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Edited by Dava Sobel Elective Affinities: Ghazal of the Muon “Long-Awaited Muon Measurement Boosts Evidence for New Physics” — Scientific American, April 7, 2021 The Muon’s aberrant behavior, an extended quantum particle wobble, upends the Standard Theory, creating in Physics an existential wobble. Normally a wavelike excitation, spinning through Higgs’s gravitational field, unless caught and … Read more
The moon has been Earth’s close companion for billions of years, and while our view of its shape and size varies somewhat as it orbits our planet, it remains a constant presence in the sky. But could that change? In the 2022 movie “Moonfall” (Lionsgate, released on Feb. 4), a mysterious force ejects the moon … Read more
Astra will launch its first-ever mission from the Lower 48 on Saturday (Feb. 5), and you can watch the action live. The California startup plans to launch the ELaNa 41 mission from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday during a three-hour window that opens at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT). Watch it live here … Read more
New research suggests that stellar radiation is stripping away the “fluffy” atmospheres of exoplanets slightly smaller than Neptune, leaving behind their rocky cores and transforming them into worlds more closely resembling Earth. In the 1990s, astronomers confirmed the existence of planets outside the solar system. Known as exoplanets, they are one of the most fascinating … Read more
Helicopters making dusk flights on Mars might glow in the dark. A new study suggests that Mars drones, such as the Ingenuity helicopter making periodic sorties on the Red Planet, “may cause tiny electric currents to flow in the Martian atmosphere,” according to NASA. The potential currents are not a threat to the helicopter, if … Read more
There is perhaps no better way to see the absolute pinnacle of human athletic abilities than by watching the Olympics. But at the Winter Games this year – and at almost all professional sporting events – you rarely see a competitor over 40 years old and almost never see a single athlete over 50. … Read more
All manner of croaks, chirps, and deep trombone moans permeate Earth’s waters, just like the cacophony of sounds that fill its forest air. For example, reefs are surprisingly noisy places, and many of the noisemakers are fish. “We’ve known for a long time that some fish make sounds, but fish sounds were always perceived as … Read more
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning new view of a stellar nursery illuminated by the bright blue light of young stars. This vast stellar nursery, known as the Chamaeleon Cloud Complex, stretches 65 light-years wide, occupying most of the Chamaeleon constellation, which is visible from the Southern Hemisphere. Located 522 light-years away from … Read more
The International Space Station will plunge into the sea in January 2031, NASA has announced. The orbiting laboratory, which launched in 1998, will splash-land 1,678 miles (2,700 kilometers) from land at Point Nemo, the final Pacific Ocean resting place for many dead satellites and space stations such as Russia’s Mir, according to the National Oceanic … Read more
The latest blockbuster from the maestro of mayhem, Roland Emmerich, has finally arrived. Called “Moonfall,” the film promises a cosmic catastrophe on a truly biblical scale. Turns out something has caused the moon to be knocked out of orbit and now it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. However, this is far from Emmerich’s … Read more