Science

The most recognizable feature on Pluto is its “heart,” a relatively bright valentine-shaped area known as Tombaugh Regio. How that heart got started is one of the dwarf planet’s deepest mysteries – but now researchers say they’ve come up with the most likely scenario, involving a primordial collision with a planetary body that was a

Climate change caused by CO2 emissions already in the atmosphere will shrink global GDP in 2050 by about US$38 trillion, or almost a fifth, no matter how aggressively humanity cuts carbon pollution, researchers said Wednesday. But slashing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible remains crucial to avoid even more devastating economic impacts after mid-century,

WASHINGTON — Astrobotic, a company that develops vehicles for space exploration missions, is making a strategic move into the defense sector with its Xogdor reusable rocket, designed to test payloads at the edge of space. Masten Space Systems, a company acquired by Astrobotic in 2022, started developing the suborbital Xogdor vehicle in 2021. The rocket,

Archaeologists have uncovered a treasure trove of evidence that humans once occupied a cave in Saudi Arabia formed by flowing lava, shedding light on the fascinating history of human life in the region. The discoveries recorded by the international team of researchers include rock art and animal bones, revealing both how people used the cave

You never really know what you might find hiding in your own backyard, especially if those things are particularly adept at escaping detection. Just 1,924 light-years from the Solar System, in the constellation of Aquila, astronomers have just discovered a black hole. And it’s not just any black hole. Named Gaia BH3, or BH3, the

The world is currently experiencing its second major coral bleaching event in 10 years, with reef systems from Australia to Florida teetering on the brink of disaster following months of record-breaking ocean heat, a US agency announced Monday. The consequences of coral bleaching are far-reaching, affecting not only the health of oceans but also the

TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite industry veteran Mark Rigolle is taking the helm of ABS after Amit Somani’s sudden departure early this year in the latest shake-up for the Dubai-based regional satellite operator, the company announced April 16. Rigolle, most recently chief operating officer for the proposed Rivada Space Networks low Earth orbit constellation (LEO), will

Furious? Incandescent with rage? Really, really angry? Take a moment, write down a description of how you’re feeling, and then dispose of the note. That could be enough to get the anger inside you to dissipate, according to a new study. Researchers from Nagoya University in Japan ran two experiments involving a total of 98

NASA bit off more than it could chew when it sent the Perseverance rover to Mars to collect samples. The US$2.4 billion mission landed the rover in Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake. It’s the ideal spot to search for the fossils of Martian microbes that may have existed when the planet was

We all know about the carbon in Earth’s atmosphere, and probably about the carbon contained in plants and the bodies of animals. But a substantial fraction of the carbon in the planet’s land-based ecosystems is held in something so obvious we might overlook it: soil. Even if we do think about carbon in soil, we

HELSINKI — China continued construction of a commercial constellation of remote sensing satellites early Monday with the launch of the SuperView-3 (01) satellite. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:12 a.m. Eastern, April 15 (0412 UTC). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success shortly

Giving pupils math homework can sometimes do more harm than good, according to a new study – particularly when the tasks involved in the work are too complex for kids to complete even with the help of their parents. The researchers, from the University of South Australia and St Francis Xavier University in Canada, interviewed

Legend has it that 16th-century Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory had a gruesome method for retaining her youthful beauty. Historical records say the noblewoman was accused of and imprisoned for murdering hundreds of girls to bathe in their supposedly restorative blood. The veracity of those accusations is questionable, at best, but the notion of resorting to

The Southern Ocean is renowned for having the cleanest air on Earth. But the precise reasons why have remained a mystery, until now. There’s more to it than just a lack of human activity. Yes, there are fewer people down there using industrial chemicals and burning fossil fuels. But there are natural sources of fine

TAMPA, Fla. — Intelsat is in talks with the U.S. government to help fund 17 medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites to expand the operator’s multi-orbit broadband network. CEO David Wajsgras said the company, which operates geostationary satellites but also provides low Earth orbit (LEO) services via leased capacity from OneWeb, is due to pick companies

The modern dating world is brutal. By creating superficial popularity contests, dating apps are criticized for emphasizing the worst aspects of what is, even in the best of circumstances, a challenging journey. It’s hard to avoid becoming jaded as a result. But we can all take some heart from a new study of almost 800

Well, now we’ve torn it. A mission to divert the course of an asteroid in September 2022 may have been a wild success, but it hasn’t been without collateral damage. A new analysis of the debris ejected from the asteroid Dimorphos when NASA slammed the DART spacecraft into it has revealed that some of the

COLORADO SPRINGS — Astroscale is moving into the next phase of an inspection mission as its spacecraft approaches a derelict upper stage in low Earth orbit. Astroscale announced April 11 that its Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft, launched Feb. 18, had moved to within several hundred kilometers of an upper stage from an

Archaeologists have found an unusual treasure that has been buried for nearly 2,000 years under the ash and debris that rained down from the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius, in 79 CE. In the rooms of an ancient home, or domus, excavations have revealed a construction site, in perfect condition. That includes tools, unused tiles, bricks

Everyone knows that solar energy is free and almost limitless here on Earth. The same is true for spacecraft operating in the inner Solar System. But in space, the Sun can do more than provide electrical energy; it also emits an unending stream of solar wind. Solar sails can harness that wind and provide propulsion

COLORADO SPRINGS – LeoLabs, the Silicon Valley startup mapping activity in low-Earth orbit, is relying on artificial intelligence to spot anomalous satellite operations. A LeoLabs visualization tool shown at the 39th Space Symposium tracks maneuvers performed by satellites that change their orbits frequently. And it highlights maneuvers conducted by satellites that did not typically perform

Dozens of broken pieces of pottery dating between 2,000 and 3,000 years old have been unearthed on a windswept island on the Great Barrier Reef – the oldest pottery ever discovered in Australia. The remnants, found less than a meter below the surface by Traditional Owners and archeologists, mark a millennia-long practice of First Nations

In 2009, NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO.) Its ongoing mission is to map the lunar surface in detail, locating potential landing sites, resources, and interesting features like lava tubes. The mission is an ongoing success, another showcase of NASA’s skill. It’s mapped about 98.2% of the lunar surface, excluding the deeply shadowed regions

Europe’s climate monitor said Tuesday that March was the hottest on record and the tenth straight month of historic heat, with sea surface temperatures also hitting a “shocking” new high. It is the latest red flag in a year already marked by climate extremes and rising greenhouse gas emissions, spurring fresh calls for more rapid

COLORADO SPRINGS — Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, is calling on commercial industry to develop affordable, radiation-hardened electronics. “Commercial innovation in this area can help to ensure the security and resilience of our satellite systems in orbit,” Shyu said April 9 at the 39th Space Symposium here. The comments from the

British physicist Peter Higgs, whose theory of a mass-giving particle – the so-called Higgs boson – jointly earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics, has died aged 94, the University of Edinburgh announced on Tuesday. “He passed away peacefully at home on Monday 8 April following a short illness,” the Scottish university, where he had

One of the weirdest stars in the Milky Way has just gotten even weirder. It’s a magnetar called XTE J1810-197, and it was discovered in 2003 just riotously spitting out radio waves. In 2008, it just… stopped, and pretty much vanished from our view. Then, in 2018, it roused again. Only this time, there was

The historic Paris climate agreement started a mantra from developing countries: “1.5 to stay alive.” It refers to the international aim to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.8 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times. But the world will likely pass that threshold within a decade, and global warming is showing little sign of slowing.

COLORADO SPRINGS — A startup has unveiled plans to develop inflatable modules that the company believes can be made larger and less expensive than alternatives, supporting commercial space stations and other applications. Max Space is developing a series of expandable modules, the first of which is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX rideshare mission in