News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
panda Representatives from the Polaris Program hold a Ukrainian flag that will fly into space later in 2022. (Image credit: Polaris Program/Twitter) The all-private Polaris Dawn mission publicly shared its support for Ukraine as the nation continues to endure attacks from Russia. The crewed Polaris Dawn, led by Inspiration4 founder and tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, will … Read more
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. The site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine has been surrounded for more than three decades by a 1,000-square-mile (2,600-square-kilometer) exclusion zone that keeps people out. On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl’s reactor number four melted … Read more
NASA’s Perseverance rover now has seven Mars rock samples in its collection. The car-sized robot drilled into another Martian rock and socked away the resulting core, mission team members announced via Twitter today (March 8). It’s the seventh drilled sample that Perseverance has collected since touching down on the floor of the Red Planet’s Jezero … Read more
The Amazon rainforest is teetering on the precipice of a dangerous tipping point, new research warns. It’s gradually losing its ability to bounce back after disturbances like droughts or other extreme weather events. With enough time and forest losses, scientists say, large swaths of the Amazon could fall into an unstoppable spiral that would transform … Read more
The green energy revolution promised by nuclear fusion is now a step closer, thanks to the first successful use of a cutting-edge artificial intelligence system to shape the superheated hydrogen plasmas inside a fusion reactor. The successful trial indicates that the use of AI could be a breakthrough in the long-running search for electricity generated from nuclear fusion — bringing its … Read more
If you haven’t heard already, “Lightyear” is set for blast-off in July this year and to celebrate, Mattel is making a new line of toys that will take you to infinity and beyond. The line of products include a launch control set, a robot companion plush toy, spaceships and of course an action figure of … Read more
You can grab an unbelievable bargain on the HTC Vive Cosmos Elite VR headset, but hurry if you’re interested, as this is a limited time deal. Right now, you can get the HTC Vive Cosmos Elite VR headset at Amazon for just £599, down from the usual price of £899. That’s a hefty £300 saving … Read more
Time-lapse imaging of Yutu 2 progress across the lunar landscape. (Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University) China’s Yutu 2 rover has returned a view of its path over three years of travels across the harsh environment of the moon’s far side. The new images — released by Ourspace, a Chinese language science outreach channel affiliated with … Read more
Image 1 of 22 (Image credit: Roscosmos) First woman in space: Valentina Tereshkova The first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, blazed a trail for the many female spaceflyers who would follow. Tereshkova, a Soviet cosmonaut, was selected from more than 400 applicants to launch on the Vostok 6 mission June 16, 1963. She was 26 at … Read more
Image 1 of 20 (Image credit: Michelle Bridges / Alamy Stock Photo) Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) Caroline Herschel is the first woman credited with discovering a comet, and is also the first to receive honorary membership with Britain’s prestigious Royal Society. Herschel’s childhood passions included music, and she sang as a sopranos in several performances in … Read more