Astronomy
Why Some People Follow Authoritarian Leaders—And The Key to Stopping It
To protect democracy and counteract the allure of authoritarianism, reduce people's sense of fear and insecurity, psychology research says
NASA proves its electric moon dust shield works on the lunar surface
Webb Scans Asteroid 2024 YR4, it's 60 Meters Across
The Torino scale assess’ the risk of a near-Earth object impacting Earth. The list has just had a new addition, asteroid 2024 YR4 which poses a risk to Earth in 2032. The risk has been downgraded to 0% but there’s still value in studying asteroids that are going to come close to Earth. The James Webb Space Telescope just joined in the study by observing the asteroid to provide a new estimate of its size and showed that it’s spinning rapidly.
New Plan for Particle Physics Megaproject Leaves out Funding Details
A long-awaiting report from CERN explores the feasibility of building a supersized successor to the Large Hadron Collider
Here are SPHEREx's First Images
The news is always full of images from the Hubble Space Telescope and more recently the James Webb Space telescope but there is a new kid on the block. NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope was launched back in early March and we can already see its first image. The telescope has six detectors and together they can capture a region of sky 20 times wider than the Moon. The first images are uncalibrated but they give a hint as to the capabilities of the instrument.
Ozempic weight loss is deemed less praiseworthy than lifestyle changes
Ozempic weight loss is deemed less praiseworthy than lifestyle changes
Extreme weather could disrupt China's renewable energy boom
Extreme weather could disrupt China's renewable energy boom
What's the difference between a young exoplanet and an old one?
Secretive Russian military satellites release mystery object into orbit
How hidden lakes threaten Antarctic Ice Sheet stability
For decades, satellites have played a crucial role in our understanding of the remote polar regions. The ongoing loss of Antarctic ice, owing to the climate crisis, is, sadly, no longer surprising. However, satellites do more than just track the accelerating flow of glaciers towards the ocean and measure ice thickness.
New research highlights how ESA’s CryoSat mission has been used to uncover the hidden impact of subglacial lakes – vast reservoirs of water buried deep under the ice – that can suddenly drain into the ocean in dramatic outbursts and affect ice loss.
Studying Uranian Moons using Passive Radar Sounding
How can Uranus be used to indirectly study its moons and identify if they possess subsurface oceans? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated using passive radar sounding methods from Uranus to study its five largest moons: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. This study has the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of Uranus and its largest moons despite a spacecraft not currently visiting Uranus.
Galaxies Were Already Dying Just 700 Million Years After the Big Bang
When galaxies run out of primordial hydrogen and helium, they cease star formation, shifting to primarily long-lived red stars. These galaxies are considered "red and dead." It usually takes billions of years for galaxies to run out of hydrogen, but now astronomers using JWST have found examples of galaxies that have already stopped forming stars just 700 million years after the Big Bang, much earlier than predicted by cosmological models.
'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 3 teaser trailer promises more gimmicky hijinks in the final frontier (video)
Atlas V rocket will launch Amazon's 1st big batch of Project Kuiper internet satellites on April 9
Why Aurora Physicists Are Excited about Fram2’s Private Astronauts
The commercial astronauts onboard SpaceX’s Fram2 mission are flying closer to Earth’s poles than anyone has before, offering an intriguing opportunity for auroral science