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An amateur astronomer's plans for a camping vacation two years ago transformed into a possible crater find in Canada's north.

Amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe, using Google Maps to figure out his route for the 2024 vacation, saw some odd terrain in Quebec's Côte-Nord region centered on Lake Marsal. Lapointe suspected it was an impact crater from a meteorite , and made a report on Impact Earth — a crowdsourcing website for craters with Canada's Western University in London, Ontario near Toronto. Western planetary geologist Gordon Osinski made a visit to the region in 2025, provisionally not only confirming the crater, but saying it's probably one of the biggest discovered in recent years. The 390-million-year old feature is roughly 15 miles (25 kilometers) wide.

In an email interview with Space.com while on travel in Scotland, Osinski — known as "Oz" by the space community — said to his knowledge the last discovery of that scale was the approximately 31-km (19-mile) Hiawatha structure, also possibly a crater, spotted in Greenland in 2018. "However, that structure is completely buried by ice, so its diameter is uncertain and there is still some controversy about its origin," Oz said.

But in the case of the new crater, called Uhackatik with approval from the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit in whose traditional lands the crater lies, there is no doubt at all where the crater came from. Oz's expedition to the area revealed "shock metamorphic effects", which are deformations to the rocks induced by the shock waves and heating produced by a meteorite impact.

"Impact melt rocks are like they sound: large volumes of rock that are melted by the impact event, but then cool and crystallize to look a lot like volcanic rocks," he said. "Finding these preserved — as they are usually some of the first parts of a crater to be eroded — was a big surprise."

While most of the features are microscopic, Oz said in the field he and his collaborators could easily see "shatter cones", which are branching features in rock layers produced by the shockwave of impact. The research is not yet peer-reviewed, but it will be presented at the 88th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society in Frankfurt, Germany in August.

A shatter cone seen in rocks found at the center of the structure (left); melt rock found 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) west of the structure's center. (Image credit: Gattacceca, J. et al.) While 400-million-year-old impact craters on Earth are hard to find, as geologic activity as well as erosion change their features over time, the precious evidence is helpful for scientists to better understand meteorite impacts on the moon , Mars and other rocky extraterrestrial bodies.

In terms of age, Oz noted, the moon's prominent Tycho crater best represents what Uhackatik probably looked like 390 million years ago. But On Earth, one of the best comparisons to Uhackatik is a moon-like crater used to help the Artemis II astronauts get ready for their moon mission this year.

That Earth crater is called Kamestastin (also known as Mistastin) in northern Labrador, Canada. Oz regularly runs expeditions there in consultation with the Mushuau Innu First Nation, as the crater lies within their traditional hunting grounds. Kamestastin includes anorthosite, a common mineral found in craters at the moon's south pole, where NASA hopes to land astronauts under the US-led Artemis program .

Artemis II astronauts Jeremy Hansen (from the Canadian Space Agency or CSA) and Christina Koch (NASA), as well as CSA backup astronaut and lunar-flyby capcom Jenni Gibbons, did an expedition to Kamestastin crater in 2023 alongside Oz and collaborators.

"For comparative craters [to Uhackatik], Kamestastin is actually a great one as the size is very similar," Oz said. "Kamestastin is well-preserved and I've worked there a lot … so in my mind, I was using Kamestastin as a template for exploring this new potential crater."

To fully confirm Uhackatik's extraterrestrial origin, Oz and collaborators are examining samples microscopically for more evidence of shock effects, such as chemistry indicating a high-temperature melt, or deformation effects in the quartz. In the meantime, Oz's lunar work with NASA continues: he will be part of the geology teams supporting the moon-landing astronauts during the Artemis 4 and 5 missions, which will touch down as soon as 2028.

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Ford used AI to recreate the debut of its futuristic 1964 Aurora concept.

It predicted technologies now common in many modern production vehicles.

Several ideas remain fantasy, but its vision proved remarkably accurate.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how automakers design, develop, and even market their vehicles. To mark National AI Day on July 16 (yes, that is a real thing), Ford took a different approach. Rather than showcasing its latest software or driver assistance technology, the company looked backward, using modern AI filmmaking tools to give one of its most ambitious concept cars a debut it never actually received.

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Read: The Ford Explorer Concept Time Forgot Just Resurfaced For Sale

The result is a short, period-inspired promotional film featuring the 1964 Ford Aurora, a concept that first appeared at the New York World’s Fair. Created using archival photos, design materials, and original press information, the video imagines how Ford might have introduced the futuristic station wagon if the advertising industry of the 1960s had access to today’s AI-powered production tools. What really stands out isn’t the AI, though. It’s just how many aspects of the Aurora made it to production vehicles.

The Aurora was never meant for production. It was one of the brand’s “X-Cars,” meant just to explore new ideas about design, tech, and more. The Aurora pretty much nailed what cars would be like decades later. Sure, we don’t have many cool wagons these days, but just take a look at the features offered in this concept.

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Long before the invention of GPS , the Aurora had a rudimentary navigation system. It also featured a glass roof that could switch from transparent to opaque at the touch of a button. That sounded almost impossible in 1964, but electrochromic glass has since reached production, appearing on vehicles such as the Cadillac Celestiq and in various forms across the luxury segment.

Inside, Ford envisioned a cabin that functioned more like a living room than a traditional station wagon. There were multiple climate-control zones, refrigerated storage, rear-seat entertainment, lounge-style seating, and enough room for passengers to relax rather than simply ride. If any of that sounds familiar, it should.

That much space came from serious footprint, as the Aurora stretched 227 inches (5,766 mm) long on a 131-inch (3,327 mm) wheelbase, longer overall than today’s Ford’s biggest SUV, the extended Expedition MAX, which measures 221.7 inches (5,631 mm) on a near-identical 131.5-inch (3,340 mm) wheelbase.

Also: Ford Asked AI To Build Better Cars, Then Rehired Humans To Fix What AI Broke

While not fully embraced by any brand other than Tesla, the Aurora even had a steering yoke rather than a wheel. Ironically, Ford highlighted how it offered a simple half-turn lock-to-lock. That’s nearly identical to how Tesla implemented its steering system in the Cybertruck.

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The Features That Haven’t Made It… Yet

Not every prediction proved accurate. Ford imagined a dedicated children’s playroom separated from the rest of the cabin by a power-operated glass partition, complete with its own radio and climate controls. The concept also featured glowing electroluminescent body trim and rotating seats.

Still, that’s the point of concept cars. They’re less about forecasting an exact production vehicle than testing ideas that may eventually find their way into future models. In this case, Ford’s engineers were just decades ahead of their time.

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Photos: Ford