Science

Los Angeles earthquake measured at 3.0

A 3.0 magnitude earthquake rattled the Los Angeles area Tuesday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake, centered in Sylmar in northern Los Angeles County’s San Fernando Valley, had a depth of about 3.8 miles.

It was felt as far away as Long Beach, according to USGS‘ Did You Feel It site, but there were no immediate reports of any major damage or injuries.

(USGS)

A 3.6 magnitude quake also hit Thousand Oaks, west of Downtown L.A., on Monday morning.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

On average, around five earthquakes between 3.0 and 4.0 shake the L.A. area each year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

NASA satellite image shows impact of 9/11 attacks

20 years after the September 11 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 men, women and children, NASA is remembering the day, sharing images and memories.

In a satellite image provided by the agency, billowing smoke over the Manhattan area can be seen from space after two of the hijacked planes crashed into the towers of New York City’s World Trade Center.

ICONIC 9/11 PHOTOS AND THE PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO SHOT THEM: HERE ARE THEIR STORIES

“The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were a national tragedy that resulted in a staggering loss of life and a significant change in American culture. Each year, we pause and never forget. Beyond remembering and honoring the Americans who died that day, NASA also assisted FEMA in New York in the days afterward, and remembered the victims by providing flags flown aboard the Space Shuttle to their families,” NASA wrote in a release.

NASA also shared the words of astronaut Frank Culbertson, who was aboard the International Space Station (ISS) at the time of the attacks and the only American on the crew.

Visible from space, a smoke plume rises from the Manhattan area after two planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center. This photo was taken of metropolitan New York City (and other parts of New York as well as New Jersey) the morning of September 11, 2001. “Our prayers and thoughts go out to all the people there, and everywhere else,” said Station Commander Frank Culbertson of Expedition 3, after the terrorists’ attacks. (Credits: NASA)

He began documenting the event in photographs as the station flew over the New York City area.

“The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city,” Culbertson wrote in a post at the time of the attack. After reading one of the news articles we just received, I believe we were looking at [New York] around the time of, or shortly after, the collapse of the second tower. How horrible…”

“It’s horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point,” he said. “The dichotomy of being on a spacecraft dedicated to improving life on the earth and watching life being destroyed by such willful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche, no matter who you are.”

FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL CEREMONY MARKS 20 YEARS AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS

NASA noted that, after the attack, its science programs were “called into action” as the agency worked with FEMA to fly sensors over the affected areas on aircraft – looking for aerial contaminants – and used satellite resources to monitor from above.

To remember the day, NASA flew nearly 6,000 4-by-6 inch flags on Endeavour’s December 2001 flight to honor the victims. The flags were later distributed to relatives in the summer of 2002.

In addition, NASA used aluminum recovered from the destroyed World Trade Center towers – with the image of an American flag – on rock abrasion tools for the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

The National 9/11 Flag was raised over the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex after Florida’s contribution was added. (Credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

“One day, both rovers will be silent. In the cold, dry environments where they have worked on Mars, the onboard memorials to victims of the Sept. 11 attack could remain in good condition for millions of years,” NASA wrote.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Lastly, in 2011, flags from Florida’s Spaceport were sewn into an American Flag – known as “The National 9/11 Flag” – that was recovered near ground zero following the attacks.

Space station fire alarm goes off amid smoke, burning smell in Russian section

Smoke alarms sounded Thursday aboard the International Space Station (ISS), prompting an air cleanse of the Russian segment before crews returned to normal operations.

The alarm sounded at 1:55 a.m. GMT in the Zvezda service module of the Russian segment of the station – the latest in a string of safety concerns in that area.

“A smoke detector was triggered in the Zvezda service module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station during automatic battery charging, and an alarm went off,” Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement. “To eliminate possible smoke pollution by the crew, an aggregate filter for cleaning the atmosphere was turned on.”

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said “the smell of burning plastic or electronic equipment” wafted to the U.S. segment of the station, though, according to CBS News.

NASA ASTRONAUT TAKES STUNNING SHOT OF HURRICANE LARRY FROM SPACE STATION

The crew activated air filters and resumed “night rest” once the air quality had returned to normal levels. Roscosmos reported the air quality was safe, but it did not make clear whether or not there would have been a risk to the crew had the filters not been activated.

The agency confirmed that a planned six-hour spacewalk would proceed on Thursday to continue integrating the Russian-built Nauka science lab that docked with the ISS in July, Al Jazeera reported.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Zvezda module has experienced a number of safety issues, with smoke reported in the module in 2014, and several air leaks, including one earlier this year and another in 2019.

NASA astronaut takes stunning shot of Hurricane Larry from space station

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur on Tuesday shared a stunning image of Hurricane Larry that was taken aboard the International Space Station.

“Hurricane Larry update from this morning. From our viewpoint on @Space_Station, it looks much larger than Ida,” McArthur, the NASA SpaceX Crew-2 pilot, noted.

HURRICANE LARRY COULD IMPACT NEW JERSEY, EAST COAST SHORES

The image shows the hurricane, which is currently positioned over the central Atlantic Ocean and several hundred miles southeast of Bermuda.

In a Sunday tweet, McArthur shared an alternate view and wrote that she was “hoping this one doesn’t make landfall.”

Hurricane Larry rages above the Atlantic Ocean in this image captured by NASA astronaut Megan McArthur at the International Space Station on Sept. 7, 2021. ( Megan McArthur/NASA/Twitter)

Larry, a Category 3 hurricane, has continued moving northwestward with no change in strength.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the storm’s center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles.

Early Wednesday, the hurricane was moving to the northwest near 10 mph with an increase in forward speed forecast on Thursday in addition to a turn toward the north-northwest and north.

Larry, with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph with higher gusts, is expected to pass east of Bermuda on Thursday where a tropical storm watch is in effect.

Tropical storm conditions are possible for the island beginning Wednesday night or early Thursday.

The hurricane center predicts Larry will gradually weaken over the next several days.

However, dangerous swells generated by Larry are set to affect much of the western Atlantic beaches this week.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Swells generated by Larry will continue to affect the Leeward Islands, portions of the Greater Antilles, and the Bahamas through midweek, and impact Bermuda through the end of the week Significant swells from Larry will begin reaching the east coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada today and continue affecting these shores through the end of the week,” the hurricane center said.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the agency warned.

Satellite images show Ida’s devastation in New Jersey

Satellite imagery has captured the devastating impact of Post-Tropical Cyclone Ida on New Jersey last week.

The Maxar Technologies photos captured on Thursday show the murky reddish-brown floodwaters that overtook Manville, New Brunswick and Bridgewater Township.

NEW JERSEY EXPLOSIONS, FIRES ROCK COMMUNITIES ALREADY SHAKEN BY IDA FLOODING: REPORTS

In one image, the stadium for the Somerset Patriots Double-A baseball team was partially flooded by the overflow from the Raritan River, in addition to a nearby railroad line.

The remnants of Hurricane Ida brought record rainfall, life-threatening flooding and some tornadoes to the Northeast on Wednesday night.

The storm killed at least 51 people across the region, including 27 in New Jersey and 11 in New York City.

In a satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies, the stadium for the Somerset Patriots Double-A baseball team is partially flooded by overflow from the Raritan River on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, in Bridgewater Township, N.J., the day after torrential rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida drenched the area. A railroad line to the left of the stadium is submerged. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Many drowned in their basement apartments or in cars trapped on heavily flooded roadways.

Ultimately, the storm dumped more than nine inches of rain in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and nearly as much on Staten Island.

IDA REMNANTS BRING DEATH, DESTRUCTION TO NORTHEAST, DAYS AFTER STORM SLAMMED GULF COAST

Newark Liberty Airport was inundated with more than three inches of rain in one hour and over eight inches in total on Wednesday.

Elizabeth, New Jersey Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said that rain and river flooding had killed four people and forced 600 from their homes.

In a satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies, homes are surrounded by floodwaters from the Raritan River in Manville, N.J., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, the day after remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through the area. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Manville – also in northern New Jersey – was the scene of catastrophic flooding in 1998 as the remnants of Tropical Storm Floyd passed over the Garden State and sustained serious flooding following Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told NBC’s “Today” show on Friday morning that the state was not “out of the woods yet” and that a handful of people remain missing.

“And, at the same time, we mourn the loss of those lives,” he said, “And, we’re going to clean up, and we’re going to stay together and we’ll get back on our feet, but it may be a long road.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Ida made landfall in Louisiana last Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing winds of 150 mph.

Ida was the fifth-strongest storm ever to make landfall in the continental U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NASA’s Perseverance rover team drills first Martian rock sample

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover team announced on Thursday that it has successfully cored its first Mars rock.

A September 1 image of the long, oddly-shaped and dusty Mars rock provided in a release from the agency showed the circular drill hole.

NASA said that initial images downlinked after the events showed an intact sample present in the sample tube after coring.

NASA SEISMOLOGISTS IMAGE THE INTERIOR OF ANOTHER PLANET FOR THE FIRST TIME

“However, additional images taken after the arm completed sample acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions,” it said, noting that the rover would obtain additional imagery of the sample tube with better lighting before the processing continues.

“Although the Perseverance mission team is confident that the sample is in the tube, images in optimal lighting conditions will confirm its presence,” NASA wrote.

“The project got its first cored rock under its belt, and that’s a phenomenal accomplishment,” Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said. “The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock. We did what we came to do. We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube.”

Using a rotary-percussive drill and a hollow coring bit – that holds the sample tube – at the end of its robotic arm to extract the samples, Perseverance maneuvered the corer, bit and open end of the sample tube to be photographed by its Mastcam-Z instrument.

The initial images showed the end of a cored rock within the sample tube before “Percy” began a procedure called “percuss to ingest.”

The step vibrates the drill bit and tube five times, which can help a sample slide down farther into the tube and can ride the tube’s lip of residual material.

NASA’S PERSEVERANCE MARS ROVER RUNS INTO PUZZLING SAMPLING CONUNDRUM

Following “percuss to ingest,” Perseverance took its second set of Mastcam-Z images, in which the lighting was poor and the “internal portions of the sample tube are not visible.”

NASA said that Friday images would be taken when the sun is in a more favorable position and that photos would also be captured after sunset in order to “diminish point-sources of light that can saturate an image.”

The photos are set to be returned to Earth on Saturday morning.

If the new images are still uncertain, the team still has several steps it can take including using the rover’s Sampling and Caching System’s volume probe to confirm that the sample is in the tube.

Notably, a previous attempt at sampling Mars rock in early August went awry when the team realized the rover had failed to capture the crumbly rock in its tube.

NASA then decided to move on to the South Séítah region of the red planet’s Jezero Crater.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Perseverance landed on Mars on Feb. 18 and began its science phase – and the hunt for signs of ancient microbial life – on June 1.

In the future, the rock and regolith samples the rover collects and caches will be returned in joint missions with the ESA (European Space Agency).

Caldor Fire, other California blazes shown in satellite imagery

Imagery from NOAA Satellites shows the way smoke is spreading from California wildfires.

The agency shared the images, in GIF format, on Twitter Tuesday.

CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTERS USE SNOW MACHINES TO FIGHT CALDOR FIRE AT TAHOE RESORT

The first post showed the now-204,390-acre Caldor Fire near Lake Tahoe on Monday.

“The raging #CaldorFire continues to threaten communities near #LakeTahoe, seen here last evening from @NOAA’s #GOES17. At last report, the #wildfire had grown to 186,500+ acres and the governors of Calif. and Nev. have declared states of emergency,” NOAA Satellites wrote.

The Caldor Fire was 20% contained on Wednesday but windy conditions in the area were expected to fan the flames as some residents in neighboring Nevada were ordered to evacuate.

About 22,000 residents of the city of South Lake Tahoe evacuated as well on Tuesday and officials said only a few residents defied the evacuation order.

The fire, which started on Aug. 14, has destroyed more than 600 structures and threatened tens of thousands more.

CALDOR FIRE MOVES CLOSER TO CALIFORNIA’S SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, FORCING MORE EVACUATION

More than 15,000 firefighters were battling dozens of California fires, with assistance from crews from out of state.

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported Wednesday that there were 15 active large fires in the Golden State.

“The Caldor Fire continues to burn actively and thousands of residents have been evacuated. The Dixie Fire displayed extreme fire behavior and made a 42,000-acre run. Several other large fires in California, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington have forced the evacuation of nearby residents,” the fire center said.

On Monday, the U.S. Forest Service announced that all national forest in California would be closed until Sept. 17.

“From 22,300 miles up, @NOAA’s #GOES17 saw the full extent of the #wildfires blazing across northern California yesterday—including the #CaldorFire, #DixieFire and others. Officials said all California national forests will temporarily close starting tonight,” NOAA Satellites said in a second tweet.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

According to the NIFC, 86 large fires currently burning across the country have scorched more than 2.6 million acres in 11 states.

Climate change has made the western U.S. warmer and drier and scientists say its impact will continue to make wildfires more frequent and destructive.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NYC lightpole outside Fox News headquarters swarmed by bees

A member of the New York Polie Department’s bee cops created a buzz Tuesday evening when he went to work on a light pole near Times Square and vacuumed up a colony of 10,000 bees.

The bees were seen earlier in the day gathering and swarming around the pole on 47th Street and the Avenue of the Americas, also known as 6th Avenue, prompting onlookers to stop and snap photos, at a safe distance of course.

Onlookers gather Tuesday to watch a large colony of bees gather around a light pole in midtown Manhattan.
(Fox News)

Coincidently, the gathering spot was right outside Fox News headquarters.

The New York Police Department told Fox News it was sending a beekeeper to the area to confront the critters.

The department tweeted a video informing followers that longtime police beekeeper, Officer Darren Mays, had retired. Another officer identified only as Det. Travis was seen trying to suck up the swarm of bees through a vacuum. The bees were expected to be relocated, police said.

The NYPD said no injuries or car accidents related to the bee invasion were reported. Authorities were not sure why they chose the busy spot to form a colony but there was no threat of an invasion, they said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In July, Mays removed 10,000 bees from Times Square. He came back two weeks later to the same area and removed a smaller swarm.

Earth’s longer days kick-started oxygen growth: study

Scientists have a new idea for how Earth got its oxygen: It’s because the planet slowed down and days got longer.

A study published Monday proposes and puts to the test the theory that longer, continuous daylight kick-started weird bacteria into producing lots of oxygen, making most of life as we know it possible.

They dredged up gooey purple bacteria from a deep sinkhole in Lake Huron and tinkered with how much light it got in lab experiments. The more continuous light the smelly microbes got, the more oxygen they produced.

In this photo provided by the NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary a scuba diver observes the purple, white and green microbes covering rocks in Lake Huron’s Middle Island Sinkhole. Feel like days are just getting longer? They are and it’s a good thing because we wouldn’t have much to breathe if they weren’t, according to a new explanation for how Earth’s oxygen rich atmosphere may have developed because of Earth’s rotation slowing. Scientists provided evidence for this new hypothesis by lab testing gooey smelly purple bacteria from a deep sinkhole in Lake Huron. (Phil Hartmeyer/NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary via AP)
(NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary/AP)

SCIENTISTS FIND A ‘REAL LIFE’ PATRICK AND SPONGEBOB IN OCEAN EXPEDITION

One of the great mysteries in science is just how Earth went from a planet with minimal oxygen to the breathable air we have now. Scientists long figured microbes called cyanobacteria, were involved, but couldn’t tell what started the great oxygenation event.

Researchers in a study in Monday’s Nature Geoscience theorize that Earth’s slowing rotation, which gradually lengthened days from six hours to the current 24 hours, was key for the cyanobacteria in making the planet more breathable.

About 2.4 billion years ago there was so little oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere that it could barely be measured, so no animal or plant life like we know could live. Instead, lots of microbes breathed in carbon dioxide, and in the case of cyanobacteria, produced oxygen in the earliest form of photosynthesis.

At first it wasn’t much, but in only about 400 million years Earth’s atmosphere went to one-tenth the amount of oxygen we have now — a huge jump, said the study’s lead author, Judith Klatt, a biogeochemist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. That oxygen burst allowed plants and animals to evolve, with other plants now joining in the oxygen-making party, she said.

This June 19, 2019 photo provided by NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary shows purple microbial mats in the Middle Island Sinkhole in Lake Huron, Mich. Small hills and “fingers” like this one in the mats are caused by gases like methane and hydrogen sulfide bubbling up beneath them. Feel like days are just getting longer? They are and it’s a good thing because we wouldn’t have much to breathe if they weren’t, according to a new explanation for how Earth’s oxygen rich atmosphere may have developed because of Earth’s rotation slowing. Scientists provided evidence for this new hypothesis by lab testing gooey smelly purple bacteria from a deep sinkhole in Lake Huron. (Phil Hartmeyer/NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary via AP)
(NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary/AP)

FIREBALL BLAZES ACROSS TEXAS SKY

But why did the bacteria go on the oxygen making binge? That’s where University of Michigan oceanographer Brian Arbic comes in. He studies tidal forces on Earth and how they’ve slowed Earth’s rotation. Arbic was listening to a colleague’s lecture about cyanobacteria and he noticed that the oxygen event coincided with the timing of Earth’s days getting longer. The planet’s rotation slows because of the complicated physics of tidal friction and interaction with the moon.

The Michigan and German researchers put their theory to the test with bacteria similar to what would have been around 2.4 billion years ago. They used purple and white mats of cyanobacteria living in an eerie world of the sinkhole nearly 79 feet deep in Lake Huron.

ASTEROID THE SIZE OF GIZA PYRAMID, TAJ MAHAL TO PASS ‘CLOSE’ TO EARTH

“We actually imagine that the world looked kind of like the Middle Island sinkhole for most of its history,” Klatt said.

Divers brought up the gelatinous carpets of bacteria, which smell like rotten eggs. Klatt and colleagues exposed them to varying amounts of light, up to 26 straight hours. They found that more continuous light caused the microbes to produce more oxygen.

The study authors and outside scientists said this is just one possible but plausible explanation for Earth’s oxygen increase.

This photo provided by the NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary shows a burbot fish resting on rocks covered in purple and white microbial mats inside the Middle Island Sinkhole in Lake Huron, Mich. Feel like days are just getting longer? They are and it’s a good thing because we wouldn’t have much to breathe if they weren’t, according to a new explanation for how Earth’s oxygen rich atmosphere may have developed because of Earth’s rotation slowing. Scientists provided evidence for this new hypothesis by lab testing gooey smelly purple bacteria from a deep sinkhole in Lake Huron. (Phil Hartmeyer/NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary via AP)
(NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary/AP)

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

What makes the idea so impressive is that it doesn’t require any big biological changes in bacteria or the world’s oceans, said Tim Lyons, a professor of biogeochemistry at the University of California, Riverside, who wasn’t part of the research team.

Coronavirus ‘Achilles’ heel’ may have been found, experts say

Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the majority of the world, upending nearly every facet of life, as researchers race to find a cure. However, a newly published study suggests researchers may have found what’s been described as its “Achilles’ heel.”

The research shows that a specific portion of the virus could be targeted with vaccines after they mapped a human antibody’s interaction with SARS-CoV-2 at “near-atomic-scale resolution,” according to a statement from Scripps Research. The antibody was taken from a SARS patient from several years ago, but it reacts to SARS-CoV-2 as well.

“The knowledge of conserved sites like this can aid in structure-based design of vaccines and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2, and these would also protect against other coronaviruses—including those that may emerge in the future,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ian Wilson, in a statement.

NEW YORK STATE WILL START CORONAVIRUS DRUG TRIALS

Wilson, speaking with the San Diego Tribune, described the area of the virus as a “possible Achilles’ heel.”

Unfortunately, the virus’ flaw is difficult to find, “adding to the mystery,” the researchers said.

“We found that this region is usually hidden inside the virus, and only exposed when that part of the virus changes its structure, as it would in natural infection,” co-author Meng Yuan added.

Scripps Research said it is actively seeking out recovered COVID-19 patients who are willing to donate their blood to screen for potential antibodies.

The study has been published in the journal Science.

In a separate study, researchers pointed out the blood of recovered patients can aid in the treatment of severe cases.

CORONAVIRUS: COMBINATION OF ANTIMALARIAL MEDICATION AND ANTIBIOTICS COULD SHORTEN COVID-19, RESEARCHERS SAY

The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at five patients in Shenzhen, China, who were deemed “critically ill.” The experts found that giving them an experimental plasma transfusion that contained a “neutralizing antibody” helped in their recovery.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

As of Sunday morning, more than 1.22 million coronavirus cases have been diagnosed worldwide, more than 312,000 of which are in the U.S., the most impacted country.

GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Science

Footer

Public File Info