The space of night is infinite,
The blackness and emptiness
Crossed only by thin bright fences
Of logic

— Kenneth Rexroth
"Theory of Numbers"

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Why the long history of calculating pi will never be completed

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 5:00am
Building the full value of pi has been a project thousands of years in the making, but just how much of this infinite number do we actually need, asks our maths columnist Jacob Aron
Categories: Astronomy

Scientist’s Study Led FDA to Ban Food Dye Red No. 3. But He Says the Additive Is Safe

Scientific American.com - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 5:00am

Almost 40 years ago, Joseph Borzelleca published a study on the food coloring Red No. 3. The FDA cited his work when banning the additive in January. But the researcher says the dye is safe

Categories: Astronomy

Follow the reveal of Euclid’s first catalogue on 19 March

ESO Top News - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 5:00am

The European Space Agency is releasing the first catalogue of astronomical data from the Euclid space telescope, including three new enormous image mosaics with zoom-ins. Follow the reveal live on Wednesday 19 March at 11:00 BST / 12:00 CET.

Categories: Astronomy

Earth from Space: Halong Bay, Vietnam

ESO Top News - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 5:00am
Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image showcases striking rocky formations amid the blue waters of Halong Bay in northeast Vietnam.
Categories: Astronomy

'Their loss diminishes us all': Scientists emphasize how Trump's mass NOAA layoffs endanger the world

Space.com - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 5:00am
"From our perspective down in the trenches actually working for the government, it feels like the people up top just have no clue about anything."
Categories: Astronomy

This astronomer found a sneaky extra star in James Webb Space Telescope data

Space.com - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 5:00am
While unraveling the mystery of why some planet-forming disks fall onto their stars, an astronomer stumbled upon a surprise: a hidden star.
Categories: Astronomy

Total lunar eclipse March 2025: Best photos of the "Blood Worm Moon"

Space.com - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 4:29am
Relive the 2025 "Blood Worm Moon" total lunar eclipse with these breathtaking photos.
Categories: Astronomy

JWST Cycle 4 Spotlight, Part 1: Exoplanets and Habitability

Universe Today - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 1:33am

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) has announced the science objectives for Webb's General Observer Programs in Cycle 4 (Cycle 4 GO) program. The Cycle 4 observations include 274 programs that establish the science program for JWST's fourth year of operations, amounting to 8,500 hours of prime observing time. This is a significant increase from Cycle 3​ observations and the 5,500 hours of prime time and 1,000 hours of parallel time it entailed.

Categories: Astronomy

Hubble Finds a Potential Triple Kuiper Belt Object

Universe Today - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 8:36pm

A distant trio of worlds may shed light on planetary formation in the early solar system. Sometimes, good things come in threes. If astronomers are correct, a system in the distant Kuiper Belt may not be two but three worlds, offering an insight into formation in the early solar system. The study comes out of researchers at Brigham Young University and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Categories: Astronomy

You could train your brain to be less fooled by optical illusions

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 8:01pm
Shifting your focus could help you overcome the trickery of optical illusions
Categories: Astronomy

You could train your brain to be less fooled by optical illusions

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 8:01pm
Shifting your focus could help you overcome the trickery of optical illusions
Categories: Astronomy

It's Time to Stop Being Surprised by Surprising Weather

Universe Today - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 7:36pm

The increasing frequency of so-called ‘1-in-a-1000-year' weather events highlights how global warming is disrupting rather more typical weather patterns beyond what scientific models can reliably predict. A recent paper proposes a three-tier scientific approach for addressing these unprecedented climate challenges: improving rapid response capabilities, making incremental infrastructure adaptations, and pursuing transformational system changes to manage escalating climate chaos.

Categories: Astronomy

Former Google chief Eric Schmidt takes the reins at rocket startup Relativity Space

Space.com - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 5:00pm
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has assumed the top job at the startup Relativity Space, which aims to compete with SpaceX and other big launch companies.
Categories: Astronomy

Did Water or Lava Cause that Channel? The Answer is in How it Bends

Universe Today - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 4:36pm

Did Water or Lava Cause that Channel? The Answer is in How it Bends

Categories: Astronomy

Adding extra protein to ultra-processed foods helps reduce overeating

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 4:33pm
The health problems associated with ultra-processed foods may be explained by the way the products encourage overeating. Adding more protein to the foods might help people limit their intake – but it isn’t a complete solution
Categories: Astronomy

Adding extra protein to ultra-processed foods helps reduce overeating

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 4:33pm
The health problems associated with ultra-processed foods may be explained by the way the products encourage overeating. Adding more protein to the foods might help people limit their intake – but it isn’t a complete solution
Categories: Astronomy

NOAA cancels monthly climate and weather update calls

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 4:30pm
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it is discontinuing its regular update calls due to staffing problems, but its researchers may also fear political retaliation for discussing climate change
Categories: Astronomy

NOAA cancels monthly climate and weather update calls

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 4:30pm
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it is discontinuing its regular update calls due to staffing problems, but its researchers may also fear political retaliation for discussing climate change
Categories: Astronomy

Tom Hanks at 'Moonwalkers' film premiere predicts getting busy on moon

Space.com - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 4:00pm
Tom Hanks knows there are two things that are going to happen in the future: the moon will become a home to astronauts and the other — well, it is best to hear it from him.
Categories: Astronomy

Navigating a Slanted River

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 3:36pm
Explore This Section

2 min read

Navigating a Slanted River Finessing a fractured rock: NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image showing the “Slants River” target, which fractured after being abraded by the rover. Perseverance captured the image using its SHERLOC WATSON camera, located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) is an instrument using cameras, spectrometers, and a laser to search for organics and minerals that have been altered by watery environments and may be signs of past microbial life. In addition to its black-and-white context camera, SHERLOC is assisted by WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), a color camera for taking close-up images of rock grains and surface textures. In the case of Slants River, thanks to work by the team’s rover planners and engineers, in spite of the fracture SHERLOC was able to maneuver close to this topographically-challenging surface and conduct a spectroscopy scan. This important activity enabled the team to collect the Main River core, just next to this abrasion patch. Perseverance acquired this image on March 5, 2025 — sol 1436, or Martian day 1,436 of the Mars 2020 mission — at the local mean solar time of 14:29:29. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Denise Buckner, Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center 

Perseverance is hard at work on Mars, overcoming obstacles for scientific exploration! Just a few sols after successfully sealing the challenging Green Gardens core, Perseverance roved on to the Broom Point workspace to collect another sample called Main River. Broom Point is situated a few hundred meters down-slope from where Green Gardens was collected, and the Science Team chose to explore this area because orbiter images show some intriguing, alternating light and dark layers.

Upon reaching the workspace, images captured by Perseverance confirm that these distinct layers are visible on the ground, as well. Layers are interesting because they record different geological events that occurred in the planet’s past, which may include deposition of sediments, lava flows, or volcanic ash. By conducting proximity science with rover instruments and collecting a core to return to Earth for future analyses, the team is investigating what this material is composed of and how it was emplaced. 

When the team is planning to collect a sample from an outcrop, the first step is to abrade the rock, grinding away the top few millimeters and smoothing out the surface so the SHERLOC and PIXL instruments can move in and conduct their scans. Although Perseverance has abraded more than 30 rocks across Jezero crater, new rocks still present unique challenges. While abrading the Slants River target at Broom Point, the rock unexpectedly fractured, resulting in an uneven surface. SHERLOC and PIXL require just a few millimeters of clearance to safely approach the rock, and while PIXL was able to reach the broken surface, the topography looked a little more dicey for SHERLOC.

The team’s engineers and rover planners took stock of the situation and decided to use WATSON, SHERLOC’s companion camera, to snap some images of the abrasion patch from another angle. These images built a surface model of the small cracks and crevices, and with this knowledge in hand, the team found a way to safely maneuver the instrument to the same spot that PIXL scanned, and collected a co-located spectroscopy map. Once this abrasion proximity science was completed, the rover went on to drill and seal the Main River core, an activity that went off without a hitch.

With another core in the bag, Perseverance is off to the next workspace, ready to tackle whatever challenges may lie ahead!

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Last Updated

Mar 13, 2025

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