Science

For humans, getting whacked in the face by heavy raindrops is a mere annoyance. But for tiny and delicate organisms – like butterflies – drops of rainwater are the equivalent of a person being pummelled by bowling balls falling from the sky. Ouch. “[Getting hit with] raindrops is the most dangerous event for this kind

A liquid phase originally proposed in the 1910s has finally been realised. Using a liquid crystal compound, scientists have discovered a new “ferroelectric nematic” phase that could open up an entire new class of materials and technological advances. There are many phases of liquid crystal, but one of the most common is the nematic phase.

Israeli scientists say they have produced hydrogen from plants in a development that they hope could eventually lead to using vegetation to produce electricity. The discovery was made by using microscopic algae, an aquatic plant, in research carried out at a Tel Aviv University laboratory. “To link a device to electricity, you just have to

So much of our everyday tech runs on batteries, the importance of lithium-ion rechargeables cannot be overstated. But they are expensive to produce, with difficult-to-source materials. There is an alternative - sodium-ion batteries have the potential to be cheaper and more easily produced, if we can get past the problem of getting these batteries to work

WASHINGTON —  Spaceflight Industries has completed the sale of its satellite rideshare business, Spaceflight Inc., to a pair of Japanese companies following a U.S. regulatory review and the modification of an Intelsat loan.  Spaceflight Industries said the sale to Mitsui & Co., in partnership with Yamasa Co., closed June 12, roughly four months after it

Don’t you just hate it when you discover bits of yourself that seem to have a mind of their own? Like when you decide you really don’t want to like someone, but some other part of you does anyway. Well, bad news for all you fellow egg-bearers out there – turns out our ova make

It’s easy to take time’s arrow for granted – but the gears of physics actually work just as smoothly in reverse. Maybe that time machine is possible after all? An experiment from 2019 shows just how much wiggle room we can expect when it comes to distinguishing the past from the future, at least on

SASC aide: “The acquisition piece was never formally transmitted to the Congress.” WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 25-2 following three days of closed hearings, the committee announced June 11. The markup authorizes $740.5 billion for national defense

Gen. Raymond: “These men and women “made the bold decision to volunteer to join the U.S. Space Force and defend the ultimate high ground.” WASHINGTON — More than 8,500 active-duty airmen applied to join the U.S. Space Force during the month of May, the service announced on June 9. Applicants include a mix of officers

WASHINGTON — NASA announced June 5 that it awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman to begin work on a habitation module for the lunar Gateway, nearly a year after the agency announced its intent to sole-source that module to the company. NASA said it issued a contract to Northrop Grumman valued at $187 million for

WASHINGTON — The reelection campaign of President Donald Trump has taken down an online ad tied to the recent Demo-2 commercial crew launch after complaints it appeared to violate NASA media guidelines, and criticism from one person who appeared in it. The ad, titled “Make Space Great Again!”, was posted on YouTube June 3 by

WASHINGTON — After making history on the first crewed flight of an orbital spacecraft launched from the United States in nearly nine years, two NASA astronauts are settling in on the International Space Station. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley arrived at the ISS May 31, 19 hours after the Crew Dragon spacecraft they were

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a speech after the successful SpaceX Crew Dragon launch May 30 to tout his administration’s accomplishments in space, some of which predate his time in office, rather than announce any new initiatives. Trump spoke inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center a little more than

SAN FRANCISCO — Electro Optic Systems Holdings Ltd. of Australia (EOS) completed its acquisition May 28 of Silicon Valley startup Audacy and announced plans to spend approximately $1.2 billion Australian dollars ($800 million) to create the EOSLink satellite communications constellation. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved EOS’ plan to take over Audacy’s spectrum license and

WASHINGTON — As NASA and SpaceX complete final preparations for the first crewed flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, the agency is already looking ahead to the spacecraft’s next mission. Technicians spent the day May 26 wrapping up work ahead of the scheduled 4:33 p.m. Eastern May 27 launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on

The Air Force sent the report to congressional committees May 21 and notified them the next day that what they had received was not the final version. WASHINGTON — A Department of the Air Force report sent to Congress last week proposing changes to Space Force acquisition programs was an “initial version” and not the

SpaceNews in Conversation withMAJ. GEN. JOHN SHAWU.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command———Thursday, May 282 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacificvia Zoom As NASA prepares to launch astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time since the space shuttle retired in 2011, the U.S. military is reviving the astronaut-rescue role it has been performing since the Apollo era.

Air Force Secretary Barrett argues that DoD space programs and investments should be integrated under the Space Force as soon as possible. WASHINGTON — Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett is pushing back on a Defense Department proposal that would delay transferring the Space Development Agency to the Space Force until October 2022. In a May

SAN FRANCISCO – Isotropic Systems won two defense contracts in two months, an important sign the satellite terminal developer is diversifying its customer base, John Finney, Isotropic founder and CEO, told SpaceNews. On May 18, Isotropic announced a contract with the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), an organization established in 2015 to help the U.S.

U.S. Space Command for the next six years will remain at its provisional headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force on May 15 announced an open bidding process to select the permanent location of U.S. Space Command headquarters. The new process allows any state with large military

One way to help the industry is for the government to communicate what problems it needs solved and commit funding for the right solutions. The COVID-19 economic slowdown will have lasting implications on the new space sector. Yet the United States cannot afford another lost decade of commercial space innovation. Adversaries are building their own

WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates plans to double the size of its astronaut corps by early next year with the selection of two new astronauts from a pool of more than 4,000 applicants. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre announced May 10 that it received 4,305 applications from citizens of the UAE to become

The $8.9 million “fleet surveillance” contract gives the Space Force a closeup view of SpaceX commercial and civil space launches. WASHINGTON — SpaceX on May 6 was awarded an $8.9 million contract modification that gives the U.S. Space Force direct insight into the inner workings of the company’s commercial and civil space missions. The contract

WASHINGTON — The National Space Council is in discussions with the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies about new orbital debris mitigation regulations after the FCC deferred a decision last month on a controversial set of measures. In a May 6 podcast by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Scott Pace, executive secretary of

Treasury is said to be concerned that changing the rule for venture-owned startups would subvert the intent of the relief loan program. WASHINGTON — Industry groups representing space companies and other sectors have been lobbying the Treasury to waive the so-called “affiliation” rule that disqualifies many startups from coronavirus relief loan programs. To be eligible

It’s not every day that scientists uncover an entirely new species of mammal, let alone a creature whose shrouded origins lie so far back in time, they emanate from the mysterious supercontinent of ancient Gondwana. In a new study, researchers have unveiled the fossilised remains of a new genus and species discovered in Madagascar. Dubbed

As the Roman Empire drew to a dramatic collapse towards the end of the 5th century, ripples were felt across its former territories. Balances shifted as new powers rushed to fill the vacuums Rome’s retreats left behind. The changes to the everyday lives of the people are far less well documented, but a cemetery in

In the depths of space 3.5 billion light-years away, two supermassive black holes are locked in one of the most extreme orbital dances in the Universe. Their riotous, somewhat erratically flaring death spiral has been documented for decades. With new observations, astronomers have now characterised the way they whirl about each other in the centre

Satellite images and other data can be analyzed to forecast potential spreads of the disease and move resources to help combat it. WASHINGTON — Using overhead satellite imagery and analytics software, geospatial data companies track the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic. They forecast trends such as shortages of supplies and identify areas where there

A single tail from one of the largest and most enigmatic dinosaur species looks to have solved a longstanding mystery about these extinct creatures: whether they could swim. The discovery of a giant fossilised tail belonging to the theropod Spinosaurus aegyptiacus suggests these huge predators were aquatic animals after all, using tail-propelled locomotion to swim