Science

Since Elon Musk-owned SpaceX announced that it was aiming for September 15 to launch the first all-civilian spaceflight mission, curiosity has been building about those who have signed up for this potentially historic sojourn. Four private citizens will fly to space and will spend three days there as part of the aptly named “Inspiration4” space mission,

The European Space Agency (ESA) has shared a stunning image on Instagram of a rare celestial event, known as a Herbig-Haro object, occurring in a dark alley of the incredibly vast universe. It shows a bright beam of light appearing to move with rapid speed and penetrating the clouds. Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope,

An asteroid named 2021 NY1 could come close to hitting the Earth this month. The asteroid has been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It has also been classified as a near-Earth object owing to its predicted close pass by our planet. It is estimated to pass within

India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has completed more than 9,000 orbits around the Moon, and imaging and scientific instruments on board have been providing excellent data, officials said on Monday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is holding a two-day Lunar Science Workshop 2021, which began on Monday, to commemorate the completion of two years of operation

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have been fascinated by the world created in Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park and others who are petrified by the sheer possibility of it. But ever since director Steven Spielberg brought the novel to life with his 1993 film of the same name, there has

With artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) making inroads into what were hitherto exclusive human domains — like writing and driving — it was only a matter of time that artists too began experimenting with it. Many exhibition centres and auction houses around the world have begun taking interest in art pieces created with

Virgin Galactic is launching its first commercial research mission named “Unity 23” along with the Italian Air Force to the edge of space, it said on Thursday. The space travel company has set late September or early October as the time for the mission that will carry three paying crew members from the Air Force and

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday barred Virgin Galactic from flying its SpaceShipTwo until the agency approves its final mishap investigation report from its July flight or determines the issues do not affect public safety. The FAA confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating a deviation in the descent of the flight of the Virgin

This month appears to be rewarding for skywatchers with a full range of binocular and telescopic sights in the offing. All through September, interesting cosmic events will take place and can be seen over the horizon, according to NASA. The space agency said in its monthly update astronomers and space enthusiasts will have to gear

The battle for domination of space by private firms is not new. The latest competition saw Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos tussle in the race to make commercial space tourism a reality. Now, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken a swipe at Bezos’ Blue Origin for hiring a high-profile strategic advisory firm after it lost

China has developed a prototype miniature helicopter for surveillance work on future Mars missions, according to its space science agency, following the historic landing of a robotic rover on the Red Planet a few months ago. The prototype is similar in appearance to the robotic helicopter Ingenuity, developed by NASA for its Perseverance mission this

The solar system is full of wonders. One intriguing mystery troubling the scientific community is whether a large, icy planet sits beyond the orbit of Neptune. Scientists have long argued there could be a ninth planet but a definite evidence is yet to be found. Critics assert that finding the planet is unrealistic. So, this

Researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, US, have found a way to weave “smart clothing” that can monitor your heart. A snug athletic shirt was created with conductive carbon nanotube fibres that is said to be able to measure your heart rate efficiently and accurately. Researchers state that the nanotube fibres sewn into the

NASA’s Perseverance rover has the task of a “robot geologist” on the Red Planet’s surface. While it tracks the region for geological discoveries, its final task is to let researchers on Earth get samples of the geological specimens. For this, the rover studies the rocks around it to understand the processes that may have formed

New research in the sphere of rechargeable batteries has resulted in an alkali metal-chlorine battery that can store up to six times more charge than the normal lithium-ion batteries of today. The discovery was published on August 25, 2021. Following the discovery, the team of researchers find themselves closer to two goals: to accelerate battery power

Elon Musk never shies away from interacting with his fans and critics alike on Twitter. From cryptocurrency and Tesla to rockets and SpaceX, the billionaire entrepreneur addresses all queries on the micro-blogging site — as much as he can. Not just that, he also comes up with quirky memes to stump users. On August 28,

A SpaceX shipment of ants, avocados, and a human-sized robotic arm rocketed toward the International Space Station on Sunday. The delivery — due to arrive Monday — is the company’s 23rd for NASA in just under a decade. A recycled Falcon rocket blasted into the predawn sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. After hoisting the

Even as the nightmare involving deadly new variants of COVID-19 had started making people gloomy, the arrival of vaccines changed the grim narrative and infused a lot of optimism. But the need for treatments for those at high risk of severe illness after being infected with COVID-19 and people with a weak immune system who may not

Researchers have created new and more efficient genetic reporter proteins to detect specific proteins in cells, a step which is believed to help in the study of genetic material and intracellular processes, engineered or otherwise. Genetically encoded reporter proteins are of much use in the fields of biotechnology. These reporter proteins help detect certain proteins

The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has released a report that predicts an interesting future for Directed Energy weapons in the American military in the near future. The ARFL assembled a group of experts to predict the future of these weapons, and they have said that these can be tapped into the US military