Copernical Team
Xi emphasizes China's drive to lead in space exploration
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an accelerated push in China's space sector, urging aerospace workers to build on their recent achievements and continue advancing the nation's space ambitions. Speaking on Monday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi addressed representatives of space scientists and engineers involved in the Chang'e-6 lunar mission, underscoring the importanc
IBM and NASA unveil open-source AI model for climate and weather applications
IBM (NYSE: IBM) has introduced a new open-source AI foundation model aimed at weather and climate analysis, now available to researchers, developers, and businesses. Created in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the model is designed for a wide array of weather-related tasks and long-term climate projections. The model's architecture allows f
Draco set to capture data during satellite destruction
For nearly 70 years of spaceflight, around 10,000 satellites and rocket bodies have reentered Earth's atmosphere, with many more to follow. However, what happens to a satellite during its final moments of destruction remains unclear. The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing the Destructive Reentry Assessment Container Object (Draco) mission, designed to capture unique in-flight data du
NJIT secures NSF grant to develop AI-driven solar eruption forecasting system
Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have received a $593,864 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop an AI-powered system that enhances the forecasting of solar eruptions, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). This three-year initiative, led by Yan Xu from NJIT's Institute for Space Weather Sciences (ISWS) and Jason Wang from the uni
New optical atomic clock design simplifies technology without losing precision
Researchers have unveiled an optical atomic clock that operates with a single laser and functions at room temperature, dramatically simplifying the design without compromising on accuracy or stability. This breakthrough could lead to the development of compact and portable high-performance atomic clocks. "Over the last two decades, many great advances have been made in the performance of n
Lab Findings Suggest Some Indicators of Life on Exoplanets May Be Misleading
A new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder has shown that gases often seen as indicators of life on distant planets may not be as reliable as previously thought. Researchers managed to recreate dimethyl sulfide - a molecule traditionally associated with biological activity - in a lab without the involvement of living organisms. Published in 'Astrophysical Journal Letters', the s
Dark Matter May Experience Forces Beyond Gravity
The mystery of dark matter continues to challenge scientists, and new findings from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) suggest that dark matter may not behave according to previous assumptions. While it is commonly believed that dark matter only interacts via gravity, a recent study indicates that dark matter experiences additional forces that may reshape our understanding of the Uni
DECam Study Reveals Dense Galactic Clusters Around Early Universe Quasars
Astronomers using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) have confirmed that early-Universe quasars are surrounded by densely packed galaxies, solving a long-standing debate. DECam's wide field of view and unique filters allowed astronomers to gain new insights into the quasar neighborhoods, explaining why previous studies have produced inconsistent results. Quasars are extremely bright celestial
Astronomers catch a glimpse of a uniquely inflated and asymmetric exoplanet
Astronomers from the University of Arizona, along with an international group of researchers, observed the atmosphere of a hot and uniquely inflated exoplanet using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The exoplanet, which is the size of Jupiter but only a tenth of its mass, is found to have east-west asymmetry in its atmosphere, meaning that there is a significant difference between the two edges
Nuclear strategies tested at Sandia could avert asteroid disaster
Sandia National Laboratories is exploring a coordinated nuclear response to deflect potentially catastrophic asteroids, according to physicist Nathan Moore. His team is using Sandia's Z machine-the world's most powerful pulsed-power facility-to simulate asteroid deflection scenarios and gather critical data on how asteroids of different compositions respond to such methods. "To most people