{"id":14762,"date":"2024-01-28T12:54:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T12:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/28\/mars-perseverance-rover-loses-its-trusty-scout\/"},"modified":"2024-01-28T12:54:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-28T12:54:40","slug":"mars-perseverance-rover-loses-its-trusty-scout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/28\/mars-perseverance-rover-loses-its-trusty-scout\/","title":{"rendered":"Mars Perseverance rover loses its trusty scout"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As humans, we like to \u201cdare mighty things.\u201d <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the motto of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, that\u00a0borrows from a Theodore Roosevelt quote. <\/p>\n

As a species born to live and walk on Earth, humankind has found ingenious ways to adapt to the absence of gravity as we set our sights on deep space, including building robotic explorers that can venture across the cosmos in our stead. <\/p>\n

This week, the\u00a0first photo arrived from Japan\u2019s \u201cMoon Sniper,\u201d\u00a0showcasing intriguing lunar rocks at its landing site, even though the lander didn\u2019t touch down as planned. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the European Space Agency has selected two new missions: one that will \u201csurf\u201d through gravitational waves to unravel the mysteries of the universe and another to uncover why Venus didn\u2019t turn out like Earth. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s time to bid farewell to one of the most delightfully plucky robots ever to explore Mars. <\/p>\n

Other worlds<\/h3>\n

After 72 flights in the Martian skies,\u00a0NASA\u2019s Ingenuity helicopter has flown for the last time. <\/p>\n

Ingenuity served as the Perseverance rover\u2019s faithful companion and aerial scout for nearly three years since its maiden flight on April 19, 2021. The historic chopper was the first aircraft to operate and fly on another world. <\/p>\n

While coming in for a landing on January 18, the rover lost contact with the helicopter. When communication was reestablished, the mission team saw a photo capturing the shadow of Ingenuity\u2019s damaged rotor blade. The blade likely struck the ground, which ended the helicopter\u2019s mission. <\/p>\n

The intrepid chopper outlasted its initial 30-day mission, flying higher, farther and faster than its NASA team ever expected and paving the way for the future of aerial space exploration. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t be prouder of our little tough trailblazer,\u201d said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity\u2019s project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. <\/p>\n

Take note<\/h3>\n

During the frigid days of winter, it\u2019s easy to hope that spring will arrive quickly. But in addition to blooming flowers and warmer temperatures, spring will bring about another force of nature: cicadas. <\/p>\n

Scientists predict that\u00a0billions of cicadas\u00a0will surface as two different broods that typically appear every 13 years and every 17 years emerge simultaneously. <\/p>\n

The rare event hasn\u2019t been seen in the United States since Thomas Jefferson was president, and it\u2019s not expected to occur again until 2245. <\/p>\n

A long time ago<\/h3>\n

Scientists are teasing information from the ancient DNA trapped inside bones, mummified bodies and dental plaque to solve the mysteries of pathogens that have affected humans for centuries \u2014 including syphilis. <\/p>\n

The sexually transmitted disease, still prevalent today, first made its mark in the 15th century, devastating European populations. Different nations blamed it on their neighboring countries, and its origin has been murky. <\/p>\n

Researchers studied\u00a02,000-year-old remains in Brazil and found the earliest known evidence\u00a0of the bacterium that causes syphilis and other related diseases. The disease has a much longer and more complicated history than scientists previously believed, the finding revealed. <\/p>\n

Ocean secrets<\/h3>\n

It turns out that the megalodon, a fearsome shark that terrorized the ancient seas, wasn\u2019t so mega after all. <\/p>\n

The extinct megalodon has often been depicted as a massive great white shark. But the creature\u2019s cartilage wouldn\u2019t have had the strength to support such a hulking body shape, new research has suggested. <\/p>\n

Instead, the marine predator was likely\u00a0skinnier than a great white, based on a study of a fossil belonging to an Otodus megalodon that lived more than 23 million years ago. <\/p>\n

The revelation is one more piece in the puzzle that is megalodon biology, which has largely been difficult for researchers to figure out. That\u2019s because fossilized teeth have been much easier to find than actual fossils. <\/p>\n

Consequences<\/h3>\n

Butterflies and bees have helped flowers reproduce for thousands of years, but as pollinator populations decline, some flowers are \u201cselfing,\u201d or self-pollinating. <\/p>\n

While this shift may sound like a positive survival tactic, scientists studying wild field pansies in France determined that some\u00a0modern flowers are smaller and produce less nectar\u00a0because of self-pollination. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis may increase the pollinator decline and cause a vicious feedback cycle,\u201d said study coauthor Pierre-Olivier Cheptou, a professor at the University of Montpellier. The evidence indicates an \u201cevolutionary breakdown of plant pollinators in the wild,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, scientists have traced a\u00a0rapid depletion of subterranean water reserves\u00a0around the world that are used for drinking and irrigation \u2014 with a few notable exceptions. <\/p>\n

Explorations<\/h3>\n

Journey through these fascinating reads: <\/p>\n

\u2014 There are only two female northern white rhinos on the planet, but the\u00a0world\u2019s first in vitro fertilization rhino pregnancy\u00a0could save the species from extinction. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Superbug infections have the potential to kill 10 million people per year by 2050, but\u00a0scientists have turned to one of nature\u2019s oldest predators\u00a0to attack bacteria as a possible solution. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the\u00a0smallest exoplanet found to have water vapor\u00a0in its atmosphere, and it\u2019s a world that swirls with inhospitable steam. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Officials at a British wildlife park are hoping to rehabilitate a group of\u00a0potty-mouthed African gray parrots that say \u201cproper expletives\u201d\u00a0\u2014 but the team\u2019s risky approach could create even more foulmouthed\u00a0<\/strong>birds if it backfires. <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As humans, we like to \u201cdare mighty things.\u201d That\u2019s the motto of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, that\u00a0borrows from a Theodore Roosevelt quote. As a species born to live and walk on Earth, humankind has found ingenious ways to adapt to the absence of gravity as we set our sights on deep space, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}