A daring mission to rescue one of NASA’s crucial space observatories from falling to Earth has encountered issues of its own — but there may still be hope for both spacecraft to beat the odds. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has served as an astrophysics multitool in low-Earth orbit since it launched nearly 22 years … Read more
Canadians can prepare to witness the peak of a Perseid meteor shower and partial solar eclipse that is expected to light up skies across Canada next week. Cited by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as “the best meteor shower of the year,” the peak viewing night is set to be Aug. 12 to 13.“You have … Read more
In the deep, dim ocean, a world of eat-or-be-eaten, lighting up may seem like a counterintuitive survival strategy.Nevertheless, it helps many animals hide from predators that might strike from below – a shine that conceals the shadow they cast against the faint light filtering down from above.Now, however, scientists have found evidence that one of … Read more
In counting geoneutrinos, physicists can get a direct measure of Earth’s vital heat-producing elements. “It’s the one thing we do that focuses on the Earth,” said Ryan Bayes, a particle astrophysicist at Queen’s University in Ontario who works on SNO+. “Everything else we do is more focused on what we receive from other places in … Read more
Liquid iron in Earth’s outer core can behave in surprising ways. Scientists discovered that a large flow of molten material deep beneath the Pacific Ocean changed direction for reasons that remain unclear. Data from ESA satellites helped researchers trace the shift and build a more detailed picture of what is happening near the center of … Read more
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:UC Berkeley researchers created a framework designed to identify regions of our genome with super-archaic DNA.Experts believe we somehow inherited that DNA either directly or indirectly through interbreeding between species.Whether early Homo sapiens interbred with ghost species or inherited ghost DNA through Neanderthals and Densiovans who interbred … Read more
When a blue whale dives below the waves, their heart rate plummets to conserve oxygen.Their massive hearts can slow to just two beats per minute as they dive hundreds of meters in search of food.If your heart slowed that much, you’d probably pass out. And yet, somehow, filter-feeding cetacean divers like the blue whale (Balaenoptera … Read more
2026-08-07T08:39:59.065Z Do clouds ruin a total solar eclipse? Clouds won’t necessarily sour your eclipse expedition. (Image credit: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) One of the biggest worries before any eclipse is weather.While a perfectly blue sky is ideal, you don’t necessarily need one to enjoy the experience. Even under thin clouds, many of the most dramatic effects … Read more
Two NASA astronauts installed the seventh and final set of mounting hardware for new sets of solar arrays during a successful 6.5-hour spacewalk outside of the International Space Station.Jessica Meir and Anil Menon on Thursday (Aug. 6), assembled the modification kit for one of the space station’s eight power channels, which will allow for the … Read more
Letting go is hard, especially when it concerns an irreplaceable space probe like the two Voyagers. Fortunately JPL engineers have managed to pull off a ‘big bang’ switch on Voyager 2, involving two heaters and another device that was kept on to keep providing sufficient heat to the spacecraft to allow it to keep functioning. … Read more