New Plesiosaur Fossils Found

Since they were first discovered in 1823 by fossil hunter Mary Anning, scientists have believed Plesiosaurs to be sea creatures, which has made the story of the Loch Ness monster all that more unbelievable. In some good news for the story of "Nessie," that may no longer be entirely true. 

Researchers from from the University of Bath and University of Portsmouth in the UK, and Université Hassan II in Morocco found small Plesiosaur fossils in a river in Africa. Bones from more than a dozen different plesiosaur individuals were found, right along fossils from Spinosaurus, aquatic dinosaurs.

The researchers theorize the plesiosaurs may have been able to swap between fresh and salt water, the way some whale and shark species can do today, like bull sharks

Read more about their research here.

NASA May Launch Artemis I TODAY! 

NASA originally planned to launch their Orion spacecraft for a launch test on Monday, August 29, 2022. During the launch attempt, engineering teams were not able to successfully cool down the four RS-25 engines to the requisite temperature of -425 degrees F.

In light of this issue, NASA engineers will try again on Saturday, September 3 at 2:17 p.m. EDT (or 11:17 a.m. our time), for the beginning of a two-hour window for Artemis I's launch test at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  

Ahead of the launch day, teams will modify and practice propellant loading procedures, which would perform the chill down procedures 30 to 45 minutes earlier in the countdown than the procedure from August 29. 

The scientific method applies at all levels of scientific work, be it in school, for a STEM Fair competition, or working for NASA! 

Read more about the upcoming launch test here.