Could Mars ever have supported life? This NASA challenge wants your help to find out

NASA and crowdsourcing platform HeroX have launched a $30,000 challenge to find better ways to analyze data relating to Mars‘ potential to host life. The deadline to make your submission is April 18, and you can review the full competition eligibility requirements, along with the HeroX challenge page, to get more information. The goal is … Read more

World’s First Octopus Farm Planned For 2023 Is Raising Serious Ethical Concerns

Rising demands in the global cephalopod trade have encouraged the Spanish aquaculture company Nueva Pescanova to push forward with their plans to open the world’s first octopus farm sometime next year.   Proponents of the venture claim the breeding programs will ease pressure on overtaxed fisheries and provide local jobs. But ethicists, zoologists, and environmentalists … Read more

NASA opens Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge to help future moon missions

NASA wants your help to safely land future lunar spacecraft in the dark, including permanently shadowed craters that may be icy. The agency’s new Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge No. 1 plans to award as many as three prizes of up to $650,000 each. The challenge asks applicants to create sensors able to detect hazards from … Read more

Covid-19 news: Results from world’s first human challenge trial

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu, Layal Liverpool and Alex Wilkins A student takes a lateral flow test in London PA Images / Alamy Latest coronavirus news as of 12.30pm on 2 February Study that infected young adults with the coronavirus finds … Read more

New head of Indian space agency’s ‘biggest challenge’ will be human spaceflight

The new head of the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has an ambitious agenda to put human spaceflight back on track, according to media reports. Shri. Somanath assumed the helm of the agency on Friday (Jan. 14) as ISRO works to help the Gaganyaan human spaceflight program recover from setbacks in part induced by the … Read more

Ocean currents: Outsider wins DARPA challenge to predict where floats will drift

A competition to forecast the locations of 90 floats drifting in the Atlantic could lead to better methods for tracking oil slicks and locating shipwreck survivors Technology 10 January 2022 By David Hambling A drifting float like those used in the challenge Courtesy of Sofar Ocean A satellite engineer with no background in oceanography has … Read more