Reuters Science News Summary
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Boeing's Starliner astronauts could return on SpaceX capsule in Feb 2025, NASA says
NASA officials said on Wednesday the two astronauts delivered to the International Space Station in June by Boeing's Starliner could return on SpaceX's Crew Dragon in February 2025 if Starliner is still deemed unsafe to return to Earth. The U.S. space agency has been discussing potential plans with SpaceX to leave two seats empty on an upcoming Crew Dragon launch for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who became the first crew to fly Boeing's Starliner capsule.
Scientists propose warming up Mars by using heat-trapping 'glitter'
The idea of transforming Mars into a world more hospitable to human habitation is a regular feature of science fiction. But could this be done in real life? Scientists are now proposing a new approach to warm up Earth's planetary neighbor by pumping engineered particles -similar in size to commercially available glitter and made of iron or aluminum - into the atmosphere as aerosols to trap escaping heat and scatter sunlight toward the Martian surface. The idea would be to augment the natural greenhouse effect on Mars to raise its surface temperature by roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) over a span of a decade.
World's largest 3D-printed neighborhood nears completion in Texas
As with any desktop 3D printer, the Vulcan printer pipes layer by layer to build an object - except this printer is more than 45 feet (13.7 m) wide, weighs 4.75 tons and prints residential homes. This summer, the robotic printer from ICON is finishing the last few of 100 3D-printed houses in Wolf Ranch, a community in Georgetown, Texas, about 30 miles from Austin.
Scientists obtain deepest rock sample from Earth's mantle
Scientists using an ocean drilling vessel have dug the deepest hole ever in rock from Earth's mantle - penetrating 4,160 feet (1,268 meters) below the Atlantic seabed - and obtained a large sample that is offering clues about our planet's most voluminous layer. This cylindrical core sample, researchers said on Thursday, is providing insight into the composition of the upper part of the mantle and the chemical processes that occur when this rock interacts with seawater over a range of temperatures. Such processes, they said, may have underpinned the advent of life on Earth billions of years ago.
