NEWS IN BRIEF

InSight’s heat probe woes

In June, after 18 months, NASA’s Martian InSight lander managed to bury the head of its heat probe, HP3. HP3 was meant to hammer itself 5m into the ground last year, but couldn’t gain purchase on the loose soil. Using the lander’s robot arm, the InSight team have pushed the probe into the ground, but are now struggling to dig any deeper.

Heavyweight singularity

A black hole which devours a solar mass of material per day has had its mass measured. J2157 weighs 34 billion solar masses – one of the heaviest black holes known. “If the Milky Way’s black hole wanted to grow that fat, it would have to swallow two-thirds of all our Galaxy’s stars,” says Christopher Onken from the Australian National University, who led the study.

Venus volcanoes active

Venus might not be as dead as once thought, as a new study has identified

37 volcanic structures which are still active. “This study changes the view of Venus from a mostly inactive planet to one whose interior is still churning and can feed active volcanoes,” says the University of Maryland’s Laurent Montési.