Space changes you, even during short trips off-planet. Four people who spent three days outside Earth in September 2021 experienced physical and mental changes that included modest declines in cognitive tests, heightened immune systems and genetic changes within their cells, scientists report in a suite of papers published Tuesday in the journal Nature and some. … Read more
Artist’s impression of a Bose-Einstein photonic condensate (yellow) in a bath of dye molecules (red) that has been stirred by an external light source (white flash). Credit: A. Erglis/Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg Researchers at the University of Bonn have demonstrated that super photons, or the photo Bose-Einstein condensates conform to the fundamental theorems of physics, … Read more
A rare burst of light from a dead star is likely to be visible to humans in earth this summer in a fleeting but potentially gloomy celestial display that scientists are calling “a once-in-a-lifetime event.” The technical term for the impending cosmic explosion is nova, which occurs when a white dwarf suddenly and often spectacularly … Read more
This artist’s concept shows the nova system HM Sagittae (HM Sge), where a white dwarf star is pulling material from its red giant companion. This forms a hot, blazing disk around the dwarf, which can unpredictably undergo a spontaneous thermonuclear explosion as the hydrogen inflow from the red giant thickens and reaches a tipping point. … Read more
Originally thought of as little more than a road without rocks slowing the rover, Neretva Vallis has offered a wealth of geological options for the science team. After swerving across a dune field to avoid rocks that rattle the wheels, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover reached its latest area of scientific interest on June 9. The … Read more
Inspired by materials found in oyster and balloon shells, Princeton University researchers have created a new, highly versatile cement composition. This design mimics the brick-and-mortar structure of the shell, increasing durability by inducing inelastic deformation and hierarchical strengthening. The newly developed material is 19 times more flexible, can be stretched without breaking and is 17 … Read more
On a visit to The Colbert Report in 2013, the eponymous host asked NASA scientist Ed Stone if he was ever annoyed that the agency’s astronauts got all the parades and fanfare while researchers toiled behind the scenes. “No,” Stone replied, “we’re having too much fun.” Indeed, Stone served as chief scientist for the space … Read more
I have had many conversations over the years about life extension, and the idea often meets with resistance. People get upset when they hear about an individual whose life is shortened by a disease, but when faced with the possibility of the overall extension of human life, they react negatively. “Life is too hard to … Read more
HELSINKI – China’s experimental reusable space plane has used a smaller spacecraft to test proximity operations, even capturing the object. China launched its space plane for the third time via a Long March 2F rocket on December 14, 2023. The spacecraft launched an object into orbit, first cataloged by the US Space Force space field … Read more
New research from Boston University and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute suggests that the Sun passed through a large hydrogen cloud two million years ago, directly impacting its protective heliosphere and may have forever changed all life on Earth. The evidence for this event and its effects on Earth’s climate also indicates that the location of … Read more