Elon Musk’s SpaceX will attempt another launch of its mammoth Starship rocket Friday, after the previous evening’s try was called off over technical issues.
Researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, have identified a promising new method for measuring the mass of galaxies orbiting the Milky Way by using pulsars, some of the universe’s most precise natural clocks, to detect tiny gravitational effects across our galaxy.
The liquid iron in Earth’s outer core doesn’t always behave as expected. When it changed direction in an unexplained way, ESA satellites provided data on the direction of flow, helping scientists gain better insight into the dynamics at the center of our planet.
A Nature Sustainability paper titled “A multidimensional assessment of Systemic Cooling Poverty in the Global South,” provides the first large-scale, multidimensional measurement of Systemic Cooling Poverty (SCP)—defined as situations in which individuals are “prevented from attaining thermal safety as a result of intersecting forms of systemic deprivation.”
Look closely at this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and you’ll see galaxies of various shapes and sizes clustered together toward the center-left of the image. A few foreground stars shine brightly and are easily distinguished by the spikes that appear to extend outward from each star. These spikes, called diffraction spikes, are the result of how point sources of light (such as stars) bend, or diffract, around the supports for Hubble’s secondary mirror.
Vortices in superconductors have so far been considered a disruption, as they can impair the superconducting properties. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have proved in experiments that magnetic vortices can be used as controllable quantum systems in certain materials. This means that a previously unwanted phenomenon is becoming a potential resource in quantum technologies, opening up new avenues for the development of quantum computers, highly sensitive sensor systems, and innovative approaches in materials research. These results are published in Nature.
A new computational program, MicroFinder, enables faster and more accurate assembly of bird genomes. Improved genome assemblies will help researchers better understand bird biology, evolution, and help inform conservation efforts.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX postponed the highly anticipated launch of its upgraded Starship megarocket, calling off Thursday’s test after multiple countdown stops-and-starts.
On May 21, ground controllers powered down NASA’s AWE (Atmospheric Waves Experiment) instrument, bringing the data collection phase of the mission to a successful and scheduled end, surpassing its planned two-year mission.
SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO filing included some out-of-this-world details, including a provision that founder Elon Musk’s massive bonus only kicks in if one million humans settle on Mars.
Sand clouds form every morning but clear up by nightfall on WASP-94A b, a well-studied gas giant in a constellation located nearly 700 light years away from Earth. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), research published in the journal Science is among the first to detect cloud cycles on a Hot Jupiter exoplanet.
Black holes are regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, even light, can escape. Einstein’s theory of general relativity breaks down inside black holes, either by the presence of a so-called “curvature singularity” or “Cauchy horizon.”
A new study has found that simple digital finance tools such as mobile money can help small businesses build long-term competitive strength, not just improve access to banking. The study, led by the University of East London, examined 113 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana and found that businesses gained the greatest benefits when digital finance tools became part of everyday business operations rather than being used only for payments. Firms reported improvements in efficiency, customer service and flexibility.
A team from Vienna and Frankfurt has found a formula describing a strange phenomenon: Space and time can form a kind of “crystal” that may turn into a black hole. The results are described in Physical Review Letters.
A planet that is about the size of Saturn, but with a temperature more like Earth’s, has an atmosphere rich in methane, according to a new study using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Suppose there are signs of extraterrestrial life and we have not yet been able to detect them. What does that mean? In Nature Astronomy, researchers discuss the consequences of these so-called false-negative results. “We are currently investing a great deal of money in missions that might need to be designed differently.”
It’s a truism among oceanographers that there is more accurate mapping of the surface of the moon and Mars than of the deep-ocean floor. That’s especially true for the Bismarck Sea, a relatively deep body of water north of Papua New Guinea. It’s an ocean basin with a geologically complex seafloor rife with faults, volcanic features, rifts, scarps, and active subduction and spreading zones at depths that make high-resolution sonar mapping challenging.
Astronomers have identified a possible new member of one of astronomy’s strangest classes of objects: Odd radio circles (ORCs), enormous ring-like structures visible only at radio wavelengths. The newly discovered source, J1248+4826, appears to be the most compact ORC candidate identified so far, with a ring only about 30,000 parsecs across. The paper was posted to the arXiv preprint server on May 6.
Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the lofty goal of ferrying humans to Mars and colonizing Earth’s neighboring planet.
Elon Musk announced plans Wednesday for one of the biggest stock sales ever by taking public a space company that is currently losing billions of dollars a year.
