Deserted streets, shuttered shops and silent restaurants. Damaged buildings and craters from missile strikes pockmarking the asphalt. Arrows on house facades signposting the nearest bomb shelters and stock of emergency supplies.

The once-tranquil city of Belgorod, some 25 miles north of Russia’s border with Ukraine, has been transformed into a kind of ghost town, its eerie silence interrupted by the regular wail of missile warning sirens – a reminder that the war raging in neighboring Ukraine looms ever closer.

Reporting from the region is complicated by media restrictions and government control over press freedom. Many Russians are afraid to speak openly for fear of prosecution.

Belgorod has been the launch site for many rocket and missile attacks on Ukraine, and a key military hub for Russia’s invading forces. In 2023, after a year of strikes on its towns and cities, Ukraine changed tactics and expanded its operations more overtly onto Russian territory, putting Belgorod region firmly in its crosshairs.

In recent weeks, the Belgorod region has been subject to almost daily shelling and drone attacks. Russian authorities blame Ukraine and report having repelled the attacks, while also admitting destruction and casualties caused by them. The Belgorod region has borne the brunt of the war compared to more distant Russian regions, which have been relatively untouched.

The governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on March 23 that 24 people had been killed and 152 injured in the span of less than two weeks.

‘Alarmed Belgorod’

At the peak of the shelling of Belgorod, Timur Khaliullin, the 36-year-old organist for the Belgorod Philharmonic, took a rollerblade ride through the city center’s deserted streets to show others what it looked like, in a video titled “Alarmed Belgorod.”

Khaliullin points to the sealed-off doors of shops and restaurants and the arrows leading to shelters, emergency kits and basements where residents can take cover.

Just as he reaches the central square and puts on his rollerblades, the sirens go off. “Can you hear that? That’s how frightening the sirens sound. It’s an air raid alarm. It means there will be incoming fire now, I need to take cover,” Khaliullin says from behind the camera.

He seeks refuge inside one of the empty, white-painted concrete boxes positioned at regular intervals throughout the square, each marked with the word “Shelter.” Screens stationed around the square instruct residents on proper conduct during shelling, offer guidance on administering first aid and echo patriotic encouragements. One of the messages reads, “The battle for Russia persists. Victory will be ours!”

As the sirens stop, Khaliullin resumes his rollerblade ride, filming empty streets, and people waiting at the bus stops. According to locals, those traveling by public transport often spend hours standing at stops until the all-clear signal sounds, allowing buses to run again, and the city to resume its life – until the next missile threat.

Born and raised in Belgorod, Izotova said despite the “terrible fear” she experiences every time the sirens go off, she is hesitant to leave, bound as she is by her work with a local charity helping people with special needs. “You live in a very large cocoon of misunderstanding and fear. At the same time, you don’t really want to leave the city. But the Belgorod you remember no longer exists.”

Now that the city has emptied out, far fewer people dare to step outside unless they have to, she said. “They still try to venture onto the streets, but it’s all getting gloomier. The city is becoming more ghostly.”

Deadly shelling

In mid-March, amid escalating Ukrainian attacks and with warning sirens sounding four to five times daily, Gladkov, the regional governor, announced the closure of malls and schools, and the cancellation of classes for two days in several regions, including the city of Belgorod.

Videos emerging from Belgorod showed scenes of chaos as people drove through thick smoke and burned-out cars, as well as damaged buildings and residents fleeing with their belongings amid the sounds of explosions and distant air-raid sirens.

The main square’s tiled pavement bears shrapnel damage – a reminder of a shell that fell on December 30 during one of the most devastating attacks. Toys and flowers have been placed on the steps nearby in memory of those lost.

Following a major air attack on Ukraine by Russia overnight into December 29, Kyiv retaliated a day later by targeting the Belgorod region. At least 25 people were killed, including three children, and 113 were injured that day, Gladkov said, making it the deadliest shelling within Russia since the war began.

As she left her job at a beverage chain store near the city center, she heard explosions. At first, everyone thought it was the usual sound of air defense operations.

“And then I saw it all: everything on fire, covered in smoke, buses stopped running, and taxis weren’t moving either because the roads were completely blocked,” she recalled.

“At some point, the city just died, no one expected this. Many people perished, and the entire city mourned and continues to mourn to this day.” Life there has not been the same since, she said. Her store has seen fewer customers, with many people afraid to step out of their homes.

‘Lifeless’ city

Like many others in Belgorod, Elizaveta has family in Kharkiv, across the border, with whom she has not spoken since they fell out in the first few months of the war. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, has suffered a recent increase in Russian attacks.

“I long for a return to normalcy, when people feel less fearful and regain a sense of security. The city is lifeless: stepping out to the streets at any hour you don’t see anyone or any vehicles, it’s as if you’re on a deserted island.”

Vasily, a 27-year-old human relations manager who asked only to give his first name for safety reasons, described a pervasive sense of anxiety that accompanies his fellow residents every time they set foot outside the house, the fear of shelling or missile attacks weighing heavily on their minds.

Looting amid chaos

As the situation deteriorated, essential services began to falter. Shops and eateries were closing their doors, and food deliveries were becoming increasingly sporadic. Confronted with the reality of living in a conflict zone, Vasily, like many other residents, contemplated leaving the city but decided to stay because his wife is enrolled at a local university.

“Swathes of people in Belgorod are opting to move either further away from the region or entirely out of it, basically, anywhere far from the border where it should potentially be less dangerous,” Vasily said.

While the authorities have never ordered a general evacuation, Gladkov disclosed on March 30 that 5,000 children had been evacuated to more secure regions, including St. Petersburg, Bryansk and Makhachkala. In total, the authorities were planning to relocate approximately 9,000 children to other regions due to ongoing shelling, state media reported.

Deserted areas have witnessed an escalation of crime and disorder. In early April, the head of the Grayvoron district in Belgorod region sounded the alarm over a rise in looting incidents, with the highest number of such cases reported in the district’s border settlements.

The authorities have since said they aim to restore the border territories in time for Victory Day on May 9, when Russia commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Meanwhile, the border villages in Belgorod region remain largely abandoned and in a state of disrepair, and authorities don’t seem in a hurry to encourage residents to return home.

As the war drags on, those who remain in Belgorod become less optimistic about the future.

“Considering that Russia is fighting in a way that what is left behind is scorched earth, I have a great fear that scorched earth may be left from the territory around Belgorod as well,” Vasily said.

Volunteer Izotova voiced a similar sentiment, describing the overwhelming sense of abandonment that has loomed large since the December 30 attack – a feeling that has only grown more pronounced in recent weeks.

In one of his latest references to the Belgorod region, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “appreciation” and “admiration” for its residents’ courage and pledged support to it and other border regions.

Despite that assurance, according to Izotova, many residents of Belgorod still feel neglected by the media, authorities and the broader Russian population, which appears oblivious to the war.

The challenges faced by Belgorod appear to have been overlooked, she said, which in turn has led even those who oppose the war to feel that sympathy should no longer be extended only to the Ukrainian victims.

“While panic, fear and uncertainty persist, people are still trying to offer help. I think our main task right now is to assist those facing hardship – both Ukrainians (suffering from the Russian aggression) and victims of the conflict within Russia,” Izotova said.

“It is important not to remain silent or divert attention to comparisons of suffering, but rather to acknowledge the reality of war and remember who instigated it. Russia is entrenched in perpetual sorrow, experiencing it internally while also imposing it on others.”

The top four finishers of the Beijing Half Marathon have been stripped of their medals after an investigation found three African runners deliberately slowed down near the finish line to let a Chinese competitor win, according to organizers.

China’s He Jie crossed the finish line of last Sunday’s race in 1:03:44 to claim the gold medal and a $5,500 first prize, with the African trio just one second behind in joint-second place.

A video clip of the finish shows Kenya’s Willy Mnangat turning toward He and gesturing for him to move ahead as the four men run neck and neck. Former 5km world record holder Robert Keter, also from Kenya, then appears to wave at He to overtake the pack while signaling for his compatriot and Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu to hang back.

The video caused an online uproar in China, with many calling for an investigation and demanding action from organizers.

In a statement Friday, the organizing committee said the three African runners “actively slowed down in the last 2 kilometers and as a result He Jie won the men’s championship.”

All four runners’ results have been revoked and their trophies, medals and bonuses will be withdrawn, it said.

The three African runners were invited to join the race as pacemakers by Chinese sports company Xtep, which sponsored both He and the Beijing Half Marathon, according to the committee.

But Xtep failed to note the trio as pacemakers to the race operator, Zhong’ao Lupao Beijing Sports Management company, the committee said.

The committee disqualified the operator from hosting the Beijing Half Marathon and banned Xtep from sponsoring any more races this season.

In a statement Friday, Xtep “sincerely apologized” to all the runners and its customers.

“We bear a great responsibility for this, fully accept the punishment decision made by the organizing committee,” it said, vowing to “reflect seriously and conduct a deep review” to “ensure such incidents do not happen again in the future.”

He, 25, has broken China’s marathon record twice in the past two years and is considered one of the country’s most promising long-distance runners. He is ranked 74th in the world in the men’s marathon by World Athletics and is expected to lead the way for Asian runners in the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

In a sweeping win for climate and environmental advocates, the Biden administration on Friday finalized a rule to ban fossil fuel drilling on nearly half of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, alongside other major conservation actions.

The Interior Department will block oil drilling on over 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, including about 40% of the land of the NPR-A – a remote area that is home to protected animal species including polar bears and caribou.

The reserve is more than 23 million acres of public land and an underground emergency oil supply for the US Navy that was designated in the early 1920s. More recently, it’s become the site of the ConocoPhillips-owned Willow project, a controversial oil drilling venture in the Arctic.

When the Biden administration approved Willow in March 2023, it sparked intense backlash among young people on social media, as well as environmental and climate groups. Friday’s action could improve President Joe Biden’s approval among young voters.

“These natural wonders demand our protection,” Biden said in a statement. Biden said he was “proud” of his administration’s move to conserve more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, but added, “as the climate crisis imperils communities across the country, more must be done.”

Some Alaska Natives are critical of the drilling ban across such a significant swath of the NPR-A. It has proved controversial with Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation, as well as Alaska Native groups who say they depend on the tax revenue from oil drilling to fund schools and basic services.

The final rule “does not reflect our communities’ wishes,” said Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat President Nagruk Harcharek, adding the move “will hurt the very residents the federal government purports to help by rolling back years of progress, impoverishing our communities, and imperiling our Iñupiaq culture.”

In addition to protecting a vast amount of the NPR-A on Friday, the Biden administration moved to block the Trump administration-approved Ambler road in the Alaskan wilderness. If built, the road would serve as the access point for a proposed copper mine. The administration signaled it wanted to take “no action” on the mine, effectively blocking the road’s access to federal land.

In a statement, Ambler Metals, the company seeking to mine copper in the region, said it was “deeply disappointed” in Interior’s decision. Ambler’s managing director Kaleb Froehlich said the move would deprive local communities of jobs and tax revenue and prevent the US “from developing a domestic supply of minerals that are critical for clean energy technology and national security.”

The Alaska announcements cap off a week that saw a flurry of actions from Biden’s Interior Department. On Thursday, the department announced a new rule that elevated conservation to put it on equal footing as other public land uses like grazing, mining and other energy development. The new conservation rule covers 245 million acres largely in the Western United States – about a tenth of the land in the nation.

Interior Sec. Deb Haaland said the administration’s Alaska conservation announcements “underscore our commitment to ensure that places too special to develop remain intact for the communities and species that rely on them.”

In a statement, Haaland added the move would be big step to safeguard “the way of life for the Indigenous people who have called this special place home since time immemorial.”

Environmental groups and some indigenous groups applauded Biden’s announcements on Alaska conservation as an “important step.”

“It’s no secret that the Reserve – a vast region of tundra and wetlands teeming with wildlife – has frequently landed in the crosshairs of the insatiable fossil fuel industry,” said Earthjustice attorney Jeremy Lieb in a statement. “We applaud this move and call for even bolder action to keep the fossil fuel industry out of the Arctic, for the sake of the climate and future generations.”

Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, the former mayor of the North Slope village of Nuiqsut, and a staunch opponent of Willow, called upon the Biden administration to build on the protections in a statement, saying it would help Alaska Natives “continue to sustain and pass along the traditions and activities of our elders for years to come.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

The explosion took place at an ammunition depot at a PMF military base, the source added, without providing further details or elaborating on a cause.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Dengue cases are surging in the Americas, with cases reported topping 5.2 million as of this week, surpassing a yearly record set in 2023, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

“We are in an emergency situation because of dengue,” PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa said in a news briefing Thursday.

Countries in the southern hemisphere have been the hardest hit so far, with Brazil accounting for a majority of the cases. In February, Rio de Janeiro declared a state of public health emergency amid a spike in cases.

In Peru, 20 of the country’s 25 region are under a health alert due to the epidemic, which has surged to more than 155,000 cases, the government said this week. 146 people have died.

The situation appears to have stabilized in recent weeks in some South American hotspots, but PAHO warned that other countries in the region, including those in the northern hemisphere, must prepare for the arrival of spring and warmer temperatures.

“Most cases in the southern hemisphere occur in the first half of the year, and most cases in the northern hemisphere occur in the second half of the year,” Baldwin said. “So far, this year, we have seen cases peak in the south, and we would now expect an increase in cases in the north.”

The rise of dengue can be attributed to several factors, PAHO says, including rising temperatures, extreme weather events, rapid population growth, and inadequate water and sanitation services, which can create mosquito breeding sites.

So far in 2024, the Americas have reported 1,858 deaths from the illness, less than last year’s total of 2,418.

A vaccine for dengue is available and can play a role in reducing severe cases and deaths, Barbosa said, but he warned it is not capable of immediately interrupting outbreaks.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus that is spread mainly through the Aedes aegypti mosquito, also known to carry several other viruses, such as yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It causes flu-like symptoms and can lead to death in extreme cases.

To try to control the outbreak, PAHO recommends implementing a strategy that focuses on surveillance, control of the mosquito vector that transmits the virus and clinical management, Baldwin said.

“While there is currently no specific treatment for dengue (at any clinical stage), most cases are mild. Early detection and access to proper medical care will reduce the probability of dying due to severe dengue,” Baldwin added.

The virus is endemic in more than 100 countries in tropical and subtropical climates, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas, according to the World Health Organization. It’s also endemic in the US territories of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

Astronomers have spotted what they believe to be a rainbow-like phenomenon occurring on a planet outside our solar system for the first time, and it could reveal new insights about alien worlds.

Observations from the European Space Agency’s Cheops space telescope, or Characterising ExOplanet Satellite, detected a “glory effect” on WASP-76b, an ultra-hot exoplanet 637 light-years from Earth.

Often seen on Earth, the effect consists of concentric, colorful rings of light, and it occurs when light reflects off clouds made of a uniform substance.

Beyond Earth, the glory effect had only been seen on Venus until Cheops and other missions picked up an incredibly faint signal suggesting it occurs in the atmosphere of the hellishly hot WASP-76b. Based on the signal detected by Cheops, astronomers believe the atmospheric phenomenon is directly facing Earth.

Researchers reported details of the observation April 5 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

“There’s a reason no glory has been seen before outside our Solar System — it requires very peculiar conditions,” said lead study author Olivier Demangeon, an astronomer at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences in Portugal, in a statement. “First, you need atmospheric particles that are close-to-perfectly spherical, completely uniform and stable enough to be observed over a long time. The planet’s nearby star needs to shine directly at it, with the observer — here Cheops — at just the right orientation.”

A wild, scorching planet

WASP-76b has intrigued astronomers ever since its discovery in 2013.

The exoplanet closely orbits its host star, and the intense heat and radiation received from that sun-like star — more than 4,000 times the amount of radiation that Earth gets from our sun — has caused WASP-76b to puff up, making it nearly double the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.

The planet is tidally locked to its star, meaning that one side, known as the dayside, always faces the star, while the other face of the planet is in permanent night.

The dayside of WASP-76B reaches scorching temperatures of 4,352 degrees Fahrenheit (2,400 degrees Celsius). Elements that would typically form rocks on Earth melt and evaporate on the dayside before condensing and creating clouds that release molten iron rain on the night side.

Astronomers decided to focus a whole host of observatories, including Cheops, the Hubble Space Telescope, the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope and NASA’s planet-hunting TESS mission, to study what appeared to be an imbalance of light that occurred as WASP-76b orbited in front of its host star.

Combined data from Cheops and TESS, or the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, hinted that the anomaly might be due to something intriguing occurring in the atmosphere above the dayside.

Cheops captured data from WASP-76b as the planet passed in front of its star, making 23 observations over three years.

When astronomers looked at the data, they noticed an unusual increase in light coming from the eastern “terminator” on the planet, or the boundary light between the day and night sides. Meanwhile, less light was released from the western terminator.

“This is the first time that such a sharp change has been detected in the brightness of an exoplanet, its ‘phase curve,’” Demangeon said. “This discovery leads us to hypothesize that this unexpected glow could be caused by a strong, localised and anisotropic (directionally dependent) reflection — the glory effect.”

Demangeon said he is thrilled to be involved in the first detection of this type of light coming from an exoplanet.

“It was such a special feeling — a particular satisfaction that doesn’t happen every day,” he said.

Colorful light on alien worlds

Glory and rainbows aren’t the same thing. Rainbows occur when light is bent as it passes consecutively through two mediums with differing densities, like from air to water. As the light is bent, it breaks into different colors, creating an arcing rainbow.

But the glory effect is created as light moves through a narrow opening and bends, creating colorful, patterned rings.

If astronomers truly are seeing the glory effect on WASP-76b, it means the planet has persistent clouds made of perfectly spherical droplets — or clouds that constantly replenish. Either way, the presence of such clouds suggests that the planet’s atmosphere has a stable temperature.

The nature of what exactly is in the clouds on WASP-76b remains a mystery, but it could be iron, since the element has previously been detected in clouds on the planet.

“What’s important to keep in mind is the incredible scale of what we’re witnessing,” said Matthew Standing, a European Space Agency research fellow studying exoplanets, in a statement. Standing was not involved in the study.

“WASP-76b is several hundred light-years away — an intensely hot gas giant planet where it likely rains molten iron,” Standing said. “Despite the chaos, it looks like (researchers) detected the potential signs of a glory. It’s an incredibly faint signal.”

If astronomers are able to observe the faint signal of a phenomenon such as a glory from hundreds of light-years away, detecting the presence of sunlight reflecting off extraterrestrial bodies of water may also be possible in the future, according to the researchers.

“Further proof is needed to say conclusively that this intriguing ‘extra light’ is a rare glory,” said Theresa Lueftinger, project scientist for the European Space Agency’s Ariel mission, in a statement. She was not involved in the study.

Ariel, or the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, is expected to launch in 2029 to study the atmospheres of a large, diverse selection of exoplanets.

Lueftinger said she believes that the James Webb Space Telescope or Ariel may be able to help prove the presence of the glory effect on WASP-76b.

“We could even find more gloriously revealing colours shining from other exoplanets,” she said.

The Prince of Wales was back in action on Thursday, carrying out his first public engagements during which he promised to “take care” of his wife, Catherine, who revealed her cancer diagnosis last month.

William, 41, visited a surplus food charity in Surrey before he headed to a youth center in west London.

The Princess of Wales, who has not carried out any official duties since Christmas Day, announced in a powerful video on March 22 that her diagnosis had been a “huge shock” and she had already started preventative chemotherapy. Kate’s cancer was found in tests following an abdominal surgery in January.

The revelation followed weeks of speculation over her whereabouts and bizarre conspiracy theories circulating online.

William started his engagements on Thursday by visiting Surplus to Supper, a food redistribution organization where he met with volunteers and helped load vans with food to dispense to local groups.

He also chatted with chefs on how they are bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty while donning an apron and pitching in with the preparation of meals.

While in the kitchen, one volunteer gave the prince several get well cards for his wife and father, King Charles III, who also revealed in February that he was getting treatment for an unspecified form of cancer.

William then jumped into one of the vans and joined volunteers as they drove to Hanworth Centre Hub, a youth center that benefits from the Surplus to Supper’s work.

The prince appeared touched by the gesture from volunteer Rachel Candappa. According to Britain’s PA Media news agency, she told the future king to “take care of” Kate, to which William replied: “I will.”

Kensington Palace said his visits aimed “to spotlight the community and environmental impact organisations in the area are having through their work.”

The palace added: “Reducing food waste has a considerable number of environmental benefits, including reducing emissions from landfill that contribute to climate change.”

The prince’s last official engagement was on March 19 when he visited the English city of Sheffield for his Homewards homelessness project. However, he and his eldest son delighted soccer fans when they were spotted at an Aston Villa game in Birmingham last week.

William’s presence will be a welcome signal to royal-watchers that his wife is feeling well enough for him to resume public-facing duties. However, it also had been expected that the heir to the British throne would be out and about once more after his children were back at school following the Easter break, which restarted on Wednesday.

The Waleses have been out of the public eye over the past few weeks during the school holidays.

In Kate’s video message, she explained that it had “taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.”

She added that she hoped “that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment.

King Charles has also taken a step back from public-facing duties while undergoing treatment. He made his most significant public appearance on Easter Sunday following the tradition family church outing.

A huge heart-shaped feature on the surface of Pluto has intrigued astronomers since NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured it in a 2015 image. Now, researchers think they have solved the mystery of how the distinctive heart came to be — and it could reveal new clues about the dwarf planet’s origins.

The feature is called Tombaugh Regio in honor of astronomer Clybe Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930. But the heart is not all one element, scientists say. And for decades, details on Tombaugh Regio’s elevation, geological composition and distinct shape, as well as its highly reflective surface that is a brighter white than the rest of Pluto, have defied explanation.

A deep basin called Sputnik Planitia, which makes up the “left lobe” of the heart, is home to much of Pluto’s nitrogen ice.

The basin covers an area spanning 745 miles by 1,242 miles (1,200 kilometers by 2,000 kilometers), equivalent to about one-quarter of the United States, but it’s also 1.9 to 2.5 miles (3 to 4 kilometers) lower in elevation than the majority of the planet’s surface. Meanwhile, the right side of the heart also has a layer of nitrogen ice, but it’s much thinner.

Through new research on Sputnik Planitia, an international team of scientists has determined that a cataclysmic event created the heart. After an analysis involving numerical simulations, the researchers concluded a planetary body about 435 miles (700 kilometers) in diameter, or roughly twice the size of Switzerland from east to west, likely collided with Pluto early in the dwarf planet’s history.

The findings are part of a study about Pluto and its internal structure published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Recreating an ancient ‘splat’ on Pluto

Previously, the team studied unusual features across the solar system, such as those on the far side of the moon, that were likely created by collisions during the early, chaotic days of the system’s formation.

The researchers created the numerical simulations using smoothed particle hydrodynamics software, considered the basis for a wide range of planetary collision studies, to model different scenarios for potential impacts, velocities, angles and compositions of the theorized planetary body’s collision with Pluto.

The results showed that the planetary body likely crashed into Pluto at a slanted angle, rather than head-on.

“Pluto’s core is so cold that the (rocky body that collided with the dwarf planet) remained very hard and did not melt despite the heat of the impact, and thanks to the angle of impact and the low velocity, the core of the impactor did not sink into Pluto’s core, but remained intact as a splat on it,” said lead study author Dr. Harry Ballantyne, research associate at the University of Bern in Switzerland, in a statement.

But what happened to the planetary body after it smacked into Pluto?

“Somewhere beneath Sputnik is the remnant core of another massive body, that Pluto never quite digested,” said study coauthor Erik Asphaug, professor at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, in a statement.

The teardrop shape of Sputnik Planitia is a result of the frigidity of Pluto’s core, as well as the relatively low velocity of the impact itself, the team found. Other types of faster and more direct impacts would have created a more symmetrical shape.

“We are used to thinking of planetary collisions as incredibly intense events where you can ignore the details except for things like energy, momentum and density. But in the distant Solar System, velocities are so much slower, and solid ice is strong, so you have to be much more precise in your calculations,” Asphaug said. “That’s where the fun starts.”

Pluto’s murky origins

While studying the heart feature, the team also focused on the internal structure of Pluto. An impact early in Pluto’s history would have created a mass deficit, causing Sputnik Planitia to slowly migrate toward the dwarf planet’s north pole over time while the planet was still forming. This is due to the fact that the basin is less massive than its surroundings, according to the laws of physics, the researchers explained in the study.

However, Sputnik Planitia is near the dwarf planet’s equator.

Previous research has suggested that Pluto could have a subsurface ocean, and if so, the icy crust over the subsurface ocean would be thinner in the Sputnik Planitia region, creating a dense bulge of liquid water and causing a migration of mass toward the equator, the study authors said.

But the new study offers a different explanation for the feature’s location.

“In our simulations, all of Pluto’s primordial mantle is excavated by the impact, and as the impactor’s core material splats onto Pluto’s core, it creates a local mass excess that can explain the migration toward the equator without a subsurface ocean, or at most a very thin one,” said study coauthor Dr. Martin Jutzi, senior researcher of space research and planetary sciences at the University of Bern’s Physics Institute.

Kelsi Singer, a principal scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado and co-deputy principal investigator on NASA’s New Horizons Mission, who was not involved with the study, said the authors did a thorough job of exploring the modeling and developing their hypotheses, though she would have liked to have seen “a closer tie to the geologic evidence.”

“For example, the authors suggest the southern portion of Sputnik Planitia is very deep, but much of the geologic evidence has been interpreted to point to the south being shallower than the north,” Singer said.

The researchers believe that the new theory regarding Pluto’s heart could shed more light on how the mysterious dwarf planet formed. Pluto’s origins have remained murky given that it exists on the edge of the solar system and has only been studied up close by the New Horizons mission.

“Pluto is a vast wonderland of unique and fascinating geology, so more creative hypotheses for explaining that geology are always helpful,” Singer said. “What would help to distinguish between different hypotheses is more information about the subsurface of Pluto. We can only get that by sending spacecraft mission to orbit Pluto, potentially with a radar that can peer through the ice.”

The United States on Thursday blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have recognised a Palestinian state.

Twelve members of the Security Council had voted in favor of the resolution, while two countries – the UK and Switzerland – abstained. The US vetoed it.

The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, sharply criticized the US veto, saying in a statement that it was “unfair, immoral, and unjustified, and defies the will of the international community, which strongly supports the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the US for vetoing what he called a “shameful proposal.”

“The proposal to recognize a Palestinian state, more than 6 months after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and after the sexual crimes and other atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists was a reward for terrorism”, Katz wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the US veto.

The Palestinian efforts to gain recognition as a member state of the UN came six months after Hamas – the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip – launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 240 hostages. Israel responded to the atrocities of October 7 last year with an assault that has has killed nearly 34,000 people in Gaza, according to authorities there.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel had announced earlier Thursday that the US would vote against the Security Council resolution, saying that the US has “been very clear, consistently, that premature actions in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people,” referring to the headquarters of the United Nations.

He also noted there was no unanimity as to whether the Palestinians met the criteria for membership as a state in the UN, saying the US believes future statehood should be dependent on negotiations between Israel and representatives of the Palestinians. “The most expeditious path towards statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the support of the United States and other partners who share this goal,” Patel said.

Palestinian attempts for recognition as a full member state began in 2011. They are currently a non-member observer state, a status that was granted in November 2012.

At the time, UN Ambassador of the Palestinian Territories Riyad Mansour called the step a “historic moment,” adding that he hoped “the Security Council will elevate itself to implanting the global consensus on the two-state solution by admitting the state of Palestine for full membership.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan condemned Friday’s move as consideration of a “Palestinian terror state.”

“This won’t be a regular state. It will be a Palestine-Nazi state, an entity that achieved statehood despite being committed to terror and Israel’s annihilation,” Erdan added.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

A giant prehistoric snake longer than a school bus slithered around what is now India 47 million years ago, according to new research.

The extinct snake may have been one of the largest to have ever lived, dwarfing present-day anacondas and pythons that can grow to about 6 meters (20 feet). The colossal creature’s scientific name is Vasuki indicus, after the mythical serpent around the neck of Hindu deity Lord Shiva and the country of its discovery.

The snake was likely a slow-moving, ambush predator that subdued its prey by constriction or squeezing them to death, according to the study, which appeared Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.

Analysis of giant vertebrae fossils

The report’s two authors, based at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in the state of Uttarakhand, analyzed 27 fossilized vertebrae — some still connected to one another — that were uncovered in 2005 at a coal mine in western India’s Gujarat state.

Initially, the team thought the bones belonged to an ancient crocodile-like creature. It wasn’t until the researchers removed sediment from the fossils during the study’s initial stage in 2023 that they realized they “were looking at the remains of an exceptionally large snake,” the authors said.

The vertebrae appeared to belong to a fully grown animal, the study said.

“There are a number of possible reasons for its large size which range from favourable environment with ample food resources to lack of natural predators,” coauthors Debajit Datta, a postdoctoral fellow, and Sunil Bajpai, a professor of paleontology, said in a joint email.

“Another driving force could be the prevalence of warmer climatic conditions than at present,” they said.

Based on the size of the preserved vertebrae, the researchers estimated that the snake would have been 10.9 meters (36 feet) to 15.2 meters (50 feet) in length, based on two different calculation methods, with a broad and cylindrical body.

Debajit and Bajpai said they believe it lived on land rather than water, like an anaconda, but it was unlikely to have hung out in trees due to its size.

The authors said that the body length estimates “should be treated with caution” because they didn’t have a complete skeleton. However, the snake would have rivaled the largest known snake species — the extinct Titanoboa — in size.

Identified from fossils in Colombia, Titanoboa would have weighed 1,140 kilograms (2,500 pounds) and measured 13 meters (42.7 feet) from nose to tail tip.

Snake size and the role of climate

Snakes are cold-blooded and need heat from the environment to survive. Their size, therefore, depends on how warm the climate is.

“Their internal body temperature fluctuates with the ambient temperature of the environment,” the authors said. “So, higher ambient temperatures would have increased the internal body temperature and metabolic rate of Vasuki which in turn would have allowed it to grow so large.”

The team was able to infer, based on information on the size and metabolism of living snakes and current temperatures, that Vasuki lived in a warm, tropical climate, with a mean annual temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit).

Datta and Bajpai said the snake lived in a coastal marsh and swamp.

“We cannot say precisely what sort of animals Vasuki ate,” they said. “Associated fossils collected from the rocks that yielded Vasuki include ray fish, bony fish (catfish), turtles, crocodilians and even primitive whales. Vasuki may have preyed upon some of these.”