Science

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

A group of Stanford University researchers has developed rechargeable batteries that can store charge six times that of the lithium-ion batteries available at present. With the help of this new technology, users would have to recharge mobile devices only once a week and an electric vehicle would be able to cover six times more distance

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

How would you like your steak: rare, well-done, or 3D-printed? Well, thanks to scientists from Japan this is now a legitimate question as they have managed to create the world’s first-ever 3D-printed Wagyu beef. While it may sound unbelievable, researchers from Osaka University say that the steak created in the lab bears great resemblance to

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

Researchers at a New York-based institute said they have found a way to restore the sense of touch in a person who may have lost it due to an illness or injury. Scientists from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research said the procedure requires an electrode implant in the brain. Their path-breaking research can potentially

Russia revealed Tuesday it postponed its first mission to the Moon’s surface in decades as a result of “problems” encountered during tests of the Luna-25 spacecraft. The country’s space agency Roscosmos announced last week that the mission – originally scheduled for October 1 – from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East had been moved

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are being developed nowadays to infer people’s intentions and reactions by studying their facial expressions. But a new study says that such conjectures by AI cannot be very reliable. A recent study analysed photos of actors to examine the relation between facial expressions and human emotions. They found that people could

European Space Agency (ESA) has shared on Instagram a series of images of the Earth’s aurora lights. The photos in question capture the stunning phenomenon while it lent hues of red and green to the sky. This occurs when there are disturbances in the magnetosphere of the Earth. These disturbances are caused by the solar

Certain types of marine bacteria in the icy-cold waters off the coast of Labrador, Canada, can help in curbing the effects of offshore oil spills in the arctic and subarctic region, stated a new study. The cold-adapted microbial communities that were studied showed a capability to degrade diesel and crude oil. This was observed under

China’s Zhurong Mars rover is soldiering on after completing its initial program to explore the red planet and search for frozen water that could provide clues as to whether it once supported life. China’s National Space Administration said on its website Friday that Zhurong completed its 90-day program on August 15 and was in excellent technical