'Potentially hazardous' Apollo-class asteroid sails harmlessly past Earth

How did cockroaches survive the dino-killing asteroid strike? | French farmer finds rare coin featuring Charlemagne just before his death | Scotland's 'bodies in the bog' traveled hundreds of miles to die in a toilet Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( April 4, 2022 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [How did cockroaches survive the dino-killing asteroid strike?]( [How did cockroaches survive the dino-killing asteroid strike?]( (Stocktrek Images via Getty Images) When the rock now known as the Chicxulub impactor plummeted from outer space and slammed into the Earth 66 million years ago, cockroaches were there. The impact caused a massive earthquake, and scientists think it also triggered volcanic eruptions thousands of miles from the impact site. Three-quarters of plants and animals on Earth died, including all dinosaurs, except for some species that were ancestors of today’s birds. How could roaches a couple of inches long survive when so many powerful animals went extinct? It turns out that they were nicely equipped to live through a meteoric catastrophe. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/4) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [Never Stop Learning]( From big space discoveries to ancient mysteries and future tech, our Knowledge magazines are packed with engaging, authoritative content for all ages. With expert editorial teams across history, science and technology, we have everything you need to feed your curiosity. [Subscribe today!]( ADVERTISEMENT [] History & Archaeology [] [French farmer finds rare coin featuring Charlemagne just before his death]( [French farmer finds rare coin featuring Charlemagne just before his death]( (Stadt Aachen/Route Charlemagne) A rare 1,200-year-old silver coin featuring Charlemagne — one of the only known portraits made of the emperor during his lifetime — was recently rediscovered and promptly taken on a wild journey from a farm in France, to the bidding grounds of eBay and, finally, to a museum in Germany. The coin's modern travels began when a man in France wanted to build a house but was short on cash. He remembered that he had inherited a coin collection from his grandfather, a farmer in the Paris region. After going through his grandfather's collection, the man discovered the Charlemagne coin, known as a denarius, and he put it up for auction on eBay. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/2) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Scotland's 'bodies in the bog' traveled hundreds of miles to die in a toilet]( [Scotland's 'bodies in the bog' traveled hundreds of miles to die in a toilet]( (University of Aberdeen) Researchers have uncovered new details about the lives and violent deaths of the "bodies in the bog" — a group of medieval skeletons discovered in 1975 in a former Roman-era latrine in Cramond, Scotland. (In the UK, "bog" is also slang for a toilet.) The buried individuals, who received stunning digital facial reconstructions based on their skeletons in prior research, include nine adults and five infants who lived in Scotland in the sixth century. Now, a new analysis of the isotopes (different versions of elements) in the bones and teeth of the skeletons reveals that several members of the group traveled from far-flung corners of Scotland before arriving at their ultimate burial site in the ancient toilets of Cramond. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Life’s Little Mysteries [] [Why isn't Earth perfectly round?]( [Why isn't Earth perfectly round?]( (NASA/DSCOVR EPIC) If you had an enormous measuring tape that started at Earth's center and went to our planet's highest peak, you wouldn't be looking at Mount Everest. Rather, the tallest mountain would be on the other side of the world: Ecuador's Chimborazo. Chimborazo wins in this case because Earth is actually a little squished at the poles, like a person pressing both hands on the top and bottom of a ball. As a result, the equator — where Ecuador sits — juts out. Rather than a perfect sphere, Earth is "oblate," meaning it's shaped like a slightly flattened sphere. In fact, "most planets and moons are not true spheres; they are usually squished in some way or another," said James Tuttle Keane, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. So why aren't Earth and other planets and moons perfectly round? Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/3) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Is it safe to feed cats and dogs a vegetarian diet?]( [Is it safe to feed cats and dogs a vegetarian diet?]( (Iuliia Bondar via Getty Images) After quitting meat for ethical, health or environmental reasons, some pet owners want their pets to join them in a plant-only diet. But is it safe to make our carnivorous felines and omnivorous pups give up meat or animal protein altogether? Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/2) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Featured Content Sponsored Content from Gigabyte [Unleash your full potential with Gigabyte Aero laptops]( With an industry-leading display, 11th Gen Intel chips, and Nvidia RTX 3000 series graphics cards, the Gigabyte AERO 17 HDR laptops have all the power gamers and creative professionals need, and more. [Read more and enter to win a Aero 17 HDR laptop]( [] Astronomy & Astrophysics [] [Ultra-fast electron rain is pouring out of Earth's magnetosphere, and scientists think they know why]( [Ultra-fast electron rain is pouring out of Earth's magnetosphere, and scientists think they know why]( (Zhang, et al., Nature Communications, 2022) Tomorrow's (March 2) weather may be cloudy with a chance of electrons, thanks to a newly detected phenomenon in Earth's magnetic shield. Described as unexpected, ultra-fast "electron precipitation," the phenomenon occurs when waves of electromagnetic energy pulse through Earth's magnetosphere – the magnetic field generated by the churning of Earth's core, which surrounds our planet and shields it from deadly solar radiation. These electrons then overflow from the magnetosphere and plummet toward Earth. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] ['Potentially hazardous' Apollo-class asteroid sails harmlessly past Earth]( ['Potentially hazardous' Apollo-class asteroid sails harmlessly past Earth]( (Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images) A space rock the size of a skyscraper that scientists deemed "potentially hazardous" sailed harmlessly past Earth today (April 1) around 4:35 p.m. ET. Even though the asteroid only flew within roughly 4.6 million miles (7.4 million km) of Earth (or about 30 times the average distance between Earth and the moon), this was still the rock's closest approach to our planet since the asteroid's discovery in 2007, according to SpaceReference.org, a database that compiles information from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and the International Astronomical Union. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: Which characteristics helped roaches survive the Chicxulub asteroid impact? (Learn the answer [here]() [Vote]( [Their ability to eat just about anything]( [Vote]( [Their extremely flat bodies]( [Vote]( [The fact that they lay eggs in hardy, protective cases]( [Vote]( [Their remarkable tenacity]( [Vote]( [All of the above]( [Vote]( [Just A through C](   [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:livescience@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( Future US LLC © 1100 13th St. NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005