The Cassini mission to Saturn and its moons wrapped up in 2017, when the spacecraft was sent plunging into the gas giant to meet its end. But there’s still a lot of data from the mission to keep scientists busy. A team of scientists working with Cassini data have made a surprising discovery: Titan’s methane-filled
Month: April 2019
So you’ve discovered an unusual winged insect preserved in amber, and it happens to have a superb set of mouth parts dangling from its head. You could name it after a president’s body part, maybe. If not David Attenborough. Again. Or just do what one researcher did with a specimen that doesn’t seem to fit
We are surrounded by alien worlds. In neighbouring star systems, Earth-like planets abound, with unusual names like Proxima b, TRAPPIST–1e, Ross–128b, and LHS–1140b. Are these strange places habitable? Are they homes for life-forms we can’t yet imagine? The jury is out. While these exoplanets all orbit within the so-called habitable aka Goldilocks zones of their
A beautiful spring morning at the Topeka Zoo in Kansas turned tragic Saturday when a male Sumatran tiger attacked a keeper, inflicting wounds that sent her to a hospital. Although keepers are never supposed to be in the same space as the tigers, they found themselves together in the outdoor habitat that morning for reasons
The human face is unique yet universal, mechanical yet expressive, modern yet ancient. For over 4 million years, our features have slowly morphed into what we see today in the mirror, a brief stop on the way to who knows what. From early hominins to modern Homo sapiens, a new review written by leading experts
A test of the emergency escape system for SpaceX’s new spacecraft designed to carry NASA astronauts into orbit went awry on Saturday, and an unverified video making the rounds on Twitter claims to show just how bad the anomaly was. On Saturday afternoon, SpaceX attempted a static-fire test of the emergency abort system on its
Bryan Thomas doesn’t want any more “wishy-washy conversations about climate change.” For four years, he has served as station chief of the Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, America’s northernmost scientific outpost in its fastest-warming state. Each morning, after digging through snow to his office’s front door, Thomas checks the preliminary number on the observatory’s carbon dioxide monitor.
Allie, Elijah, and Rachel test the truth of the idiom Straight as an Arrow with one of the world’s best archers and a diabolically difficult trick-shot. Stream Full Episodes of MythBusters Jr.: https://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/mythbusters-jr/ Subscribe to Science Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribeScience Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScienceChannel Follow us on Twitter: Tweets by ScienceChannel Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ScienceChannel/
The plan to put humans on the Moon by 2024, wrapping up a series of spacewalks on the space station, and an historic first look at a black hole … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video
Sky gazers will have a treat waiting for them as the annual Pink Moon graces the night sky. Also known as Sprouting Grass Moon, Flower Moon, Egg Moon, Milk Moon, Fish Moon, Corn Planting Moon, Pesach Moon, Paschal Moon, Hanuman Jayanti, and Bak Poya, the Pink Moon doesn’t really mean that the Moon will change
There’s a trick to night-time photography: longer exposures. They soak up more light, making everything pop brilliantly in your shot, provided your camera stays really, really still. Of course, most of the time, we’re still only talking extra seconds of exposure time, maybe minutes. Okay, in rare cases, hours. But a team of amateur astronomer
This article originally appeared in the April 8, 2019 issue of SpaceNews magazine. During a speech to a room packed with Pentagon contractors last August, Mike Griffin, the recently appointed U.S. undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, openly fretted about how little time he had left in office and how much he wanted to
COLORADO SPRINGS — Virgin Galactic’s chief pilot believes the company will be able to go through the remainder of its SpaceShipTwo test program fairly quickly once test flights of the suborbital spaceplane resume. In an interview during the 35th Space Symposium here April 9, Dave Mackay said the SpaceShipTwo vehicle called VSS Unity, which he
It’s the big mystery: Intelligent life should be out there in the Universe, so why haven’t we found any evidence for it? This question is called the Fermi paradox, and there are a few potential answers. But this one image (below) just really brings it home. Space is super, duper big, and humanity’s reach into
The line between human-made materials and living organisms just got more blurred. Researchers have created a new biomaterial that isn’t alive, but which exhibits three key traits for life: metabolism, self-assembly, and organisation. The new material can crawl forward like a slime mould, growing new strands from the front as the old ones at the
(Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX suffered an anomaly in one of its Crew Dragon capsules while conducting engine tests at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Saturday, the company said. FILE PHOTO – A SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft sits on launch pad 39A prior to the uncrewed test
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft suffered what the company said was an “anomaly” during static fire tests of its abort engines April 20, dealing a setback to the company’s plans to fly a crewed test flight later this year. In a statement, a SpaceX spokesperson confirmed there was a problem of some kind
Watch as Nam Seok Byun balances teapots, timbers, tablets, and more. | For more Outrageous Acts of Science, visit http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/outrageous-acts-of-science/#mkcpgn=ytsci1 Subscribe to Science Channel! | http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=sciencechannel
The Spitzer Space Telescope has located some elusive carbon molecules floating in space. Called “Buckyballs,” due to their resemblance to architect Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes, these three-dimensional, spherical structures are now the largest molecules known to exist in space, and until now, have escaped detection. Buckyballs hold unique properties in the physical and chemical processes
NASA’s airborne observatory has detected the first type of molecule ever formed in the universe. This is the first time helium hydride has been found in the modern universe. Scientists discovered the molecule in our own galaxy using NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), as the aircraft flew high above the Earth’s surface and
Butterflies are like the Bear Grylls of the Amazon rainforest. Faced with a nutrient-poor environment, these beautiful creatures will drink just about anything to survive. That goes for muddy river banks, sweaty clothing, puddles of urine, and of course, the ‘tears’ of turtles. It’s hard to believe until you see it with your own eyes.
A deep-rooted preference for sons over daughters has skewed the world’s sex ratios more than we thought. A massive five-year analysis has found that since 1970, sex-selective abortions in a dozen countries have resulted in 23 million ‘missing’ girls. These are women that were never born, and yet today, their absence is palpable, especially in
On April 11, for the first time ever, I met with 11 air chiefs from around the world to begin mapping out our future as space allies. Fifty years ago this summer, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, space was the realm of peaceful human exploration, budding commercial development and growing but comparatively limited
WASHINGTON — Italian startup Leaf Space wants to triple the number of ground station locations it has by late next year, citing customer demand for providing communications services to small satellites. Founded in 2014, Milan, Italy-based Leaf Space operates a total of four ground stations in Italy, Spain, Ireland and Lithuania. The uptake of services
When severe weather threatens, meteorologists use maps to show where storms are located and where they’re headed. They want their audiences to know if they’re in the path of the storm. But research has shown a substantial percentage of people can’t place themselves on a map, a potential problem if a tornado or violent storm
NASA’s new planet-hunting telescope, TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), just found its first Earth-sized world. Though the Earth-sized planet, and its hot sub-Neptune companion, were first observed by TESS in January 2019, it’s taken until now to confirm their status with ground-based follow-up observations. The discovery is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. When TESS was
The Pacific Ocean off the California coast is mixed up, and so are many of the animals that live there. The violet, thumbnail-size snails washing up here in Horseshoe Cove have never been seen this far north. By-the-wind sailors, a tiny relative of warm-water jellyfish, sprinkle the tideline by the dozen. And in the tide
The WGS-11 satellite is being funded with money that Congress inserted into the fiscal year 2018 budget for satellites the Air Force never intended to buy. WASHINGTON — Boeing received a $605 million contract for the production of the Air Force’s 11th Wideband Global Satellite Communication satellite that Congress funded more than a year ago.
How can a substance be a solid, liquid, and gas all at the same time? See the process scientists describe as “The Triple Point.” | For more Outrageous Acts of Science, visit http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/outrageous-acts-of-science/#mkcpgn=ytsci1 Catch Outrageous Acts of Science Saturdays at 9/8c on Science! Subscribe to Science Channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=sciencechannel Watch full episodes: http://bit.ly/OutrageousActsFullEpisodes Check out SCI2
Dr. James Bridges, aeronautics researcher at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, describes how chevrons, one of the most recent noise-reducing technologies shepherded through the research process by NASA, is making commercial jet engines quieter.
Boston Dynamics’ latest video of its four-legged robot, SpotMini, is just over a minute long. But that’s all the time it takes to impress upon viewers that the technology company has developed machines capable of pulling a full-size box truck up a slight incline. An individual SpotMini can carry 31 pounds, but the crew of
COLORADO SPRINGS and FREMONT, Calif. – Rocket Lab is preparing to launch in late April three U.S. military satellites including the Army Harbinger mission as part of the Defense Department’s Rapid Agile Launch Initiative. Harbinger is designed to test whether an inexpensive commercial satellite equipped with a synthetic aperture radar can quickly deliver Earth imagery
On 22 March 2015, NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory recorded a blip in its data. Not far from the southern constellation of Fornax, something brightened, then slowly faded away. Thanks to a new technique, now we know that blip was two neutron stars colliding, 6.6 billion light-years from Earth. We also know that when neutron stars
Scientists have developed a first-of-its-kind device that generates electricity from nothing other than the natural phenomenon of snowfall. Based upon the principles of the triboelectric effect, in which electrical charge is generated after two materials come into contact with one another, the researchers’ new technology exploits the fact that snow particles carry a positive electrical
WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency’s 22 member states agreed April 17 to a workaround to get Ariane 6 production in full swing despite a dearth of public sector launch contracts. ArianeGroup had reached an impasse with ESA, which is paying the Franco-German company to design and build the Ariane 6 rocket, after the number
In 1869, a Siberian called Dmitri Mendeleev presented a brand new version of the periodic table of elements to his peers at the Russian Chemical Society. He had tabulated the elements in order of their atomic weight, forming the basis for a fascinating chart that revealed patterns amongst the primary building blocks of matter. It’s been
Beresheet, the unlikely lander built with donations to a non-profit group, crashed into the Moon. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a historic accomplishment in its own way. Now SpaceIL, the non-profit behind Beresheet, wants to send another lander to the Moon. The Beresheet lander crashed into the Moon last week, on its final descent.
After years of chastising us for failing to safely eject USB drives from computers, Microsoft has done the unthinkable: finally acknowledging it’s okay to yank that sucker out and live your best life. Ever since USB drives became a thing, the Windows maker has warned and admonished computer users for not safely removing external hardware
WASHINGTON — Fleet operator Intelsat said its first high-throughput satellite, Intelsat-29e, is a “total loss” after attempts to save the malfunctioning satellite proved unsuccessful. Intelsat-29e suffered a fuel leak April 7 after just three years in geostationary orbit. Most geostationary communications satellites last 15 years if not longer. After the fuel leak, a subsequent problem
Find out how pecans get from trees to your local supermarket. Stream Full Episodes of How It’s Made: https://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/how-its-made/ Subscribe to Science Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribeScience Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScienceChannel Follow us on Twitter: Tweets by ScienceChannel Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ScienceChannel/
The Mayan calendar explained! The world is safe from rogue planets, solar flares and other imagined calamities! Watch this NOW to learn why NASA Science says you’ll be here Dec. 22 to view it again! Visit http://science.nasa.gov/ for breaking science news.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has entered into an agreement with Blue Origin to let the Jeff Bezos-owned private space company use a historic test stand for rocket engine test. As per the deal, Blue Origin will upgrade and refurbish Test Stand 4670, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, Alabama, to
Working on an oil rig, hundreds of kilometres out to sea, things can get a bit lonely. Visitors of any sort are unusual. Those on four legs even more so. Last Friday, workers on a Chevron oil rig in Thailand were shocked to discover a lost dog, swimming in the ocean 220 kilometres from the
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When Ohio University integrative biologist Nancy Stevens peered into a drawer in the wooden cabinets on the top floor of a Nairobi museum in 2010, she saw a chunk of rock containing massive teeth and knew she had come across something important. Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, a gigantic mammalian carnivore that lived 22 million
WASHINGTON — British and Israeli satellite antenna developer Satixfy says it is nearing the release of flat-panel products designed first for connecting internet of things devices, with variants for other markets following shortly. Rajanik Mark, Satixfy’s chief operating officer, said the company has created its own chipsets that it can build in-house to bring down
There’s something about the meandering streak of lightning that implies random chaos. Yet bolts from the blue not only hit the same places with regularity, but successive discharges often reuse the exact same channel. It’s never been entirely clear how the path laid down by one bolt sticks around for repeat performances, but new research
Two incredible tombs in Egypt have been discovered in such an exceptional state of preservation that even the murals on the walls have retained their dazzling hues. One of the tombs is in the Akhmim necropolis in the province of Sohag – discovered because a gang of tomb robbers carrying out an illegal excavation was
The road to reusable space rockets was always going to be a bumpy one, such are the technical challenges involved. SpaceX has been making excellent progress, but just had its latest bump – having its central Falcon Heavy booster fall over in choppy seas off the coast of Florida. The booster rocket had successfully touched
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 9
- Next Page »