News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
NASA will unveil the first-ever images from the James Webb Space Telescope on today (Feb. 11) and you’ll be able to see them as they debut online. But don’t expect a dazzling view. The first images captured by Webb, the largest telescope ever flown in space, will be released today at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 … Read more
In the Cosmic Calendar, which maps the chronology of the Universe across a single Earth year, modern humans don’t appear until the very last minute of December 31. Everything we understand about the evolution of the Universe, we’ve had to piece together. We simply haven’t been around for pretty much any of the 13.7 billion-year … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope suffers from astigmatism, but that visual condition is a very good thing for astronomy, NASA assures us. A new explainer video the agency posted on YouTube talks about the huge telescope’s optics and how they will let astronomers peer deep into the universe’s history for future science work, ranging across … Read more
The principles of rocketry were first tested more than 2,000 years ago, but it’s only been within the past 70 years or so that we have built rockets to explore space. Today, rockets routinely loft spacecraft off Earth, sending satellites to low-Earth orbit or cargo to the International Space Station. And with the commercial space … Read more
Pieces of rock from the asteroid Ryugu splashed down on Earth in 2020. Now, scientists studying the samples are revealing the asteroid’s true nature. Ryugu is a near-Earth asteroid that Japan visited with its Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The craft launched in 2014, arrived at the space rock in 2018 and in December 2020 dropped off a … Read more
Using satellite data, researchers have mapped massive plumes of methane released by human activities. Those satellite images revealed that plumes of methane emitted by oil and gas facilities during leaks or maintenance operations made up about 8% to 12% of all oil and gas methane emissions, according to a new study. “This work confirms what … Read more
If you’re looking for the best space board games deals then you’ve come to the right place as we’ve searched the universe for the best prices. There’s plenty of choice and a great space board game deal for everyone and every budget, so make sure you check out our interstellar haul below. Whether you’re looking … Read more
New images recorded by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have revealed the red-hot glow of Venus‘s surface radiating through its shroud of toxic clouds – a finding that could help us better understand the minerals making up this rocky and mysterious planet. Using data from the Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument, scientists … Read more
A powerful geomagnetic storm has doomed 40 Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX last week, the company has announced. Elon Musk‘s company launched a Falcon 9 rocket bearing the 49 satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday (Feb. 3), but a geomagnetic storm that struck a day later sent the satellites plummeting back toward Earth, … Read more
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has to stay super cool to observe the cosmos. How does it beat the heat? Black paint. As the agency explained in its new YouTube series “Elements of Webb,” the James Webb Space Telescope‘s radiator is painted black to absorb heat. Just like how black asphalt gets hot in the … Read more