NASA’s New Horizons mission revolutionized our knowledge of Pluto when it flew past that distant world in July 2015. Among its many discoveries were images of strange formations (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/scientists-offer-sharper-insight-into-pluto-s-bladed-terrain) resembling giant blades of ice, whose origin had remained a mystery. Now, scientists have turned up a fascinating explanation for this “bladed terrain”: the structures are made almost entirely of methane ice, and likely formed as a specific kind of erosion wore away their surfaces, leaving dramatic crests and sharp divides. More info: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/solving-the-mystery-of-pluto-s-giant-blades-of-ice
Video credit: NASA's Ames Research Center
