Data from a meteorite impact on Mars that was recorded by NASA’s InSight lander in 2021 is now helping to clear up some confusion about the red planet’s interior makeup. A pair of studies published today in the journal Nature separately determined that Mars’ iron-rich core is smaller and denser than previous measurements suggested, and it’s surrounded by molten rock.

The now defunct InSight lander, which arrived on Mars in November 2018, spent four years recording seismic waves produced by marsquakes so scientists could get a better understanding of what’s going on beneath the planet’s surface. But, estimates of the Martian core based on InSight’s initial readings from nearby quakes didn’t quite add up. At the time, scientists found the core’s radius to be somewhere between 1118 and 1149 miles — much larger than expected — and that it contained a perplexingly high amount of lighter elements complementing its heavy liquid iron.

The numbers for those light elements were “bordering on the impossible,” said Dongyang Huang of ETH Zurich, a co-author of one of the studies. “We have been wondering about this result ever since.” Then, a breakthrough came when a meteorite struck Mars in September 2021 all the way across the planet from where InSight is positioned, generating seismic waves that ETH Zurich doctoral student Cecilia Duran said “allowed us to illuminate the core.”

Based on those measurements, the two teams have found that Mars’ core more likely has a radius of about 1013-1060 miles. This, the ETH Zurich team notes, is about half the radius of Mars itself. A smaller core would also be more dense, meaning the previously inexplicable abundance of light elements may actually exist in smaller, more reasonable amounts. This is all surrounded by a layer of molten silicates about 90 miles thick, the teams found, which skewed the initial estimates. And, it’s unlike anything found in Earth’s interior.

According to Vedran Lekic from University of Maryland, a co-author of the second paper, the layer serves as somewhat of a “heating blanket” for the core that “concentrates radioactive elements.” Studying it could help scientists uncover answers about Mars’ formation and its lack of an active magnetic field.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mars-core-looks-bigger-than-it-is-because-its-wrapped-in-radioactive-magma-211359695.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Mars’ core looks bigger than it is because it’s wrapped in radioactive magma

It’s finally happening: X (formerly known as Twitter) has begun rolling out yet another feature nobody asked for. Now, users will have the option to call each other via audio and video calls on the platform. This doesn’t come as a total surprise, as CEO Linda Yaccarino previously confirmed that video chat would be coming to the social media site back in August. It’s just the latest step in X’s evolution to becoming the “everything” app overlord owner Elon Musk wants it to be.

After opening X, some users are greeted with a prompt announcing “Audio and Video calls are here!” The prompt also included instructions on how to review who can call or make other changes to how the feature works. These options can be found in the settings section of your Direct Messages. If you have no interest in allowing people on X to call you, you can go to your DMs and look for the Settings menu, which looks like a tiny gear. From there, you can disable the calling option. However, if you do want to keep it on, you can choose to allow calls from verified users, people in your address book or just people you follow.

X doesn’t have the best track record of creating a safe space, especially for minority communities, so it’s not hard to see why many people would prefer to opt out of using this feature. Additionally, not everyone will receive the prompt about the new calling feature, which is enabled by default. It’s probably smart to see if it’s already available on your account then you decide whether you’d like to keep it on.

Perhaps the folks at X will rethink this one, and maybe we can trade this feature to save Circles. But if this is a feature that must exist, it would have been a better move to allow users to turn it on themselves, instead of having it on automatically. Some users may not find out about the feature until a random troll decides to call and antagonize them.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-rolling-out-audio-and-video-calling-feature-nobody-asked-for-205836943.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – X is rolling out audio and video calling feature nobody asked for