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The potentially hazardous asteroid measures an estimated 180 feet (55 meters) across — about as wide as Walt Disney World's Cinderella Castle is tall. At this size, 2024 YR4 is too small to end human civilization, but it could still wipe out a major city, releasing about 8 megatons of energy upon impact — more than 500 times the energy released by the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.
"This asteroid is nothing to lose sleep over," David Rankin, an operations engineer for the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, told Live Science.
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The lake measures 454 feet (138 m) long and 138 feet (42 m) wide, holding enough water to fill 3.5 Olympic swimming pools.
The body of water has been named Lake Neuron after the foundation that funded the exhibition. The researchers hope that studying the lake will offer new insights into underground ecosystems and the geology of the area.
Wearing long clothing and using repellents like DEET or oil of lemon eucalyptus can help deter some flies.
(Image credit: VisualCommunications via Getty Images)
Flies have an uncanny knack for finding humans, even when we don't have food. But why are they so attracted to us?For some species, it's our warm blood that appeals to them, offering them a warm, nutritious meal. For others, it's the oils and dead cells on our skin. But how do they find us in the first place?
A compound in foxgloves may help break up tumor clumps.
(Image credit: CHRISTOPH BURGSTEDT/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
Foxglove plants (Digitalis lanata) have long been used to treat heart conditions. They contain a compound called digoxin which works by blocking ion pumps in the heart, producing stronger contractions and a slower heart rate. The compound was first isolated in 1930 for use in heart failure and atrial fibrillation. But now, scientists have shown that it might also play a role in fighting cancer.
By inhibiting specific ion pumps in tumor cells, digoxin causes them to absorb more calcium, which in turn makes it harder for the cells to stick together. Ultimately this weakens the ability of tumor cells to clump together, causing existing tumor clusters to fall apart.
It is worth noting that foxgloves are poisonous and so no one should ingest them in the wild..
A sketch by Leonardo da Vinci that shows Sforza Castle in the lower left.
(Image credit: Alamy)
Centuries ago, Leonardo Da Vinci sketched out a castle in Milan. The drawings showed defensive fortifications and extensive hidden passageways under an impressive Renaissance castle. But no one knew where these tunnels were actually located, or if they existed at all.
It turns out that in the late 1490s, Da Vinci was commissioned to decorate the interior walls and ceilings of Sforza castle, which stands at the center of modern-day Milan. The sketches bear a striking resemblance to this citadel, and the castle is known to have a small number of underground passageways, some of which are open to the public. However, Da Vinci's drawings suggested a much more extensive network may be hidden beneath its historic floors.
Using laser scanners, GPS, 3D radar surveys and photogrammetry (which uses photos to create virtual 3D models), a team of architectural historians uncovered a suit of hidden underground rooms and a set of newly discovered passageways, running parallel to the ones that were already known to exist — a discovery that closely matches Da Vinci's sketches.
Something for the weekend
If you're looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best long reads, book excerpts and interviews published this week.
A filament of the “cosmic web” seen in a recent supercomputer simulation. The simulation matches almost exactly a real piece of the cosmic web captured in new telescope observations.
(Image credit: Davide Tornotti/University of Milano-Bicocca/MPA)
Our universe is like a giant spider web. Strands of gas, dust and dark matter stretch through the cosmos, separated by deserts of empty space. Now, after hundreds of hours of observation, scientists have constructed a highly detailed image of this cosmic cobweb, stretched between two distant galaxies.
The discovery may offer new insights into how these spindly structures form and how they impact the evolution of galaxies.
Pandora is the trending news editor at Live Science. She is also a science presenter and previously worked as Senior Science and Health Reporter at Newsweek. Pandora holds a Biological Sciences degree from the University of Oxford, where she specialised in biochemistry and molecular biology.
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