Astronomy

As large language models like Claude 4 express uncertainty about whether they are conscious, researchers race to decode their inner workings, raising profound questions about machine awareness, ethics and the risks of uncontrolled AI evolution

The 2024 YR4 asteroid may come close to Earth, but how do experts calculate this potential impact?

Our galaxy will make for a particularly splendid sight on the dark nights surrounding the new moon phase on July 24.

A death-defying star survived destruction by a ravenous supermassive black hole in a tidal disruption event, and came back to let the cosmic titan take another bite!

The Atacama Desert in Chile recently received some snowfall, causing issues for the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescope.

By analysing videos of penalty kicks, a deep learning model was able to predict whether a shot would go to the goalkeeper’s left or right with 64 per cent accuracy

By analysing videos of penalty kicks, a deep learning model was able to predict whether a shot would go to the goalkeeper’s left or right with 64 per cent accuracy

A study of nearly 1,000 people showed that brain aging was not linked to infection status

Hundreds of staffers at the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and the National Science Foundation have signed public letters to leadership opposing the direction in which the agencies are headed

The next sea-level monitoring satellite, Copernicus Sentinel-6B, has begun its journey from Europe to the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, where it is scheduled to launch in November. Carefully packed into a climate-controlled container, the satellite is currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard the cargo ship Industrial Dolphin.

If you’re seeking a summer read, Scientific American has some fantastic fiction and notable nonfiction to recommend.

NISAR, a joint mission of NASA and ISRO set to launch on July 30, will be able to see shifts in the landscape smaller than a centimeter to give warning of potential natural disasters.

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On 15 July 2025, with the splashdown of the Dragon capsule off the coast of California, the Ignis mission ended after a 20-day space journey. ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland, during nearly 230 orbits around Earth, completed about 120 hours of telework on the International Space Station and contributed to more than 20 experiments from his orbital office.

Following medical checks on the recovery vessel, Sławosz flew to shore by helicopter and then travelled from the United States to Germany in order to undergo a week of recovery at the European Astronaut Centre. Dozens of people gathered to give him a warm welcome at the Cologne Bonn airport.

Access the realted broadcast quality footage: Launch / ISS / Return to Earth

With launch slated for August, the first MetOp Second Generation satellite, MetOp-SG-A1, which also carries the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission, is currently undergoing final preparations for liftoff aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

A pre-launch press briefing will be held on Monday, 28 July at 14:00 CEST, and will be streamed live on ESA Web TV One – tune in to hear more about these two exciting new missions!

Astronomers found evolutionary links that connect three well-known star clusters. The Orion Nebular Cluster, the Pleiades, and the Hyades are located roughly in the same region in space, but have different ages. New research shows that they're connected and have similar origins.

Lunar regolith is the crushed up volcanic rock that buries the surface of the Moon. Remote observations and sample analysis have shown there are trace amounts of water ice mixed in with the regolith, which can be extracted. By mixing this water with CO2 exhaled by astronauts, scientists have demonstrated this can be turned into hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide. This can then be turned into fuels and oxygen to support the astronauts. Everything we need is there on the Moon. We just need to learn how to use it.

A Chinese team presents a new model for accurately predicting the performance of Sterling engines, which are being investigated as a possible means of powering

A 13-million-year-old leg bone from an enormous flightless bird carries crocodilian tooth marks, showing South America was once a predator-eat-predator world

A 13-million-year-old leg bone from an enormous flightless bird carries crocodilian tooth marks, showing South America was once a predator-eat-predator world