Inverse - ☄️ Meet the meteorite hunters

Tuesday

Nov 22 2022

A handful of times each year, there are a series of meteorite showers sprinkled around the globe. An even smaller handful are actually reported, often by locals in the area. Despite the rarity, meteorites are incredibly important for science as they are billions of years old and help us better understand the universe we live in.

That's where meteorite hunters come in: Matthew Stream and Roberto Vargas are among a group of passionate citizen scientists who have turned their hobby of hunting down these rare rocks — sometimes in dangerous, hard-to-reach places around the globe — into a lifestyle and at least part time profession. Read on as Inverse science reporter Jennifer Walter takes us into the world of meteorite hunting and how this diverse and unconventional group are enabling scientists to study some of the universe's most intriguing mysteries.

What's New

Feature

Science

Meet the meteorite hunters

The day was shaping up to be a total flop for Matthew Stream and Roberto Vargas. The two meteorite collectors were in the remote, unincorporated community of Cranfield, Mississippi, in late April, days after a fireball exploded over the area. Witness reports of multiple sonic booms convinced the pair to fly out on a whim to scour the ground for fallen rocks. Before this trip, they’d only ever communicated on Facebook, where they decided to team up and do the trip together.

But despite their best efforts, the search was not going to plan. Stream and Vargas trudged through swampy grasses and forests for hours. Their luck changed when Stream and Vargas drove past two people jumping up and down on the side of the highway.

Vargas pulled the car over and ran up to the exuberant man. “Did you just find meteorites?” he yelled. The answer was yes.

Space

Science

NASA's Artemis I Orion spacecraft is on track to travel farther than any Apollo mission

The Orion capsule from the NASA Artemis I mission has successfully reached the Moon.

Monday morning, the first human-grade spacecraft to head to the Moon in nearly half a century got just 81 miles off the lunar surface. At 2:09 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, the Moon replaced Earth as the main gravitational force acting on Orion. Shortly thereafter, the spacecraft prepared for the first of two critical maneuvers for a successful lunar orbit called the outbound powered flyby (OPF).

With the long-awaited OPF successfully completed, the Artemis I team now looks toward Friday, November 25. On that day, Orion will follow up OPF with an insertion burn to place the spacecraft into a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around the Moon. Orion will hopefully then slip into it to reach the farthest distance any crew-capable spacecraft has ever flown.

Review

Gear

Logitech G Cloud review: Xbox Game Pass on the go has one big problem

The business of game streaming is fraught, but the convenience, paired with a great service like Xbox Game Pass and a strong internet connection, is very compelling. It’s by no means my ideal replacement for actually owning games, but a pretty fantastic companion nonetheless.

So, when a company that generally makes great hardware accessories like Logitech decided it could make a handheld device dedicated to game streaming, I had to be at least a little bit curious.

But having used the (shockingly expensive) $350 G Cloud Gaming Handheld, I have to say, I probably should have kept my curiosity to myself. And the most tragic thing is, it’s not entirely Logitech’s fault.

FORTUNE AND GLORY

Movies

Indiana Jones 5 is poised to return to the franchise’s roots

Indiana Jones is unique for its long life but sporadic release schedule. Now, 40 years after the first film, Harrison Ford is putting on the fedora for a final time. The still-untitled Indiana Jones 5 is now in post-production and slated for a 2023 release. Now, a first glimpse reveals that the movie is returning to where the franchise began.

Empire reports that the upcoming movie will be set in 1969 and pit Indy against his old foe: Nazis. This time, they won’t be trudging through Egypt, but will be right at home in America. Indiana Jones 5 is going to cover the space race, which involved Nazi scientists who were snapped up and sent to NASA in the wake of Germany’s defeat. The villain (Mads Mikkelsen) is based on Wernher von Braun, who helped develop the Nazi’s V2 rocket before becoming a key contributor to the Apollo program.

Review

Movies

Strange World delivers pulp adventure with a popcorn movie sensibility

Disney’s greatest talent has always been the ability to remix classic stories for each new generation. The House of Mouse built its foundations on fairytale musicals plucked from the public domain, but over the years it expanded into fantasy adventures, folk tales, and animal-led riffs on Shakespeare. Though a few original contemporary movies are sprinkled in there, pastiche is Disney’s bread and butter.

So when Disney discovers a whole new genre to play with, there’s cause for celebration. Especially when it’s a genre as weird and wild as pulp adventure.

Meanwhile...

'Power Rangers' star Jason David Frank's true superpower was his love for fans

This convertible EV might be the prettiest car you can’t buy

DNA study debunks a long-held theory about how ancient Britons lived

New MCU image reveals how Marvel will replace Thanos

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NASA Artemis I mission Logitech G Cloud review Artemis I Orion spacecraft Artemis I team part time profession remote unincorporated community multiple sonic booms half a century main gravitational force distant retrograde orbit one big problem strong internet connection two critical maneuvers successful lunar orbit Xbox Game Pass great hardware accessories first humangrade spacecraft The Orion capsule passionate citizen scientists Inverse science reporter two meteorite collectors

Inverse - ☄️ Meet the meteorite hunters

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