Launched in December 2013, ESA’s Gaia spacecraft is on a mission to map the locations and motions of more than a billion stars in the Milky Way with extreme precision.

But it’s not easy being a satellite: space is a dangerous place. In recent months, hyper-velocity space dust and the strongest solar storm in 20 years have threatened Gaia’s ability to carry out the precise measurements for which it is famous.

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jul 15, 2024
The quantum Hall effect (QHE) stands as a significant milestone in condensed matter physics, paving the way for advancements in topological physics. Extending QHE into three dimensions, however, presents substantial challenges. The primary difficulty lies in the extension of Landau levels into bands along the magnetic field direction, preventing the formation of bulk gaps. A recent approac

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 15, 2024
Tachyons are hypothetical particles that exceed the speed of light. Often considered the "enfant terrible" of modern physics, these superluminal particles were previously thought to be incompatible with the special theory of relativity. However, a recent paper in Physical Review D by physicists from the University of Warsaw and the University of Oxford reveals that such assumptions were unfounde

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 15, 2024
Quantum computing, harnessing the principles of quantum mechanics, is set to revolutionize fields such as medicine and machine learning by tackling problems too complex for classical computers. Quantum simulators, which consist of interacting quantum units, can be programmed to emulate intricate physical models, allowing scientists to extract valuable insights by controlling and measuring the in

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 12, 2024
The Higgs boson, discovered over a decade ago in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) detectors, remains elusive, with its properties still not fully understood. Recent progress comes from a collaboration between the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN), RWTH Aachen University, and the Max Planck Institute for Physics, providing new insights into its origins.

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 15, 2024
The potential for hydrogen-powered flights opens up significant opportunities for fossil-free travel, with rapid technological advancements propelling this vision forward. Recent research from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden indicates that nearly all air travel within a 750-mile (1200 km) radius could be serviced by hydrogen-powered aircraft by 2045. Moreover, a new heat exchanger un

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 15, 2024
A group of scientists has published a significant report on glacial geoengineering-an emerging field exploring whether technology could halt the melting of glaciers and ice sheets due to climate change. This white paper marks the first public effort by glaciologists to evaluate potential technological interventions that might address catastrophic sea-level rise scenarios. Although it

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 16, 2024
NASA's involvement with fuel cell technology began in the 1960s, a time when fossil fuels dominated energy production. Fuel cells create electricity and heat through the combination of hydrogen and oxygen via an electrolyte, producing only water as a by-product, making them an environmentally friendly power source. NASA's interest in fuel cells arose from the need to power Moon missions. E

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 17, 2024
Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), a prominent player in space infrastructure, has announced a new order to provide more Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) wings for Thales Alenia Space's Space Inspire* satellites. These satellites are part of Thales Alenia Space's latest geostationary telecommunications satellite line. Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), i

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 17, 2024
Researchers from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) are working together to test an advanced sensor aimed at measuring neutral gas velocities in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The project, under the leadership of Dr. Joo Hwang from SwRI and Dr. Phillip Anderson from UTD, is funded by the new SwRI/UTD Seed Projects for