Science Wrap: Climate change on Mars, brightest gamma-ray burst, fast-spinning asteroid, and ostrich dinosaurs

Curiosity, the NASA rover that has been on Mars for over ten years, has found more proof about potential water on the Red Planet. Elsewhere, multiple space telescopes have been able to capture one of the brightest and biggest gamma-ray bursts in recent times. Talking about outer space, currently an asteroid tracked by the Japanese space agency (JAXA) is also terrifying scientists with its unexpected phenomenon. 
 
Every time an asteroid comes close, humanity just wonders if it's time to get wiped out like the dinosaurs! Talking about those gigantic reptiles, research suggests that the fastest dinosaur might have been pretty similar to an ostrich. 
 
1- Curiosity Rover discovers a dried-up portion of Mars that once had flowing rivers

Legend (or scientific legend in this case) has it that dry Red Planet Mars once had signs of life such as water. And now, the Curiosity rover is one step closer to the truth, having reached an area of Mount Sharp that is being described as “a sulfate-bearing unit” that is rich in salty minerals like sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and calcium sulfate. 

The conclusion drawn here is that this region possibly had streams and ponds in an area like this before climate change on the planet dried up all water bodies. Once studied by the scientists in earth, the mineral samples collected by the rover might just provide the answer to why this “drying up” happened exactly. 
 
2- One of the biggest and brightest gamma-ray bursts captured by telescopes

In what is being classified as BOAT (Brightest of All Time), one of the brightest-ever gamma ray bursts have been captured by multiple space telescopes. But for astrophysics novices, what even is a gamma ray burst? GRBs are basically powerful explosions witnessed in distant galaxies (think of it as a bright electromagnetic event like the Big Bang). They can either last for seconds or for even hours beginning with a bright blast of gamma rays followed by a subsequent afterglow. 

In the case of the recent GRB (designated as GRB 221009A), it is the most powerful of its kind and most probably happened when a colossal star died and turned into a black hole. Detectors on NASA’s orbital spacecraft had already started picking up signs of a powerful stream of gamma and X-rays on October 9. The aftermath of the explosions then continued to be picked up by telescopes such as NASA’S Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the one at Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. 
 
The burst originated from over 2.4 billion light-years from Earth and lasted for over hundred seconds. As scientists continue studying the afterglow of the gamma rays, they have less than a month left before it will be shrouded by the glare from our solar system’s Sun. 
 
3- "Potentially hazardous" asteroid is spinning faster than expected, scientists worried

Phaethon is one of the asteroids nearest to Earth and is hence termed as “potentially hazardous” for the planet’s future.  Japan’s space agency JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) intended to launch a 2024 space mission called DESTINY+ to fly past the rock in 2028. Research on Phaethon is obviously in full swing and now JAXA researchers are concerned that its spin rate is rapidly increasing. 

In more particular terms, the spin is speeding up and the rotational period is falling by 4 milliseconds per year. In outer space, even such a minor change is notable and can impact DESTINY+’s future observations. Basically, it would make predicting the asteroid’s orientation more difficult. Another point of concern is that asteroids hardly project changes in their spinning pattern with Phaethon being only the 11th one to do so. With an estimate diameter of 5.4 kilometers. Phaethon is also the largest of the group.

4-Ostrich-like Deinocheirus from US might have been the fastest dinosaur

Just because dinosaurs are seen as "giant lizards", it's a common misconception that they were all scaly. In fact, many of the dinos sported plumage on their body. So it won't be surprising to find even an ostrich-looking dinosaur in such eras. After paleontologists came across leg and foot bones in Luxapallila Creek in Mississippi, they concluded these most likely probably belonged to Deinocheirus (that translates to the “terrible hands” in Greek. The duck-beaked dinosaur had massive arms, large claws, and an overall physique comparable to a modern ostrich. 

The dinosaur is classified as an ornithomimosaur (bird-mimic-dinosaur in Greek) and its resemblances with the ostrich ensure that the Deinocheirus was quite a speedy creature. With a sprint speed of 70 km/h, ostriches are the fastest running birds on the planet. However, scientists are still struggling to understand how the Deinocheirus was found in the eastern half of North America when most of the dinosaur fossils are usually recovered in the western part of the continent.