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Diplomatic tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are affecting the farthest reaches of the Northern Hemisphere. Seven of the Arctic Council’s eight members — all except Russia, which currently holds the council’s rotating chairmanship — have agreed to boycott future meetings. The boycott, announced earlier this month by the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway … Read more
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has forced at least 1 million people to flee their homes, and has already seen thousands of Ukrainian civilians killed, could also have wide-reaching and prolonged ramifications for scores of industries and organizations, including many designed to be apolitical. Global efforts that could suffer include international science collaborations, which … Read more
Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station (ISS) to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted. According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. … Read more
New satellite views from space show the Russian military moving towards Kyiv, Ukraine on Friday (March 11), including images of a battalion firing upon the besieged capital. Muzzle flashes and smoke are visible in some of the satellite images obtained by Maxar’s WorldView-2 satellite, which has been watching the invasion of Ukraine by Russia since … Read more
Is Russia holding off on cyberwarfare while it has troops in Ukraine, or are cyberattacks failing to land thanks to vast international efforts to protect the country? Technology 10 March 2022 By Matthew Sparkes People leaving the city of Irpin, Ukraine, on 10 March AFP As Russian forces built up near the Ukraine border at … Read more
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. “Polina came to our bedroom awakened by the sound of explosions. I didn’t know and still don’t know what to tell her. Her eyes today are full of fear and terror; eyes of all of us.” Alina, a … Read more
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has sent a second shipment of Starlink terminals to Ukraine, generating grateful thank-yous from senior Ukrainian government officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. SpaceX delivered its first batch of Starlink terminals to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of that country on Feb. 24 caused widespread communications outages across the country. That lack of connectivity … Read more
In the weeks since Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops storming into neighboring Ukraine, blowback from that invasion has erupted around the world—and off-world, too. As the crisis deepens, it is increasingly disrupting international cooperation on present and planned projects for space science and exploration, potentially jeopardizing their future. Much like nesting matryoshka dolls of diminishing … Read more
A Canadian aerospace company is doing its part to help Ukraine fight off the Russian invasion. The Canadian government has granted MDA permission to collect satellite imagery of restricted areas of Ukraine using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), the Ontario-based company announced on Tuesday (March 8). “Images captured by MDA’s SAR technology, which is unique for … Read more
Thermobaric weapons, sometimes called vacuum bombs, use powdered metal to create a rapidly expanding fireball. Under international law, they must only be used against military targets, not civilians. Technology 1 March 2022 , updated 10 March 2022 By David Hambling TOS-1 Buratino rocket launchers on display in Moscow, Russia Shutterstock / Shujaa_77 Update on 10 … Read more