The way ghostly particles known as neutrinos can change from one type to another could help explain which stars explode and which collapse to form black holes, according to a new study. These new findings could also help explain a number of other cosmic mysteries, such as why astronomers have detected fewer supernovae than expected. … Read more
ATLANTA — If, like Elon Musk, you’ve been dreaming of a future in which large populations of humans can live on the Moon, you’re likely to be disappointed. Although there could be trillions of pounds of water trapped inside tiny glass beads scattered across the lunar surface, scientists estimate this won’t be enough to sustain … Read more
For 10 years, physicist Stephan Schlamminger pursued one of the most stubborn figures in science. Now, after a decade of experiments, corrections, and painstaking analysis, the answer was in a sealed envelope. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to open it. Schlamminger, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), had spent … Read more
Scientists have built a DNA-powered computer that can perform calculations using billions of molecules in a tiny drop of water. The system leverages the laws of physics to create what scientists describe as a computing system that is more efficient than conventional computers widely used today. Instead of continually using energy to force a calculation … Read more
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope began its journey to the Sun-Earth L2 region with a propellant budget built around uncertainty. The first major test of that reserve has yielded a much better result than the conservative plan. Roman’s team had allocated 441 pounds, or 200 kilograms, of fuel for the first midcourse correction. The … Read more
Los primeros mundos sólidos ensamblados en el Sistema Solar exterior no se limitaron a recopilar una primicia representativa de todo lo que les rodeaba. Un nuevo análisis de meteoritos de hierro carbonoso indica que sus planetesimales originales contenían sólo entre un 8 y un 17 por ciento de una matriz fina y rica en volátiles. … Read more
Peeking is the word for what an approaching object does to an eye. The image of the thing grows, and grows at an accelerated rate, and that rate carries information: how fast the object is coming and approximately when it will arrive. Animals across the tree of life respond to it, from insects to birds … Read more
The Russian Progress 96 robotic cargo spacecraft rendezvoused with the space station today (September 19). Progress 96 launched atop a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday (September 16), kicking off a three-day orbital chase of the International Space Station (ISS). That chase came to an end today at 9:44 a.m. EDT … Read more
On Earth, orbit belongs to the realm of rockets. The International Space Station travels at approximately 28,000 kilometers per hour, and a projectile would need about 40,000 kilometers per hour near the Earth’s surface to escape without further propulsion. Around Deimos, Mars’ smallest moon, the same physics produces street-level numbers. A 2024 peer-reviewed study of … Read more
The pillow lavas look like a bunch of stone beanbags, collapsed one on top of the other where the molten rock collided with cold seawater and hardened on the spot. Those on display in a stretch of the Pilbara in Western Australia have remained there, largely undisturbed, since long before anything on this planet had … Read more