Amazon's prototype Kuiper satellites operate successfully
Amazon.com said on Thursday its two prototype satellites for its planned Kuiper internet network have been operating successfully,
2023-11-16 23:23
NBA Awards Rankings: Jokic vs. Embiid (again), plus Tyrese Haliburton's rise
We are roughly one-eighth of the way through the NBA season. Here's how the NBA MVP rankings shape up, with the understanding that all is subject to change.
2023-11-16 23:21
FAA approves license for SpaceX's second launch of Starship Super Heavy
By Joey Roulette (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday granted Elon Musk's SpaceX a license to launch the company's
2023-11-16 05:51
Scientists discern internal structure of mysterious dwarf planet Eris
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON Dwarf planet Eris, similar in size to its better-known cosmic cousin Pluto, has remained
2023-11-16 03:21
An Astronaut Tool Bag Is Now Orbiting Earth
The tool kit, which was lost during a spacewalk, is visible from Earth.
2023-11-16 02:23
White House proposes transportation, commerce agencies handle new space regulations
By Joey Roulette NEW YORK The Biden administration on Wednesday released a long awaited proposal to split regulatory
2023-11-15 23:15
3 budding bench players who already deserve to be NBA starters
Anytime one of these three players comes in off the bench, they find ways to impact the game immediately and have made a case that they should be NBA starters.
2023-11-15 22:55
Gamma-ray burst in faraway galaxy disturbed Earth's upper atmosphere
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON About two billion years ago in a galaxy far beyond our Milky Way, a
2023-11-15 02:27
NASA probe to observe near-Earth asteroid's 2029 close encounter
By Steve Gorman About 5-1/2 years from now, astronomers predict, an asteroid about as wide as the Empire
2023-11-10 19:17
Nasa reveals the most colourful picture of the universe ever made
Nasa has released the most colourful picture of the universe ever made. The space agency created the image by combining data from the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes to capture light that has never been seen before in one image. The picture shows the galaxy cluster known as MACS0416, which is about 4.3 billion light years from Earth. The reds, blues and bright yellows of the picture represent one of the most comprehensive views of the universe ever taken, Nasa said. The colours represent the wavelengths of light captured, going from the shortest in blue to the longest in red. Those colours also help show the distances of those galaxies. Those galaxies that are closer and more active tend to be blue, while the red ones are further away – though some are also red because the vast amount of cosmic dust in the galaxy absorbs the blue of the light from stars. It was created by gathering both visible and infrared light captured by both telescopes. The original imagery was taken by Hubble in 2014, which captured some of the faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected, and it was then combined with Webb’s infrared data to look even further into the early universe. As well as making for a stunning image, researchers are already studying the data used to create it to examine the galaxy cluster and what it might mean for the universe as a whole. The Webb observations can be used to find “transients”, which are objects that change brightness over time. In the image there are some 14 transients – most of which are likely to be individual stars that are becoming brighter, with a minority that are thought to be supernovae. “We’re calling MACS0416 the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster, both because it’s so colorful and because of these flickering lights we find within it. We can see transients everywhere,” said Haojing Yan of the University of Missouri in Columbia, lead author of one paper describing the scientific results. One of them in particular is notable, and has been named Mothra. The object is being magnified by up to 4,000 by a process called gravitational lensing – and is notable because it was in both the new Webb images and the original Hubble ones. Scientists still don’t know how that could happen, since the alignment of galaxy clusters and stars needed to magnify something that much is delicate and would be expected to change. Scientists believe that the likely explanation is another unseen object that could be up to a million times bigger than our Sun and is unidentified. “The most likely explanation is a globular star cluster that’s too faint for Webb to see directly,” stated Jose Diego of the Instituto de Física de Cantabria in Spain, lead author of the paper detailing the finding. “But we don’t know the true nature of this additional lens yet.” The findings are detailed in two new papers, one to be published in The Astrophysical Journal and another that already appears in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Read More Nasa gets ‘puzzling’ data back from spacecraft exploring distant object Nasa sending VR headset up to ISS to treat astronaut’s mental health All-UK space mission will ‘push boundaries of human knowledge’ All-female Nasa astronaut team departs International Space Station on spacewalk Watch: Nasa astronauts step out of ISS for spacewalk Jupiter has a creepy ‘face’ in haunting Halloween photo by NASA
2023-11-10 03:25
Bacteria could turn the Moon into a farm for lunar colonies, scientists say
Bacteria could be used to improve the fertility of lunar soil to allow us to live on the Moon, scientists have said. The breakthrough new study combined three different bacteria on lunar soil to see how it would affect the growth of a plant – and found that it dramatically helped improve the fertility of material taken from the Moon. Adding the three bacteria to the soil helped the researchers grow the planet, which was a relative of tobacco named benth. The bacteria work by increasing the amount of a kind of phosphorus in the soil. That is a major nutrient for plants and adding more of it means that plants will grow more easily and populous. Previous studies have shown that it is possible to grow cress using lunar soil. But it has been found to be difficult to support plants, and studies have shown that it is actually worse than volcanic ash from our own planet. What’s more, lunar soil has less nitrogen, which is required to grow plants. What phosphorus there is also comes in a form that cannot be used by plants. If we are to live on the Moon, therefore, scientist will have to find new ways to grow plants. And the researchers suggest that the breakthrough trio of bacteria could be a key step towards that aim. That in turn will help support life in future lunar bases, the researchers note in a new study published today. The work is described in a new paper, ‘Phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria improve the growth of Nicotiana benthamiana on lunar regolith simulant by dissociating insoluble inorganic phosphorus’ published in Communications Biology. Read More One of Saturn’s moons found to have all ingredients essential for life Nasa gets ‘puzzling’ data back from spacecraft exploring distant object Telescope reveals stunning images of the universe as it has never been seen before
2023-11-10 00:20
SpaceX wins reprieve from US lawsuit alleging anti-immigrant bias
By Daniel Wiessner A U.S. judge has blocked the U.S. Department of Justice from pursuing an administrative case
2023-11-09 21:55