QUICK TAKES

BRR, IT’S CO2 IN HERE JWST has detected carbon dioxide in geologically young regions of the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Scientists think the CO may have originated from the moon’s subsurface ocean, which suggests that the ocean could be friendly to life.

DINOSAURS’ TRUE KILLER Simulations based on dust recovered from a geological site in North Dakota suggest that the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago kicked up more light-blocking dust than previously thought. This shut down photosynthesis for two years, sealing the dinosaurs’ fate by eliminating major food sources.

TAKING UAPS SERIOUSLY NASA announced on Sept. 14 that it would assign a team to help the U.S. government better understand unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) — previously known as UFOs.

FAR, FAR AWAY ....

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and JWST have discovered a supermassive black hole growing in a galaxy just 470 million years after the Big Bang. It is the most distant black hole ever seen in X-rays and may offer clues to how the first such black holes formed.

FROM HOMAGE TO OUTRAGE Virgin Galactic’s Sept. 8 commercial spaceflight was criticized for carrying two ancient hominin fossils in an intended celebration of discovery. Researchers labeled the journey an unethical publicity stunt that put priceless cultural heritage at risk for no scientific return.

BLAST OFF!

NASA launched the Psyche spacecraft on Oct. 13 at

10:19 A.M. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The craft will study the strange, metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche for 21 months to shed light on the formation of the solar system’s planets.