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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When President Donald Trump asked Buzz Aldrin, the second human ever to walk on the moon, what he thought about the United States’ current ability to operate in space 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission, the ex-astronaut had a ready response. “Actually, I’ve been a little disappointed over the last 10

A waiter takes a drink prepared by a robotic bartender in Karlovy Lazne Music Club in Prague, Czech Republic, July 17, 2019. REUTERS/David W Cerny PRAGUE (Reuters) – For revelers at one Prague megaclub, gone are the days of being squashed at the bar waiting to get a watered-down cocktail. Two years after becoming the

PARKES, Australia (Reuters) – It’s known as “The Dish” and it soars above a nondescript paddock in rural Australia. Without it, hundreds of millions of people would never have seen all of the generation-defining footage of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon 50 years ago. The radio telescope at the Parkes Observatory is pictured at

Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system, a rival of the American GPS network, is back in service after a six-day outage, its oversight agency said on Thursday. “Commercial users can already see signs of recovery of the Galileo navigation and timing services, although some fluctuations may be experienced until further notice,” the European Global Navigation Satellite

FILE PHOTO: A large crocodile is seen on the bank of the Tarcoles River, a river with one of the highest crocodile population in the world, in Tarcoles, province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A shrew-like primitive mammal that inhabited China 165 million years ago represents a

FILE PHOTO: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists work on various modules of lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 at ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment (ISITE) in Bengaluru, India, June 12, 2019. Picture taken through a green glass window. REUTERS/Chris Thomas/File Photo BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s space agency said on Thursday it would launch the country’s second

To help paralysed people control devices and empower people with brain disorders enrich their lives, Elon Musk-led startup Neuralink has revealed tiny brain “threads” in a chip which is long-lasting, usable at home and has the potential to replace cumbersome devices currently used as brain-machine interfaces. The company is seeking the US Food and Drug

LONDON (Reuters) – Governments could stop the West Antarctic ice sheet from sliding into the ocean and submerging coastal cities by launching a last-ditch engineering project to blanket its surface with ‘artificial snow,’ a study found on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: An iceberg floats in Andvord Bay, Antarctica, February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini Scientists believe that

(Reuters) – The Apollo 11 astronauts who made mankind’s first visit to the moon 50 years ago were trained in how to take pictures for science. Back on Earth, some of those photos became pop culture touchstones. U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, the Apollo 11 Mission Commander, standing next to the Lunar Module “Eagle” on the

Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins speaks at a panel discussion on the 50th anniversary of the launch, in Cocoa Beach, Florida, U.S., July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Joe Skipper CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins returned to the launch pad Tuesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida where he flew to the

Fifty years to the day since mankind launched the first mission to set foot on it, the Moon is set to treat Earthlings to a partial lunar eclipse on Tuesday (in select countries, Wednesday in others). More than 400,000 people worked on NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, which launched on July 16, 1969 and put the

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Fifty years after their history-making voyage to the moon, Buzz Aldrin recalls the first moments of the Apollo 11 launch being so smooth that he and his two crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins, were unsure precisely when they left the ground. FILE PHOTO: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot for

REHOVOT, Israel (Reuters) – Diners in some upmarket restaurants will soon be able to tuck into laboratory-grown steak, thanks to an Israeli startup that seeks to tap into consumer concerns about health, the environment and animal welfare. Employees work in a laboratory at Aleph Farms, an Israeli company producing lab-grown steak from cow cells, in

Stargazers will witness a partial lunar eclipse on July 16 and July 17, with people in India getting to watch the celestial event on July 17. Partial lunar eclipse, as the name suggests, takes place when the shadow of Earth covers only a small part of the Moon and as a result, only a minor section

FILE PHOTO: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the U.S. Air Force’s Space Test Program 2 Mission, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in this time exposure from Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., June 25, 2019. REUTERS/Steve Nesius CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – As Elon Musk’s SpaceX closes in on the possible cause of a

Less than an hour before liftoff, India’s second mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-2 onboard GSLVMkIII-M1 was Monday called off due to a technical snag, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. The countdown to the launch scheduled for 2:51 am was stopped 56 minutes and 24 seconds before liftoff at 1:55 am following the announcement from

FILE PHOTO – Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists work on various modules of lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 at ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment (ISITE) in Bengaluru, India, June 12, 2019. Picture taken through a green glass window. REUTERS/Chris Thomas (Reuters) – India’s space agency said it delayed the launch of its second lunar mission,

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar exploration mission, is ready for its prime time and is less than two days away from its launch. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will explore the Moon’s South Polar Region. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) mission is being viewed as a demonstration of deep space exploration technologies and to stimulate the advancement

FILE PHOTO: A model of Tiangong 2 space laboratory by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is displayed at China Beijing International High-tech Expo in Beijing, China June 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s manned space lab Tiangong-2 has finished experiments and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on July 19, authorities said on Saturday.

When a rocket blasts off from an island in the Bay of Bengal in the coming days, it will carry not only a moon rover but a nation’s growing ambitions in space. On Monday, India will embark on its most complex space odyssey to date with the launch of its second lunar mission. Chandrayaan-2, whose

India’s heavy-lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle – Mark III (GSLV Mk III), nicknamed as ‘Bahubali’, and its passenger Chandrayaan-2 were being readied up for their historic flight to the Moon on July 15, said space agency officials. “Preparations are going at a hectic pace at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota for the

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian cotton producers in the state of Mato Grosso on Thursday sued Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE), seeking to cancel the chemical company’s patent protection for its Bollgard II RR Flex genetically modified cotton seed, according to a statement sent to Reuters. Logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the annual results news

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – As NASA scrambles to meet U.S. President Donald Trump’s mandate to return humans to the moon by 2024, two longtime heads of NASA’s human exploration wing were demoted Wednesday in a slew of administrative shakeups, officials said in an internal memo. FILE PHOTO: Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, NASA’s Human Exploration and

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit on Wednesday released a rocket from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner in mid-air in a key test of its high-altitude launch system for satellites, the company said. In the penultimate mission before Virgin Orbit offers commercial satellite launch services, the 70-foot (21.34 m) LauncherOne rocket cleanly separated from

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit on Wednesday released a rocket from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner in mid-air in a key test of its high-altitude launch system for satellites, the company said. Virgin Orbit’s chief engineer Kevin Sagis kisses the tip of a test rocket underneath the wing of a

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit on Wednesday plans to release a rocket from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner in mid-air in a key test of its high-altitude launch system for satellites, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Sir Richard Branson attends the “Venezuela Aid Live” concert

Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, plans to go public as part of a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created by Social Capital LP Chief Executive Officer Chamath Palihapitiya, a person familiar with the matter said. The deal was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said the SPAC, Social Capital

MADRID/ZURICH (Reuters) – Lab-grown meat, first introduced to the world six years ago in the form of a $280,000 hamburger, could hit supermarket shelves at $10 a patty within two years, European start-ups told Reuters. Mercedes Vila, co-founder of Biotech Foods, works in the company’s laboratory in San Sebastian, Spain, June 19, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent West

While a large number of people in India are eager to view the launch of the Chandrayaan-2 mission that is taking place on July 15, the dedicated webpage that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had created specifically for people to register for watching the experience live at the venue has crashed. The webpage was

Venus Williams of the US in action during her first round match against Cori Gauff of the US Efforts to make artificial intelligence fairer now extend to Wimbledon’s courts. The All England Club, which hosts the famed British tennis event, is adding technology enhancements at this year’s tournament aimed at eliminating bias from computer-generated video

With the setting up of a new commercial arm-New Space India Limited (NSIL)- the Indian space agency will now be able to produce fast its new rocket Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and commercialise its other technologies. Delivering her maiden budget speech on Friday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “India is now a major

In her maiden union budget today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman detailed a number of proposals to boost e-mobility, Indian space programme, startups and Make in India initiative as the government looks to turn the country into a $5 trillion (Rs. 3,42,65,500 crores) economy by 2024-2025. The government is also planning to ease local sourcing norms

India’s ambitious plan of building a space station is at a nascent stage, and foreign collaborations for it have not yet been finalised, the government said on Wednesday. The space station, which is planned after India’s first manned mission to space – Gaganyaan in 2022, will be of modular design, with the initial modules weighing

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The ancient Philistines, the Biblical villains whose origins have puzzled scholars for decades, came to the Middle East from southern Europe more than 3,000 years ago, new DNA testing has shown. FILE PHOTO: An American archaeology student unearths a skeleton during excavation works at the first-ever Philistine cemetery at Ashkelon National Park

All of the stars Matthew Knight saw through the giant telescope in Arizona were bright with persistent light. All of them but one, which appeared to be flashing, in a way – light that went in and out, dull and then bright, every hour. He assumed that there was something wrong with his data. But

(Reuters) – With the United States preparing to play in the women’s World Cup final the team’s fight for pay equity resurfaced on Wednesday with the Democratic Women’s Caucus demanding answers from U.S. Soccer chief Carlos Cordeiro. July 3, 2019; Lyon, FRA; The United States players warm up during a Team USA training session in

By Natalia A. Ramos Miranda People watch the solar eclipse near ESO Observatory at Coquimbo, Chile July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido CACHIYUYO, Chile (Reuters) – In the minutes before a solar eclipse plunged Chile into darkness, a loudspeaker projected a deep baritone to a group of blind men and women who had traveled to the

A total solar eclipse is all set to occur today along a stretch of the South Pacific, Chile, and Argentina. Most of the path is over the open ocean, and the moon will extinguish full sunlight for four minutes, 33 seconds in path of totality. Those on the Oeono Island on the Chilean coast will

A solar eclipse is observed at Coquimbo, Chile, July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of tourists scattered across the north Chilean desert on Tuesday to experience a rare, and irresistible combination for astronomy buffs: a total eclipse of the sun viewed from beneath the world’s clearest skies. A solar eclipse

The Ascent Abort-2 of NASA’s Orion spacecraft’s emergency launch abort system lifts off during a flight test from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Thom Baur CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – An unmanned full-scale NASA crew capsule blasted off from a Florida launchpad on Tuesday in a

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian lawmakers passed legislation on Tuesday to tighten state control of research bodies run by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), overriding protests against the latest step to expand the government’s role in public life. FILE PHOTO: People march in Budapest during a protest against government plans to overhaul the Hungarian Academy

Two years after the ‘Great American Eclipse’, a total solar eclipse is set to grace the skies once again. On Tuesday, July 2, it will be visible across parts of South America and the South Pacific. Skywatchers will be able to witness the solar eclipse 2019 in parts of Chile and Argentina. But you don’t

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After investigating the nature of a mysterious and apparently cigar-shaped object called ‘Oumuamua spotted in 2017 speeding through our solar system, astronomers remain uncertain over how to classify it, but are confident it is not an alien spaceship. This artist’s impression shows the first-known interstellar object to visit the solar system, ‘Oumuamua,

Scientists were celebrating a groundbreaking astronomical discovery Thursday that they say could pave the way for mapping the outer reaches of the universe. An Australian-led team of international astronomers have determined for the first time the precise source of a powerful, one-off burst of cosmic radio waves.  They have pinpointed it to a massive galaxy

Nearly 200 artefacts from the NASA missions of 1960s and 1970s, including the Apollo and Gemini programmes, will go on auction on July 18 at Christie’s New York. The much-anticipated auction, titled ‘One Giant Leap: Celebrating Space Exploration 50 Years After Apollo 11’, is highlighted by a written record kept by Neil Armstrong and Buzz

The GOES-16 weather satellite is designed to detect flashes of lightning. On Saturday, it saw an asteroid. On Saturday afternoon, meteorologists noticed an unusually bright flash signature over the Caribbean waters 170 miles south of Puerto Rico. Its light was visible in an area as large as Rhode Island – far too big to be

Photo Credit: Twitter/ PIB India had shot down one of its satellites in space with an anti-satellite missile in March this year The debris created by India’s anti-satellite missile when it shot down once of the country’s own satellites in a test earlier this year is still floating around the Earth, a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for

Facebook dismissed calls for a break-up of the world’s biggest social network and other big internet companies on Monday, saying this would not tackle issues such as privacy, attempts to influence elections or harmful content. “Just because it is difficult to regulate the internet doesn’t mean policy makers should jump to the alternative of wishing