to stop dust going everywhere, and probably back on to the spacecraft as well,' he told MailOnline.
Since the sample's triumphant return to Earth on Sunday, NASA has only opened the top lid of the capsule, while the rocky handful from Bennu is stashed away in another smaller component within that has to be opened.
The precious cargo is an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams of rocky material – only about half what you'd find in a average-sized box of cereal.
But NASA thinks it will be enough to reveal secrets about asteroid composition and 'help us better understand the types of asteroids that could threaten Earth'.
The pebbles and dust from Bennu – which could hit the Earth in 2182 – represent the biggest haul from beyond the moon.
NASA said that the material will undergo a 'quick-look analysis' to see what exactly it is, but a scientist has weighed in ahead of the official verdict.
Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University in Canberra, said the fine dust is also likely material from the asteroid.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12569903/What-black-dust-Bennu-asteroid-sample-Scientist-reveals-mysterious-material-likely-NASA-halts-work-formally-identified.html
Sahura's Pyramid's secret rooms revealed: Scientists uncover mysterious chambers in Egypt's 4,400-year-old monument that could reveal its ancient secrets
UPDATED: 10:36 EDT, 28 September 2023
It was built over 4,400 years ago to honour the Egyptian pharaoh Sahura of the Fifth Dynasty.
And now scientists have discovered secret rooms inside Sahura's Pyramid that could reveal its ancient secrets.
A team from Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg explored the monument as part of a conservation and restoration project.
Their investigation uncovered a number of storage rooms that have not been documented before.
'This groundbreaking project represents a significant milestone in the understanding of the Sahura pyramid and its historical significance,' the team, led by Dr Mohamed Ismail Khaled said.
Sahura's Pyramid was built in the late 26th to 25th century BC for Sahura (also known as Sahure), the second king of the Fifth Dynasty and the first king to be buried at Abusir.
Sahura's reign was marked by peace and prosperity, according to Ancient Origins.
'Amongst other things, Sahure traded with foreign lands, developed a navy, and opened up mines,' it explained.
The pyramid was first excavated in 1836 by John Perring, an engineer working under Colonel Howard Vyse, before being explored further by Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt in 1907.
Now, more than 100 years later, scientists have stepped inside the ancient pyramid once again.
The team initially set out to stabilise the pyramid's substructure and prevent it from collapsing.
Using 3D laser scanning, they conducted detailed surveys inside the pyramid.
This allowed them to create comprehensive maps of both the extensive external areas and the narrow corridors and chambers within.
It also uncovered a secret passage that led to eight previously undiscovered store rooms.
The ceilings and floors of these rooms are 'badly damaged', and it remains unclear exactly what was stored there.
'Although the northern and southern parts of these magazines, especially the ceiling and the original floor, are badly damaged, remnants of the original walls and parts of the floor can still be seen,' the team said.
Having disccovered the secret rooms, the team set out to restore them to their former glory.
'During restoration, a balance between preservation and presentation was pursued to ensure the structural integrity of the rooms while making them accessible for future study and potentially the public,' they said.
The team hopes the findings will help to solve the mysteries that remain about Sahura's Pyramid, including how it was constructed and what was stored in the seceret rooms.
'The discovery and restoration of the storerooms is expected to revolutionize the view of historical development of pyramid structures and challenge existing paradigms in the field,' they concluded.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12571265/Sahuras-Pyramids-secret-rooms-revealed-Scientists-uncover-mysterious-chambers-Egypts-4-400-year-old-monument-reveal-ancient-secrets.html
Forever chemicals at former Nasa lab are leaking into LA River, say watchdogs
Sep 28, 2023
Two highly toxic chemicals polluting a former Nasa research site are also probably contaminating the Los Angeles River and aquifer from which the region’s agricultural growers draw their water, watchdog groups and a whistleblower charge.
The Santa Susana field laboratory about 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles is already notorious for its radioactive waste, but the site, which is owned by the federal government and Boeing, is also now suspected of leaching polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals” into the water.
Despite evidence of the pollution and pressure from environmental groups to act, state regulators have so far allowed Boeing to continue polluting without a cleanup or proper monitoring for the dangerous chemicals, say the groups.
“California’s pollution control agencies are not just asleep at the switch but appear to be in a coma,” said Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), which has filed a lawsuit over the site’s cleanup.
PFAS are a class of about 15,000 compounds most frequently used to make products water-, stain- and grease-resistant. The chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems. They are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down in the environment.
PFAS are the main ingredient in firefighting foam and are used in aerospace applications. Nasa and Boeing tested rockets at Santa Susana before the site’s 2006 closure, so the chemicals were probably employed in high quantities. PCBs are a chemical class that has been banned for over 40 years due to their high toxicity, but were used in industrial applications like electric transformers at Santa Susana.
The 2,800-acre site sits between the Simi and San Fernando valleys. Countless nuclear accidents occurred at the site, and residents living nearby have suspected radioactive waste from Santa Susana has sickened them.
The PFAS and PCB pollution in the ground probably migrates into the Los Angeles River headwaters. Water from the aquifer below the site is used by farmers in Ventura county and is likely to be contaminating crops, Peer charges.
Nasa in January 2021 alerted the California department of toxic substances control that “PFAS-containing materials are documented to have been located in the Nasa administered areas,” which the former recommended “for further investigation”.
But the investigation never happened, Ruch said. The Los Angeles regional water board, the state agency that could order monitoring and cleanup, meets on 28 September to consider a five-year pollution discharge permit for the site. A draft order posted on the agency’s website does not include requirements for PFAS and PCB monitoring or cleanup, but a spokesperson for the board told the Guardian the agency decided to add PFAS monitoring to the permit after public input.
No cleanup is currently planned, and Ruch said simply monitoring for PFAS is like “waving at the bank robbers as they leave the bank”.
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“It’s a good first step, but would be much better if they stopped it from leaving the site,” he added.
Testing at the mouth of the Los Angeles River has found PCB levels 100 times higher than clean water limits, and in a spot where people frequently fish for sustenance, Ruch said.
Regulators have said their testing found no PCBs at Santa Susana, but the state has conducted the wrong kind of test, a Los Angeles Regional Water Board whistleblower and Peer allege.
Evidence points to Santa Susana as the PCBs’ source, Ruch said, as all other potential PCB polluters along the river have been accounted for. The whistleblower has told Peer that intra-agency memos and communications show the agency is aware that PCBs are originating at Santa Susana, Ruch said.
Peer has tried to obtain those documents through a Freedom of Information Act request, but the agency has not turned them over, Ruch added. It is unclear if the new testing proposed by the water board will include the correct methodology, he said.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration and Boeing last year struck what Ruch characterized as a “sweetheart cleanup deal” that would only require the company to remove about 10% of the site’s contamination. It superseded a 2007 consent order with the state with more stringent monitoring requirements.
The deal, which Ruch said was struck behind closed doors and largely remains shielded from the public, also does not require testing for PFAS or PCBs. Peer and other environmental groups are suing the state to open the full deal to scrutiny, and to force a stricter cleanup.
Under the Newsom deal, the land would not be suitable for residential use after cleanup because it would remain so contaminated, the suit alleges.
“At the current rate of progress, Santa Susana is going to remain a toxic waste pit into perpetuity,” Ruch said.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/28/nasa-boeing-forever-chemicals-los-angeles
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