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There are several ways that exoplanet discoveries are made. The most obvious way to find an exoplanet is to see it directly using a telescope. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, because distant planets are so faint they are usually lost in the bright glare of their host stars. Nevertheless, this approach has been … Read more
Small doses of the psychotropic LSD has shown promise in recent years for its potential in rewiring the brain to be faster, happier, and more resilient. A recent study led by researchers from the University of Chicago in the US suggests we’ve got good reason to remain cautious in how we interpret the growing pile … Read more
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Seán Doran) NASA’s Perseverance rover has now been exploring Mars for a full year, and it has captured some amazing photos during that stretch. The car-sized Perseverance rover touched down inside the Red Planet’s 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. The rover is searching for signs of past Mars life … Read more
A new SpaceX video has captured a striking view of two critical moments in any rocket launch: stage separation for its booster and nose cone jettison. The video, which SpaceX released on YouTube Saturday (Feb. 5), shows the company’s Jan. 31 launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Italian Earth-observation satellite Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation … Read more
China’s Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter is once again delivering stunning imagery, with a new video released to celebrate the lunar New Year. The 38-second clip shows shadows and sunlight moving across the body of Tianwen 1, with the sunlight causing insulation to move slightly due to thermal expansion. Mars then appears below the spacecraft, with … Read more
SpaceX’s launch of an Italian Earth-observation satellite was worth the wait. SpaceX originally aimed to launch the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite on Thursday (Jan. 27), but bad weather forced scrubs on three consecutive days. Mother Nature cooperated on Sunday (Jan. 30) but a rogue cruise liner didn’t, straying into the “no-go zone” downrange … Read more
By Clare Wilson Hippocampus Science History Images / Alamy Hello, and welcome to this week’s Health Check, the weekly newsletter that gives you the health and fitness news you can really trust. To receive this free, weekly newsletter in your inbox, sign up here. I am learning to play the ukulele, and while progress is slow, … Read more
(Image credit: Courtesy of Gregory Leonard/Catalina Sky Survey) Comet C/2021 A1 — a.k.a. Comet Leonard — is on a last dash through our solar system before disappearing a little later in 2022. The comet has been a dazzling sight in binoculars or telescopes, appearing with a twisted tail and if you have a great camera, a green … Read more
When the James Webb Space Telescope’s mission first began on Dec. 25, it was already time for people on Earth to say goodbye to the observatory. A new video from the European Space Agency shows the $10 billion Webb telescope deploying from the Ariane 5 rocket that carried it into space, all in glorious 4K … Read more
China’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft at Mars pulled a big New Year’s surprise with stunning new images captured by a small camera that flew free of the orbiter to snap epic selfies above the Red Planet. The new images published by the China National Space Administration show Tianwen 1 above Mars’ north pole, with its solar … Read more