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Researchers at the University of Hawaii have detected a one-of-its-kind asteroid near Jupiter's orbit. The '2019 LD2' is the only "active" Jupiter Trojan known to astronomers. Trojans are a large group of asteroids located in the same orbital path as Jupiter and are typically inert. However, in a unique "crossover" between asteroids and comets, '2019 LD2' possesses a comet-like tail. For more:- factrend@info

 Talking about NASA's crewed mission with SpaceX, NASA Associate Administrator Steve Jurczyk has said they are "go for launch" next week. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will be flying in SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the International Space Station on May 27. This will be the first crewed flight to launch from the US since 2011. for more:- factrend@info

That bill laid the foundations for the Clean Water Act of 1972, establishing U.S. regulations for releasing pollutants into navigable waters. While the law protects "waters of the United States," the definition of what "waters" meant remained vague until a 2015 regulation defined eight categories of protected waters, which included headwater streams, lakes and wetlands. President Donald Trump's administration revised that definition in 2020 to exclude groundwater and some streams. The change also reduces the number of protected wetlands by roughly half.

Astronomers have discovered the oldest known disk galaxy 12.3 billion light-years away. They said the 'Wolfe Disk' was far too orderly despite forming only 1.5-billion years after the Big Bang, and according to their current models, shouldn't have existed as most galaxies from early universe look like "train wrecks". It forms stars at ten times the rate of Milky Way. For more :- factrend@in

Researchers claim to have created an electrochemical eye with a hemispherical retina made of a "high-density array of nanowires mimicking the photoreceptors on a human retina". Their report said its design has a "high degree of structural similarity to a human eye". It even mimics the vitreous humour (gel between the lens and retina) with an ionic liquid, researchers said.

The snow in Antarctica is turning green as microscopic algae bloom across the surface of the melting snow due to climate change, a study published in the journal Nature Communications said. The distribution of green snow algae is also influenced by marine birds and mammals, whose excrement acts as a nutritious natural fertiliser to accelerate algal growth, the study said. For more:- factrend@in

Observations made with European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) could be the first direct evidence of a baby planet coming into existence, astronomers believe. The images feature a spiral of dust and gas around star AB Aurigae, located 520 light- years away from Earth. A spiral structure with a 'twist' marks the site where a planet may be forming.

Inspired by cheetahs, the fastest creatures on land, researchers have developed the fastest- moving soft robot on solid surfaces and in water. The "LEAP" has a spring-powered "bistable" spine, which lets it exert more force and gallop across the surface, meaning that its feet leave the ground. "Previous soft robots remained in contact with ground, which limits their speed," researchers said.

Scientists have obtained some of the "sharpest" images of Jupiter by using a technique called "lucky imaging". They combined multiwavelength observations from Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. These images revealed that the dark spots on Jupiter's "Great Red Spot" are gaps in the cloud cover rather than masses of dark material. For more:- Factrend@space

A study said palaeontologists showed an ancient herbivore reptile, Priosphenodon, evolved special type of tooth enamel, similar to that of mammals, with high resistance to wear and tear. Its enamel crystals are "woven" into long threads called enamel prisms, which are "almost exclusively" found in mammals. Spiny- tailed Australian lizard has prismatic enamel like Priosphenodon today, study said. For more:- Factrend@earthhistory

A study in Astronomy & Astrophysics said astronomers have discovered the closest black hole to Earth, 1,000 light-years away, with two stars that are visible to naked eye. The black hole was found in the Telescopium constellation and is part of a system, HR 6819. It appears to be "truly black" and was discovered while astronomers were observing the stars. For more:-  factrend@blackhole

Tom Cruise will shoot for a film aboard International Space Station, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed. This would be the first narrative feature film to be shot in space, said Deadline. "We need popular media to inspire.new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA's ambitious plans a reality," Jim tweeted. Reports said it's being developed with Elon Musk's SpaceX. For more:- Factrend.in

A study published in Science journal said it found highest levels of microplastic ever recorded on seafloor, with up to 1.9 million pieces in a layer covering just 1 square meter. Researchers said they were "shocked" by the volume of microplastics found in deep seafloor. Deep-sea currents were responsible for transporting tiny plastic fragments and fibres across seafloor, study showed. For more :- factrend.com

A new high-pressure ventilator developed by NASA engineers, specifically to treat COVID-19 patients, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use. It took the team only 37 days to develop the device. NASA said it has decided to license the ventilator design to manufacturers for free until the pandemic lasts. For more.- News NASA

Based on the analysis of 369 Sun-like stars for four years, a research suggests that the Sun is less magnetically active than the others. The magnetic activity of stars causes their brightness to vary. Researchers found these stars fluctuated five times more than Sun. They believe the Sun may have been in a "quiet phase" for the last 9,000 years.

NASA using its most advanced Earth-observing laser instrument measured how elevation of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets changed over 16 years. Scientists found net loss of Antarctica's ice, along with Greenland's shrinking ice sheet, responsible for roughly half-inch sea level rise between 2003 and 2019. Greenland's ice sheet lost an average of 200 gigatons of ice per year, study said.

Studying a skeleton discovered in Morocco, researchers have discovered the first evidence that a dinosaur swam and lived underwater 100 million years ago. Unlike other theropod dinosaurs, 'Spinosaurus aegyptiacus' had a fin- like tail which propelled it through the water while pursuing prey, researchers said. The "river monster" could grow up to 50 feet, longer than an adult T-Rex, they added.

Astronomers led by University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy claim to have discovered an exoplanet three times of Jupiter's mass orbiting the star Kepler-88. The planet takes four Earth years to go around its star. Previously, two other exoplanets orbiting Kepler-88, Kepler-88 b and Kepler-88 c were discovered. Kepler-88 c, Jupiter-mass planet, takes 22 days to go around the star.