Scientists find evidence for biggest earthquake in human history

The Lyrids are about to peak. Here's how to watch. | Scientists find evidence for biggest earthquake in human history | Massive meteorite impact created the hottest mantle rock ever Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( April 19, 2022 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [The Lyrids are about to peak. Here's how to watch.]( [The Lyrids are about to peak. Here's how to watch.]( (Kevin Key/Slworking via Getty Images) The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this week, offering a possible opportunity to see a dozen or so meteors an hour streaking across the night sky. The Lyrids occur each year when Earth's orbit takes it through the long trail of debris left in the orbit of Comet Thatcher. The shower will reach its maximum at 4 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time (12 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time) on Friday, April 22, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS). The best viewing may come a night or two after the peak, though, as the moon will be on the wane. It's the first chance to see a significant number of meteors since the Quadrantid shower ended in January. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Natural Disasters [] [Scientists find evidence for biggest earthquake in human history]( [Scientists find evidence for biggest earthquake in human history]( (Shutterstock) Archaeologists have found evidence of the largest known earthquake in human history — a terrifying magnitude-9.5 megaquake that caused a 5,000-mile-long (8,000 kilometers) tsunami and prompted human populations to abandon nearby coastlines for 1,000 years, a new study finds. The earthquake struck about 3,800 years ago in what is now northern Chile when a tectonic plate rupture lifted the region's coastline. The subsequent tsunami was so powerful, it created waves as high as 66 feet (20 meters) and traveled all the way to New Zealand, where it hurled car-size boulders hundreds of miles inland, the researchers found. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Amazing Earth [] [Massive meteorite impact created the hottest mantle rock ever]( [Massive meteorite impact created the hottest mantle rock ever]( (Planet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) It's confirmed: The hottest rock ever discovered in Earth's crust really was super-hot. The rock, a fist-sized piece of black glass, was discovered in 2011 and first reported in 2017, when scientists wrote in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters that it had been formed in temperatures reaching 4,298 degrees Fahrenheit (2,370 degrees Celsius), hotter than much of the Earth's mantle. Now, a new analysis of minerals from the same site reveals that this record-scorching heat was real. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/18) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] In the Sky [] [Shimmering 'night spiral' captured above Hawaii is actually a dying SpaceX rocket]( [Shimmering 'night spiral' captured above Hawaii is actually a dying SpaceX rocket]( (Subaru Telescope) A dying SpaceX rocket stage generated a strange and stunning "night spiral" over Hawaii. The Subaru Telescope captured a video of the "flying whirlpool," as SpaceWeather.com termed it, on Sunday (April 17) near Mauna Kea, hours after a California-based Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched a spy satellite into orbit. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/18) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Astronomy & Astrophysics [] [New swarms of sunspots are so gigantic they could devour Earth whole]( [New swarms of sunspots are so gigantic they could devour Earth whole]( (Langkawi National Observatory, MYSA/MOSTI) Two immense swarms of sunspots have popped into view on the surface of the sun, hinting at the increased possibilities of vivid auroras and potentially damaging solar flares over the months to come. Some of the sunspots are so gigantic that they could swallow Earth whole. Known as "active regions" 2993 and 2994 (AR2993 and AR2994), the new sunspot groups seem to be followed by a third sunspot group — still hidden behind the sun's northeastern limb (or apparent edge) — that appears to have caused a powerful solar flare that missed the Earth a few days ago. Full Story: [Live Science]( (4/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Poll Question [] POLL QUESTION: Will you be scanning the skies for the Lyrid meteor shower this week? (Learn when and where to look for the meteors [here]() [Vote]( [Yes]( [Vote]( [No]( [Vote]( [Hopefully, if I can get somewhere with less light pollution](   [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