Science

NASA has announced that astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will be launching on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than Tuesday, September 24, 2024. This update comes after changes to the mission’s crew composition. Originally, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were also part of

For the first time in history, a NASA-funded researcher will accompany their experiment on a commercial suborbital rocket. This milestone will take place aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket system, which is scheduled to launch no earlier than Thursday, August 29. The experiment, developed by a team from the University of Florida in Gainesville,

In 2023, scientists discovered subtle ripples in the fabric of spacetime, known as gravitational waves, originating from pulsar timing arrays. These low-frequency waves were initially thought to be the result of a phase transition that occurred shortly after the Big Bang. However, new research has cast doubt on this explanation, suggesting that our understanding of

NASA is grappling with a significant challenge as two US astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, find themselves stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Initially scheduled for an eight-day mission, their return has now been delayed to February due to technical problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was supposed to bring them back to

The US Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded after failing an attempt to land back on Earth during a routine Starlink mission, forcing the company’s second grounding this year. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 successfully launched a batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit early on Wednesday morning from

A California-based start-up, Reflect Orbital, has announced an innovative plan that could significantly enhance global energy consumption by providing sunlight after sunset. The company, led by company’s CEO Ben Nowack, plans to redirect sunlight onto Earth’s solar panels during the night, effectively “selling sunlight” on demand. This innovative initiative was introduced by Nowack during the

Recent research reveals that human brains can survive for an astonishingly long time, with some specimens enduring for up to 12,000 years. Alexandra L. Morton-Hayward, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Oxford, led a study that uncovered over 4,400 instances of preserved human brains across various archaeological sites. This finding challenges the notion that

NASA’s Perseverance rover has embarked on a critical phase of its mission on Mars, beginning its challenging ascent towards the summit of Jezero Crater. This marks a new chapter in the rover’s exploration, which has been ongoing since 2021. After spending three and half years studying the crater’s floor—a region that was once submerged under

Astronomers have achieved a significant breakthrough with new high-resolution images of Polaris, also known as the North Star. Using the CHARA Array located on Mount Wilson in California, researchers have captured unprecedented details of the star’s surface. This is the first time scientists have been able to observe features such as large bright and dark

Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) has released a fresh set of images from the Chandrayaan-3 mission, coinciding with the first anniversary of its successful landing on the Moon. These images, taken by the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, showcase key moments from the mission, including Pragyan’s attempts to imprint India’s national emblem on the

Astronomers have long anticipated a cosmic clash between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. This event, projected to occur within the next 5 billion years, has been seen as an inevitable galactic merger. However, a recent simulation suggests that the chances of this collision happening within the next 10 billion years might be less

Get ready for a spectacular celestial event this Saturday morning, August 24, when six planets will align in the sky. Following a similar event on June 3, skywatchers will have another chance to view Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury all at once. This planetary parade, while not extremely rare, is a highlight of

New research suggests that peculiar zones in the Earth’s mantle, where seismic waves slow dramatically, may be more common than previously thought. These ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) have intrigued scientists for years due to their ability to slow seismic waves by up to 50 percent. Recent findings indicate that these enigmatic features could be present

A Viking Age (800–1050 CE) stone figurine was recently unearthed, however, archaeologists have stumbled upon a strange problem — nobody can identify which animal it belongs to. Unearthed at the Fjörður excavation site in Seyðisfjörður, the figurine is dated between A.D. 940 and 1000. Carved from local stone, it depicts a four-legged animal with a

New research indicates that the brain stores at least three distinct copies of every memory, overturning the long-held belief that a single, modifiable version exists. Conducted on rodents, the study focused on the hippocampus, a critical brain region for memory and learning. Researchers discovered that neurons in this area create multiple memory copies, each varying

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking microscope that captures the movement of electrons at a speed never before achieved. Dubbed the “attomicroscope,” this new device uses a laser and an electron beam to photograph electrons at a staggering rate of 625 attoseconds—billionths of a billionth of a second. This advancement, led by physicist Mohammed Hassan and

SpaceX is gearing up for the launch of the Polaris Dawn mission, scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 27. This mission is notable for aiming to take a Crew Dragon spacecraft to its highest orbit yet, with plans for the first-ever private spacewalk. The launch is set to take place from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida,

Astronomers have traditionally relied on helioseismology to estimate the Sun’s age by analysing the vibrations that ripple through its interior. However, recent research has uncovered a significant obstacle, the Sun’s magnetic activity, which follows an 11-year cycle, appears to be distorting these measurements. Data from the Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BISON) and NASA’s SOHO mission,

Two NASA astronauts who flew to the International Space Station (ISS) in June aboard Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule will need to return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle early next year, NASA officials said on Saturday, deeming issues with Starliner’s propulsion system too risky to carry its first crew home as planned. Veteran NASA astronauts Butch