News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Astronomers and space fans around the world can breathe a sigh of relief: The James Webb Space Telescope is now fully deployed. The $10 billion NASA observatory unfolded the second “wing” of its massive primary mirror today (Jan. 8), bringing the light-collecting structure up to its full size and marking the end of the mission’s … Read more
A group of mysterious, ultradense structures just outside Earth’s core may be the remnants of an ancient interplanetary collision, new research suggests. These strange structures are known as ultralow-velocity zones (ULVZs), because seismic waves generated by earthquakes travel about 50% more slowly through these zones than through the surrounding mantle. That means the ULVZs are … Read more
The pioneering work of physicist Stephen Hawking is honored in a Google Doodle today (Jan. 8), including a video with Hawking’s quotes concerning everything from cosmology to disability. On what would have been Hawking’s 80th birthday, the cosmologist was cited not only with his work in probing the fate of the universe and the nature … Read more
Dr. Michaela Musilova is the director of Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) program, which conducts analog missions to the moon and Mars for scientific research at a habitat on the volcano Mauna Loa. She commanded the two-week Selene V lunar mission and contributed this report to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Commander’s … Read more
The current chaos in Kazakhstan isn’t seriously impacting the famous spaceport in the nation, Russian officials say. Spiking fuel prices spurred a wave of protests recently across Kazakhstan, an autocratic Central Asian nation that was once part of the Soviet Union. Some of those protests have turned violent, resulting in the deaths of dozens of … Read more
Following the time of the dinosaurs, it might well be that the evolution of flowering plants drove the explosion in the diversity of life on Earth, according to a 2021 paper. Most of the plants we now eat, drink, wear, and build with are of the flowering variety. They’re called angiosperms, which roughly translates from … Read more
Before Earth and the other planets in our Solar System existed, the Sun may have been surrounded by giant rings of dust similar to Saturn’s, according to a new study. Those rings of dust may have prevented Earth from growing into a “super-Earth” – a type of planet that is about twice the size of Earth and … Read more
ASTROPHYSICS Webb telescope embarks on new era in astronomy The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope—NASA’s most expensive science mission ever—is already more than halfway to its new post 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Launched on 25 December 2021 from French Guiana, the 6.5-meter telescope is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope; it … Read more
Starlink is the name of a satellite network developed by the private spaceflight company SpaceX to provide low-cost internet to remote locations. SpaceX eventually hopes to have as many as 42,000 satellites in this so-called megaconstellation. The size and scale of the project flusters astronomers, who fear that the bright, orbiting objects will interfere with … Read more
Innovators at South Korea’s Ajou University have created a robotic hand that is capable of holding fragile objects like eggs. It can also crush cans and work with tools like tweezers and scissors. An article published in Nature Communications explained all the details of the new technology. It weighs just under two and a half pounds … Read more