asteroid impacts tagged posts

Asteroid Impacts create Diamond Materials with exceptionally Complex Structures

an asteroid or a meteorite flies in space, against the background of nebulae and stars

Shockwaves caused by asteroids colliding with Earth create materials with a range of complex carbon structures, which could be used for advancing future engineering applications, according to an international study led by UCL and Hungarian scientists.

Published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team of researchers has found that diamonds formed during a high-energy shockwave from an asteroid collision around 50,000 years ago have unique and exceptional properties, caused by the short-term high temperatures and extreme pressure.

The researchers say that these structures can be targeted for advanced mechanical and electronic applications, giving us the ability to design materials that are not only ultrahard but also malleable with tunable electronic pro...

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Scientists find increase in Asteroid Impacts on ancient Earth by studying the Moon

Image depicts the change in impact rate modeled in this paper. Some of the craters used in the study on both the moon and Earth are highlighted in the background.
Credit: Data from NASA GSFC / LRO / Arizona State University; Artwork by Rebecca Ghent

A team of scientists has determined the number of asteroid impacts on the Moon and Earth increased by two to three times starting around 290 million years ago. Previous theories held that there were fewer craters on both objects dating back to before that time because they had disappeared due to erosion. The new findings claim that there were simply fewer asteroid impacts during that earlier period.

“Our research provides evidence for a dramatic change in the rate of asteroid impacts on both Earth and the Moon that occurred around the e...

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