Today's rare meteorites were once common

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Four hundred and sixty-six million years ago, there was a giant asteroid collision in outer space, and the debris from that collision has been falling to Earth ever since. But for the first time, scientists have created a reconstruction of the kinds of meteorites that fell before this collision. They discovered that today's common meteorites were once rare, while many meteorites that are rare today were common before the collision.
via Science Daily
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Physicists patent detonation technique to mass-produce graphene

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A detonation technique has been patented that can mass-produce graphene with three ingredients: hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.
via Science Daily

Trilobites: Better Weather Forecasts, and These Pretty Pictures, Too

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NOAA released the first batch of images taken by its GOES-16 satellite, which it says is like going from black and white to HDTV.
via New York Times

Cassini's Grand Finale Tour at Saturn

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Cassini is being prepared to dive into Saturn. The robotic spacecraft that has been orbiting and exploring Saturn for over a decade will end its mission in September with a spectacular atmospheric plunge. Pictured here is a diagram of Cassini's remaining orbits, each taking about one week. Cassini is scheduled to complete a few months of orbits that will take it just outside Saturn's outermost ring F. Then, in April, Titan will give Cassini a gravitational pull into Proximal orbits, the last of which, on September 15, will impact Saturn and cause the spacecraft to implode and melt. Cassini's Grand Finale orbits are designed to record data and first-ever views from inside the rings -- between the rings and planet -- as well as some small moons interspersed in the rings. Cassini's demise is designed to protect any life that may occur around Saturn or its moons from contamination by Cassini itself.

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