Curiosity has been puttering away out there on Mars since August 2012, but she still has a few surprises tucked inside her weathered chassis. Scientists have just figured out how to use the rover’s instruments to measure the gravity of the ground it’s been rolling across. In turn, this has allowed scientists for the first
It may be the biggest wild card in the climate system. Scientists have long feared that the so-called “overturning” circulation in the Atlantic Ocean could slow down or even halt due to climate change – which would have enormous planetary consequences. But at the same time, researchers have a limited understanding of how the circulation
The Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft captured several stunning images of Earth during a gravity assist swingby of its home planet on Aug. 2, 2005. Several hundred images, taken with the wide-angle camera in MESSENGER’s Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), were sequenced into a movie documenting the view from MESSENGER as it departed Earth.NASA / Messenger mission
WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance won a NASA contract Jan. 31 to launch a planetary science mission in what the agency said was a competitive procurement. NASA said it will use an Atlas 5 401 from ULA to launch its Lucy mission in October 2021 from Florida. The total launch cost, which includes the launch
It’s unclear whether the initial incursion happened stealthily at night or brazenly during the day – though authorities are almost certain the invasion occurred by sea. And federal employees who returned from the month-long partial government shutdown decided that it was probably not worth the effort to relocate the roughly 90 individuals involved. That’s because
Two decades after the hypothetical prediction that it should be possible, scientists have been able to produce fractal light from a laser. Not only that, they’ve shown the fractal light could be created in 3D rather than just 2D. Displaying one of nature’s most common patterns from a very human-made technology could open up opportunities
Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission directorate, says it’s likely that there’s life beyond Earth. “Is there life beyond Earth? I think the answer is yes — but we just don’t know,” Zurbuchen said during an interview at Boston University. “The simple reason I think so is because we underestimated nature when we
Inside a washing machineGetty It’s the battle of the microfiber removers. In this corner, Cora Ball, which you toss into your wash to remove microfibers from washing away with your laundry load. In this corner, Lint LUV-R, a filter you install outside your laundry machine with the same goal in mind. New peer-reviewed research says
WASHINGTON — A startup with visions of developing private space stations raised only a small fraction of the funding it sought in a recent equity crowdfunding campaign, with no guarantee that it will be able to retain that funding. Orion Span unveiled its plans in April to develop a private space station that could launch
We know that some modern human genomes contain fragments of DNA from an ancient population of humans called Denisovans, the remains of which have been found at only one site, a cave in what is now Siberia. Two papers published in Nature today give us a firmer understanding of when these little-known archaic humans (hominins)
Record-smashing cold temperatures have led to a wave of headlines highlighting how parts of the US are now colder than Mars. In parts of media, this is now a near-yearly ritual: The Atlantic had a story on it in 2017, and even NASA’s Curiosity Rover tweeted it a few winters ago. But what does “colder
With temperatures 50 degrees Fahrenheit below the freezing point of water (-46 degrees Celsius), the shoreline of Lake Michigan has turned into an icy winter wonderland that kind of makes you forget how bitterly, miserably cold it is outside. According to Tom Skilling, a longtime Chicago forecaster and WGN-TV’s chief meteorologist, Lake Michigan has never
Temperatures this week plummeted to the lowest levels we’ve seen all season across much of the U.S. and everyday conversations are focused on how to keep warm and safe. One of the most important components to achieving cold-weather safety and comfort is effectively heating homes and buildings, which often rely on natural gas. The natural
On Jan. 30, Maxar Technologies bowed out of a cost-sharing partnership with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for developing and operating the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) mission. However, Maxar’s exit has a silver lining. During the next few months, DARPA will evaluate other options for RSGS and should seriously consider the use
It happens to me more often than I care to admit. I check my calendar for the following workday and see a call I scheduled weeks ago, when I was busy and overwhelmed and couldn’t take on any new assignments. The only issue? Right now I am also busy and overwhelmed and can’t reasonably take
Humanity is getting pretty good at looking deep into space. We’ve peered back over 13 billion light-years. We’ve seen – actually seen – two neutron stars colliding. We’re homing in on fast radio bursts, and we’re about to see, for the first time, the event horizon of a black hole. But there are still some
On the evening of January 30, some Chicagoans were startled by seriously loud noises. It was difficult to pinpoint where they were coming from. Those noises probably weren’t gun shots or fireworks; although it hasn’t been confirmed by authorities, it’s most likely the people were experiencing a weird phenomenon known as ‘frost quakes’. These booming
Artificial intelligence can play chess, drive a car and diagnose medical issues. Examples include Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo, Tesla’s self-driving vehicles, and IBM’s Watson. This type of artificial intelligence is referred to as Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) – non-human systems that can perform a specific task. We encounter this type on a daily basis, and its
After the Big Bang, the Universe was almost perfectly uniform, and full of matter, energy and radiation in a rapidly expanding state. As time goes on, the Universe not only forms elements, atoms, and clumps and clusters together, which leads to stars and galaxies, but expands and cools the entire time. No alternative can match
WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman executives said Jan. 31 that the integration of the former Orbital ATK into the company is largely going according to plan but warned there could be financial impacts to the company if there is another government shutdown. Northrop Grumman reported sales of $30 billion for the full year of 2018, up