“...all the past is but a beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of dawn.”

— H.G. Wells
1902

Astronomy

Lucy Could Visit An Additional Sub-km Asteroid With A Course Correction

Universe Today - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 2:55pm

Lucy is already well on its way to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. But that doesn't mean that it can’t make some improvements to its trajectory along the way. A new paper suggests it might be possible to nudge Lucy into a slightly different orbit, allowing it to pass an as-yet-undiscovered asteroid sometime during its exploration of the L5 cloud of Trojan around Jupiter. If completed, it could lend an entirely new research target to Lucy’s repertoire and further define the differences between the two Trojan clouds.

Categories: Astronomy

TRAPPIST-1d isn't the Earth-like planet scientists had hoped it to be, according to JWST data

Space.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 2:00pm
As another world around TRAPPIST-1 shows no signs of an atmosphere, astronomers urge us not to give up hope for an Earth-like atmosphere on one of the other worlds in the system.
Categories: Astronomy

New subtype of diabetes found in youths from sub-Saharan Africa

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 1:00pm
In sub-Saharan African youths diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, 65 per cent do not have antibodies or genetic risks associated with the disease, suggesting they have a novel non-autoimmune subtype of the disorder
Categories: Astronomy

New subtype of diabetes found in youths from sub-Saharan Africa

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 1:00pm
In sub-Saharan African youths diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, 65 per cent do not have antibodies or genetic risks associated with the disease, suggesting they have a novel non-autoimmune subtype of the disorder
Categories: Astronomy

US Space Force's new deep space radar tracks multiple satellites 22,000 miles away in key test

Space.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 1:00pm
The U.S. Space Force's powerful new military radar system designed to detect and track objects in distant orbits above Earth has passed an initial key test.
Categories: Astronomy

Mind-reading AI can turn even imagined speech into spoken words

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 12:00pm
A brain-computer interface has enabled people with paralysis to turn their thoughts directly into words, requiring less effort than older techniques where a physical attempt at speech had to be made
Categories: Astronomy

Mind-reading AI can turn even imagined speech into spoken words

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 12:00pm
A brain-computer interface has enabled people with paralysis to turn their thoughts directly into words, requiring less effort than older techniques where a physical attempt at speech had to be made
Categories: Astronomy

Trump Cuts Could End U.S. Exploration of the Outer Solar System

Scientific American.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 12:00pm

The U.S. planetary science community is sounding the alarm about plans to discard a nuclear technology that has powered dozens of NASA missions over the past 50 years

Categories: Astronomy

Discovery of 250 'mini galaxies' could help scientists pin down the nature of dark matter

Space.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 12:00pm
Only a fraction of the size of the Milky Way, these galaxies have thus far been too faint for most telescopes to spot.
Categories: Astronomy

Why no one can agree on what quantum physics really means

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 11:03am
For a century, quantum theory has passed every experimental test, but physicists can’t agree on how to use it to paint a picture of our reality – or even whether that is possible
Categories: Astronomy

Why no one can agree on what quantum physics really means

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 11:03am
For a century, quantum theory has passed every experimental test, but physicists can’t agree on how to use it to paint a picture of our reality – or even whether that is possible
Categories: Astronomy

New Brain Device Is First to Read Out Inner Speech

Scientific American.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 11:00am

A new brain prosthesis can read out inner thoughts in real time, helping people with ALS and brain stem stroke communicate fast and comfortably

Categories: Astronomy

Blue Origin pitches new 'Mars Telecommunications Orbiter' for Red Planet missions (video)

Space.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 11:00am
Blue Origin has used its Blue Ring spacecraft platform to develop the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, which the company says could aid future NASA missions to the Red Planet.
Categories: Astronomy

Trump signs executive order to boost commercial space — and shift NASA's balance of power

Space.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:48am
The executive order directs multiple federal agencies to streamline launch licensing, fast-track spaceport construction and better support emerging in-space industries.
Categories: Astronomy

Say Cheese!

NASA Image of the Day - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:41am
Eleven International Space Station crew members gather inside the International Space Station's Unity module for a portrait on Aug. 3, 2025.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

MetOp-SG-A1 and Sentinel-5: from cleanroom to space

ESO Top News - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:30am
Video: 00:04:21

Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite – which hosts the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission –  has launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 13 August at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time).

MetOp-SG-A1 is the first in a series of three successive pairs of satellites. The mission as a whole not only ensures the continued delivery of global observations from polar orbit for weather forecasting and climate analysis for more than 20 years, but also offers enhanced accuracy and resolution compared to the original MetOp mission – along with new measurement capabilities to expand its scientific reach.

This new weather satellite also carries the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission to deliver daily global data on air pollutants and atmospheric trace gases as well as aerosols and ultraviolet radiation.

Ariane 6 is Europe’s heavy launcher and a key element of ESA’s efforts to ensure autonomous access to space for Europe’s citizens. Ariane 6 has three stages: two or four boosters, and a main and upper stage. For this flight, VA264, the rocket was used in its two-booster configuration.

Categories: Astronomy

SpaceX sends 28 more Starlink satellites into orbit on Falcon 9 flight from Florida (video)

Space.com - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:02am
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida on Thursday morning (Aug. 14), carrying 28 Starlink broadband satellites into low Earth orbit.
Categories: Astronomy

2024 saw a record-breaking number of dangerously hot and humid days

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:00am
As the planet heats up, the atmosphere is holding more moisture – and this is resulting in more days with weather conditions close to the limits of survivability
Categories: Astronomy

2024 saw a record-breaking number of dangerously hot and humid days

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:00am
As the planet heats up, the atmosphere is holding more moisture – and this is resulting in more days with weather conditions close to the limits of survivability
Categories: Astronomy

2024 saw a record-breaking number of dangerously humid days

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:00am
As the planet heats up, the atmosphere is holding more moisture – and this is resulting in more days with weather conditions close to the limits of survivability
Categories: Astronomy