China's lunar samples reveal ancient volcanic activity on the moon's far side

China's Chang'e 6 mission has returned the first lunar samples from the moon's far side, revealing that volcanic activity occurred there 2.8 billion years ago. This finding contrasts with previous research, which only confirmed volcanism on the near side until about 2 billion years ago. The samples, analyzed by researchers, showed that the basalt rocks originated from a mantle low in potassium and other elements. This differs from the near side, where these elements are more abundant. The study suggests that a large impact may have altered the distribution of these elements. The research also explains why the far side has fewer large lava flows compared to the near side. The absence of certain radioactive elements on the far side may have contributed to this difference in volcanic activity.