News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Within a decade, a small rover on Mars will pick up samples of rock left by a previous mission. It will then load them into a rocket secured within a small platform on a flat patch of the planet’s surface. Once the rocket’s hatch has closed, the platform will toss it upward on its side, … Read more
Space remains a vital resource in studying climate change on our own planet. On Monday (Feb. 28), the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second piece of its latest climate report. (The first piece was published in August 2021August and the third will be released in April). The report details how … Read more
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is preparing for a deep-space chemistry experiment. During the observatory’s commissioning and ongoing mirror alignment, Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) team successfully finished initial check-out and characterization of three mechanisms that are key for the instrument to do its work. “The NIRSpec team will continue their commissioning efforts. The whole team … Read more
A new space podcast covers all the latest and greatest space news with expert commentary and a “humorous twist.” “This Week in Space,” hosted by author Rod Pyle and Space.com Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik, premieres today (March 4) on the TWiT podcast network and can also be streamed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. “We’re … Read more
In May 2020, as the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic chewed through Texas, I went to an Austin nature store and bought several bird feeders. The birds, drawn by seed and suet slabs, came soon afterward. They flitted down from the pecan trees and telephone wires: bold Tufted Titmice, bouncing Northern Cardinals and bullying … Read more
(Image credit: Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies) Luninets Air Base in Belarus as seen on Feb. 14, 2022. “Su-25 ground attack aircraft (total of 32), helicopters, an S-400 air defense unit, ground force equipment and a UAV/drone unit are seen at Luninets airfield (location: 52.276, 26.780), approximately 50 kilometers [31 miles] north of the border … Read more
Prices seem to be on the rise everywhere you turn these days. Fortunately, however, that isn’t the case for some great Lego “Star Wars” sets. These Lego “Star Wars” sets range from an Imperial Probe Droid (save £10) to an awesome 1351-Millenium Falcon (now £20.00 off). All three of the sets on sale feature in … Read more
Think of the dead grandparents and everything they’ll miss. All the milestones, the middle school graduations and bar mitzvahs and quinceañeras. All the victories, on soccer fields or piano recital halls. All the ordinary shared moments, dancing to “Baby Beluga,” or making banana bread, building extravagant Lego towers, watching The Wizard of Oz and cuddling … Read more
While we patiently wait two more years until the second half of director Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” saga comes to the silver screen to get our next cinematic fix of spice, Boom! Studies has been the vanguard with a captivating roster of “Dune-based” comic book series and one-shots set in the dense “Dune-iverse.” Boom!’s expansive plunge … Read more
The U.S. military is planning to extend its reach in space to one day patrol the area around the moon. In a new video, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) revealed the U.S. military’s big plans for its future work in space. These plans, the video showed, include extending space awareness capabilities beyond geostationary … Read more