Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

— Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law

Astronomy

July full moon 2025 rises this week: Here's what to expect from the 'Buck Moon'

Space.com - 11 hours 19 min ago
July’s full 'Buck Moon' rises close to aphelion, making it the furthest full moon from the sun in 2025.
Categories: Astronomy

ChatGPT could pilot a spacecraft unexpectedly well, early tests find

Space.com - 12 hours 12 min ago
In a recent contest, teams of researchers competed to see who could train an AI model to best pilot a spaceship. The results suggest that an era of autonomous space exploration may be closer than we think.
Categories: Astronomy

Vapour-sniffing drug detector tested at the US-Mexico border

Drugs and explosive chemicals are difficult to detect, but a device more sensitive than a dog’s nose can pick up their traces in seconds
Categories: Astronomy

US government tests new vapour-sniffing drug detector at the border

Drugs and explosive chemicals are difficult to detect, but a device more sensitive than a dog’s nose can pick up their traces in seconds
Categories: Astronomy

New interstellar object 3I/ATLAS: Everything we know about the rare cosmic visitor

Space.com - 14 hours 57 min ago
How do we know 3I/ATLAS, also called comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), is interstellar? Will it strike Earth? Can we visit it? Here are all of your questions answered.
Categories: Astronomy

AI could be about to completely change the way we do mathematics

Computers can help ensure that mathematical proofs are correct, but translating traditional maths into a machine-readable format is an arduous task. Now, the latest generation of artificial intelligence models is taking on the job, and could change the face of maths research
Categories: Astronomy

Want to bulk up and build muscle? Don't go to space

Space.com - 15 hours 12 min ago
Tissue samples sent to the International Space Station reveal what can happen to astronauts on long-term missions.
Categories: Astronomy

'Hybrid' skull may have been a child of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens

The skull of a 5-year-old girl who lived 140,000 years ago has similarities with modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, suggesting her parents might have belonged to different species
Categories: Astronomy

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APOD - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 4:00pm

It's raining stars.


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Space auction: Sally Ride memorabilia collection sells for $145,000

Space.com - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 11:00am
A collection of more than 50 pieces of memorabilia previously owned by Sally Ride, the first American woman to reach space, sold at auction last week for more than $145,000.
Categories: Astronomy

Why does Mars look purple, yellow and orange in ESA's stunning new satellite image?

Space.com - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 10:01am
Surprising colors and stunning features are captured in a new image of Mars' surface.
Categories: Astronomy

US military cuts climate scientists off from vital satellite sea-ice data

Space.com - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 10:00am
In the latest attack on science by the Trump administration, researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center will no longer receive data from a fleet of military satellites.
Categories: Astronomy

A Spacecraft Carrying Human Remains and Cannabis Crashes into the Ocean

Universe Today - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 7:51am

Failed Orbital Mission Loses Human Remains, Space Pot

Categories: Astronomy

Menstrual Cups Tested in Space Flight Conditions for the First Time

Universe Today - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 7:51am

For long-duration missions, female astronauts generally use hormonal contraception to suppress their periods. But this method has potential health risks and requires special storage. Pads and tampons create waste in space. Now researchers have tested menstrual cups on a sub-orbital rocket flight, where they experienced the force of launch, and found they performed identically to ground control cups. This could provide a new option to female astronauts on future missions.

Categories: Astronomy

Tracking Macroplastics Leeching Into Rivers from Space

Universe Today - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 7:51am

Rivers are one of the main ways that plastics get into the world's oceans, and now we can identify where plastic waste accumulates from space. Researchers used data from the Worldview-3 satellite to identify and map plastic material and polymer-coated surfaces in a watershed on the US-Mexico border. They collected different waste from stream channels and then identified their specific infrared absorption features, matching them to satellite imagery.

Categories: Astronomy

Math’s Block-Stacking Problem Has a Preposterous Solution

Scientific American.com - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 7:00am

In principle, this impossible math allows for a glue-free bridge of stacked blocks that can stretch across the Grand Canyon—and into infinity

Categories: Astronomy

ISS astronaut captures a rare phenomenon from orbit — a giant 'sprite' above a thunderstorm

Space.com - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 7:00am
Sprites have been known to form above intense thunderstorms.
Categories: Astronomy

Fig trees may benefit climate by turning carbon dioxide into stone

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 8:01pm
Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer
Categories: Astronomy

Fig trees may benefit climate by turning carbon dioxide into stone

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 8:01pm
Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer
Categories: Astronomy

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APOD - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 4:00pm

Are these trees growing on Mars?


Categories: Astronomy, NASA