Astronomy
Can a Chatbot be Conscious? Inside Anthropic’s Interpretability Research on Claude 4
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
How do scientists calculate the probability that an asteroid could hit Earth?
The Milky Way brightens the moonless summer sky this week: Here's where to look
This star escaped a supermassive black hole's violent grips — then returned for round 2
Rare sight from space: Snow dusts the dry Atacama Desert | Space photo of the day for July 23, 2025
AI beats goalkeepers at predicting which way penalty taker will shoot
AI beats goalkeepers at predicting which way penalty taker will shoot
Study Finds COVID Pandemic Accelerated Brain Aging in Everyone
A study of nearly 1,000 people showed that brain aging was not linked to infection status
Trump Administration Changes at NIH, EPA, NASA, NSF Spark Internal Dissent
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
Sea-level monitoring satellite Sentinel-6B sets sail
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.
Nonfiction and Fiction Summer Reading Recommendations from Scientific American
If you’re seeking a summer read, Scientific American has some fantastic fiction and notable nonfiction to recommend.
Sharp-eyed US-Indian satellite set to launch July 30 to monitor Earth's surface, warn of natural disasters
Ignis Mission: Return to Earth
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
Watch: MetOp-SG-A1 and Sentinel-5 media briefing
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!
How Star Clusters Age: The Pleiades, the Hyades, and the Orion Nebula Cluster
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 a Surprisingly Good Resource for Supporting a Lunar Station
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.
Deepening stirling engine analysis: optimized model offers more accurate performance predictions
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