Science

A robot developed at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has just set a new world record for solving a Rubik’s cube in the shortest time possible: it managed the feat in a mere 0.305 seconds, beating the previous record of 0.38 seconds which was also made by a robot developed by Mitsubishi. It’s a real blink-and-you’ll-miss it

TAMPA, Fla. — Ovzon’s first fully owned satellite has reached its geostationary position after a five-month journey in space and passed initial health checks, the Swedish broadband operator announced June 14. Per Norén, Ovzon’s CEO, said Ovzon 3 will enter service “within a few short weeks,” once manufacturer Maxar Technologies completes the remaining in-orbit tests.

When some people look at clusters of small holes, like those seen in a lotus seed pod or honeycomb, they are suddenly and inexplicably filled with an unpleasant, skin-crawling feeling. Turns out, the internet could be feeding this unofficial phobia. A series of experiments has now shown that online discussions on ‘trypophobia’ – or the

Most of the stars in the Milky Way tread sedate and orderly orbital measures around the galactic center, but that’s not the case for everything. Every now and again a maverick is caught breaking ranks, whizzing along at speeds that will eventually see it punted clean out into intergalactic space. These “hypervelocity” stars are extremely

There are some pretty nebulous concepts in mathematics that can be hard to wrap your head around, but the meaning of ‘equals’ was one we thought we had covered. It turns out that mathematicians actually can’t agree on the definition of what makes two things equal, and that could cause some headaches for computer programs

WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee on June 14 cleared its version of the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill is now headed to the Senate floor. The legislation, which has yet to be released in full, includes compromise language on a long-standing dispute over the transfer of Air National Guard

Famed British polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s last expedition ship Quest has been found at the bottom of the Atlantic off Canada’s coast, searchers announced Wednesday. Royal Canadian Geographical Society boss John Geiger told a news conference the shipwreck was found in the Labrador Sea at a depth of 390 meters (1,280 feet). “This is

A lot as changed in the 4.5 billion or so years since the Solar System first came together from a disk-shaped cloud of swirling dust and gas. The stuff from which everything formed has undergone some serious alterations – packed into planets, blasted by solar radiation and plasma, changed by interactions with other atoms. The

Scientists said Tuesday that international efforts to protect the ozone layer had been a “huge global success” after revealing that damaging gases in the atmosphere were declining faster than expected. The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 aimed to phase out ozone-depleting substances found primarily in refrigeration, air conditioning and aerosol sprays. A new study has

SAN FRANCISCO — Kayhan Space unveiled Satcat, a new source for information on objects and events in Earth orbit. Satcat, short for satellite catalog, merges open-source data on spacecraft and debris with tools to simplify research and analysis. In the past, “if you wanted to collect information about satellites it simply wasn’t easy,” Araz Feyzi,

What if we could keep everyone out of poverty while also tackling the climate crisis? It sounds too good to be true, but it could be possible with a universal basic income scheme funded by taxing carbon emissions, a new study shows. Universal basic income (UBI) proposes that a regular payment to every person –

Audio of a flight surgeon dealing with an emergency on the International Space Station while she was stuck in traffic triggered a brief panic on the evening of June 12 CDT. The unnamed speaker appeared to be conducting a phone call with an unheard conversant, discussing a situation in which an unnamed commander would require

It’s not always easy to understand the current climate crisis in terms of simple, straightforward facts – not with so many variables at play – but here’s a worrying stat for you: every single month of the last 12 has set a new global temperature record for that month. NASA has confirmed that May 2024

TYSONS, Va. — Planet Labs, the company that made daily Earth photos a thing thanks to their smallsat constellation, is aggressively exploiting AI to turn its trove of pictures into actionable intelligence. But a senior executive cautioned against getting too caught up in the AI hype, emphasizing that substantive solutions go way beyond flashy demos.

In the height of the Maya empire, the victims of human child sacrifice appear to have been very carefully selected. According to a new analysis of ancient DNA led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the chosen victims have something in common. The remains of 64 individuals found inside a subterranean

It’s been known for years that there are large quantities of water ice locked up in the Martian poles. Around the equator however it is a barren dry wasteland devoid of any surface ice. Recent observations of Mars have discovered frost on the giant shield volcanoes but it only appears briefly after sunrise and soon

By shifting a little focus from space to Earth, NASA is helping ecologists protect endangered species like tigers and elephants with its powerful satellites. Habitat loss is currently the greatest threat to species on our planet. As human populations explode in number, we are altering more wilderness and using an ever greater share of resources.

Computer scientists have for decades been vying to emulate the human brain, replicating its neural networks to build artificial intelligence (AI) with enhanced processing power. But the more sophisticated those artificial neural networks become, the more powerful they get, and the more we rely on them, the more energy they consume. And sometimes nature’s original

WASHINGTON — Stoke Space has test-fired a highly efficient engine it is developing for the first stage of its fully reusable launch vehicle. The company, based in Kent, Washington, announced June 11 that it performed a brief firing of the engine at a test site in Moses Lake, Washington, on June 5. The engine, designed

The Milky Way is only as massive as it is because of collisions and mergers with other galaxies. This is a messy process, and we see the same thing happening with other galaxies throughout the Universe. Currently, we see the Milky Way nibbling at its two satellite galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Their

Around 4,000 species of plants and animals are victims of illegal wildlife trade globally, according to the latest World Wildlife Crime Report. Despite two decades of coordinated international efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trafficking, it keeps posing one of the greatest threats to many species’ continued existence amid the backdrop of human-driven ecological unraveling. “Wildlife

In a recent statement, a senior Space Force official unveiled an ambitious plan for enhancing commercial partnerships to bolster the Department of Defense (DoD) space operations. This strategic initiative is designed to tap into the expertise of external partners to improve the capabilities of the Space Force, with Frontier Technology Inc. (FTI) positioned to play

Archaeologists are often described as “stumped” or “baffled” by their discoveries. But, in reality, specialists have a good grasp of what most historical objects were created for. But there are a few exceptions to this rule. The following list is a selection of intriguing mystery objects. They’re a great example of why digging up the

Many more people around the world than normal were recently able to see the northern and southern lights overhead with the naked eye. This unusual event was triggered by a very strong solar storm, which affected the movement of the Earth’s magnetic field. The Sun is reaching the maximum point of activity in an 11-year

Earth’s largest remaining tract of tropical rainforest is kept alive by a complex water cycle that we’re only just beginning to understand. Yet our activities are changing it before we can see the full picture, a new report finds. The rivers and tributaries of the Amazon rainforest hold around a fifth of Earth’s fresh water,

Updated 6:15 p.m. Eastern with comments from post-flight press conference. SPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. — Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceplane conducted its final commercial mission June 8, taking a Turkish researcher and three private astronauts on a suborbital spaceflight. VSS Unity, attached to its VMS Eve mothership aircraft, took off from Spaceport America in southern New

The neurons firing inside the brain’s memory center as we sleep might not only be revisiting past experiences. According to a new study, they could also be looking towards the future, rehearsing activity that hasn’t happened yet. A team led by researchers from the University of Michigan analyzed brain wave readings from rats during times

NASA are planning on building a telescope to hunt for habitable worlds. The imaginatively named ‘Habitable Worlds Observatory’ is at least a decade away but NASA have started to develop the underlying technology needed. The contracts have been awarded to three companies to research the next-generation optics, mission designs and telescope features at a cost

Communities along America’s North Atlantic coast are bracing for yet another exceptional hurricane season. Not only are tropical cyclones brewing earlier than usual, they are also growing in number and severity as the climate crisis unfolds. This year, it is highly possible that meteorologists will once again run out of pre-selected names for Atlantic tempests.

TAMPA, Fla. —  Planet’s first hyperspectral satellite is ready for launch to help push the Earth observation operator to profitability by early next year. Tanager-1 has arrived at California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of a SpaceX rideshare mission that could take off as soon as July, the operator said June 6 amid earnings results.