News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
The James Webb Space Telescope‘s key pointing instrument is working well in testing, according to two space agencies involved with the observatory’s commissioning work. The Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS), a contribution from Honeywell on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency, successfully “locked on” to a specific guide star in tracking mode on Sunday (Feb. 13), … Read more
Once, there were giants. Mountain ranges that rivaled the Himalayas in height used to stretch thousands upon thousands of kilometers across the seams of merging supercontinents, billions of years in the past. Like the teeth of decrepit old gods, they’ve long been worn down to their roots by time and decay. But in those … Read more
The pathway to humans on Mars lies through the atom, split. Far from Earth, whether in the void or on another world, power is life. A steady, strong flow of electricity is as crucial for operating computers and engines as it is for assuring access to corporeal necessities such as light and heat, breathable air … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed all five layers of its tennis-court-sized sunshield, a prerequisite for the telescope’s science operations and the most nerve-wracking part of its risky deployment. The challenging procedure, which required careful tensioning of each of the five hair-thin layers of the elaborate sunshield structure was a seamless success today (Jan. 4). … Read more
By Adam Vaughan Shane Gross/naturepl.com AS THE world examines the outcome of the COP26 climate summit, spare a thought for conservationists trying to protect the planet’s natural riches. A landmark UN biodiversity summit has been postponed three times because of the pandemic and now won’t be held in person in China until April, after a … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope is truly on its way. The massive observatory launched today (Dec. 25) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:20 a.m. EST (1220 GMT). Just 12.5 hours later, the spacecraft began a vital maneuver on its month-long journey to its future outpost as the observatory executed a 65-minute-long thruster … Read more
In 1981, as a young scientist, I applied for my dream job as a geologist with the British Antarctic Survey. As a child, I had adored snow and ice. Winter was my favorite season (and still is). My most cherished book was Wilson A. Bentley’s atlas of snowflake photographs, and I avidly read the accounts … Read more