Something Just Crashed Into The Moon, First-Known Instance Of Prehistoric Bees Nesting In Fossil Skulls, And Much More This Week

This week, a 120-million-year-old dinosaur trackway has revealed the fastest Cretaceous theropod ever discovered, Little Foot, one of the most complete early hominin fossils, may actually be an “unidentified human relative”, and NASA finally confirmed billionaire Jared Isaacman as its new head. Finally, we visited the European Space Agency to ask real astronauts the question on everyone’s minds – what’s the best fictional spaceship?

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Something Just Crashed Into The Moon – And Astronomers Captured The Whole Event

Skygazing astronomers have spotted a sudden, bold flash of light on the Moon caused by an astronomical smash-up. The culprit is still being investigated, but it may have something to do with one of the strangest space objects we know of. Read the full story here

Fastest Cretaceous Theropod Yet Discovered In 120-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Trackway

How fast were dinosaurs? If we're talking medium-sized theropods: very. That's according to a new fossil discovery that has become the fastest theropod trackway ever documented from the Cretaceous. By figuring out the size of the dinosaur that left behind the fossil footprints and the distance between each step, scientists were able to determine that it was dashing through the landscape at around 45 kilometers (28 miles) per hour. That’s about the same speed as a professional cyclist. Read the full story here

“Unidentified Human Relative”: Little Foot, One Of Most Complete Early Hominin Fossils, May Be New Species

Another twist has been added to the puzzling mix that is early human ancestry, with evidence that one of the most complete pre-human fossil skeletons we have found doesn’t belong to any recognized species. The team that made the discovery say they don’t know where StW 573, nicknamed Little Foot, fits from an evolutionary perspective, but at least with a specimen this intact, we have plenty of opportunity to learn more. Read the full story here

First-Known Instance Of Bees Laying Eggs In Fossilized Tooth Sockets Discovered In 20,000-Year-Old Bones

Nature can be pretty metal when it wants, and a testament to this is the recent discovery that bees sometimes use hollowed out tooth sockets in fossilized skulls as a nesting site. That’s according to remains that date back to the late Quaternary period found in a cave, and it marks the first-known instance of this behavior in bees. Read the full story here

Billionaire Jared Isaacman Finally Confirmed As Head Of NASA, As Agency Faces Uncertain Future

NASA has finally got a new chief. Billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman has officially become the 15th Administrator. Isaacman’s name was first put forward soon after the 2024 election, when his connections to the private space industry and Elon Musk placed him in favor with the Trump administration. After a rocky road that saw his nomination rescinded personally by Trump, he has finally been sworn in to lead the troubled space agency going forward. Read the full story here

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Feature of the week:

These Are The Best Fictional Spaceships, According To Astronauts – What Are Yours?

Science fiction loves space travel. In the absence of a Stargate, to travel between the stars and explore the cosmos, you need spaceships. There are fast ones and slow ones, realistic ones and some that are sadly completely impossible. So many have captured the imagination of people across movies, television, video games, and novels. But is there one that we can objectively crown the best? We asked real-life astronauts if they could captain any spacecraft, which would they choose? Read the full story here