Link About It: This Week’s Picks

NASA's long-lost spacecraft reappears, ice that's solid and liquid, diamond phone screens and more

1. Silent for 13 Years, a NASA Spacecraft Makes Communication The IMAGE spacecraft, an acronym of Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration, launched back in March 2000 to observe activity in the Earth’s magnetosphere. It ceased communication with NASA in December 2005. Entirely unexpected and sudden, after years of successful data-gathering, the disappearance was considered quite mysterious. IMAGE was believed to be damaged beyond repair and …

Superionic Ice, or Water Simultaneously Solid and Liquid, Exists

A theoretical discovery dating back to 1935 by Percy W Bridgman, superionic ice—a state of water that’s both liquid and solid under extremely high pressure and temperatures—couldn’t be proven by scientists. That is, until now. Through a process involving diamond anvils and intense bursts of laser, a super-dense form of ice transforms into superionic ice. Here H2O severs, causing crystalline oxygen to harden with hydrogen …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

The changing image of UFOs, 28 films for Black History Month, underwater caves and more

1. 28 Films for Black History Month For the 28 days of Black History Month, the New York Times’ film critics have selected 28 films centered on African Americans’ experiences in 20th century USA. Beginning with “Within Our Gates” (1920), the list is in chronological order and includes some controversial, powerful and problematic issues. (For example, “Shadows” (1959) is about three black siblings, but two …