CNN Profiles - Ashley Strickland - Writer | CNN

Ashley Strickland - Writer

Ashley Strickland

Writer

Ashley is a space and science writer for CNN.

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The frozen mummy of <em>Homotherium latidens</em> (Owen, 1846), specimen DMF AS RS, no. Met-20-1, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Indigirka River basin, Badyarikha River; Upper Pleistocene: (A) external appearance; (B) skeleton, CT-scan, dorsal view.

courtesy Prof. Alexey V. Lopatin

35,000-year-old saber-toothed baby cat mummy still has its fur

This week, meet a baby saber-toothed cat mummy, see the first image of a star beyond our galaxy, explore an atlas of the human body on a cellular level, and more.

This is an image of the star WOH G64, taken by the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI). This is the first close-up picture of a star outside our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The star is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, over 160 000 light-years away. The bright oval at the centre of this image is a dusty cocoon that enshrouds the star. A fainter elliptical ring around it could be the inner rim of a dusty torus, but more observations are needed to confirm this feature.

K. Ohnaka et al./ESO

Unprecedented image may reveal impending supernova that could be visible from Earth

Astronomers have taken the first close-up image of a star beyond our galaxy, and it’s a “monster star” surrounded by a cocoon as it slowly dies.

This image shows the Sun in visible light. It was taken by the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) onboard the Solar Orbiter spacecraft on 22 March 2023. The instrument collected red light with a wavelength of 617 nanometres.

European Space Agency

Solar Orbiter captures the highest-resolution images of the sun’s surface yet

The Solar Orbiter mission has captured the highest-resolution views of the sun’s surface to date, showcasing massive sunspots related to increasing solar activity.

The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on November 19, 2024, for the Starship Flight 6 test. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

SpaceX calls off nail-biting catch attempt as booster splashes down to Earth

SpaceX conducted the sixth Starship and Super Heavy test flight Tuesday afternoon, the fastest turnaround yet in the company’s test campaign.

A mystery mollusc (Bathydevius caudactylus) observed by MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Doc Ricketts in the outer Monterey Canyon at a depth of approximately 1,810 meters. This remarkable species of nudibranch, or sea slug, swims with a fingered tail and uses a cavernous hood to capture food.

‘Mystery mollusk’ found in the ocean’s midnight zone is unlike anything researchers have seen before

An unusual sea slug with a large hood, a tail with fingerlike projections and glowing bioluminescence has been found living off the West Coast of the US.

This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

New Uranus research suggests what’s known about the planet could be wrong

A solar wind event squashed the protective bubble around Uranus just before Voyager 2 flew by the planet in 1986, shifting how astronomers understood the mysterious world.

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Archaeological Park of Pompeii

The truth behind embracing figures found in ancient Pompeii

This week, uncover the secrets of Pompeii through ancient DNA, meet an adventurous emperor penguin, seek signs of mysterious Planet Nine, and more.

Researchers at the Field Museum scan a mummified individual displayed in the Inside Ancient Egypt exhibition.

Morgan Clark/The Field Museum

Scans help solve a 3,000-year-old mystery of a high-status Egyptian woman

Scans of mummies at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History uncovered new details about how they were prepared for the afterlife and helped solve a baffling mystery.

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Archaeological Park of Pompeii

DNA analysis upends long-held assumptions about Pompeii victims’ final moments

Ancient DNA recovered from Pompeii shows that people found holding one another beneath the volcanic ash weren’t related in the ways we think.

Cylinder seal and modern impression: ritual scene before a temple facade, Late Uruk, ca. 3500-3100 B.C., Mesopotamia, Bituminous limestone, H. 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.), Stone-Cylinder Seals, Although engraved stones had been used as early as the seventh millennium B.C. to stamp impressions in clay, the invention in the fourth millennium B.C. of carved cylinders that could be rolled over clay allowed the development of more complex seal designs. (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Sepia Times/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

World’s oldest writing system may have its origins in mysterious, undeciphered symbols

A link exists between 6,000-year-old engravings on cylindrical seals used on clay tablets and cuneiform, the world’s oldest writing system, according to new research.

The wreckage of the Mary Rose at The Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, England.

The Mary Rose Trust

Bones from a Tudor warship reveal what life was like for the crew

This week, learn what life was like aboard a Tudor warship, meet the rats fighting wildlife trafficking, spy supernova filaments that resemble a dandelion, and more.

NASAâs Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artistâs concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Aging spacecraft starts up a radio transmitter it hasn’t used since 1981 from 15 billion miles away

Voyager 1 relays messages to NASA’s mission control team after losing contact due to a technical issue. The aging spacecraft is relying on an old radio transmitter.

The wreckage of the Mary Rose at The Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, England.

The Mary Rose Trust

A Tudor warship sank nearly 500 years ago. The bones of its crew reveal what life was like

Bones recovered from the 1545 Mary Rose shipwreck reveal new insights about life for the crew in Tudor England as well as shed light on how work changes our bones.

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured the silhouette of the Martian moon Phobos as it passed in front of the Sun on Sept. 30, 2024. The video shows the transit speeded up by four times, followed by the eclipse in real time.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Rover captures peculiar ‘googly eye’ in the Martian sky

The Perseverance rover spotted the “googly eye” shadow created by Mars’ moon Phobos during a solar eclipse.

Dandelion-Supernova-Filament_1_WEB.original.jpg

A supernova first seen in 1181 is releasing glowing filaments

Astronomers studying the site of a supernova seen 843 years ago have captured an image of the strange filaments left behind by the stellar explosion.

Skeleton on black background CREDIT Åge Hojem NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet.jpg

Åge Hojem NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet

Scientists say skeletal remains found in castle well belong to figure from 800-year-old saga

Skeletal remains found in the well of a Norwegian castle likely belong to “Well-man,” who is mentioned in the passage of an 800-year-old Norse saga.