Spiders don’t just spin silk. They forge it. As they pull threads from their spinnerets with their hind legs, they’re not just reeling out a web—they’re weaponizing a material tougher than steel. The more they stretch it, the stronger it gets.

Northwestern University researchers wanted to know why. So they built a digital spider silk in a computer model and watched what happened at the molecular level—because, frankly, no microscope is good enough. Turns out, stretching aligns protein chains and increases the number of molecular bonds, fortifying the silk like a microscopic game of Tetris.

To prove the model wasn’t just virtual wizardry, the team engineered actual spider silk in a lab and tested it. It held up. This discovery could pave the way for artificial silk that’s stronger, stretchier, and—if scientists get really creative—possibly even bulletproof.

Because nature is showing off again.

Sinan Keten, Northwestern’s resident expert in bioinspired materials, explains that while scientists always knew stretching was key to silk’s strength, they never understood the mechanics. Now, thanks to computational sleuthing, they’ve cracked the code. At the nanoscale, fibers change structure mid-spin, optimizing themselves on the fly.

Jacob Graham, the study’s first author, points out that spiders do this instinctively. No fancy lab, no advanced degrees—just eight legs and a knack for molecular engineering. They yank the fiber as it emerges, stretching it into something both elastic and absurdly strong. The more they pull, the tougher it gets.

And humans? Well, humans want in.

Stronger Than Steel, Tougher Than Kevlar, and Completely Biodegradable

For years, researchers have been obsessed with spider silk. Stronger than steel, tougher than Kevlar, yet soft and flexible like rubber. Ideal for body armor, medical sutures, and possibly even space elevators (let’s dream big). The problem? Farming spiders is a logistical nightmare.

Spiders don’t produce silk on demand. They’re territorial, cannibalistic, and generally terrible livestock. So, scientists are trying to manufacture silk instead—without needing millions of eight-legged divas.

Fuzhong Zhang, a study coauthor from Washington University in St. Louis, is engineering microbes to produce synthetic spider silk. If perfected, this could mean biodegradable surgical sutures that dissolve harmlessly in the body, ultra-light fabrics stronger than anything on the market, and maybe—just maybe—blast-resistant armor.

Nature figured it out first. But humans are catching up.

Five Fast Facts

• Spider silk is five times stronger than steel by weight, yet it can stretch up to five times its original length without breaking.
• Researchers once used spider silk to make violin strings—because apparently, music needed a bioengineering upgrade.
• Some species of spiders recycle their own webs by eating them and re-spinning the silk—nature’s version of extreme upcycling.
• The golden orb-weaver spider produces silk with a natural golden hue, making it one of the only “naturally colored” textiles on Earth.
• Scientists have genetically modified goats to produce spider silk proteins in their milk, because bioengineering is officially a sci-fi movie.

The post Spider Silk Gets Stronger When Stretched—Because Science Is Weird Like That appeared first on 3D Science News.

Labradors are famous for two things: their undying devotion and their ability to inhale an entire meal in 0.3 seconds. Turns out, there’s a genetic reason for that second one. Researchers studying British Labs have pinpointed multiple genes linked to obesity—genes that also show up in humans.

The main suspect? A gene called DENND1B, which sounds like a robot assassin but actually messes with the brain’s ability to regulate hunger. It hijacks the leptin melanocortin pathway, a neural circuit responsible for balancing energy intake. In simpler terms: this gene might be whispering, “Eat that third slice of cake, you know you want to.”

But DENND1B isn’t working alone. There’s an entire squad of genes, four to be exact, that also contribute to canine (and human) weight gain. Their influence is less dramatic, but their presence makes it clear—biology isn’t playing fair when it comes to staying slim.

The bad news? There’s no magic pill to shut these genes down. They’re tangled up with other critical processes that scientists aren’t keen on messing with. “We can’t just turn them off without causing collateral damage,” says Alyce McClellan from the University of Cambridge.

And these genes don’t just make Labradors (or people) more likely to gain weight—they make them obsessed with food. Researchers observed that Labs with these genetic markers were more likely to beg, steal, and scheme for extra snacks. They weren’t just eating more; they were laser-focused on their next meal, like tiny furry masterminds plotting a kitchen heist.

Humans with the same genetic markers show similar tendencies. Higher genetic risk correlates with a stronger appetite, an inconvenient reality in a world where food is designed to be irresistible. And while strict diet and exercise can override the genetic programming, it takes a near-heroic level of self-control.

This wasn’t just a theory—dog owners who meticulously controlled their pets’ food intake and exercise managed to keep their Labs slim, even the genetically predisposed ones. The takeaway? Willpower isn’t a myth, but it’s a much heavier lift for those wired to crave food like it’s oxygen.

Dr. Eleanor Raffan, who led the study, put it bluntly: “Owners of thin dogs aren’t morally superior.” The same applies to people. If genetics are stacked against you, resisting the siren call of snacks requires constant vigilance.

And unlike dogs, humans don’t have an owner measuring out their meals and forcing them on daily walks. Maybe that’s for the best—until someone develops an intelligent AI that locks the fridge when you’ve exceeded your calorie limit. A dystopian nightmare? Maybe. But given what we now know about genetics… it might be the only way to win.

Five Fast Facts

• DENND1B has also been linked to asthma, making it one of the few genes that can both make you overeat and struggle to breathe at the same time.
• Labradors were originally bred as fishing dogs in Newfoundland—meaning their love of food probably helped them survive harsh conditions.
• Leptin, the hormone regulated by the appetite-controlling pathway, was only discovered in 1994, proving that science took its time figuring out why people love snacks.
• The average Labrador can eat up to 60% more calories per day than a similarly sized dog without gaining weight—until DENND1B gets involved.
• Cambridge, where this study took place, is the same university that helped discover the structure of DNA—so clearly, meddling with genetics is a local specialty.

The post The Labrador Gene That Might Explain Humanity’s Junk Food Addiction appeared first on 3D Science News.

The Earth is throwing tantrums again. This time, Kilauea, Hawaii’s notoriously restless volcano, didn’t just spew lava—it whipped it into a blazing, spinning vortex. A “lavanado,” if you will. Because apparently, regular lava rivers weren’t dramatic enough.

Captured on video by Scott Malis, this hellish twister formed over a fresh molten pit, swirling a cocktail of superheated gases and liquid rock into the sky. It danced across the crater floor for about four minutes, a fleeting but spectacular reminder that nature has no chill.

The physics behind it? Classic chaos. Dust devils—those little whirlwinds that kick up dirt on hot days—form when warm air near the ground rises fast, pulling in cooler air that starts to spiral. Replace “warm air” with “blistering volcanic heat” and “dirt” with “actual molten lava,” and congratulations, you’ve got a lavanado.

Kilauea’s latest eruption sent lava fountains hundreds of feet into the air, transforming the landscape of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park yet again. It marked the 11th eruption since December 2024, proving that this volcano is aggressively committed to its routine.

The comparison to dust devils holds up—except normal dust devils don’t involve the literal floor of the Earth melting beneath them. The process is called “vertical mixing,” a deceptively calm phrase for what is essentially nature’s way of stirring a cauldron of destruction. Hot air shoots skyward, cooler air rushes in, and if the winds are just right, the whole thing starts spinning like a cursed carnival ride.

Lavanadoes are rare, but not unheard of. Volcanic twisters have been documented before, usually in places where the ground is actively trying to consume everything in sight. The difference here? This one was caught in high-definition, reminding the world that Hawaii’s Big Island isn’t just a paradise—it’s an active battle zone between land and fire.

Kilauea has been erupting on and off for decades, reshaping the island with every outburst. The volcano is one of the most studied in the world, not just because it’s hyperactive, but because it offers scientists a front-row seat to the raw, unfiltered power of planetary geology. And now, apparently, to spontaneous lava tornadoes.

While the lavanado was short-lived, Kilauea’s temper is anything but. The volcano will continue erupting, spitting out lava, reshaping the land, and occasionally throwing in a fiery cyclone just to keep things interesting. Because when the Earth decides to put on a spectacle, it doesn’t do half-measures.

Five Fast Facts

• Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, erupting almost continuously from 1983 to 2018.
• The term “lavanado” isn’t official—scientists typically call them volcanic vortices, but that’s nowhere near as fun.
• Hawaii’s volcanic soil is so fertile that plants can start growing on fresh lava flows within just a few years.
• The Big Island of Hawaii is still growing, thanks to the relentless flow of lava adding new land to its edges.
• Volcanic lightning—yes, lightning inside eruptions—happens when ash particles collide and build up static electricity.

The post A Tornado of Lava Just Ripped Through Hawaii—Yes, That’s a Thing appeared first on 3D Science News.

The brain is a black box that occasionally spills its secrets. This time, it revealed something extraordinary: the ability to store memories free from the context they were learned in. That trick—decontextualized memory—is the foundation of human intelligence.

Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga and his team just caught neurons in the act of doing it. Their study, published in *Cell Reports*, confirms that human neurons can recognize objects, people, and concepts in an abstract way, no matter the setting. See a person in a café? Your brain stores the memory. See them later in a laboratory? Same neurons fire up. That’s not how it works for rats, by the way.

For decades, scientists assumed memories were tied to their context. A rat encountering an object in one place versus another would fire up completely different neurons. The assumption? Context dictated memory. Not so for humans. Our neurons operate in a way fundamentally different from those of other species.

The Experiment: Hacking Neural Reality

The study involved nine patients in Argentina and the UK, all undergoing treatment for epilepsy. Each had electrodes implanted in their brains, allowing researchers to directly monitor individual neurons. No fuzzy fMRI scans. No guessing. Just raw, electrical data straight from the command center.

They showed these patients two different stories, each featuring the same person but in different settings. The scientists then watched as neurons fired up in response. Astonishingly, the same neurons activated no matter the setting, proving that the brain strips away context to store core concepts.

And the real magic? When patients later recounted the stories, their neurons sparked to life *before* they uttered the protagonist’s name. That means the brain retrieves memories in this abstract form, not just stores them that way.

Why This Matters (Besides Making You Feel Smarter)

Dr. Quian Quiroga puts it bluntly: this might be the neurological foundation of human intelligence. Unlike animals, we don’t need to remember each event as a series of disconnected, context-bound episodes. Instead, we build a vast mental library of floating concepts and relationships, allowing us to make complex inferences, solve problems, and—presumably—create dystopian sci-fi about artificial intelligence overthrowing humanity.

This is why you can recognize a friend whether they’re in a business suit, a Halloween costume, or hiding under a blanket. Why you understand “justice” whether you’re reading about a court case or watching a vigilante movie. Why you can grasp ideas beyond immediate experience, connecting dots across time and space.

Rats don’t do that. Traditional AI doesn’t do that. But your brain does, constantly, without you even realizing it.

Five Fast Facts

• Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga is also known for discovering “Jennifer Aniston neurons”—single neurons that recognize specific people.
• Epilepsy treatments involving implanted brain electrodes have led to multiple breakthroughs in neuroscience.
• *Cell Reports*, the journal that published this study, specializes in high-impact, cutting-edge biological research.
• The idea that humans have uniquely abstract memory processing aligns with theories about what separates us from other primates.
• Some AI models are now being trained to mimic the brain’s abstraction abilities—but they’re still nowhere near human-level cognition.

The post Your Brain Thinks in Sci-Fi: Scientists Just Witnessed Human Intelligence Being Born appeared first on 3D Science News.

For decades, scientists thought they had memory all figured out—at least the rodent version. Rats, it seemed, stored memories like meticulous little librarians, linking every experience to its specific context. Find a piece of cheese in one corner of a maze? That’s one memory. Find it in another corner? That’s a different one. But human brains? Turns out, they play by entirely different rules.

A new study led by Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga just cracked open the vault of human memory and found something unexpected: our neurons don’t care about context. They store concepts in a raw, abstract form, independent of where or how we first encountered them. This ability—to remember a person or an object without tying it to a specific setting—could be the foundation of human intelligence itself.

The Code of Human Thought

This discovery flips decades of neuroscience research on its head. Until now, studies on animals suggested that neurons stored memories contextually, changing how they fired depending on the situation. But humans? Our neurons recognize a person the same way whether we see them in a hospital corridor, a beach, or the middle of a dystopian wasteland. The implications are massive.

Dr. Quiroga and his team observed this phenomenon by recording activity from individual neurons in patients being treated for epilepsy. These weren’t your standard brain scans—no vague heat maps from fMRI machines. This was direct, neuron-by-neuron surveillance, courtesy of electrodes surgically implanted in patient brains. High stakes, high precision.

Watching a Memory Form in Real-Time

Nine patients in Argentina and the UK were shown two different stories featuring the same person in different settings, with accompanying images. As they processed the information, specific neurons lit up in response to the person—regardless of the surrounding context. When patients later recounted the stories, the same neurons fired just before they mentioned the character. It was like watching the brain assemble thought, piece by piece.

This isn’t just a neat party trick. It suggests that human memory is fundamentally abstract, built to strip away unnecessary details and focus on core ideas. While other species might be locked into a context-dependent memory system, we can manipulate concepts, draw connections between unrelated experiences, and leap to new conclusions. This might be the very thing that separates our intelligence from that of every other creature.

The Implication: Smarter Than Rats, Maybe

This kind of neural flexibility explains why humans can build civilizations, invent quantum physics, and binge-watch entire seasons of television without forgetting the plot. It’s what allows thinking beyond the immediate, making connections across time, space, and completely unrelated fields of knowledge. Imagine trying to learn physics if every equation were tied to the exact classroom where it was first introduced. That’s the kind of limitation other brains might be dealing with.

Dr. Quiroga calls this the “foundation of human intelligence,” and he might be right. By freeing thought from the constraints of context, our neurons have handed us the ultimate cognitive superpower: abstraction. The ability to see patterns where none seem to exist, to recognize deeper truths beneath the noise.

Maybe that’s why humans tell stories, build myths, and dream up entire futures in their minds. Maybe that’s why we can imagine things that don’t yet exist. Maybe that’s why, despite all our flaws, we are still the species that builds the machines that try to outthink us.

Five Fast Facts

• Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga also discovered “Jennifer Aniston neurons”—specific neurons that respond solely to images of certain famous people.
• The human brain has about 86 billion neurons, but only a tiny fraction are responsible for storing memories in this abstract way.
• Epilepsy patients who undergo electrode implantation sometimes contribute to neuroscience research, leading to groundbreaking discoveries like this one.
• Single-neuron recordings in humans are extremely rare due to the invasive nature of the procedure.
• Rats, unlike humans, have highly context-dependent memory, meaning they struggle to recognize objects or places outside their original setting.

The post Human Intelligence Just Got Weirder—Neurons Store Memories Without Context appeared first on 3D Science News.

Aging isn’t for the faint of heart. Bodies rebel, friends vanish, and the world speeds ahead like a bullet train nobody invited you onto. But somewhere between existential dread and yet another doctor’s appointment, science may have found a lifeline—paintbrushes, pianos, and pliés.

A study out of Queen Mary University of London just dropped a rather unexpected truth bomb: group arts activities—painting, music, dance—can slash depression and anxiety in older adults. And not in some minor, feel-good way. We’re talking effects on par with antidepressants and therapy, minus the side effects, the waiting lists, and the existential horror of discussing feelings with a stranger in a beige office.

Researchers dissected data from 39 studies spanning 21 countries, tracking over 3,360 participants (for depression) and 949 (for anxiety). The results? Surprising, even for the skeptics:

* Group arts interventions significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.
* The mental health boost was as strong as traditional treatments like medication, therapy, or exercise.
* Older adults in care homes saw an even bigger reduction in depression, suggesting that communal creativity hits especially hard where isolation runs deepest.

And before anyone asks—no, this isn’t just about painting sunflowers or strumming folk tunes. The type of art didn’t matter. Whether it was sculpting, singing, or interpretive dance, the common denominator was human connection through creativity.

Dr. Janelle Jones, the study’s senior author, summed it up: “We think there may be a synergistic effect, with the unique resources gained from groups, and the unique ingredients of arts activities working together to benefit mental health.” Translation? Something about shared creativity messes with the brain in a way that loneliness doesn’t stand a chance.

This isn’t just theoretical. The UK’s social prescribing initiative already links doctors’ patients to community-based activities, including arts programs. But until now, skeptics have side-eyed the whole concept, citing a lack of hard evidence. Well, here it is—served with a side of scientific rigor and a splash of acrylic paint.

And let’s be real—considering the cost of antidepressants, therapy, and the collateral damage of untreated mental health issues, the idea of handing people a paintbrush instead of a prescription pad seems less like a whimsical experiment and more like a pragmatic revolution.

Five Fast Facts

• Vincent van Gogh, poster child for tortured artists, likely suffered from depression, epilepsy, and bipolar disorder—yet found solace in painting until his final days.
• Dementia patients who engage in music therapy often regain lost memories, at least temporarily, proving music has deeper neurological roots than just entertainment.
• The brain processes dance both as movement and language, meaning dancing engages the mind on multiple levels—part sport, part poetry.
• Japan has an entire government-backed initiative called “Forest Bathing,” recognizing nature and art as legitimate mental health treatments.
• The longest-running art therapy program in history is at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, helping veterans process trauma since World War II.

The post Painting Away the Apocalypse? Group Art May Be as Powerful as Antidepressants for Older Adults appeared first on 3D Science News.

Larry Page is at it again. This time, the Google co-founder’s grand experiment is a stealth-mode AI startup called Dynatomics, an outfit reportedly aimed at revolutionizing product manufacturing. According to The Information, the plan is simple—but also completely dystopian: AI will design things, and machines will build them.

Chris Anderson, formerly of Page’s now-defunct electric plane company Kittyhawk, is running the operation. Which makes sense—if you’ve tried to make flying cars work, why not let AI take a crack at the entire manufacturing industry next? Details are scarce, but the goal seems clear: highly optimized, AI-generated designs, built with minimal human meddling.

Page is far from the only one betting that AI can reshape manufacturing. The question isn’t whether AI will take over design and production—it’s how long we have until it does. And with Page’s billions behind it, Dynatomics might just be the company that kicks human engineers to the curb.

Other startups are already marching toward the same future. Orbital Materials is using AI to uncover new materials, from better batteries to carbon dioxide-capturing cells—because why stop at reinventing manufacturing when you can tinker with the fundamental building blocks of matter? Meanwhile, PhysicsX is running AI-powered engineering simulations for aerospace, automotive, and materials science. Simulating reality before actually building things? Sounds eerily efficient.

Then there’s Instrumental, which deploys AI to catch factory defects in real-time. No more relying on tired human eyes to spot a faulty part—let the machines do quality control, too. With each of these startups eliminating another piece of human-dependent manufacturing, it’s not hard to imagine a future where factories hum along without a single living soul inside them.

This isn’t just about making production faster or cheaper. It’s about handing the design and creation of physical objects over to artificial intelligence. If AI can dream up better products, optimize their construction, and oversee the entire process, what exactly is left for human engineers to do?

Maybe that’s the point.

Five Fast Facts

• Larry Page co-founded Google in a garage, proving that world-changing tech doesn’t need a fancy launch pad—just an internet connection and questionable interior decorating.
• Chris Anderson, now leading Dynatomics, previously ran Wired magazine before diving into drones and electric planes. A logical career arc? Debatable.
• Kittyhawk, Page’s flying car startup, shut down in 2022 after years of trying to make personal air travel a thing. Turns out, gravity is a stubborn opponent.
• PhysicsX’s AI simulations are so advanced they’ve been compared to digital twins—virtual clones of real-world systems that predict mechanical failures before they happen.
• Orbital Materials isn’t just about better batteries. Their AI is hunting for materials that could reshape everything from clean energy to space travel. No pressure.

The post Larry Page’s Secret AI Factory: The Machines Are Learning to Build appeared first on 3D Science News.

Anthropic’s shiny new coding assistant, Claude Code, just proved that even AI isn’t immune to catastrophic human oversight. The tool—designed to streamline development—managed to do the exact opposite by deploying an auto-update function with all the grace of a blindfolded demolition crew. Some users watched in horror as their systems went from functional to bricked, all thanks to a bug lurking in the update process.

Reports on GitHub painted a grim picture: Claude Code, when installed with “root” or “superuser” privileges, had a habit of messing with critical file directories. These privileges are meant for software that truly needs them—operating systems, security tools, maybe a rogue AI plotting its escape. Instead, Claude Code used them to rewrite system file permissions in a way that left machines hanging somewhere between “unusable” and “time to reinstall everything from scratch.”

One especially unlucky user had to deploy a “rescue instance” just to undo the damage. Imagine that: a coding assistant so helpful it forced users into emergency recovery mode. The problem stemmed from botched auto-update commands that let applications modify files they had no business touching. In layman’s terms? Claude Code took a sledgehammer to system permissions, and some machines never recovered.

Anthropic, to its credit, responded with the urgency this kind of disaster warrants. The company yanked the problematic commands and slapped a link into the program, directing users to a troubleshooting guide. Of course, in a painfully ironic twist, the link itself contained a typo. A fitting final touch for a rollout already in flames.

That typo has since been corrected, and the guide now provides step-by-step instructions for salvaging affected systems. Assuming, of course, that those systems still exist in a state that allows for recovery. For those who learned the hard way never to trust auto-updates on day one—well, lesson reinforced.

Five Fast Facts

• Anthropic was founded by ex-OpenAI employees who wanted to focus on AI safety—irony noted.
• “Bricking” a device originally referred to turning expensive hardware into something as useful as a literal brick.
• Superuser (or “root”) access means total control over a system—something usually reserved for admins and, occasionally, reckless AI tools.
• GitHub, where users reported the bug, was acquired by Microsoft in 2018 for $7.5 billion.
• Auto-updates have broken major systems before—ask anyone who remembers Windows 10’s infamous forced updates era.

The post Anthropic’s AI Code Tool Had a Bug That Turned Workstations Into Paperweights appeared first on 3D Science News.

Intuitive Machines has done it again—sent a robotic explorer all the way to the moon, only for it to possibly face-plant the moment it arrived. Athena, the company’s latest lunar lander, touched down Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET, making it the second private spacecraft to land on the moon this week. That’s right—corporate moon landings are officially a trend, and the success rate is… let’s call it “work in progress.”

Athena’s destination was Mons Mouton, a flat-topped mountain near the moon’s south pole, where some of the solar system’s best real estate for future human colonies may exist. Intuitive Machines’ chief technology officer confirmed the lander arrived somewhere inside the designated 50-meter zone—but “where exactly” remains an open question. If NASA ever wants humans to live on the moon, step one is figuring out how to stick the landing.

CEO Steve Altemus admitted the lander likely isn’t at the “correct attitude,” which is aerospace jargon for “we think it tipped over.” Last year’s Intuitive Machines lander, Odysseus, also had a rough landing, proving that gravity is not to be underestimated, even when it’s only one-sixth as strong as Earth’s. Still, Altemus remained optimistic, pointing out that this mission was smoother than the last one, so at least their controlled crashes are getting more controlled.

Despite its possibly awkward posture, Athena was packed with some serious tech. One of its key payloads: a passive laser retroreflector array, which could one day help spacecraft communicate as they zip around the moon. NASA is so interested in this technology that it’s handed Intuitive Machines up to $4.8 billion to develop lunar communication infrastructure—though only $150 million of that is guaranteed, because NASA, too, knows how to hedge a bet.

The lander is also carrying an ice mining experiment for NASA, designed to determine whether the moon has enough frozen water to one day provide fuel or breathable oxygen. If that sounds like the first step toward a sci-fi mining colony, well, you’re not wrong. The future of space exploration may hinge on whether we can extract what we need rather than hauling it from Earth.

Also onboard: MAPP, a rover equipped with Nokia cellular technology, because apparently, someone at NASA thought “Can you hear me now?” would make a great lunar experiment. There’s also a solid-state storage unit being touted as the moon’s first data center—so if you’ve ever wanted to store your vacation photos on the lunar surface, that dream is now slightly closer to reality.

Athena’s fate remains uncertain. If it’s still functional despite its potential tumble, it could provide valuable data and prove that private companies have a role to play in the new space race. If not, well—at the rate these landers are going, the moon is going to have a lot of expensive scrap metal very soon.

Five Fast Facts

• NASA’s Mons Mouton landing site is named after Melba Roy Mouton, a pioneering Black mathematician who worked on early space missions.
• The only other country to ever land on the moon and immediately tip over? The Soviet Union, with Luna 23 in 1974.
• Nokia’s lunar cellular network is part of a larger plan to bring 4G service to the moon—because why not?
• Intuitive Machines’ first moon lander, Odysseus, was the first private spacecraft to touch down on the lunar surface in over 50 years.
• The moon’s south pole is a prime target for future missions because its permanently shadowed craters may hold billions of gallons of frozen water.

The post Another Private Moon Lander Just Touched Down—And Promptly Fell Over (Probably) appeared first on 3D Science News.

A rock hurtled through space, slammed into Earth at 36,000 km/h, and left a mark that’s been hiding in plain sight for 3.5 billion years. Now, a team of researchers from Curtin University has finally found it, rewriting what everyone thought they knew about ancient impacts. If you thought dinosaurs had it bad, imagine a time when the planet was constantly getting smacked by cosmic debris.

The crater—more accurately, what’s left of it—was discovered in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, around 40 kilometers west of Marble Bar. The key evidence? **Shatter cones.** These jagged, radiating rock formations only form under the brutal pressure of a meteorite strike, and their presence means something massive hit this spot long before any complex life existed.

Before this discovery, the oldest known impact crater was a sprightly 2.2 billion years old. That’s effectively a toddler compared to this one. “Until now, the absence of any truly ancient craters means they are largely ignored by geologists,” said Professor Tim Johnson, one of the study’s co-leads. Translation: we’ve been sleeping on some of the most violent, formative events in Earth’s history.

The impact that created this crater wasn’t just a flashy explosion—it had consequences. Think **continent-breaking, magma-spewing, atmosphere-altering consequences.** The energy unleashed could have pushed sections of Earth’s crust under each other, triggering early plate tectonics. It may have even helped form **cratons**, the ancient, stable landmasses that eventually became the continents. No small feat for a wayward space rock.

Professor Chris Kirkland, also a co-lead on the study, pointed out another possible consequence: life itself. Impact craters create hydrothermal environments—think boiling hot water pools, rich in minerals, perfect for primitive microbes trying to get a foothold. Some of the earliest signs of life on Earth? They came from areas just like this.

If more ancient craters like this one exist (and let’s be real, they probably do), they could explain a lot about how Earth transitioned from a chaotic, molten wasteland to a planet teeming with life. The Moon, riddled with craters, tells us that massive impacts were common in the early solar system. Earth wasn’t spared—it’s just that erosion, tectonics, and time have erased most of the evidence.

But not this one. This crater, hiding in the cracked and ancient rocks of Pilbara, endured. And now that we’ve found it, who knows what else is lurking beneath the surface, waiting to tell its story?

Five Fast Facts

• Marble Bar, near the crater site, holds the world record for the most consecutive days above 37.8°C (100°F)—160 days straight.
• Shatter cones, the key evidence of this impact, have also been found at nuclear test sites, proving their link to extreme pressure events.
• The Pilbara region contains some of the oldest rocks on Earth, dating back over 3.6 billion years.
• Cratons, the stable landmasses possibly shaped by this impact, are the only places where diamonds form naturally.
• The Moon’s largest impact basin, the South Pole–Aitken Basin, is over 2,500 km wide—25 times the estimated size of this crater.

The post Earth’s Oldest Crater Found—And It Might Have Helped Life Begin appeared first on 3D Science News.