Astronomy
Five Years after the COVID Pandemic Began, Fatigue and Frustration Remain
The “quarantine fatigue” of 2020 became an ongoing “pandemic fatigue,” a complex set of emotions that continues to affect the nation
Sex may have evolved as a way to pool resources during tough times
Sex may have evolved as a way to pool resources during tough times
How to Watch the Total Lunar Eclipse on March 13
The March 13–14 lunar eclipse will be an all-night affair you won’t want to miss
Our best binoculars under $300 are now even better value with this $90 price cut
John Green on His New Nonfiction Book Everything Is Tuberculosis
Novelist John Green talks about his new nonfiction book, Everything is Tuberculosis, and the inequities in treatment for the highly infectious disease.
Water mining on the moon may be easier than expected, India's Chandrayaan-3 lander finds
Blackbird deaths point to looming West Nile virus threat in the UK
Blackbird deaths point to looming West Nile virus threat in the UK
ESA and GSMA Foundry empower industry to achieve seamless global connectivity
At MWC25 Barcelona, the European Space Agency (ESA) unveiled a funding initiative, promoted in partnership with GSMA Foundry, to support projects aimed at integrating satellite and terrestrial networks for seamless connectivity.
What's the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?
Earth from Space: Tirana, Albania
SpaceX's Starship Flight Test Falls Short for the Second Time in a Row
For the second time in a row, SpaceX lost the second stage of its Starship launch system during a flight test, while recovering the first-stage Super Heavy booster.
There's a Smashed Planet at the Heart of the Helix Nebula
An X-ray signal has been detected at the very centre of the Helix Nebula, at the site of its central white dwarf star. It’s a burned out stellar remnant that doesn’t usually emit flashes of X-ray radiation but a new study has been analysing the outburst. The team of researchers think that the stellar corpse smashed into one of its surviving planets and that the X-rays are coming from the planetary debris as it falls onto the surface of the white dwarf.
Today’s Forecast: Partially Cloudy Skies on an “Ultra-Hot Neptune”
An ultra-hot Neptune exoplanet has been observed by JWST and the image reveals dramatically different hemispheres. The planet orbits so close to its host start that it is tidally locked so one hemisphere remains facing the star. On this permanent daytime side, temperatures reach 2,000°C but the temperatures plummet on the daytime side. The observations show that the daytime side has bright reflective clouds on its cooler western hemisphere but not on its eastern side!
Taking A Planet's Pulse
The Gaia Hypothesis theorizes that all of Earth's systems are tied together, making one large, living organism. While there's still some disagreement about whether or not that hypothesis is true, it is undeniable that many of Earth's systems are intertwined and that changes in one can affect another. As our technology advances, we are becoming more and more capable of detecting changes in those systems and how those changes affect other systems as well. A new proposal from a robotics expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) takes that exploration one step further by trying to develop a system that takes the "pulse" of a planet.
Watch fiery SpaceX Starship Flight 8 debris rain down over The Bahamas (video)
Dark Matter Doesn't Decay, Whatever It Is
The mystery of Dark Matter endures. Despite sixty years of observation and research, scientists still haven't isolated the particle that accounts for roughly 85% of the Universe's mass. However, ongoing experiments and studies have provided insight into how this mysterious mass works. For instance, a research team led by a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan University relied on a new technique that has set new limits on the lifetime of Dark Matter (DM), bringing scientists a step closer to resolving this cosmological mystery.
SpaceX loses Starship rocket stage again, but catches giant Super Heavy booster during Flight 8 launch (video)
Astronauts Could Replace Their Own Mitochrondria To Treat Radiation Sickness
Skeptics love to bring up one particular topic regarding long-term human space exploration - radiation. So far, all of the research completed on it has been relatively limited and has shown nothing but harmful effects. Long-term exposure has been linked to an increase in cancer, cataracts, or even, in some extreme cases, acute radiation poisoning, an immediate life-threatening condition. NASA is aware of the problem and recently supported a new post-doc from MIT named Robert Hinshaw via the Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. Dr. HHinshaw'sjob over the next year will be to study the effectiveness of an extreme type of mitochondria replacement therapy to treat the long- and short-term risks of radiation exposure in space.