This week in science

SpaceX Starship and beyond: Understand the world through 8 images

by Robin Bea

Noam Galai/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

The week of March 3–10 saw new evidence for face masks’ efficacy, messages from Mars and deep space, and a somewhat successful SpaceX landing.

Here are 8 stunning images that explain the week’s biggest science stories.

8. Why cotton masks work

NIST
March 9

Scientists from NIST found that humidity caused by breath makes cotton face masks better at filtering Covid-19 without making it harder to breathe.

NIST

7. A grim anniversary

Noam Galai/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
March 9

New York City continued its phase four reopening plan one year after its first reported case of Covid-19.

Noam Galai/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

6. Perseverance flexes

NASA
March 8

NASA’s Perseverance rover sent back new images of Mars as it continued testing its instruments.

NASA/JPL-Caltech
March 8

European researchers using a new carbon dating method found that Neanderthals may have disappeared from Europe 10,000 years earlier than previously thought.

T. Devièse et al. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (2021)

4. Long-distance message

ESO
March 8

Scientists in Chile and Germany found the most distant source of radio emissions to date — a quasar 13 billion light-years away.

ESO
March 8

Scientists in Japan found that some sea slugs can intentionally sever their own heads, then regrow a new body from the still-living head within weeks.

S. Mitoh, et al. CURRENT BIOLOGY (2021)

2. Older than the ground beneath it

Steve Jurvetson / Flickr
March 8

Scientists in France found a meteorite older than Earth in the Saharan Desert, which could shed light on our Solar System’s ancient history.

Steve Jurvetson / Flickr

1. SpaceX Starship lands safely...

SpaceX

for a moment

SPadre
March 3

SpaceX Starship SN10 landed successfully but exploded minutes later due to a fuel leak from damage sustained in the hard landing.

SpaceX/Flickr

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