A crater in northern Siberia thought to be 262 feet wide has caught scientists off guard, and questioning just how the enormous hole came to be.
Aerial footage of the crater in the Yamal area was posted online last week, and scientists from the Center for the Study of the Arctic and the Cryosphere Institute of the Russian Academy of Scientists headed to the site on Wednesday. As NPR reports, it looks as though rock and earth exploded from the inside of the hole, and it could have been caused by a gas explosion (Yamal is home to the largest natural gas reservoir in Russia), a meteorite, or an eruption of underground ice. The internet, of course, is convinced it's the work of aliens.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Is Kash Patel’s fate sealed after Kirk shooting missteps?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The FBI’s bungled response in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting has director Kash Patel in the hot seat
-
‘We must empower young athletes with the knowledge to stay safe’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Fox’s Kilmeade sorry for ‘just kill’ homeless remarkSpeed Read Kilmeade’s ‘rare on-air apology’ also served as Fox News’ response to the controversy
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
