Astronomy

The recoded bacterium uses only 57 of the 64 possible genetic codes, freeing up seven to be used for different purposes

The recoded bacterium uses only 57 of the 64 possible genetic codes, freeing up seven to be used for different purposes

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 19 Starlink satellites from California's central coast today (July 31), then came back to Earth for a landing on a ship at sea.

The Trump administration is attempting to argue that greenhouses gases don’t endanger people to reverse regulations limiting these harmful emissions – climate scientists are pushing back

The Trump administration is attempting to argue that greenhouses gases don’t endanger people to reverse regulations limiting these harmful emissions – climate scientists are pushing back

A hidden lake beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet unexpectedly drained more than a decade ago, fracturing the ice surface and forming a large crater — an event only recently uncovered by Earth-observing satellites.

Check out Scientific American’s fiction and nonfiction book recommendations for July

Blue Origin is targeting Sunday (Aug. 3) for the launch of its next suborbital tourism mission, which will send crypto billionaire Justin Sun and five other people to the final frontier.

SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its Crew-11 astronaut mission for NASA just a minute before liftoff today (July 31) after clouds intruded.

Collaboration has always been a hallmark of space research. Experts in different disciplines come together to work towards a common goal, and many times achieve that. One of the current goals of space exploration is long-term settlement of the Moon, and in order to achieve that goal, engineers and astronauts will have to deal with one of the thorniest problems on that otherworldly body - dust. Lunar dust is much harder to deal with that Earth’s equivalent, as it is sharp, charged, and sticks to everything, including biological tissue such as lungs, and even relatively smooth surfaces like glass. Several research groups are working on mitigation techniques that can deal with lunar dust, but a new cross-collaborative group from the University of Central Florida is developing a coating, testing it, and simulating all in one project, with the hopes that someday their solution will make it easier for astronauts to explore our nearest neighbor.

In January of 2024, the company Astrobiotic was set to make history with the first privately-developed lander, named Peregrine, to reach the Lunar surface, sent aboard a United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket.

In the young V883 Orionis system, ALMA observations have revealed signatures of complex organic compounds such as ethylene glycol and glycolonitrile – potential precursors to amino acids, DNA, and RNA. These findings indicate that the building blocks of life may not be limited to local conditions but could form widely throughout the Universe under suitable circumstances.

Around 8 million years ago, an ancestor of modern tomatoes in South America hydridised with a plant called Etuberosum, and this reshuffling of genes gave rise to the potato

Around 8 million years ago, an ancestor of modern tomatoes in South America hydridised with a plant called Etuberosum, and this reshuffling of genes gave rise to the potato

The immune system senses damage to cell membranes caused by pore-forming proteins and mounts a response

A relatively small detector caught neutrinos from a nuclear reactor using a technique known as coherent scattering

When people viewed virtual avatars with coughs or rashes, their brain triggered an immune response

People who consume some artificial sweeteners are less likely to respond to certain cancer therapies, potentially because of the impact on their gut microbiome

People who consume some artificial sweeteners are less likely to respond to certain cancer therapies, potentially because of the impact on their gut microbiome

About nine million years ago, a hybridization involving the lineage of another farmers market star gave rise to the modern-day cultivated potato