SPACE.com: Data gathered by two spacecraft have recently yielded quite different images of Earth. On the left is a mosaic of optical images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter taken during a recent calibration run on 12 June. The orbiter was launched a year ago to hunt for water ice and promising landing sites for future lunar missions. On the right is a map of Earth’s local gravity field compiled by the European Space Agency’s GOCE spacecraft in its first two months of operation. Accurate gravity maps are needed for a range of scientific and engineering applications, including climate modeling and oil prospecting. The scale bar is in gals (1 cm/s 2) measured with respect to the global mean.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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