This week's top research stories include satellite imagery showing that Arctic sea ice was at a record low maximum extent for the third straight year, images of Comet 67P and a new study on prison's effect on gang membership.
Arctic sea ice was at a record low maximum extent for the third straight year, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA.听The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is part of the听Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences听at CU Boulder.听The 2017 Arctic maximum is now the lowest in the 38-year satellite record, beating 2015鈥檚 maximum of 14.517 million square kilometers (5.605 million square miles) on Feb.听25, and 2016鈥檚 maximum of 14.52 million square kilometers (5.606 million square miles).
Comet 67P full of surprises
Images returned from the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission indicate the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was a very active place during its most recent trip through the solar system, says a new study led by CU Boulder. The images show the comet's surface is full of growing fractures, collapsing cliffs and massive rolling boulders. Moving material buried some features on the comet鈥檚 surface and exhumed others. A study on 67P鈥檚 changing surface was released Tuesday in the journal听Science.
Gang membership seldom originates in prison, new study suggests
Juvenile offenders are more likely to leave a gang than join one while incarcerated, according to a surprising, first-of-its kind听study听by CU Boulder criminologist David Pyrooz.听The study also found that gang membership is highly durable, with members bringing their affiliations into the correctional system from the street and taking it with them when released.