Category: World News

In central India, a family man named Raju Gond discovered a 19.22-carat diamond worth nearly $100,000, changing his life forever.

“Our lives have changed forever,” he told CNN after opening his first bank account, anticipating the proceeds from the diamond’s sale.

Raju, 40, and his brother Rakesh live in Madhya Pradesh and typically earn around $4 a day by digging for gold on government-leased land. When gold is scarce, they work in fields driving tractors to make ends meet.

This uncertain livelihood left Raju heavily in debt, trying to support his family and renew his prospecting lease. His fortunes turned when he discovered the diamond in a makeshift mineshaft, a moment he knew was significant as soon as he saw the gemstone’s shine.

Excited, Raju and Rakesh rushed home on their bike, traveling 7 miles to share the good news. They soon took the diamond to the Panna Diamond Office for evaluation.

The process involves paying around $9.50 for the rights to prospect gemstones. Any finds are evaluated and held by a government office until they reach a value threshold—in this case, $360,000 for diamonds. At that point, an official auction is held, with the government taking an 11.5% royalty and the remainder going to the discoverer.

The monsoon season had reduced their work opportunities, prompting Raju and Rakesh to switch from gold panning to diamond prospecting. With a large family to support, including in-laws and seven children, Raju needed a significant find.

“The first thing I’ll do is pay off the $6,000 debt. Then we’ll invest in our children’s education, build homes, buy land, and maybe a tractor,” Raju said. The following morning, the brothers were already back at the mine, eager to find more diamonds.

Portuguese astrophotographer Miguel Claro has once again enchanted the public with his stunning imagery. This time, he captured a detailed image of the International Space Station (ISS) as it transited the Sun. Traveling at an average speed of 17,500 miles per hour, the ISS only takes a few seconds to cross the Sun while it is orbiting the Earth.

This makes the clarity of Claro’s image particularly remarkable. He had to develop his own processing method to get the image because it is unlike anything he has taken before.

“I hope that this image can give emotions that can transmit the beauty of the universe, and in this case, how spectacular the Sun is,” said Claro. “But also our capacity to make huge achievements as humanity: work in teams, put politics aside, and build the largest manmade structure in space, the International Space Station, capable of carrying on board astronauts permanently, an incredible artificial satellite orbiting our planet.”

To support Claro’s work and have this piece of art in your home, you can purchase fine art prints of the ISS transit online.

Here is an amazing video of the shot being taken.

Asteroid Bennu, recently sampled by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, may have originated from a water world, according to new research.

In 2020, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected a sample of regolith—rocks and dust—from Bennu and brought it back to Earth, traveling 200 million miles. Researchers hoped the 4.3-ounce (121.6-gram) sample would reveal secrets of the solar system’s past and the prebiotic chemistry that might have led to life on Earth.

An early analysis, published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science, found that Bennu’s regolith contains carbon, nitrogen, and organic compounds, essential for life. This composition offers a glimpse into the early solar system, with the rocks remaining unchanged for over 4.5 billion years.

However, the sample also contained magnesium-sodium phosphate, which wasn’t detected in previous remote sensing data. This suggests Bennu might have splintered off from a small, primitive ocean world. “The presence of phosphates and other elements suggests a watery past for Bennu,” said Dante Lauretta, co-lead author of the study and OSIRIS-REx principal investigator.

Meanwhile, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified an ocean world candidate, K2-18b, 120 light-years away in the constellation Leo. This “sub-Neptune” planet, believed to be 8.6 times larger than Earth, shows signs of a water ocean under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, supported by the abundance of methane and carbon dioxide and a shortage of ammonia detected.

A monolith appeared in the Nevada desert, prompting speculation about its origin. The Las Vegas Police Department discovered the structure during a search and rescue mission north of Las Vegas Valley.

“We see a lot of weird things … but check this out!” the police posted on social media.

The monolith resembles those that appeared globally in 2020. Located near Gass Peak, a hiking area in the Nevada desert about an hour north of Las Vegas, the tall, rectangular, reflective structure was photographed in rugged terrain.

“HOW did it get up there??” the Las Vegas Police Department questioned on social media.

The monolith resembles those in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” a 1968 film by Stanley Kubrick, featuring imposing black structures created by an unseen alien species, based on Arthur C. Clarke’s writing.

Similar monoliths appeared around the world four years ago, including in the Utah desert, Romania, California, and the Isle of Wight. Their discovery puzzled local authorities, and speculation arose about their purpose, possibly as part of an art installation. However, no one has claimed responsibility.

Unlike the Utah monument, which was around 12 feet, this one is at six feet, five inches and has three faces. The monolith was made of folded sheet metal and held together with rebar and concrete, authorities said.

A monolith also appeared on a hilltop in Wales in March. It also offered no clues about its origin.