#1 : The Shape of the Moon, Typing dynamic and Earth’s farthest picture

Discover 3 recent science news in our #PeerusWhatsNew, now on Medium.

1The shape of the Moon has been a problem for astronomers for almost two centuries: it is the enigma of its equatorial bulge. New research suggests that the Moon could be a four billion-year-old fossil related to the tidal forces between the Earth and the Moon, assuming that the Earth was a victim of glaciation overall.

In the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers give a possible answer to this enigma. Rotational velocities generating centrifugal forces and the elastic behavior of interacting celestial bodies by gravitational forces can explain how the Moon could have deformed before cooling.

2Computer models have been able to accurately determine if a man or a woman was typing on a computer keyboard. This could be used to identify users in criminal investigations. With 95% success, the “typing dynamics” could help to solve investigations in the future.

Researchers developed a software called ISqueezeU to establish the importance between ways of typing on the keyboard and determination of sex. The average time between the pressing of the N key and the O key seemed significant.

Machine learning softwares were then able to determine if the person typing is a man or a woman in a surprisingly effective way.

3Since its flight over Pluto in July 2015, New Horizons continues to sink at a very high speed in the distant lands of the Solar System. The latest images sent by the space probe beat records of the farthest picture from the Earth ever made.

Taking at more than 6.1 billion kilometers, this picture surpasses the previous Voyager 1 record of the farthest Earth’s image. This distance equals 41 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

This probe, which had already been the first to explore Pluto, is now asleep and will be awoken on June 4th for its next trip.