NASA Mars rover peers at 'something no one's ever seen'

Plus: COP26 concludes, Crew-3 flies, a lost piece of the moon found and... glitter? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

                                                                                                                                                                               

Science November 15, 2021

The COP26 climate agreement: A good deal, blah, blah, blah or both? Hello, humans! After two weeks of talks, a lot of "blah, blah, blah" and, well, honestly not a whole lot of science, the COP26 summit in Glasgow came to an end with countries agreeing to the Glasgow Climate Pact. The major takeaway? Some important steps were taken but in a year's time, we'll do this all again and hope that some of the major polluters will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. You can read about the end of the COP above. Plenty of great climate stories below, too, with CNET Science Writer Monisha Ravisetti examining how the climate crisis has already ravaged Bangladesh. We have stories on space solar panels to power the Earth and the machines that can suck CO2 from the atmosphere -- will these technologies work? They might have to if we don't get a move on... But a big story from over the weekend was NASA's Perseverance rover drilling into a rock on Mars. Peering into the layered stone, it spotted a few curious markings and saw something no one's ever seen before. That's pretty true of any rock we drill into on another planet, but it felt particularly wild this week amid the climate talks. You can check that out below. Before all that, it is of course, mail time. 📧The Mailbag📧 A Delightful Reader asks: Should we dim the sun? You f*cking idiot!!! OK, so maybe not so much a question as a statement but let's clear something up about solar geoengineering which does have a relatively controversial history. The idea of dimming the sun was discussed on CNET Science last week as a potential technological tool to buy us time in regards to global warming. As a science journalist, I don't have the luxury of taking a side in this debate -- I just want readers to be able to see the arguments for and against. Researching these projects, I found that basic and very safe scientific research has been stalled for years because of misplaced fears about what solar geoengineers want to achieve and the risks seen in merely studying it. Do I think we should ever deploy it? Do scientists think we should ever deploy it? Actually, maybe surprisingly, no! No one does right now. But many argue we need to know how it works just in case -- that's good science. I hope that helps, Delightful Reader. You can send any burning questions (or hate mail, sure!), to my email or a message on Twitter! And if you're enjoying this email, please forward it to your friends! Enim scientia et astra! Jackson Ryan Science Editor, CNET Mars rover roughs up rock, peers at 'something no one's ever seen' Perseverance spots a wonderfully triangular white speck after it goes to work on the rock. See this NASA solar probe is enduring dangerous plasma explosions See this Sucking CO2 out of the air could reverse emissions. Will it work? See this NASA says Artemis astronauts won't land on moon until 2025 See this Harvesting energy with space solar could power Earth 24/7 See this Astronomers discover 32 black hole collisions (and one mystery) See this SpaceX Crew-3 dazzles during night launch to space station See this BATTERY BOOSTERS  Power banks for charging on the go These top-rated power banks can provide enough juice to keep your phone powered throughout the day. Read more

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