Astronomy

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The year 2025 marked three decades of satellite navigation in Europe. To celebrate this milestone, on 2 September, the European Space Agency (ESA) opened the doors of ESTEC, its research and technology centre. Partners from across the continent joined a sensational event that took the audience on a journey through time, honouring the achievements and collaboration that have shaped the success story of the systems we rely on today: Galileo and EGNOS. 

In 2023, gravitational wave detectors caught two black holes colliding 7 billion light years away, both spinning at nearly the speed of light and both existing in a mass range where black holes simply cannot form. The mystery baffled astronomers until researchers discovered what everyone else had missed, magnetic fields in the chaotic aftermath of a supernova can eject half a star's mass into space, creating black holes that defy the rules of physics.

When astronomers detected potential biosignatures in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18 b, it raised a critical question, ‘could this world's atmosphere even survive its host star's radiation?’ A new study using the Very Large Array searched for radio emissions from the K2-18 system and found something surprising, it was absolutely silent. That absence of radio signals reveals K2-18 is an unusually quiet star, suggesting the planet's atmosphere faces minimal erosion from stellar activity.

NASA's plans for a permanent lunar base face the threat of up to 23,000 micrometeoroid impacts per year travelling at speeds of 70 kilometres per second. A new study quantifies this relentless bombardment for the first time, revealing that even microscopic particles carry enough energy to puncture equipment and even threaten astronaut safety. The research shows impact rates vary dramatically by location with the lunar south pole, NASA's chosen site for the first Artemis base, fortunately experiencing the lowest bombardment.

The sun just spat out several coronal mass ejections that could trigger a serious solar storm on Wednesday

A large international study suggests that being multilingual can slow down cognitive aging

Google's Project Suncatcher is fascinating solution to AI's massive energy demands…. building data centres in space powered directly by the solar power. The company's new research explores the possibility of constellations of satellites equipped with processors flying in tight formation just hundreds of meters apart, connected by terabit per second laser links to distribute information. Early testing shows their chips are surprisingly radiation resistant, while falling launch costs could make space based computing economically viable by the mid 2030s. With a prototype mission planned for 2027, this could fundamentally change where our most powerful computing infrastructure is located.

Weather forecasting is notoriously wonky - climate modeling even more so. But their slowing increasing ability to predict what the natural world will throw at us humans is largely thanks to two things - better models and increased computing power. Now, a new paper from researchers led by Daniel Klocke of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and available in pre-print form on arXiv, describes what some in the climate modeling community have described as the “holy grail” of their field - an almost kilometer-scale resolution model that combines weather forecasting with climate modeling.

The Omo-Turkana basin in Africa is home to a treasure trove of ancient human fossils and tools that span 300,000 years – today it is still yielding new discoveries about our species

The Omo-Turkana basin in Africa is home to a treasure trove of ancient human fossils and tools that span 300,000 years – today it is still yielding new discoveries about our species

There are six people living on the Chinese space station Tiangong at the moment, and the plan to bring three of them back is in progress

Hot flushes could be relieved by listening to recordings that induce hypnosis from home, rather than having to venture to a clinic

Hot flushes could be relieved by listening to recordings that induce hypnosis from home, rather than having to venture to a clinic

Being born with two X chromosomes brings a host of health benefits, and recognising this could lead to personalised medical treatments for men and women

Being born with two X chromosomes brings a host of health benefits, and recognising this could lead to personalised medical treatments for men and women

High-voltage copper plates can remove up to three-quarters of frost from a surface, while using much less energy than conventional heating

High-voltage copper plates can remove up to three-quarters of frost from a surface, while using much less energy than conventional heating

In February, the James Webb Space Telescope will briefly be able to observe asteroid 2024 YR4, which currently has a 4 per cent chance of hitting the moon in 2032. Depending on what it sees, the odds of collision could drastically increase

In February, the James Webb Space Telescope will briefly be able to observe asteroid 2024 YR4, which currently has a 4 per cent chance of hitting the moon in 2032. Depending on what it sees, the odds of collision could drastically increase

For over a decade, mathematicians have failed to agree whether a 500-page proof is actually correct. Now, translating the proof into a computer-readable form may finally settle the matter