NASA awarded the contract to launch the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission to Blue Origin. The award is part of NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contracts. VADR arranges fixed-price launch services for scientific and technological payloads and includes thirteen companies. SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, Virgin Orbit, and Spaceflight, Inc., … [Read more…]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a scientific agency of the United States federal government that focuses on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and to conserve and manage coastal and marine resources. NOAA carries out a wide range … [Read more…]
Some of NASA’s Earth-observation satellites are helping with response to the earthquake along the Türkiye/Syria border by providing real-time data about conditions on the ground. Earlier this month, Türkiye (formerly Turkey) got hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that also sent out at least one 6.7-magnitude aftershock in its south-central region. The earthquake also produced more … [Read more…]
The James Webb Space Telescope was designed to provide more detailed data and images of distant objects and structures. However, it’s still possible for the occasional photobomb to happen. In this case, scientists found evidence that a small asteroid wandered into the field of view of one of James Webb’s instruments during calibration. Technicians were … [Read more…]
Resin fossils are unique objects in which a small animal or plant part got embedded in some tree sap, and then the sap hardened in a way that can preserve the life-form for millions of years. Resin fossils, also known as amber fossils, can range in age from a few million years old to around … [Read more…]
Astronomers are pretty used to the idea of collisions between large objects and structures. They’ve spotted colliding neutron stars. Four billion years from now, the Andromeda Galaxy will collide with the Milky Way Galaxy. Now they’ve found evidence of one of the largest possible collisions: three galaxy clusters that are currently fusing into one big … [Read more…]
Mark Hamill announced that he signed a limited number of Star Wars posters to support Ukraine’s defense efforts against the Russian invasion. The funds raised through sale or raffle of the posters will be donated to United24. United24 is an initiative set up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to process donations to Ukraine’s defense, with … [Read more…]
Scientists are developing a proposed technique to use gravitational waves to study the beginning of time. Gravitational waves might provide clues about the state of the very early universe that existed just after the Big Bang. Massive object generate gravitational waves as “ripples” in the fabric of the universe as they move through spacetime. These … [Read more…]
Astronomers formed a new method for predicting solar flares using data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The research team from NorthWest Research Associates identified small flashes in the sun’s corona that could be a precursor for flares. The flashes could indicates when and where the flares occur. They typically occur in the lower layers … [Read more…]
A paper published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal was retracted after an outside analysis found evidence of conflicts of interest among the guest editors and peer reviewers. The paper titled “The Turnaway Study: A Case of Self-Correction in Science Upended by Political Motivation and Unvetted Findings” sought to rebuff conclusions in the Turnaway Study. … [Read more…]