Those who persist in denying the reality of human-caused climate change have resorted to scraping the very bottom of the barrel. Last week, climate deniers at several blogs and news outlets jumped on a new “paper” that supposedly “proves” the vast majority of climate scientists are wrong. Except, according to a scientific review from the
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
Last week, I had the great pleasure of a live video call with Colonel Terry Virts, the former Commander of the International Space Station. Terry and the intrepid One More Orbit crew, drawn from many countries, were flying around the world to set a record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe via the North
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
Alan Turing, a founding father of computer science and artificial intelligence, was revealed Monday as the face of Britain’s new 50-pound bank note. Turing was also famed as a World War II codebreaker whose work was widely credited with hastening the end of the war and saving thousands of lives. But at the time, his
Should everything go according to plan, more than 1.1 million strangers will gather in a remote Nevada town in mid-September, united by a common goal: to raid Area 51 in the wee hours of the morning — using a strength-in-numbers approach to reveal any extraterrestrial treasures stashed within the notoriously clandestine government base. Or, put
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
WASHINGTON — SpaceX said July 15 that the explosion that destroyed a Crew Dragon spacecraft during a ground test in April was likely caused by oxidizer that leaked into the spacecraft’s propulsion system and destroyed a valve, but didn’t give a firm schedule for resuming test flights. The April 20 explosion at Cape Canaveral took
While our warming atmosphere on Earth threatens many living things, spurring on global warming on Mars could be the key to making the planet habitable for Earthly life. And scientists think they may have identified a material that can help turn up the thermostat for parts of the Red Planet. “Mars is the most habitable
WASHINGTON — A month after NASA rolled out a strategy to increase commercial use of the International Space Station, some in Congress are skeptical of the effort. At a July 10 hearing of the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee, some members suggested that allowing commercial activities on the station, including visits by private astronauts, wasn’t
It’s not enough for humans to pump less carbon into the atmosphere. To address climate change, many experts say we’re going to need to find a way to remove some of the emissions already polluting our air. While some scientists are focusing on mechanical solutions to carbon capture, researchers at the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants
Using some of the world’s most advanced microscope technology, scientists have captured images of molecules changing their charge state in real time. To do this, they added and removed electrons, directly observing changes to the structure of four molecules. Although we’ve known for a long time that such changes occur, this marks the first time
Caring about the climate crisis can often feel like a lonely and helpless burden, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Simply talking about the issue with your friends and family can actually make a big difference, according to a new study. The advice might sound like a political minefield, especially if you have
Once upon a time, the great planet Jupiter was orbited by a glorious ring of dust, according to astronomers. Now, nothing of it remains, having coalesced long ago into the planet’s Galilean moons. But these moon-forming discs should be found around other planets in alien star systems. And for the first time we have confirmation
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate’s space subcommittee says he’s working with colleagues on a “bold” new NASA authorization bill to direct the future of the agency’s human spaceflight program. In his opening statement at a July 9 hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee on the past and future of NASA’s human
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
Earth is not alone, and a stunning new animation created using NASA data beautifully illustrates that point. There may be trillions of other planets in our galaxy, the Milky Way (which itself is one of hundreds of billions of other galaxies in the universe). But finding such extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, is not easy –
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,
Proposed changes to the National Security Space Launch program that Smith introduced in the HASC version of the NDAA made it into H.R. 2500 untouched. WASHINGTON — The House on Friday approved the National Defense Authorization Act in a party-line vote of 220-197 following three days of debate and uncertainty on whether Democratic leaders would
Bathroom breaks on the moon? Forget about it. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin may have been the first people to set foot on the lunar surface when Apollo 11 landed there 50 years ago, on 20 July, 1969, but they had to forgo some Earthly conveniences in order to pull off the moon landing.
This article originally appeared in the June 10, 2019 issue of SpaceNews magazine. Founded in 1960 to help the U.S. Air Force develop the first missiles, rockets and satellites, the El Segundo, California-based nonprofit currently finds itself increasingly called upon to help the Defense Department navigate a rapidly evolving commercial space industry. Kevin Bell, vice
When you think of loud sounds you probably imagine earsplitting screams or whole-body-vibrating booms. Not necessarily the abrupt pop that belongs to a tiny 29-millimetre marine worm (Leocratides kimuraorum). But when marine biologist Ryutaro Goto from Kyoto University and colleagues measured the sounds made by these polychaete worms they came in at a whopping 157
For some people, making decisions can feel paralysing, while for others it barely even registers. New research suggests the level of stress we feel when making choices relates to what kind of decision-maker we are. As you might expect, those who veer towards a quicker and more decisive way of picking between several options aren’t
It’s easy to take for granted the detailed, almost real-time knowledge of Mars that we have at our fingertips. After all, in the not-too-distant past, Mars was largely mysterious. All we had were ground-based images of the planet. Now? Now we have daily weather reports and images of dust storms. Martian dust storms are one
We already know what a wondrous material graphene can be – filtering water, dyeing hair, super-strengthening substances – but now scientists have figured out a way to produce it much more cheaply: with the help of bacteria. When mixed with oxidised graphite, which is relatively easy to produce, the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis removes most of the oxygen
WASHINGTON — NASA’s leadership offered few details July 11 about the sudden reassignment of two top officials in its human spaceflight program the day before, a move that drew criticism from leading House members. In a memo late July 10, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced he was reassigning Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human
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
WASHINGTON — The initial prototype of SpaceX’s next-generation reusable launch vehicle will make its first, albeit low-altitude, test flight early next week, Elon Musk announced July 12. In a series of late-night tweets, Musk, the founder and chief executive of SpaceX, said the “Starhopper” vehicle SpaceX is assembling at its test site near Brownsville, Texas,
Something strange is happening 130 milling light-years away in spiral galaxy NGC 3147: there’s a thin disc of material surrounding its small and ‘starving’ black hole that’s a complete surprise to astronomers. Discs like the one spotted in NGC 3147 – made up of gas, dust and other debris pulled into the black hole’s orbit
WASHINGTON — Airbus and the French Space Agency CNES have agreed to cofinance a constellation of four Earth observation satellites while leaving the door open for Airbus to finance additional satellites with other partners. The four satellites, referred to as the CO3D system, are expected to launch in 2022 aboard a Vega C rocket, with
Feasts are rare on the barren landscape of the ocean depths. So researchers couldn’t believe their luck when they recently stumbled on a feeding frenzy of deep-sea sharks chowing down on a fallen swordfish off the US coast. But they never imagined they would also capture footage of one of those sharks becoming the prey
In an incredible first, scientists have captured the world’s first actual photo of quantum entanglement – a phenomenon so strange Einstein famously described it as ‘spooky action at a distance’. The image was captured by physicists at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, and it’s so breathtaking we can’t stop staring. It might not look like
If you listen to any number of love songs, dating “experts”, or plunge head first into a romance novel, you’re likely to think it’s in our destiny to find that special someone – your soul-mate. But how do you know if you’ve found “the one”? Will the birds sing? Will you see fireworks or a
SpaceX is about to perform its most ambitious test-launch yet of a shiny Mars rocket prototype in south Texas. Workers have descended upon the developing coastal launch site over the past 8 months to build and prepare the stout, three-legged prototype for testing. It’s built out of stainless steel, has the shape of a badminton
How can you know that any animal, other human beings, or anything that seems conscious, isn’t just faking it? Does it enjoy an internal subjective experience, complete with sensations and emotions like hunger, joy, or sadness? After all, the only consciousness you can know with certainty is your own. Everything else is inference. The nature
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.
SAN FRANCISCO — NASA awarded a $73.7 million contract to Made In Space to additively manufacture ten-meter beams onboard Archinaut One, a small satellite scheduled to launch in 2022. “As manufacturing progresses, each beam will unfurl two solar arrays that generate as much as five times more power than traditional solar panels on spacecraft of
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
WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said he reassigned the agency’s human spaceflight head, Bill Gerstenmaier, because time was limited to address cost and schedule issues with the agency’s key exploration programs and still meet a 2024 deadline for returning humans to the moon. In an interview with reporters from SpaceNews and The Washington Post
In a post-apocalyptic future, what might happen to life if humans left the scene? After all, humans are very likely to disappear long before the sun expands into a red giant and exterminates all living things from the Earth. Assuming that we don’t extinguish all other life as we disappear (an unlikely feat in spite
People just keep on dying, which means more and more room is needed for those who want to be buried – and one expert has come up with an environmentally friendly solution to the issue of graveyard overcrowding. UK public health consultant John Ashton is proposing green ‘burial corridors’ along transport links – roads, railways
HELSINKI — China appears set to deorbit its Tiangong-2 space lab in the near future, according to a social media release from the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO).CMSEO announced a quiz competition (Chinese) Friday through its WeChat social media platform account, testing knowledge of launch times and mission details, to mark the ‘return of
Behold, the Earth! See live views of Earth from the International Space Station coming to you by NASA’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment. While the experiment is operational, views will typically sequence through the different cameras. If you are seeing a black image, the Space Station is on the night side of the Earth.
The diversity of life here on Earth is constantly in flux, but this universal pattern of evolution and extinction is not easily explained. Some scientists have reasoned that mass extinction events occur on our planet every 26 to 30 million years and that biodiversity changes every 62 million years. But the marine fossil record suggests
On 31 January 1971, the Apollo 14 mission launched from Earth and spent nine days in space. Along with the necessary space gear, scientific equipment, and two golf balls, the Kitty Hawk command module was also housing 500 seeds. You might be surprised to know that those seeds live on today, despite enduring space radiation, and
The life of an asteroid is lonely. The rocks spend eons drifting through the cold vacuum of space. But on Wednesday, the asteroid Ryugu welcomed a special visitor: Japan’s Hayabusa-2 probe successfully landed on the asteroid’s surface at 21:06 ET (01:06 UTC on Thursday). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched Hayabusa-2 into space in
WASHINGTON — After years of delays, PlanetiQ says its constellation of commercial weather satellites will be ready to start launching in January thanks to $18.7 million in new capital. A redesign that right-sized its satellites while increasing the overall constellation number from 12 to 20 helped make the system more affordable, PlanetiQ Founder and Chairman
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
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 41
- Next Page »