An enormous burst of gamma rays, detected by ESA’s Integral space telescope, has struck Earth. The blast caused a significant disturbance in our planet’s ionosphere. Such disturbances are usually associated with energetic particle events on the Sun but this one was the result of an exploding star almost two billion light-years away. Analysing the effects of the blast could provide information about the mass extinctions in Earth’s history.

Europe – and the world – is in the midst of the ‘quantum decade’: a period in which the peculiar properties of matter that manifest at the very tiniest of scales are being transformed from mere scientific curiosities into the basis of practical technologies and products. The result? Major leaps forward in communications, navigation, computing and environmental sensing.

The same is true in space: ESA is currently sending a quantum-enabled probe to Jupiter, developing communications based on quantum technologies and planning flying a quantum clock to the International Space Station, as part of its quantum technology cross-cutting

Eindhoven, Netherlands (AFP) Nov 14, 2023
Climate crises, nuclear Armageddon, or a sudden meteor strike - it's clear humanity could do with Planet B. But first we need to learn to reproduce safely in space, says Dutch entrepreneur Egbert Edelbroek. Edelbroek's firm, Spaceborn United, is pioneering space sex research, with the eventual aim of natural conception and birth in the partial gravity environment found on Mars. The chal

Washington DC (UPI) Nov 13, 2023
Every construction worker who ever accidentally left their tools at their worksite now has something in common with NASA astronauts, who lost a tool bag worth $100,000 during a spacewalk on Nov. 1, the space agency announced. The white satchel, which can now be seen orbiting the Earth with a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, is hovering about 200 miles above the planet. The bag el

Arlington TX (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
A University of Texas at Arlington engineering researcher has received a NASA grant to use rotating detonation rocket engines (RDREs) for in-space propulsion to make them more efficient, compact and powerful. Liwei Zhang, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), will lead the $900,000 project. "Detonation is very fast combustion. Inside an RDRE,

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
Chinese scientists have taken a significant leap in Mars exploration technology by developing a comprehensive numerical model, "GoMars," to simulate Mars' atmospheric environment. This advancement is particularly crucial for the upcoming Tianwen 3 mission, scheduled around 2028, aimed at returning Martian samples to Earth. The study detailing this model was recently published in the Chinese Scie

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF's NOIRLab, is now peering deeper into the dusty dwellings of young stars with its new IGRINS-2 instrument. This next-generation spectrograph is an upgraded version of the high-demand visiting instrument IGRINS on Gemini South that will expand our understanding of cosmic objects shrouded by dust and gas. IGRINS-2

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
ICEYE, a prominent name in persistent monitoring and natural catastrophe solutions using radar imaging satellites, has recently fortified its constellation with the successful deployment of four new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. Launched on November 11 via SpaceX's Transporter-9 smallsat rideshare mission, coordinated by Exolaunch, these satellites took flight from Vandenberg Space