SHERLOC instrument offers new perspective on Jezero Crater, Mars
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42Scientists are getting a closer look of potential organic signatures in Martian rocks and may have found evidence of key building blocks of life preserved within two potentially habitable paleo-depositional settings in Mars' Jezero crater. These organics, a class of carbon-based molecules, could have been left by ancient microbial life - though there are many geological sources of organics on Ma
Google launches ChatGPT rival Bard in EU, Brazil
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42Google launched its AI chatbot Bard in the European Union, Brazil and a dozen other countries on Thursday and unveiled new features as it expands access to its answer to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT. The US tech giant unveiled Bard in February but delayed its release in the European Union as the bloc plans to regulate artificial intelligence amid concerns about risks associated with the rapidly
Satellite security lags decades behind the state of the art
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42Thousands of satellites are currently orbiting the Earth, and there will be many more in the future. Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum and the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security in Saarbrucken have assessed the security of these systems from an IT perspective. They analysed three current low-earth orbit satellites and found that, from a technical point of view, hardly any mode
Arctic Weather Satellite progressing towards launch
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42The European Space Agency's (ESA) Arctic Weather Satellite has passed its Critical Design Review, a key step to start the manufacturing of the satellite ahead of planned launch in 2024. AAC Clyde Space supplies the mission's main instrument, as well as core avionics, under contracts valued at a total of 13.5 MEUR (approx. 160 MSEK). AAC Clyde Space has developed a passive microwave radiome
High-resolution Ice Radar System Contributes to China's Antarctic Expedition
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42During the latest Chinese Antarctica Research Expedition (CHINARE 39) which wrapped up in April, 2023, a high-resolution shallow ice radar system developed by the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was applied to measure the ice sheet surrounding Zhongshan Station, where an airport on the ice is planned. The obtained data demonstrate c
OceanMind selects Spire Global's satellite ship-tracking data to combat illegal fishing
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) ("Spire" or "the Company"), a global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, was selected by OceanMind, a leader in marine enforcement and compliance, to extend its agreement in providing real-time automatic identification system (AIS) vessel-tracking data. Spire has been providing AIS data to OceanMind since 2019. OceanMind supports fish
Rocket Lab takes another step towards reusability on next Electron launch
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:36Rocket Lab’s next Electron launch will feature upgrades to the rocket that bring the company a step closer to being able to reuse its first stage.
NASA cancels Janus asteroid smallsat mission
Thursday, 13 July 2023 09:48NASA has canceled a mission to send a pair of smallsats to binary asteroids and will put the nearly completed spacecraft into storage for a potential future opportunity.
Plato in ESA's LEAF room
Thursday, 13 July 2023 09:00This image shows ESA’s next exoplanet mission, Plato, in the Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF). In this room, the noise of a rocket taking off is simulated. The large room measures 11 by 9 metres and is 16.4 metres high. One wall is equipped with multiple noise horns, that have a similar design as ordinary speakers. Nitrogen is shot through the horns and can produce noise up to 156 decibels. During tests, no one is allowed into the room that is surrounded by a 0.5-m-thick layer of concrete to keep the noise in. Plato passed its test with
NASA celebrates Webb telescope anniversary with close-up of stellar birth
Thursday, 13 July 2023 06:12Jets of red gas bursting into the cosmos, and a glowing cave of dust: NASA marked a year of discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope Wednesday with a spectacular new image of Sun-like stars being born. The picture is of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the nearest stellar nursery to Earth, whose proximity at 390 light-years allows for a crisp close-up by the most powerful orbital observato
In Brazil, stargazers escape cities in search of 'astro-tourism'
Thursday, 13 July 2023 06:12Awestruck by the oranges and blues of the Jewel Box star cluster, part of the Southern Cross constellation, Pedro Froes manages to get out a few words: "It's incredible." Froes is viewing the stars from a telescope in Desengano State Park, a rural patch of Brazil largely spared from light pollution, located some 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro. Desengano is Latin Ameri
Musk launches xAI to rival OpenAI, Google
Thursday, 13 July 2023 06:12Elon Musk on Wednesday launched his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, as he seeks to compete with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT - a program he accuses of being politically biased and irresponsible. The xAI website said the Tesla tycoon would run the company separately from his other companies but that the technology developed would benefit those businesses, including Twitter.
Europe braces for sweltering July
Thursday, 13 July 2023 05:45Temperatures are sizzling across Europe this week amid an intense and prolonged period of heat. And it’s only just begun. Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave with temperatures expected to climb to 48°C on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia – potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.