These Moon Caves Could Be Habitable For Humans, and Other Surprising Discoveries of the Month

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We wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, have lunch... and then scientists discover some never-seen-before thing that changes our understanding of the world.

Then it's time for dinner.

This is life — the predictable punctuated with total newness. An infinite world!

To celebrate this, I publish a monthly series I call "Look What We Found!" Here was the last edition. And now, here are are five awesome new discoveries that can expand our world... and beyond.

Let's go!

1. Strange Moon Pits Could Have Temperatures Comfortable Enough For Humans to Live In

Photo credit via NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Temperatures on the moon can fluctuate between 140 °C to −171 °C. That's 284 °F in the sun to -340 °F in the shade. In other words, it's either deadly hot or deadly cold up there.

But according to new calculations, scientists now think there might be sheltered pits and caves where the temperature hovers around 17 °C (or 63 °F, which is like the average highs in Southern California).

"Humans evolved living in caves, and to caves we might return when we live on the Moon," says UCLA planetary scientist David Paige, in a statement from the school.

Moon colonization may not start anytime soon, but in the meantime, the caves could be useful to astronauts (and their equipment) during long-term research projects. NASA is planning to explore these areas during the next proposed mission, which is called Moon Diver.

2. A diner discovered 100 million-year-old dinosaur footprints in a restaurant

Photo credit via Lida Xing

I'm usually thrilled to spot the last slice of avocado at a brunch.

But, an even higher bar was recently set when a restaurant patron in southwest China spotted dinosaur footprints in the stone floor near their table!

Paleontologists identified the type of dinosaur to be Sauropods from 100 million years ago. These were enormous plant-eating dinosaurs with small heads and long necks and tails. And these footprints give paleontologists a rare look into how they lived.

"Tracks are fossilized behavior. That is the motion of a living animal. And usually, tracks are some of the only evidence that we have of dinosaurs' social behavior," said Riley Black, a paleontologist and science writer, on NPR.

Who knows — maybe these Sauropods were on there way to brunch as well.

3. Astronomers detect a radio 'heartbeat' billions of light-years from Earth

Photo credit via Getty Images / brightstars

Scientists have discovered a "strange and persistent" radio signal from a far-off galaxy that sounded like a heartbeat.

Astronomers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and elsewhere detected the signal, which is classified as a fast radio burst (FRB). They have labeled the signal FRB 20191221A, and it is currently the longest-lasting FRB, with the clearest periodic pattern, detected to date.

The exact source remains a mystery. However, it is (sadly) probably not a sign of alien life.

Astronomers think the signal could come from a type of neutron stars (radio pulsar or magnetar) in a galaxy that is billions of light-years from Earth. That could be useful, though: More periodic signals from this source could be used as an astrophysical clock. "For instance, the frequency of the bursts, and how they change as the source moves away from Earth, could be used to measure the rate at which the universe is expanding," the press release reads.

4. Humans May Have Used Fire For A Lot Longer Than We Thought

Photo credit via Getty Images / DarrenMower

How long have humans been using fire?

We have evidence dating back at least 200,000 years, and some very sparse evidence going back 500,000 years. But now, thanks to innovative AI research that can identify non-visual signals of fire, researchers believe the earliest-known human use of fire goes back as far as 800,000 years.

Researchers at Weizmann Institute of Science searched for molecular signals from the stone tools used by humans almost a million years ago. Material compositions were then studied and AI was used to detect patterns. Their results showed that the tools had been heated to a broad range of temperatures up to 600°C (or 1112°F).

Makes you wonder: What other groundbreaking information is out there, just waiting for AI to identify it in a way our human brains never could?

5. A huge asteroid is barreling toward Earth

Photo credit via Getty Images - Science Photo Library - Andrzej Wojcicki

Bad news: A massive asteroid is headed our way, and impact with earth would create more energy than 1,000 nuclear bombs.

Good news: It's going to miss us by 3.2 million miles.

That's the news from NASA, which discovered the asteroid now known as 2022 OE2. It is estimated to be twice the size of a football field — between 557 and 1,246 feet. But like all other known asteroids, it's is in no danger of creating a Bruce Willis movie anytime soon.

According to our space agencies, Earth is in no danger of a cataclysmic asteroid impact for at least the next 100 years. That's good news, I guess — but hopefully our grandkids don't need to call upon Bruce Willis to save them.

That's all for "Look What We Found!" this month. Next month, let's hope for more space colonies — and even fewer asteroids.

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