Blog - Philip Ferreira

The impact caused devastation, with most animals and plants dying out. But scientists say a handful of surviving snake species were able to thrive in a post-apocalyptic world by hiding underground and going long periods without food. The resilient reptiles then spread out across the globe, evolving into the 3,000 or more species known today. The dinosaurs famously died out when an asteroid...

The American SpaceX company has stacked the biggest rocket ever constructed.The vehicle's two segments - an upper-stage called Starship and a booster called Super Heavy - were connected together at the firm's Starbase R&D facility in Boca Chica, Texas.Standing roughly 120m (400ft) in height, the SpaceX rocket dwarfs any previous launch system.When it eventually lifts off, it will produce...

In a move that throws cold water into the dreams of some billionaire space explorers, the United States has toughened its definition of the word "astronaut."The new rules of the FAA (the agency that regulates civil aviation in the United States) say that astronauts must be part of the crew and contribute to the safety of space flights.This means that Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson cannot...

Black holes are astronomical objects that have a gravity so strong that not even light can escape. Neutron stars are incredibly dense dead stars. It is estimated that a teaspoon of material from a neutron star weighs about 4 billion tons.Both objects are cosmic monsters, but black holes are considerably more massive than neutron stars.In the first collision, which was detected on January 5,...

The forward view shows the landscape ahead of the robot as it sits on its landing platform; the rear-looking image reveals Zhurong's solar panels.The rover touched down on the Red Planet early on Sunday, Beijing time.In doing so, it made China only the second nation - after America - to successfully put a probe on the surface of Mars and operate it for a significant length of time.Chinese...