Copernical Team
Autonomous robot lab accelerates search for advanced quantum dots
Researchers at North Carolina State University have introduced Rainbow, a fully automated multi-robot laboratory that discovers high-performance quantum dots at unprecedented speed. The system merges robotics with artificial intelligence to perform up to 1,000 experiments per day, dramatically reducing the time needed for new materials discovery.
"Rainbow brings together multiple robots wo JWST observes planetary building blocks in Butterfly Nebula
The James Webb Space Telescope has helped researchers learn new information about how the Earth may have been formed as it gives a deeper look into the Butterfly Nebula.
The telescope saw the creation of tiny planetary building blocks around a dead star, as it saw cosmic dust particles that create planets around young stars forming for the first time.
"For years, scientists have SpaceX sets record with 30th Falcon 9 spaceflight
SpaceX set a record with its 30th flight featuring Falcon 9 booster, B1067 on Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center.
The Starlink mission 10-11 placed another 28 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit; more than 1,800 of these satellites have been launched across 74 missions in 2025.
The booster landed its 30th landing coming down at sea on the SpaceX drone ship "a Shortfall o Week in images: 25-29 August 2025
Week in images: 25-29 August 2025
Discover our week through the lens
Dusty wisps round a dusty disc
For this new Picture of the Month feature, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has provided a fantastic new view of IRAS 04302+2247, a planet-forming disc located about 525 light-years away in a dark cloud within the Taurus star-forming region. With Webb, researchers can study the properties and growth of dust grains within protoplanetary discs like this one, shedding light on the earliest stages of planet formation.
Strap in: NASA aeroshell material takes extended space trip
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Izaña-2 joins the laser game to track space debris
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In Tenerife, Spain, stands a unique duo: ESA’s Izaña-1 and Izaña-2 laser-ranging stations. Together, they form an optical technology testbed of the European Space Agency that takes the monitoring of space debris and satellites to a new level while maturing new technologies for commercialisation.
Space debris is a threat to satellites and is rapidly becoming a daily concern for satellite operators. The Space Safety Programme, part of ESA Operations, managed from ESOC in Germany, helps develop new technologies to detect and track debris, and to prevent collisions in orbit in new and innovative ways.
One of these
Chemists create new high-energy compound to fuel space flight
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A blaze of glory: SpaceX's starship goes the distance in tenth flight test
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ESA wraps up 300-million-kilometre optical communication campaign
Over the summer, the European Space Agency ran an optical communication demonstration campaign using two observatories on Earth and NASA’s Psyche mission. All four optical links were successful.