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Absolutely not, assumed Petr Brož, a geophysicist at the Czech Academy of Sciences. The circumstances required—sediments buried in precisely the right way—were just too unlikely. Plus, would mud even slosh after hitting the frigid surface? After recreating the scenario in a lab, Brož and his team now have their answer: Muddy mixtures on Mars would flow nearly identically to the way lava flows on Earth, although for completely different reasons, they announced in Nature Geoscience this week....

Hey @PopSci, is the #mysteryanimal a baboon? And then I might say “if you think that’s a baboon, perhaps you are the baboon!” But probably not, because this is a positive environment and all guesses are welcome and also this is not a very common animal so guess whatever you want! The first person to get it right wins! We’ll retweet the answer from @PopSci, and also update this post so your amazing animal knowledge will be permanently etched onto the internet....

A likely candidate to sit in that chair is Victor J. Glover, who’s spent much of his 20-year career soaring across the heavens as a Navy test pilot and is among a new generation of astronauts aiming to create a permanent base camp on the moon’s surface. Artemis 3, which NASA intends to launch in 2025, will land two travelers for a six-day reconnaissance survey. The goal is to search our satellite’s southern craters for pure frozen water and scope out ideal spots for a way station....

Pääbo sequenced the genome of a Neanderthal, a feat that was once believed to be impossible, according to the panel. About 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens first appeared in Africa. But, they weren’t alone on the planet. Neanderthals, an extinct relative of modern day humans, developed outside Africa and lived in Europe and Western Asia from around 400,000 years until 30,000 years ago. Roughly 70,000 years ago, groups of Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to the Middle East, eventually spreading around the rest of the world....

In the early 1900s, these mosquitofish were seen as an effective and inexpensive way to control mosquito populations and stem the spread of illnesses like malaria, since they feasted on mosquito eggs and larvae floating in the water. But it all went downhill, fast, when these fish started displacing native species, spreading beyond where they were introduced, and eating what they were not supposed to eat. Dealing with them today is challenging....

Before this new observation, the oldest baby star disks were of fully grown “protostars,” which had already swallowed up most of the mass in the gassy dust disks surrounding them. But this new star has only used up 20 percent of the mass in its surrounding envelope of material, according to astronomers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. “This very young object has all the elements of a solar system in the making,” said John Tobin of the NRAO in a statement....

Positive Grid Spark Guitar Amplifier + Traveler Bag Bundle $269 (Was $359) Whether you’re learning your first riffs or have been doing fret runs for years, you know it takes muscle and musical tone to really nail a song. A lot of folks stack amps and lug around custom pedalboards, but maybe you want to keep your rig compact. Positive Grid has the solution: the BIAS tone engine built into its Spark guitar amps, which gives you access to user presets and signal chains you can sculpt....

The budget proposal for the 2017 fiscal year would fund pilot vehicle testing programs in key corridors around the country, and work with leaders in the industry to ensure everything works consistently across different states. “We need these new technologies to work no matter where in the US we are driving,” Foxx wrote in a blog post. Another important piece of this puzzle is to create a model policy framework for connected and self-driving vehicles across the country....

This flies in the face of most solar system formation scholarship, which holds that shockwaves from a nearby supernova triggered the collapse of the dust cloud that eventually became our star and our planets. Computer models and 3-D simulations have confirmed that theory for at least the past couple of years. Now comes a new analysis of heavy elements by researchers at the University of Chicago. Authors Haolan Tang and Nicolas Dauphas looked at concentrations of iron-60, a radioactive isotope of the metal that forms in an exploding star....

About the size of a webcam, 3DV Systems’s ZCam is fitted with lasers that project near-infrared light and a digital camera that picks up the light after it reflects off objects. By measuring the intensity of the reflections, software creates a three-dimensional map, accurate down to half a millimeter, dozens of times per second. The ZCam can also hold a second camera that records regular color video. Combining that video with the 3-D map allows the device to not only translate your gestures but also render you as a 3-D avatar in the game....

“It’s been a half-century since we began our experiment in responsible business. If we have any hope of a thriving planet 50 years from now, it demands all of us doing all we can with the resources we have,” said Chouinard in a press release. “As the business leader I never wanted to be, I am doing my part. Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source....

The results can be catastrophic. And we have prehistoric proof that might support that. It comes from the time of the worst mass extinction in Earth’s history—252 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period when an apocalyptic cascade of volcanic eruptions may have turned the world toxic. And it comes in the form of fossilized pollen grains with signs of exposure to a high-energy type of ultraviolet known as ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation....

And what a year it’s been, filled with first flights, first digs, first “breaths,” and first meltdowns (don’t worry, it’s all good now). Living up to its name so far, Perseverance keeps zooming along to fulfill its scientific duty. The mission is still one giant experiment, as NASA engineers continue to test and calibrate the sedan-sized rover and its store of instruments. “It is what I call the ‘land-iversary,’” Jennifer Trosper, Mars 2020 project manager, said during NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s anniversary livestream mission recap on Thursday....

Physicists are zeroing in on this lifetime in the real world. Poring over data from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scientists have narrowed down the Higgs’ lifespan to something around that 1.6 x 10-22 figure. The scientists were able to do so thanks to data from the CMS, one of the LHC’s detectors. Their work is a major advance–and it’s a sign that, nearly a decade after the Higgs boson’s discovery, there is still quite a bit to learn about the particle....

This story appeared in the Spring 2020, Origins issue of Popular Science.

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This portable, rechargeable book light correctly labels itself as the “Lamborghini of Book Lights.” It has two arms, three different light modes, three brightness level settings for customizable quality, and can last for up to 130 hours. Choose between Natural, Warm, and Cool on Low, Medium, or High brightness. It’s lightweight so it can easily clip onto 1 ¼ inches of paperback and hardcover books with ease, or use the built-in keyhole hanger to mount it on your wall for a fully hands-free experience....

Don’t let the cold stop you from your favorite outdoor activities. With the Oboz Bridger Insulated Hiking Boot, you can keep all of your adventures on the calendar. These boots boast something called 3M Thinsulate insulation, which traps warm air inside. You can’t go wrong with a pair of Sorel boots. Sorel promises these are best for heavy snow. This waterproof boot also boasts cozy sherpa lining and an interior that’s completely removable and washable....

Give your memory disk a break by picking up a lifetime subscription to TransferCloud Premium Lite for only $79 (reg. $1,000). This limited-time offer does not require a coupon, and it can be used to help your hard drive for years to come. This unlimited browser-based subscription lets you download multiple items at the same time, with two concurrent processes able to operate and five additional queue slots available. TransferCloud carries a rating of 4....