An object spotted in deep space is the strongest candidate yet for a galaxy arrested during early development. It’s been named Cloud-9, and it’s a mysterious object about 14.3 million light-years away, near the spiral galaxy M94, which appears to be completely devoid of stars. Instead, it seems to consist mostly of dark matter wrapped
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Tropical coral reefs cover less than 1% of the seafloor, yet support 25% of all marine species. They are also incredibly vulnerable. Over the past few decades, an estimated 30%-50% have already been lost. Yet we are approaching a terrifying threshold. After record-breaking ocean heatwaves of 2023-24, which saw coral “bleaching” in at least 83
WASHINGTON — Array Labs, a Silicon Valley startup developing radar-based Earth observation satellites, announced Jan. 5 it raised $20 million in a Series A round as it pushes to bring lower-cost synthetic aperture radar into commercial and national security markets. The financing was led by Catapult Ventures, with participation from Washington Harbour Partners, Kompas VC
We’ve all had the feeling. You’re embarrassed and then there it is: a warm flush creeping up your neck and across your cheeks. The more you think about it, the hotter and redder you get. If someone asks “are you blushing?” it only makes you blush more. So, why do we do it? When we’re
A dedicated scan for signs of radio-transmitting technology in interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has come back with absolute cometary radio silence. The Breakthrough Listen project used one of the world’s biggest, most sensitive radio telescopes, the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope, to listen for several hours to the comet roughly a day before it reached perigee on
The ancient evolution of fish mouths could help solve a modern source of plastic pollution. Inspired by these natural filtration systems, scientists in Germany have invented a way to remove 99 percent of plastic particles from water. It’s based on how some fish filter-feed to eat microscopic prey. The research team has already filed a
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is moving to modernize the computer networks that underpin its operations, awarding new work under a $12.5 billion Air Force-led contract vehicle designed to overhaul aging military infrastructure. Defense contractor CACI International said in a news release Dec. 31 it was awarded a five-year task order valued at up
Our cells may literally ripple with electricity, acting as a hidden power supply that could help transport materials or even play a role in our body’s communication. Researchers from the University of Houston and Rutgers University in the US suggest small ripples in the fatty membranes surrounding our cells could generate enough voltage to serve
A few years ago, asteroid mining was all the rage. With the commercial space sector rapidly growing, the dream of commercializing space seemed almost imminent. Basically, the notion of having platforms and spacecraft that could rendezvous and mine Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), then return them to space-based foundries, was right up there with sending commercial
Ever been about to pour rancid milk down the sink and thought…”Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t…”? What about the tomato passata that’s gone off? Or the water you washed the paint in? Or that pungent oil from a tuna can? Let’s consider the wisdom – or not – of putting everyday items down the plughole. Unfortunately,
SAN FRANCISCO – Eartheye Space will pool data from hundreds of Earth-observation satellites to provide imagery and data to a customer in the Asia-Pacific region. “All Earth observation sensors, including both imaging and non-imaging sensors, are provided under the contract,” which promises multi-sensor tasking, according to the Eartheye Space news release. The contract covers imagery
A controversial hominid that lived 7 million years ago may have walked on two legs after all, according to a new analysis of its fossilized bones. After its discovery in 2001, Sahelanthropus tchadensis (nicknamed Toumai) was considered one of the earliest human ancestors, but some scientists argue that it’s a more distant cousin, not a
The full Wolf Supermoon of 3 January 2026 is going to put in one of the brightest appearances of which our Moon is capable, and it’s all down to an extraordinary set of serendipitous circumstances. A full supermoon takes place when the full phase of the Moon coincides with perigee – the point in the
NEW ORLEANS — Two NASA heliophysics missions launched together in September are performing well, while a third mission launched earlier this year is beginning limited operations despite problems with one spacecraft. At the recent Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, scientists released the first data from the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and
The start of a new year has long been considered an important moment for personal change. Psychological research shows that calendar landmarks such as birthdays, Mondays, or the new year can act as mental reset points, making people more likely to reflect on their lives and attempt new goals. This phenomenon was described by researchers
Some 1.2 billion light-years from Earth, a massive event is unfolding on cosmic scales. There, not two, but three galaxies are gradually coming together in a giant, triple collision named J1218/1219+1035. That’s rare enough on its own – but this particular event is even more special. Each of the three supermassive black holes lurking at
Detailed measurements collected in metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel, have revealed how the ebb and flow of traffic throughout the week affects the electric field generated by Earth’s atmosphere. Led by researchers from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, the study used an electric field mill deployed in the city of Holon in 2024, matching
HELSINKI — Landspace, one of China’s leading launch startups, has had its application for an initial public offering accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market. The Shanghai Stock Exchange website showed the IPO status for Landspace Technology Co., Ltd. had changed to “accepted,” Chinese media reported Dec. 31. Landspace, which recently made China’s first-ever
Dogs have been ‘man’s best friend’ for thousands of years, which is a long time to get to know each other. But a new study from Arizona State University’s canine science lab suggests we may not always be reading our dogs’ emotions as clearly as we might think. Our interpretation of their feelings, it turns
As a young star develops, so too does a protoplanetary disk of dust and gas around it, ready to birth new planets. Scientists have just discovered more about IRAS 23077+6707, the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed by a telescope. First spotted last year, the system is about 1,000 light-years from Earth and has a diameter
WASHINGTON — Planet, a company best known for providing geospatial intelligence through its constellation of imaging satellites, sees a significant opportunity in developing orbital data centers for artificial intelligence. Planet announced last month a partnership with Google on what the companies call Project Suncatcher, an effort to demonstrate the ability of AI data centers to
Here are the answers to the festive maths quiz set on December 23. I hope you enjoyed it. Puzzle 1: You are given nine gold coins that look identical. You are told that one of them is fake and that this coin weighs less than the real ones. Using a set of old-fashioned balance scales,
One of the greatest mysteries the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was developed to investigate was the birth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). For more than twenty years, astronomers have puzzled over how these gravitational behemoths – weighing millions to billions of solar masses – could exist less than a billion years after the Big
A new study of the Amazon rainforest has found the region is shifting toward a ‘hypertropical’ state as droughts become longer, hotter, and more frequent. These conditions have “no current analogue” according to the international team of researchers behind the study. Trees are becoming exposed to whole new levels of stress, and the Amazon’s capacity
NEW ORLEANS — A proposal by the Trump administration to dismantle a leading atmospheric science center would also have implications for space science. The White House announced Dec. 16 it would direct the National Science Foundation to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. The plans were first reported by
A curious and paradoxical intolerance for lactose across the South Asian subcontinent could help explain why the ability for adults to consume fresh milk from other animals developed in other populations. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, led a team of scientists in a genome-wide study of people across the Asian subcontinent to better
The shape of the Universe is not something we often think about. But my colleagues and I have published a new study that suggests it could be asymmetric or lopsided, meaning not the same in every direction. Should we care about this? Well, today’s “standard cosmological model” – which describes the dynamics and structure of
WASHINGTON — Japanese radar-imaging company Synspective has been selected as a partner in a Japan Ministry of Defense project to build and operate a satellite constellation that would give Japan’s military priority access to imagery, the company announced Dec. 25. The project reflects a broader global shift toward using commercial remote-sensing satellites for national security
The Bayeux Tapestry, an enormous length of embroidered cloth depicting events culminating in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, has long been a mystery, but the once-forgotten artwork might have finally found its place. While it’s almost universally agreed that the tapestry was designed by monks who lived at St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury, England,
Saturn‘s largest moon, Titan, may not have a subsurface ocean after all. That’s according to a re-examination of data captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which flew by Titan dozens of times starting in 2004. By 2008, all the evidence suggested a subsurface ocean of liquid water lay waiting beneath Titan’s geologically complex crust. But the