It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.

— Plato

Feed aggregator

I'm a cyclist. Will the arrival of robotaxis make my journeys safer?

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 2:00pm
Inveterate cyclist Matt Sparkes, who has been knocked off his bike by human-driven cars several times, wonders if the arrival of driverless cars in London is a good thing - or a bad one
Categories: Astronomy

Anyone keen on a cat cryptocoin? Anyone?

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 2:00pm
Feedback is horrified to discover that the owner of one of the internet's favourite cats, Pépito, has taken the crypto route…
Categories: Astronomy

We need to establish free internet access as a standalone human right

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 2:00pm
Free and unimpeded internet access is no longer a convenience or a luxury. It is high time it was made a human right enshrined in law, says philosopher Merten Reglitz
Categories: Astronomy

Did childcare fuel language? A new book makes the case

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 2:00pm
Rearing our unusually underdeveloped young may account for the evolution of language. Michael Marshall is intrigued, but wants more evidence from Madeleine Beekman's The Origin of Language
Categories: Astronomy

A new angle on brain health could bring much-needed new treatments

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 2:00pm
Psychiatric medicine hasn't changed much since the 1960s. Could blocking the effects of chronic inflammation on the brain be the step change we need?
Categories: Astronomy

A new angle on brain health could bring much-needed new treatments

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 2:00pm
Psychiatric medicine hasn't changed much since the 1960s. Could blocking the effects of chronic inflammation on the brain be the step change we need?
Categories: Astronomy

New tactical roguelite game 'Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes' sees you escape the Cylons with a full fleet of spaceships (video)

Space.com - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 2:00pm
Battlestar Galactica meets FTL in this just-announced "story-rich tactical roguelite" from the makers of Crying Suns.
Categories: Astronomy

Russia launches mice, microbes and more on monthlong mission to Earth orbit (video)

Space.com - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 1:26pm
Russia launched its Bion-M No. 2 biosatellite today (Aug. 20), sending 75 mice, 1,000 fruit flies and other organisms to orbit to learn more about the health effects of spaceflight.
Categories: Astronomy

Watch a bright fireball explode above Japan, turning night to day (video)

Space.com - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 1:00pm
A fireball exploded into life in the skies above Japan on Aug. 19, briefly turning night to day before fragmenting close to the horizon.
Categories: Astronomy

Viking 1 Begins Journey to Mars

NASA Image of the Day - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:53pm
Viking 1 was launched by a Titan-Centaur rocket from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:22 p.m. EDT on Aug. 20, 1975, to begin a half-billion mile, 11-month journey through space to explore Mars. The 4-ton spacecraft went into orbit around the red planet in mid-1976 and landed on Mars on July 20, 1976.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Viking 1 Begins Journey to Mars

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:52pm
NASA

A Titan-Centaur rocket carrying the Viking 1 spacecraft launches from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Aug. 20, 1975. Viking 1 touched down on the red planet on July 20, 1976, becoming the first truly successful landing on Mars. Viking 1 was the first of a pair of complex deep space probes that were designed to reach Mars and to collect evidence on the possibility on life on Mars.

NASA’s exploration of Mars continues, with rovers exploring the planet’s surface and spacecraft studying from orbit. The agency’s Artemis missions will also lay the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about Viking 1 and see the first photo it took upon landing.

Image credit: NASA

Categories: NASA

Viking 1 Begins Journey to Mars

NASA News - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:52pm
NASA

A Titan-Centaur rocket carrying the Viking 1 spacecraft launches from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Aug. 20, 1975. Viking 1 touched down on the red planet on July 20, 1976, becoming the first truly successful landing on Mars. Viking 1 was the first of a pair of complex deep space probes that were designed to reach Mars and to collect evidence on the possibility on life on Mars.

NASA’s exploration of Mars continues, with rovers exploring the planet’s surface and spacecraft studying from orbit. The agency’s Artemis missions will also lay the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about Viking 1 and see the first photo it took upon landing.

Image credit: NASA

Categories: NASA

The Mystery of Leslie Peltier's "Two Tiny Diamonds"

Sky & Telescope Magazine - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:16pm

How a determined amateur astronomer may have hit on the identity of a Cepheid variable double star described by a beloved author.

The post The Mystery of Leslie Peltier's "Two Tiny Diamonds" appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Categories: Astronomy

Physicist Frank Wilczek’s unique insights on the nature of reality

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:00pm
Frank Wilczek has one of the most brilliant and original minds in theoretical physics, having come up with the idea of time crystals among much else. Where is his curiosity taking him now?
Categories: Astronomy

Physicist Frank Wilczek’s unique insights on the nature of reality

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:00pm
Frank Wilczek has one of the most brilliant and original minds in theoretical physics, having come up with the idea of time crystals among much else. Where is his curiosity taking him now?
Categories: Astronomy

Nuclear fusion gets a boost from a controversial debunked experiment

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:00pm
A 1989 experiment offered the promise of nuclear fusion without the need for high temperatures, but this "cold fusion" was quickly debunked. Now, some of the techniques involved have been resurrected in a new experiment that could actually improve efforts to achieve practical fusion power
Categories: Astronomy

Nuclear fusion gets a boost from a controversial debunked experiment

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:00pm
A 1989 experiment offered the promise of nuclear fusion without the need for high temperatures, but this "cold fusion" was quickly debunked. Now, some of the techniques involved have been resurrected in a new experiment that could actually improve efforts to achieve practical fusion power
Categories: Astronomy

Artificial superfood for bees boosts colony reproduction

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:00pm
A dietary supplement made from engineered yeast could help honeybees thrive despite the declining availability of high-quality pollen in their environment
Categories: Astronomy

Artificial superfood for bees boosts colony reproduction

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:00pm
A dietary supplement made from engineered yeast could help honeybees thrive despite the declining availability of high-quality pollen in their environment
Categories: Astronomy

Acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy says the agency will 'move aside' from climate sciences to focus on exploring moon and Mars

Space.com - Wed, 08/20/2025 - 12:00pm
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy says it's time for the agency to focus on the moon and Mars, not the "smorgasbord of priorities," like climate science, the agency has been directing its resources.
Categories: Astronomy