Simulating evolution to understand a hidden switch
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
Computer simulations of cells evolving over tens of thousands of generations reveal why some organisms retain a disused switch mechanism that turns on under severe stress, changing some of their characteristics. Maintaining this "hidden" switch is one means for organisms to maintain a high degree of gene expression stability under normal conditions.
Tomato hornworm larvae are green in warm Dark Energy Survey makes public catalog of nearly 700 million astronomical objects
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
The Dark Energy Survey, a global collaboration including the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, has released DR2, the second data release in the survey's seven-year history. DR2 is the topic of sessions today and tomorrow at the 237th Meeting of the American Astronomical String of stars in Milky Way are related
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
The Milky Way houses 8,292 recently discovered stellar streams - all named Theia. But Theia 456 is special.
A stellar stream is a rare linear pattern - rather than a cluster - of stars. After combining multiple datasets captured by the Gaia space telescope, a team of astrophysicists found that all of Theia 456's 468 stars were born at the same time and are traveling in the same direction a Milky Way's Defensive Halo Blocks Incoming Gas Cloud
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
How are galaxies able to keep forming stars and planets? Astronomers from Texas Christian University are using the Green Bank Telescope to reveal more about this process, studying high-velocity clouds that are being pulled into our Milky Way galaxy by its gravitational pull.
Stars and planets require large amounts of gas to form, and galaxies can run out of this cosmic building material un The Milky Way does the Wave
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
In results announced this week at the 237th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, scientists from the Sloan Digital Sky survey present the most detailed look yet at the warp of our own Galaxy.
"Our usual picture of a spiral galaxy is as a flat disk, thinner than a pancake, peacefully rotating around its center," said Xinlun Cheng of the University of Virginia, the lead author of th Statement on Satellite Constellations by German Astronomical Society
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
The German Astronomical Society (AG), the German association of amateur astronomers (VdS) and the Society of German-Speaking Planetariums (GDP) comment on the rapid increase in the number of satellites in the night sky. Artificial satellites have significant impact on the perception of the natural starry sky and the exploration of our universe.
Astronomical research institutes, observatori Sintavia expands rocket manufacturing with two M4K-4 Printers from AMCM GmbH
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
Sintavia, LLC, a designer and additive manufacturer of critical thermal components for the Aerospace, Defense, and Space industry, reports it has acquired two M4K-4 printers from AMCM GmbH of Starnberg, Germany.
Each of the two new M4K-4s, which are stretched versions of the commercially successful EOS M400-4 printer, uses four 1kW lasers to print single-un Key modules for China's next space station ready for launch
Monday, 18 January 2021 07:39
Three major components of China's space station program have passed technical and quality assessments and are ready for upcoming missions, the China Manned Space Agency said.
Experts from the agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp reviewed the design, construction and test reports on the space station's Tianhe core module, the Tianzhou 2 car Astronaut vlog: space food and fitness
Sunday, 17 January 2021 15:00
Video:
00:04:14
English Astronaut vlog: space food and fitness
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is preparing for his mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for launch in late 2021. This mission is known as Cosmic Kiss.
In this video log from his current training base at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, USA, Matthias shows a space food tasting session and shares how astronauts maintain their fitness for a safe return to Earth.
Astronauts exercise for two hours a day, six days a week while on the International Space Station to combat muscle and bone loss caused by an extended stay
Cosmic beasts and where to find them
Sunday, 17 January 2021 13:25
Two giant radio galaxies have been discovered with South Africa's powerful MeerKAT telescope. These galaxies are thought to be amongst the largest single objects in the Universe. The discovery has been published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .
The U.S. Postal Service to issue NASA sun science forever stamps
Sunday, 17 January 2021 12:22
NASA's images of the sun's dynamic and dazzling beauty have captivated the attention of millions. In 2021, the US Postal Service is showcasing the sun's many faces with a series of sun Science forever stamps that show images of solar activity captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO.
"I have been a stamp collector all my life and I can't wait to see NASA science highlighted in this way," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. "I feel that the natural world around us is as beautiful as art, and it's inspiring to be able to share the import and excitement of studying the sun with people around the country.
Virgin Orbit rocket reaches orbit, satellites deployed
Sunday, 17 January 2021 09:22
California-based Virgin Orbit made its first successful flight to orbit Sunday using a rocket launched from a plane over the Pacific Ocean, announcing later that the satellites aboard were released successfully.
The rocket soared into space at 2:40 p.m. EST after the company's Cosmic Girl aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400, released it from beneath a wing.
"Payloads successfully Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit reaches space on 2nd try
Sunday, 17 January 2021 08:26
Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit reached space on Sunday, eight months after the first demonstration flight of its air-launched rocket system failed, the company said.
A 70-foot-long (21.34-meter-long) LauncherOne rocket was released from beneath the wing of a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft off the coast of Southern California, ignited moments later and soared toward space.
The two-stage rocket carried a cluster of very small satellites known as CubeSats developed and built as part of a NASA educational program involving U.S.
Virgin Orbit reaches orbit on second LauncherOne mission
Saturday, 16 January 2021 22:21
Updated 7:20 p.m. Eastern with post-launch comments from Virgin Orbit.
COVINGTON, La. — Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket reached orbit on its second flight Jan. 17, demonstrating the performance of the air-launch system after years of development.
NASA test of mega Moon rocket engines cut short
Saturday, 16 January 2021 18:40
NASA conducted a test firing of the engines for its giant Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket on Saturday but they shut down earlier than planned, the space agency said.
The "hot-fire" test at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was supposed to last a little over eight minutes—the time the engines would burn in flight—but they shut down just over a minute into the burn.
"Teams are assessing the data to determine what caused the early shutdown, and will determine a path forward," NASA said in a statement.
The SLS rocket is intended to launch the Artemis missions that will take US astronauts back to the Moon.
Despite being cut short, NASA said the test of the RS-25 engines had provided valuable information for the planned missions.