SCIENCE - Page 12

A rocket developed by LandSpace Technology, a private Chinese space startup vying to be the country’s answer to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, on Saturday, launched three satellites into orbit, a milestone in the company’s mission to test whether its vehicle using methane and liquid oxygen is ready for commercial liftoffs. State media reported that the Zhuque-2 Y-3 rocket blasted off at 7:39 a.m. Beijing time at the Jiuquan satellite launch center in the northwestern Gobi desert. The types and weight of

Embarking on a determined journey towards sustainable energy, India is in the process of building the world’s largest renewable energy project. Emerging from the desolate expanse of the Rann of Kutch, an expansive salt desert along the border with Pakistan, this monumental endeavor is a significant step in advancing India’s commitment to transition towards renewable energy sources. The upcoming solar and wind project, which could be visible from space when it is finished in three years, will generate a staggering

After a brief hiatus due to technical difficulties, Nasa’s venerable Hubble Space Telescope is poised to recommence its scientific operations on Friday. The iconic observatory had entered a precautionary safe mode on November 23 when one of its gyroscopes, essential for orienting the telescope, began transmitting inaccurate data. As per reports, a gyro is essentially a pair of rapidly spinning wheels or a rotary device that helps a spacecraft keep its orientation in space. Hubble has four gyroscopes, and if

Scientists have unearthed the oldest-known mosquito fossils, revealing a bloodsucking surprise. The fossils dating back 130 million years to the Cretaceous Period reveal that both male and female mosquitoes were once blood-feeders. The findings challenge the current understanding that only female mosquitoes suck blood and could help to explain how male mosquitoes find human bodies to swarm over for a chance to bite. The researchers stumbled upon the fossils of two male mosquitoes near Hammana in Lebanon, which were preserved

A massive hole has opened on the Sun, unleashing a high-speed stream of solar wind aimed directly at our planet. And while such solar storms can cause power grid disruptions and dazzling auroras, this one is expected to be harmless. Astronomers spotted the dark region in the outer reaches of the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona. It’s large enough to fit 20 to 30 Earths back-to-back, NASA researchers tell Insider. It looks black because the corona is more excellent

The Sun has eruptive flares regularly, throwing plasma and magnetic energy into space. The energy from the eruptions can affect Earth, causing geomagnetic storms that interrupt satellite communications and cause auroras in our skies. On Friday, experts are warning that a ‘Cannibal’ eruption from the Sun is on its way to strike our planet. The mega eruption is expected to bring heavy auroras and could obstruct radio frequencies. A “Cannibal” CME is a phenomenon that occurs when two faster-moving solar

In the vast expanse of space, a unique celestial event brings a temporary hush to the constant stream of data flowing between Earth and its robotic explorers on the Red Planet. Approximately every 25 months, Mars and the sun find themselves on opposite sides of the sky, and the sun’s corona acts like a cosmic veil that scatters and distorts radio signals that traverse this vast interplanetary void. The latest episode in this drama played out this month. NASA’s rover

The world’s most enormous iceberg, A23a, has broken free from its long-standing position and is now navigating the icy waters of Antarctica. The trillion-metric-tonne behemoth had been grounded since it calved from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in West Antarctica in 1986, but recent satellite images have captured it kicking off on its new journey. The berg’s unexpected voyage was first noticed by British Antarctic Survey remote sensing expert Dr Andrew Fleming on January 25. He says the iceberg was expected

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently completed its largest shipment of heat source Plutonium 238 since the reinvigoration of domestic production over ten years ago. The June delivery, consisting of 0.5 kilograms (a little over a pound) of new heat source plutonium oxide, was transported from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to Los Alamos National Laboratory, where it will be transformed into the heat source pellets needed to fuel NASA’s radioisotope power systems for deep space missions. This latest

NASA’s innovative experiment aboard its Psyche spacecraft has achieved a milestone by sending a laser-beamed message across the vast expanse of space. The remarkable transmission, dubbed “first light,” is the farthest-ever demonstration of optical communications to date. It is an essential step toward enabling mission data rates 10 to 100 times higher than current radio-telecommunications systems that power current spacecraft, paving the way for high-definition images and other critical science information for future human and robotic exploration missions, and even