Finding and collecting the best lunar samples will be a major task for the next astronauts on the Moon. ESA’s Pangaea training campaign launches today to equip astronauts with a geologist’s eye on the Moon – humanity’s next space destination to help us understand more about our Solar System. 

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 03, 2021
While studying the behavior of electrons in iron-based superconducting materials, researchers at the University of Tokyo observed a strange signal relating to the way electrons are arranged. The signal implies a new arrangement of electrons the researchers call a nematicity wave, and they hope to collaborate with theoretical physicists to better understand it. The nematicity wave could help rese

Genova, Italy (SPX) Sep 02, 2021
Gaze is an extremely powerful and important signal during human-human communication and interaction, conveying intentions and informing about other's decisions. What happens when a robot and a human interact looking at each other? Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) investigated whether a humanoid robot's gaze influences the way people reason in a

Washington DC (AFNS) Sep 03, 2021
The U.S. Space Command provides capability to warfighters, including those in precision fires; leaders involved in fires should also be prepared - and prepare soldiers - to operate without that space capability in case the environment is denied or degraded, the Spacecom commander said. Spacecom provides, among other things, position navigation and timing, satellite communications, intellig

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 05, 2021
Following Flight 12's scouting images of "South Seitah," which were the most valuable Ingenuity has taken to date, we are taking Winston's advice for Ingenuity's 13th flight. We will again be venturing across into Seitah to scout an area of outcrops glimpsed in Flight 12 imagery - but we're taking these new pictures while looking back, pointing in the opposite direction. Taking place no ea

Venice (AFP) Sept 3, 2021
Giant worms and inter-planetary battles rocked the Venice Film Festival on Friday as "Dune", one of the most hotly anticipated blockbusters in years, was finally set for its world premiere. It brought a cavalcade of A-listers to the city's glitzy Lido island, along with fans packing the waterfront for the arrival of Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem.

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 3, 2021
Scientists have developed a more compact CRISPR system that can be more easily delivered to cells. The technology, described Friday in the journal Molecular Cell, promises to make cell-engineering more effective and efficient. The world's most popular and powerful gene-editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, has enabled numerous scientific discoveries. It works by excising specific DNA sequen

Piscataway NJ (SPX) Sep 07, 2021
Leading companies and organizations in the space industry, including two major branches of the U.S. Department of Defense, have come together to form the Digital IF Interoperability (DIFI) Consortium, a non-profit industry group created to advance interoperability among space and ground system networks. Formed under the auspices of The IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (I

Huntsville AL (SPX) Sep 07, 2021
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has successfully resumed observations after recovery from a problem involving one of its science instruments, the Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG). The LETG is used to measure the intensity of X-rays at different energies. In preparation for an observing run Aug. 31 using the LETG, the movement of this instrument into its operating position - where it

Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Sep 07, 2021
Astronomers can't touch the stars they study, but astrophysicist Nia Imara is using 3-dimensional models that fit in the palm of her hand to unravel the structural complexities of stellar nurseries, the vast clouds of gas and dust where star formation occurs. Imara and her collaborators created the models using data from simulations of star-forming clouds and a sophisticated 3D printing pr