Nothing is the bridge between the future and the further future. Nothing is certainty. Nothing is any definition of anything.

— Peter Hammill

Feed aggregator

Why a mysterious group of ancient humans doesn’t have a species name

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 2:00pm
An extinct group of humans that were once widespread in Asia don’t have an official species name – part of the reason is archaeological, and part is a legal question
Categories: Astronomy

We tracked illegal fishing in marine protected areas – satellites and AI show most bans are respected, and could help enforce future ones

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 2:00pm
Marine protected areas cover more than 8% of the world's oceans today, but they can get a bad rap as being protected on paper only.
Categories: Astronomy

Trump Order Would Give Political Appointees Power over Science Funding Decisions

Scientific American.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 1:30pm

Researchers are alarmed that an expansive executive order issued by President Donald Trump might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants

Categories: Astronomy

The real reason why we lost the ability to make vitamin C

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 1:00pm
The textbooks say our ancestors lost the ability to make vitamin C because we didn't need it, but the loss may have protected us from some parasites
Categories: Astronomy

The real reason why we lost the ability to make vitamin C

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 1:00pm
The textbooks say our ancestors lost the ability to make vitamin C because we didn't need it, but the loss may have protected us from some parasites
Categories: Astronomy

Watch the 2025 Perseid meteor shower peak Aug. 12 in free webcast

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 1:00pm
The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak overnight Tuesday (Aug. 12), and you can enjoy the event live online with the Virtual Telescope Project's webcast.
Categories: Astronomy

Today is the last chance to secure an exclusive NordVPN deal, perfect for watching Alien: Earth anywhere in the world

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 12:02pm
Alien: Earth's two-episode premiere is released today and you can watch it anywhere with our exclusive 79% off NordVPN deal, but you'll have to hurry.
Categories: Astronomy

These ants are one of the most effective teams in the natural world

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 12:00pm
Typically, individuals work less effectively in bigger teams, but weaver ants buck this trend by increasing their power output when they pull together
Categories: Astronomy

These ants are one of the most effective teams in the natural world

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 12:00pm
Typically, individuals work less effectively in bigger teams, but weaver ants buck this trend by increasing their power output when they pull together
Categories: Astronomy

How AI poisoning is fighting bots that hoover data without permission

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 12:00pm
The web is awash with bots that scrape data without permission. Now content creators are poisoning the well of artificial intelligence – but similar technology can also be used to spread misinformation
Categories: Astronomy

How AI poisoning is fighting bots that hoover data without permission

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 12:00pm
The web is awash with bots that scrape data without permission. Now content creators are poisoning the well of artificial intelligence – but similar technology can also be used to spread misinformation
Categories: Astronomy

Europe's powerful Ariane 6 rocket launches for 3rd time ever, sending weather satellite to orbit (video)

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 12:00pm
Europe's Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket launched for the third time ever tonight (Aug. 12), sending an advanced weather and climate satellite to orbit.
Categories: Astronomy

Hubble Captures a Tarantula

NASA Image of the Day - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:36am
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a portion of the Tarantula Nebula.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Hubble Captures a Tarantula

NASA - Breaking News - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:35am
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a portion of the Tarantula Nebula.ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures incredible details in the dusty clouds of a star-forming factory called the Tarantula Nebula. Most of the nebulae Hubble images are in our galaxy, but this nebula is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region, not just in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but in the entire group of nearby galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs.

The Tarantula Nebula is home to the most massive stars known, some roughly 200 times as massive as our Sun. This image is very close to a rare type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet stars are massive stars that have lost their outer shell of hydrogen and are extremely hot and luminous, powering dense and furious stellar winds.

This nebula is a frequent target for Hubble, whose multiwavelength capabilities are critical for capturing sculptural details in the nebula’s dusty clouds. The data used to create this image come from an observing program called Scylla, named for a multi-headed sea monster from Greek mythology. The Scylla program was designed to complement another Hubble observing program called ULLYSES (Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). ULLYSES targets massive young stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, while Scylla investigates the structures of gas and dust that surround these stars.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray

Categories: NASA

Hubble Captures a Tarantula

NASA News - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:35am
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a portion of the Tarantula Nebula.ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures incredible details in the dusty clouds of a star-forming factory called the Tarantula Nebula. Most of the nebulae Hubble images are in our galaxy, but this nebula is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region, not just in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but in the entire group of nearby galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs.

The Tarantula Nebula is home to the most massive stars known, some roughly 200 times as massive as our Sun. This image is very close to a rare type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet stars are massive stars that have lost their outer shell of hydrogen and are extremely hot and luminous, powering dense and furious stellar winds.

This nebula is a frequent target for Hubble, whose multiwavelength capabilities are critical for capturing sculptural details in the nebula’s dusty clouds. The data used to create this image come from an observing program called Scylla, named for a multi-headed sea monster from Greek mythology. The Scylla program was designed to complement another Hubble observing program called ULLYSES (Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). ULLYSES targets massive young stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, while Scylla investigates the structures of gas and dust that surround these stars.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray

Categories: NASA

What Is the Luhn Algorithm? The Math Behind Credit Card Transactions

Scientific American.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:30am

Find out how this simple algorithm from the 1960s catches your typos

Categories: Astronomy

Social media toxicity can't be fixed by changing the algorithms

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:00am
Experiments involving AI chatbots interacting on a simulated social media platform suggest efforts to design out antagonistic user behaviour will not succeed
Categories: Astronomy

Social media toxicity can't be fixed by changing the algorithms

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:00am
Experiments involving AI chatbots interacting on a simulated social media platform suggest efforts to design out antagonistic user behaviour will not succeed
Categories: Astronomy

New Pluto mission could uncover dwarf planet's hidden ocean — if the 'queen of the underworld' gets to fly

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:00am
A conceptual mission known as "Persephone" could explore Pluto and its moons for 50 years  — if it ever gets funded and approved.
Categories: Astronomy

Is Mining Asteroids That Impacted The Moon Moon Easier Than Mining Asteroids Themselves?

Universe Today - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 10:40am

The resources tucked away in asteroids promise to provide the building blocks of humanity’s expansion into space. However, accessing those resources can prove tricky. There’s the engineering challenge of landing a spacecraft on one of the low-gravity targets and essentially dismantling it while still remaining attached to it. But there’s also a challenge in finding ones that make economic sense to do that to, both in terms of the amount of material they contain as well as the ease of getting to them from Earth. A much easier solution might be right under our noses, according to a new paper from Jayanth Chennamangalam and his co-authors - mine the remnants of asteroids that hit the Moon.

Categories: Astronomy