Solar Orbiter prepares for unprecedented Venus flyby
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Paris, France (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
ESA's Solar Orbiter, a collaborative mission with NASA, is poised for its closest-ever approach to Venus, marking a pivotal moment in its mission to study the Sun's polar regions.
The spacecraft's maneuver will alter its orbital trajectory, granting scientists a rare opportunity to observe the Sun's poles, a perspective unattainable from Earth. Insights gained from this unique vantage poin
ESA's Solar Orbiter, a collaborative mission with NASA, is poised for its closest-ever approach to Venus, marking a pivotal moment in its mission to study the Sun's polar regions.
The spacecraft's maneuver will alter its orbital trajectory, granting scientists a rare opportunity to observe the Sun's poles, a perspective unattainable from Earth. Insights gained from this unique vantage poin Long-Term Decline in Downward Surface Solar Radiation Highlights Emission Impacts
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
A new study led by Dr. Fengfei Song and Dr. Lixin Wu from the Frontier Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System and the Physical Oceanography Laboratory at Ocean University of China has examined long-term trends in downward surface solar radiation (DSSR).
As a crucial component of Earth's energy balance, DSSR influences global climate patterns and is essential for renewa
A new study led by Dr. Fengfei Song and Dr. Lixin Wu from the Frontier Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System and the Physical Oceanography Laboratory at Ocean University of China has examined long-term trends in downward surface solar radiation (DSSR).
As a crucial component of Earth's energy balance, DSSR influences global climate patterns and is essential for renewa Glacial Ice Loss Escalates Freshwater Depletion and Sea Level Rise
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Paris, France (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
A recent study underscores the accelerating loss of glacial ice worldwide, depleting regional freshwater reserves and significantly contributing to rising global sea levels. Conducted as part of the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE), the research, published in *Nature* on February 19, 2025, involves contributions from 35 international teams, including the German Aerospace C
A recent study underscores the accelerating loss of glacial ice worldwide, depleting regional freshwater reserves and significantly contributing to rising global sea levels. Conducted as part of the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE), the research, published in *Nature* on February 19, 2025, involves contributions from 35 international teams, including the German Aerospace C Musk furious as critics push back at DOGE's blind destruction of S&T research funding
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is moving full steam ahead with its aggressive cost-cutting measures, drawing sharp criticism from the scientific and medical communities. With sweeping layoffs and the dismantling of major research institutions, DOGE has slashed funding for programs deemed "inefficient"-including key health and science initiatives.
The National Instit
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is moving full steam ahead with its aggressive cost-cutting measures, drawing sharp criticism from the scientific and medical communities. With sweeping layoffs and the dismantling of major research institutions, DOGE has slashed funding for programs deemed "inefficient"-including key health and science initiatives.
The National Instit Odds plummet that asteroid will hit Earth in 2032
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Paris (AFP) Feb 20, 2025
The chance that an asteroid capable of wiping out a city will hit Earth in eight years has been cut in half to around 1.5 percent, according to new calculations from NASA.
The drop in odds had been widely anticipated by the global astronomical community, which now broadly expects the probability the asteroid will hit Earth on December 22, 2032 to fall down to zero.
For more than 24 hours
The chance that an asteroid capable of wiping out a city will hit Earth in eight years has been cut in half to around 1.5 percent, according to new calculations from NASA.
The drop in odds had been widely anticipated by the global astronomical community, which now broadly expects the probability the asteroid will hit Earth on December 22, 2032 to fall down to zero.
For more than 24 hours Dark Skies Enable New Observations of Asteroid 2024 YR4 Reducing Impact Probability
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
With the return of darker skies following a period of bright full moon conditions, astronomers have resumed tracking asteroid 2024 YR4. Ground-based telescopes rely on dark skies to detect asteroids, which can appear extremely faint. During a full moon, the brightness of the night sky makes it difficult to observe these small celestial objects.
NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (
With the return of darker skies following a period of bright full moon conditions, astronomers have resumed tracking asteroid 2024 YR4. Ground-based telescopes rely on dark skies to detect asteroids, which can appear extremely faint. During a full moon, the brightness of the night sky makes it difficult to observe these small celestial objects.
NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies ( This exoplanet's extreme climate challenges atmospheric models
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
An international team of astronomers has conducted an unprecedentedly precise observation of the exoplanet WASP-121b by utilizing the combined power of the four telescopes in the Very Large Telescope (VLT) array. Their findings reveal one of the most extreme planetary climates ever recorded, challenging current atmospheric models.
WASP-121b, a well-studied ultra-hot Jupiter, is known for i
An international team of astronomers has conducted an unprecedentedly precise observation of the exoplanet WASP-121b by utilizing the combined power of the four telescopes in the Very Large Telescope (VLT) array. Their findings reveal one of the most extreme planetary climates ever recorded, challenging current atmospheric models.
WASP-121b, a well-studied ultra-hot Jupiter, is known for i Ultra-low-noise Infrared Detectors Advance Exoplanet Imaging
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
One of the foremost objectives in astrophysics is the identification of Earth-like exoplanets that could potentially support life. Although thousands of exoplanets have been detected, most of these discoveries have been made indirectly by observing their impact on their host star's light rather than capturing their own light. For example, when a planet transits in front of its star, it causes a
One of the foremost objectives in astrophysics is the identification of Earth-like exoplanets that could potentially support life. Although thousands of exoplanets have been detected, most of these discoveries have been made indirectly by observing their impact on their host star's light rather than capturing their own light. For example, when a planet transits in front of its star, it causes a First 3D Atmospheric Mapping of an Exoplanet Reveals Extreme Weather Patterns
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
For the first time, astronomers have mapped the three-dimensional structure of an exoplanet's atmosphere, uncovering extreme weather conditions driven by powerful jet streams. By utilizing the full capability of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), researchers identified high-speed winds transporting iron and titanium across the skies of WASP-121b, also known as
For the first time, astronomers have mapped the three-dimensional structure of an exoplanet's atmosphere, uncovering extreme weather conditions driven by powerful jet streams. By utilizing the full capability of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), researchers identified high-speed winds transporting iron and titanium across the skies of WASP-121b, also known as NASA Investigates Spaceborne Antibiotic Resistance with ISS Experiment
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
NASA is advancing research on astronaut health with a new experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) aimed at accelerating the detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This initiative is expected to enhance health safety measures for both astronauts in space and patients on Earth.
Antibiotic-resistant infections pose a major global health challenge, leading to increased mor
NASA is advancing research on astronaut health with a new experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) aimed at accelerating the detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This initiative is expected to enhance health safety measures for both astronauts in space and patients on Earth.
Antibiotic-resistant infections pose a major global health challenge, leading to increased mor Trying to solve a key black hole mystery: Simulating magnetic flows around black holes
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
Black holes are not just cosmic voids; they are dynamic engines capable of generating and redistributing immense amounts of energy. Encircled by swirling disks of gas and dust-known as accretion disks-these enigmatic entities can channel energy through powerful jets when strongly magnetized, a process primarily governed by the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) effect.
Despite its prominence in theoret
Black holes are not just cosmic voids; they are dynamic engines capable of generating and redistributing immense amounts of energy. Encircled by swirling disks of gas and dust-known as accretion disks-these enigmatic entities can channel energy through powerful jets when strongly magnetized, a process primarily governed by the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) effect.
Despite its prominence in theoret U-M astronomy will lead its first satellite mission with NASA grant
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Ann Arbor, MI (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
The first space mission led by the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy is scheduled to launch in 2029 with the support of a NASA grant worth $10 million.
The mission is called STARI-STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry-and will showcase the viability of a new technique for studying exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system.
The technique coul
The first space mission led by the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy is scheduled to launch in 2029 with the support of a NASA grant worth $10 million.
The mission is called STARI-STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry-and will showcase the viability of a new technique for studying exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system.
The technique coul Developing an open-source tool for a European space-grade computer chip
Thursday, 20 February 2025 09:16
Space missions require high-performance, reliable and adaptable computing solutions that can operate in extreme conditions. An innovative project by YosysHQ and funded through ESA's Discovery element seeks to develop an open-source toolchain to work with a space-grade, radiation-hardened Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) architecture.
Glacier melt intensifying freshwater loss and accelerating sea-level rise
Wednesday, 19 February 2025 15:00
Ice melting from glaciers around the world is depleting regional freshwater resources and driving global sea levels to rise at ever-faster rates.
According to new findings, through an international effort involving 35 research teams, glaciers have been losing an average of 273 billion tonnes of ice per year since the year 2000 – but hidden within this average there has been an alarming increase over the last 10 years.
Names of Chinese Lunar Rover and Spacesuits Announced
Wednesday, 19 February 2025 09:07
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Feb 16, 2025
China has officially revealed the names of its new spacesuits and manned rover, which will be used in upcoming lunar missions. The China Manned Space Agency announced Wednesday that astronauts walking on the moon's surface will wear spacesuits named Wangyu, meaning "Stargazing," while the crewed lunar rover has been designated as Tansuo, translating to "Exploration."
The agency elaborated
China has officially revealed the names of its new spacesuits and manned rover, which will be used in upcoming lunar missions. The China Manned Space Agency announced Wednesday that astronauts walking on the moon's surface will wear spacesuits named Wangyu, meaning "Stargazing," while the crewed lunar rover has been designated as Tansuo, translating to "Exploration."
The agency elaborated