Science

A Phase Four plasma thruster. Credit: Phase Four For its latest Hyperspace Challenge accelerator, the U.S. Space Force selected three startups specializing in satellite propulsion, picks reflecting the military’s growing interest in nimble satellites that can maneuver to outplay adversaries. This marks a shift for the Pentagon, which traditionally has launched satellites into orbit and

North America may still be trembling with the aftershocks of two major earthquakes that struck the continent more than a century ago, according to new research. If the statistical inferences that scientists have made are correct, then that means some tremors of today were set in motion way back in the 1800s, after some of

You’re familiar with the states of matter we encounter daily – such as solid, liquid, and gas – but in more exotic and extreme conditions, new states can appear, and scientists from the US and China found one earlier this year. They’re calling it the chiral bose-liquid state, and as with every new arrangement of

Magicians might have an innovative trick up their psychological sleeve that sets them apart from other creative thinkers, like comedians or visual artists. Initial evidence suggests that on the whole, individuals who pursue the profession of magic lack a surprising disposition for psychoses and traits related to schizophrenia compared to other artists and even the

The most energetic cosmic-ray electrons ever detected are giving us some vital clues as to the origins of these enigmatic particles. Since 2015, more than 7 million particles have hit the CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) strapped to the strong, broad back of the International Space Station. This large collection has given scientists a robust dataset

Human-driven climate change is increasingly shaping the Earth’s living environments. Rising temperatures, rapid shifts in rainfall and seasonality, and ocean acidification are presenting altered environments to many animal species. How do animals adjust to these new, often extreme, conditions? Animal nervous systems play a central role in both enabling and limiting how they respond to

Does ChatGPT ever give you the eerie sense you’re interacting with another human being? Artificial intelligence (AI) has reached an astounding level of realism, to the point that some tools can even fool people into thinking they are interacting with another human. The eeriness doesn’t stop there. In a study published today in Psychological Science,

SAN FRANCISCO – Telesat selected Aalyria Technologies to orchestrate communications for its Lightspeed low-Earth orbit broadband network. Under the contact announced Nov. 14, Aalyria’s Spacetime networking technology will organize the flow of data traffic in the broadband constellation for more than 10 years. The value of the contract was not disclosed. “Partnering with an industry

All the way back in 1879, botanist William Beal of Michigan State University (MSU) buried 20 bottles to start an experiment on seed longevity. More than 140 years later, some of the seeds from the latest bottle to be dug up have been germinating. In a new study, researchers from MSU evaluated the genomes of

Patterns on animal skin, such as zebra stripes and poison frog color patches, serve various biological functions, including temperature regulation, camouflage, and warning signals. The colors making up these patterns must be distinct and well separated to be effective. For instance, as a warning signal, distinct colors make them clearly visible to other animals. And

The general consensus is that the constant bombardment of information and distraction that comes with modern living means that our attention spans aren’t what they used to be. A new study suggests we might be coping rather well; our concentration performance is better today than it was prior to the rise of the internet. Researchers

China continues to take great strides as part of its goal to become a superpower in space and a direct competitor with NASA. In addition to its proposed expansion of the Tiangong space station and the creation of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), China is also planning on sending crewed missions to Mars in

Earth’s rapid defrosting is putting our ecosystems and our own personal health at risk of a litany of threats, including a slew of potential pathogens that may once have wreaked havoc among our ancestors. As reported by Newsweek’s Pandora Dewan, scientists are increasingly concerned that viruses successfully reawakened after tens of thousands of years preserved

As artificial intelligence (AI) reaches the peak of its popularity, researchers have warned the industry might be running out of training data – the fuel that runs powerful AI systems. This could slow down the growth of AI models, especially large language models, and may even alter the trajectory of the AI revolution. But why

WASHINGTON — Rogue Space Systems, a three-year-old startup developing small satellites for in-orbit servicing, launched its first demonstrator Nov. 11 on the SpaceX Transporter-9 rideshare mission. SpaceX launched more than 100 satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.  Rogue’s spacecraft, named Barry-1, will test the company’s

A mysterious primate appeared in North America 30 million years ago, long after the continent’s native primates had died out, and even longer before the next big influx of primates – humans – would arrive. This lemur-like species, named Ekgmowechashala, has long puzzled paleontologists. Was it the last holdout of North American primates, or did

A black hole analog could tell us a thing or two about an elusive radiation theoretically emitted by the real thing. Using a chain of atoms in single-file to simulate the event horizon of a black hole, a team of physicists in 2022 observed the equivalent of what we call Hawking radiation – particles born

For a while, limitations in technology meant that animators and researchers were only capable of creating human-like faces which seemed a little “off”. Films like 2004’s The Polar Express made some viewers uneasy because the characters’ faces looked almost human but not quite, and so they fell into what we call the “uncanny valley“. This

A crucial piece of evidence in support of a long-standing hypothesis on planet formation has been observed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), meaning astronomers are confident they’ve got a part of the cosmic process right. JWST data processed by an international team of researchers backs up the theory of ‘icy pebble drift’, which

Last month was the hottest October on record globally, Europe’s climate monitor said Wednesday, as months of exceptional heat are likely to make 2023 the warmest year in history. With temperatures soaring beyond previous averages by exceptional margins, scientists say the pressure on world leaders to curb planet-heating greenhouse gas pollution has never been more

Scientists in China have announced the birth of a primate like no other, with eyes that shined green and fingertips that glowed yellow – and those were just the observable features. Beneath the skin and deep within its genes, this creature was apparently even more remarkable. The lab-born male monkey was the product of an

AUSTIN, Texas — SpaceX launched a cargo Dragon mission to the International Space Station Nov. 9 from one Florida pad as it completes work on a neighboring pad to support crew and cargo missions. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 8:28 p.m. Eastern and placed a cargo Dragon spacecraft into orbit

In the last 260 million years, dinosaurs came and went, Pangea split into the continents and islands we see today, and humans have quickly and irreversibly changed the world we live in. But through all of that, it seems Earth has been keeping time. Research into ancient geological events suggests that our planet has a

A technique for squeezing light in the arms of LIGO’s interferometer has allowed its measurements to cross the quantum barrier. For LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), it’s a bold new realm of sensitivity, giving the gravitational wave detector the ability to find 60 percent more dead star mergers than the rate of its previous

The impact of human activity on the Earth system could result in unpredictable chaos from which there is no return, physicists have calculated. Using a theory conceived to model superconductivity, a team of physicists led by Alex Bernadini of the University of Porto in Portugal showed in a preprint paper this year that, after a

A citizen scientist has given us a brand new look at the time NASA slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid. Using a bank of recently released raw images, amateur image processor Jacint Roger Perez compiled a series of stabilized videos of the DART spacecraft slamming into the asteroid Dimorphos, giving us a new perspective on

The last remaining Northern Greenland ice shelves bracing the region’s vast ice sheet have lost a third of their volume in the last four decades, researchers said on Tuesday, warning of the risk of “dramatic” sea level rise. The floating shelves play a crucial role in regulating the flow of ice into the ocean from

If you’ve found the superconductor highs and lows of the past year to be exhausting, you are not alone. The field has been plagued by a series of astonishing claims followed by skepticism, social media turmoil, failures to replicate, accusations of misconduct and eventual retractions. Now, Nature – one of the top scientific journals in

WASHINGTON — The European Union is in the final stages of completing a deal with SpaceX to launch four Galileo navigation satellites in 2024. In press briefings during the European Space Summit in Seville, Spain, Nov. 7, Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market for the European Commission, said he was “finalizing the discussions” for

Strip life down to its simplest components, you’re left with fragments of genes and proteins that rely on the cellular machinery of host organisms to reproduce – elements we call viruses. As if to prove there is no honor among even the smallest of thieves, some virus-like entities known as mobile genetic elements (MGEs) can