"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."
--1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

"Correction: It is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum. The 'Times' regrets the error."
NY Times, July 1969.

— New York Times

Feed aggregator

Nanotyrannus Isn’t a Juvenile T-Rex—It’s a Separate Dinosaur

Scientific American.com - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 11:00am

An analysis suggests Nanotyrannus is a separate, smaller dinosaur that lived alongside T. rex, settling a 30-year debate

Categories: Astronomy

FDA Is Investigating the Abortion Pill Mifepristone despite Decades of Studies Showing It’s Safe

Scientific American.com - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 10:30am

Some scientists are concerned that the Trump administration will use “junk science” when reviewing mifepristone’s safety record

Categories: Astronomy

How an Error in Cult Classic Game Doom Sparked New Appreciation for Pi

Scientific American.com - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 7:00am

What would the world look like if we changed the value of pi? Whether in the real world or a game environment, the answer is complex

Categories: Astronomy

Glowing Sperm Reveals How Female Mosquitos Control Sex

Scientific American.com - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 6:00am

Female Aedes mosquitoes signal that copulation can proceed by subtly extending their genitalia

Categories: Astronomy

Germanium superconductor could help build reliable quantum computers

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 5:00am
A new type of germanium superconductor could allow classical and quantum chips to be built into one device, creating better and more reliable quantum computers.
Categories: Astronomy

Germanium superconductor could help build reliable quantum computers

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 5:00am
A new type of germanium superconductor could allow classical and quantum chips to be built into one device, creating better and more reliable quantum computers.
Categories: Astronomy

Sentinel-1D pre-launch media briefing

ESO Top News - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 4:59am
Video: 00:45:45

Follow the online briefing on the launch scheduled for 4 November 2025. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission delivers radar images of Earth’s surface. It is vital for disaster response teams, environmental agencies, maritime authorities, climate scientists.

Categories: Astronomy

We're Putting Lots Of Transition Metals Into The Stratosphere. That's Not Good.

Universe Today - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 4:46am

We successfully plugged the hole in the ozone layer that was discovered in the 1980s by banning ozone depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). But, it seems we might be unintentionally creating another potential atmospheric calamity by using the upper atmosphere to destroy huge constellations of satellites after a very short (i.e. 5 year) lifetime. According to a new paper by Leonard Schulz of the Technical University of Braunschweig and his co-authors, material from satellites that burn up in the atmosphere, especially transition metals, could have unforeseen consequences on atmospheric chemistry - and we’re now the biggest contributor of some of those elements.

Categories: Astronomy

ESA Space Safety Fleet

ESO Top News - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 3:07am
Image: ESA Space Safety Fleet
Categories: Astronomy

Surveying Atmospheric Escape from Gas Giants Orbiting F-Type Stars

Universe Today - Thu, 10/30/2025 - 12:49am

Why is it important to know about exoplanets having their atmospheres stripped while orbiting F-type stars? This is what a recent study submitted to The Astronomical Journal hopes to address as an international team of scientists conducted a first-time investigation into atmospheric escape on planets orbiting F-type stars, the latter of which are larger and hotter than our Sun. Atmospheric escape occurs on planets orbiting extremely close to their stars, resulting in the extreme temperature and radiation from the host star slowly stripping away the planet’s atmosphere.

Categories: Astronomy

Jupiter Saved Earth from Spiralling Into the Sun

Universe Today - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 9:57pm

The gas giant’s early growth carved rings in the protoplanetary disk that surrounded our Sun billions of years ago. This process set the architecture for the inner Solar System and prevented Earth from spiraling into the Sun.

Categories: Astronomy

New Findings Say the First Stars in the Universe Were Born in Pairs

Universe Today - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 8:48pm

New research from Tel Aviv University reveals that the first stars in the Universe formed in binary systems. These stars played a vital role in the evolution of early galaxies, giving rise to black holes and seeding the Universe with the ingredients for life.

Categories: Astronomy

Stem cell therapy lowers risk of heart failure after a heart attack

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 6:30pm
People who receive stem cell therapy within a week of their first heart attack have nearly a 60 per cent lower risk of developing heart failure years later
Categories: Astronomy

Stem cell therapy lowers risk of heart failure after a heart attack

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 6:30pm
People who receive stem cell therapy within a week of their first heart attack have nearly a 60 per cent lower risk of developing heart failure years later
Categories: Astronomy

One Of The Milky Way's Satellites Could Be A "Little Red Dot"

Universe Today - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 4:28pm

A tiny dim satellite galaxy of the Milky Way doesn't have enough stars to hold itself together. Its properties suggest that its dark matter halo is holding it together, but new research counters that. Researchers say that it's not dark matter but a massive black hole that's keeping the dwarf galaxy intact.

Categories: Astronomy

A tiny nearby galaxy is home to a shockingly enormous black hole

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 3:03pm
One of the Milky Way’s smallest galactic neighbours seems to have a supermassive black hole at its centre, upending assumptions that it was dominated by dark matter
Categories: Astronomy

A tiny nearby galaxy is home to a shockingly enormous black hole

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 3:03pm
One of the Milky Way’s smallest galactic neighbours seems to have a supermassive black hole at its centre, upending assumptions that it was dominated by dark matter
Categories: Astronomy

Does Hurricane Melissa Show It’s Time for a Category 6 Designation?

Scientific American.com - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 3:00pm

Hurricane Melissa’s powerful winds and drenching rains devastated Jamaica. But is its wrath a sign that we need a new designation for monster storms?

Categories: Astronomy

Cats revealed in all their glory in stunning new photographs

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 10/29/2025 - 1:00pm
Photographer Tim Flach's new book Feline explores the mysterious and irresistible world of cats, from the domesticated to the wild, and why we love them
Categories: Astronomy