We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

— Oscar Wilde

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The Sounds of Sharks, Meaning behind Mars Molecule and Federal Cuts to Science and Health Agencies

Scientific American.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 6:00am

Cuts to federal health and science agencies continue. Plus, we discuss the sounds of sharks, the meaning of Martian molecules and one big dino claw.

Categories: Astronomy

Cosmic rays may be the elusive spark for lightning here on Earth

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 6:00am
Cosmic rays may play a role in triggering lightning, a new study suggests, offering an out-of-this-world answer to a long-standing mystery.
Categories: Astronomy

Dramatic cuts in China’s air pollution drove surge in global warming

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 5:30am
The rate at which the planet is warming has sped up since 2010, and now researchers say that China's efforts to clean up air pollution are inadvertently responsible for the majority of this extra warming
Categories: Astronomy

Dramatic cuts in China’s air pollution drove surge in global warming

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 5:30am
The rate at which the planet is warming has sped up since 2010, and now researchers say that China's efforts to clean up air pollution are inadvertently responsible for the majority of this extra warming
Categories: Astronomy

Does aspirin have potential as an anti-cancer drug?

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 5:00am
Taking aspirin was first linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer in 1988, but the research into its anti-tumour potential has been full of twists and turns since then
Categories: Astronomy

Does aspirin have potential as an anti-cancer drug?

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 5:00am
Taking aspirin was first linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer in 1988, but the research into its anti-tumour potential has been full of twists and turns since then
Categories: Astronomy

This newly found super-Earth might have blown off its own atmosphere

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 5:00am
A newly found super-Earth could help provide answers as to why there are hardly any planets twice the diameter of Earth.
Categories: Astronomy

ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite hailed as excellent

ESO Top News - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 4:53am

Launched just seven months ago, ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite has been proving how the New Space approach can accelerate the development of missions capable of delivering detailed temperature and humidity profiles for short-term weather forecasts.

Moreover, the impact of this tiny prototype satellite goes even further – its measuring instrument has been recognised as able to provide data that’s on a par with traditional large missions.

Categories: Astronomy

Using HIFI to “Sniff” Enceladus’ Plumes

Universe Today - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 1:50am

What kinds of scientific instruments can be used to sample the plumes of Enceladus with the goal of identifying the ingredients for life as we know it? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated how the novel High Ice Flux Instrument (HIFI) could be the next-generation instrument used to sample the plumes of Enceladus while building off the groundbreaking findings from the NASA Cassini spacecraft’s Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA). This study has the potential to help scientists and engineers develop new and efficient methodologies for finding life on Enceladus and throughout the solar system.

Categories: Astronomy

Are Near-Death Experiences the Brain's Attempt to Survive Lethal Threats?

Scientific American.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:00am

Researchers put forward a comprehensive model outlining the conditions that may give rise to the vivid mental phenomena that some people experience as they near death

Categories: Astronomy

Exploring Mars with Next-Generation Helicopters

Universe Today - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 10:39pm

How can scientists and engineers build off the success of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter to better explore the Red Planet? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference hopes to address as an aerospace executive with more than two decades of research and engineering experience investigated how a next-generation Mars helicopter could conduct groundbreaking science while delivering peak efficiency and performance. This study has the potential to help scientists and engineers develop new methods for exploring Mars with cost-effective and efficient methods.

Categories: Astronomy

Uranus’ Moons Could Have Cryovolcanism from Potential Interior Oceans

Universe Today - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 7:21pm

What can cryovolcanism on the dwarf planet Ceres teach us about potential cryovolcanism on Uranus’ five largest moons, which include Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Titania, and Miranda? This is what two studies recently presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference hopes to address, as a team of researchers investigated using Ceres as an analog for the potential ocean moons, Umbriel and Oberon, and the likelihood of an impact crater on Umbriel showing evidence of cryovolcanism. These studies have the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of ocean worlds in the outer solar system and whether they could potentially have life as we know it.

Categories: Astronomy

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APOD - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 4:00pm

If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see?


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Many Protoplanetary Disks Aren't Much Bigger Than Earth's Orbit

Universe Today - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 3:47pm

When it comes to the planets produced in protoplanetary disks, size matters, but not the way you might think. That's the conclusion a group of astronomers found when they aimed the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile at hundreds of these disks around young stars in the southern constellation Lupus. They used the observatory in 2023 and 2024 to focus on the disks and supplemented that with archival data.

Categories: Astronomy

SpaceX rolls out rocket for historic Fram2 astronaut flight over Earth's poles (photos)

Space.com - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 12:00pm
SpaceX has rolled out the rocket and Crew Dragon capsule that will launch the Fram2 astronaut mission on Monday night (March 31).
Categories: Astronomy

ISS National Lab explores the future of space in new podcast 'Between a Rocket and a Hard Space'

Space.com - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 11:00am
The International Space Station National Laboratory just launched "Between a Rocket and a Hard Space," a brand-new podcast series that explores the future of space innovation.
Categories: Astronomy

Earth's sea ice hits all-time low, NASA satellites reveal

Space.com - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 9:00am
Sea ice impacts storms and coastal erosion — and NASA says Earth's total sea ice content has hit an all-time low.
Categories: Astronomy

European Space Agency launches competition to find its next commercial rocket by 2028

Space.com - Sun, 03/30/2025 - 8:00am
The European Space Agency has kicked off a competition to support the development of new launch vehicles and boost Europe's access to space.
Categories: Astronomy