Science

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Friday and carried 50 more satellites into orbit for the Starlink internet constellation. A SpaceX webcast showed the rocket’s upper stage deploying the satellites a little over an hour after the 9:12am liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The satellites will use their own thrusters

Artemis I, NASA’s uncrewed mission that will set the stage for returning humans to the Moon after several decades, is unlikely to be launched before summer this year. The rundown to the actual launch of the ambitious mission has been changed several times so far as the team behind it was not ready with all

Even though the Russian military action in Ukraine has heightened tensions between Moscow and the US, the two sides will continue to cooperate on operations of the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said. The US space agency has said that its collaborative operations with the Russian space agency Roscosmos will continue as normal. Russia and

A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas occupying the space between stars. We have seen many images of different kinds of nebulae, thanks to the observatories scientists have made over the years. Now, can you imagine how these cosmic clouds appear when interpreted as sound? NASA‘s Hubble Space Telescope has shared a

Astronomers have been able to detect a white dwarf eating fragments of planets that once orbited it using X-ray studies. They say distant X-rays may be the most direct evidence yet of the remains of a disintegrated planet colliding with a white dwarf. A white dwarf is a star that has burnt up all its fuel

Studies and speculations have gone hand in hand as we continue to look for planets that can support life. Several light-years away from Earth, scientists know a spot where all speculations could come true. The TRAPPIST-1 system is under the focus as it is “an extraordinary collection of 7 Earth-size worlds” orbiting a red dwarf

For a few frenzied weeks, beekeepers from around the United States truck billions of honeybees to California to rent them to almond growers who need the insects to pollinate the state’s most valuable crop. But as almond trees start to bloom, blanketing entire valleys in white and pink flowers, so begin beehive thefts that have

Elon Musk’s SpaceX achieved yet another milestone on February 21. It has successfully landed a Falcon 9 rocket back on Earth for the 100th time after deploying its payload into orbit. The rocket was launched from Florida, US, at 8:14pm IST, carrying 46 Starlink satellites. About nine minutes later, the rocket’s first stage (booster) returned

Hubble Space Telescope, a joint project by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), has been witnessing mysterious events in the Universe for over three decades. It recently captured a stunning image of a triple galaxy merger in progress some 681 million light-years away from Earth, in the Cancer constellation. The image also shows a tumultuous

The first phase of the James Webb Space Telescope’s months-long process of aligning the observatory’s 18-segmented primary mirror is nearing completion. The initial stage of this technique, known as “Segment Image Identification”, has been completed by engineers. The James Webb Space Telescope, with its 18 primary mirror segments, has now recorded 18 unfocussed images of

We know how flames behave on Earth, thanks to our use of fire for thousands of years. But how it would behave in microgravity in space is still a puzzle. Understanding its behaviour in space is crucial for the safety of astronomers on future space missions. In space, the reduced gravity creates flames that look

Researchers have discovered a partially complete skull of new dinosaur species in Argentina that they say could be a close relative of an armless group of dinosaurs that roamed the southern hemisphere. They say the new species, called the Guemesia ochoai, offers new evidence of a unique ecosystem during the Late Cretaceous, more than 70

NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance is celebrating the completion of its one-year stay on the Red Planet by learning to run on its rocky surface. The roughly 1,025-kg machine has accomplished several milestones, including new distance records, since its touch down on the rocky surface a year ago on February 18, 2021. And now, it is trying to gain

The race for space exploration is unfolding at an unprecedented speed. Private companies have forayed into this sector with commercial ventures, and the US and China have set their eyes on landing humans on Mars by the next decade. While this ambition is laudable, it presents significant technological and logistical challenges. For instance, a mission

The Universe is full of processes that are as exciting and thrilling as they are enigmatic. Astronomers have long tried to unravel these mysterious processes to better understand the composition of our solar system and the world beyond. To push the boundaries of human understanding, NASA has placed several observatories in space to continuously keep

A new report by US government agencies has warned that coastal flooding is bound to increase significantly over the next 30 years because of “alarming” rise in sea levels. It says the sea level along the coast of the US could increase by as 10 to 123 inches, or almost a foot, above today’s levels

NASA has temporarily closed the camera of one of its space-based telescopes following a power issue. The closure of the camera eye of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has been studying the very hot regions of the Universe for over two decades, has halted its science work. The telescope suffered a power supply problem with

A US patient with leukaemia has become the first woman and the third person to date to be cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to the virus that causes AIDS, researchers reported on Tuesday. The case of a middle-aged woman of mixed race, presented at the

NASA’s Juno mission has yet again stunned us with breath-taking images of Jupiter and its moon, Ganymede. Scientists are awed by an image of Jupiter in a crescent phase. The picture was taken when NASA’s Juno spacecraft approached the giant planet during a regular close pass. The crescent shape of Jupiter can never be captured

Astronomy experts say they originally misread the secrets of the night sky last month: it turns out that a rocket expected to crash into the Moon in early March was built by China, not SpaceX. A rocket will indeed strike the lunar surface on March 4, but contrary to what had been announced, it was