Can the Gaia Hypothesis Be Tested in the Lab?
During the 1970s, inventor/environmentalist James Lovelock and evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis proposed the Gaia Hypothesis. This theory posits that Earth…
New NASA Report Suggests We Could See Space-Based Power After 2050
Space-based solar power (SBSP) has been in the news recently, with the successful test of a solar power demonstrator in…
NASA is Done Setting Fires Inside its Doomed Cargo Spacecraft
Fire on a spacecraft can be catastrophic. It can spread quickly in a confined space, and for trapped astronauts, there…
Euclid Begins its 6-Year Survey of the Dark Universe
ESA's Euclid mission was launched in July 2023 and has already sent home test images showing that its instruments are…
OSIRIS-REx’s Final Haul: 121.6 Grams from Asteroid Bennu
After several months of meticulous, careful work, NASA has the final total for their haul of asteroidal material from the…
Even Stars Like the Sun Can Unleash Savage Flares in Their Youth
Why would a young Sun-like star suddenly belch out a hugely bright flare? That's what astronomers at Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical…
Ground-Based Lasers Could Accelerate Spacecraft to Other Stars
The future of space exploration includes some rather ambitious plans to send missions farther from Earth than ever before. Beyond…
Even if We Can’t See the First Stars, We Could Detect Their Impact on the First Galaxies
For a long time, our understanding of the Universe's first galaxies leaned heavily on theory. The light from that age…
Another Clue Into the True Nature of Fast Radio Bursts
Astronomers have used two X-ray telescopes to study a neutron star and have discovered a link between it and mysterious…
NASA is Trying to Fix a Problem With one of Perseverance's Instruments
There's a problem with the Perseverance rover. One of its instruments, the laser-shooting SHERLOC, which is mounted on the end…