Science

Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space over two “close encounters” between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Tiangong, China’s new space station, had to manoeuvre to avoid colliding with one Starlink satellite in July and with another in October, according to a

Life in space is intriguing, much more to those with an interest in astronomy. There are several questions. For instance, how do astronauts keep their cool, what do they do to entertain themselves, or maintain their mental and physical health. European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer shared two videos which give a sneak peek

Chinese citizens lashed out online against billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk’s space ambitions on Monday after China complained that its space station was forced to take evasive action to avoid collision with satellites launched by Musk’s Starlink programme. The satellites from Starlink Internet Services, a division of Musk’s SpaceX aerospace company, had two “close encounters”

Rogue planets have baffled astronomers for ages. Unlike regular planets which revolve around stars, these free-floating planets (FFPs) get ejected from star systems to move about in the galaxy on their own. In the latest discovery, astronomers found the largest cluster of rogue planets in a single star-forming region. With an approximate discovery of 100

NASA’s largest space telescope launch countdown has begun. The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched today on Christmas Day, December 25, and space enthusiasts can watch all the action live. The telescope is scheduled to be launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:20am EST (5:50pm IST). The space agency

A Japanese professor has developed a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate food flavours, another step towards creating a multi-sensory viewing experience. The device, called Taste the TV (TTTV), uses a carousel of 10 flavour canisters that spray in combination to create the taste of a particular food. The flavour sample then rolls on

The quest for life on planets other than ours has long held the attention of scientists. But most of their efforts have been unable to conclusively say if life really exists beyond Earth. From Moon to Mars, scientists have launched many probes and missions to uncover the mysteries. Venus, one of the most inhospitable planets

NASA has delayed the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, which would be the successor to the Hubble. The space agency said the launch will happen a day later than the earlier stipulated time, on Christmas Day, December 25, from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, where high winds are a major factor. An

Cryptocurrency pioneer Justin Sun will fly to space on billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin’s flight next year and invite five other crew mates, he said on Wednesday, joining a small list of wealthy entrepreneurs indulging in space travel. Sun, who founded blockchain platform TRON, also revealed himself to be the anonymous bidder who paid $28

NASA has again delayed its planned launch of the uncrewed lunar mission Artemis 1 by at least a month. The space agency had initially targeted the launch of the mission on February 12, 2022, but issues in the integrated testing programme have forced another schedule delay. The space agency has said it is now looking

Paleontologists have found a never-seen-before fossil of a complete baby dinosaur curled up inside its egg. The fossil showed the remarkable similarities between theropod dinosaurs and the birds they would evolve into, according to a new study. The 70-million-year-old fossilised embryo has been named “Baby Yingliang” after the museum in China which houses it. The

A solar storm warning has been issued, with an expert saying that at least two “big-flare players” could be released from the Sun soon. Space weather physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov said that many sunspot clusters could be seen from the Earth. She added that though there were “no large Earth-directed storms yet,” they were on

A SpaceX rocket carried 52 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from California early Saturday. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Space Force Base at 4:41am (6:11pm IST) and arced over the Pacific. The Falcon’s first stage returned and landed on a SpaceX droneship in the ocean. It was the 11th launch

From our Moon to Mars to Jupiter, researchers are baring all guns to find more about the world around us. While the current focus is on the Moon and Mars, there already is a probe orbiting Jupiter. Named Juno, the probe’s goal is to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system’s largest planet.

Arrival of winters is indeed a pleasant emotion for everyone and a bit more for birders, since with fall migration arrives the mesmerising flocks of migratory birds. And every birder emphasises on making the most of it, but for a new birder arises the question, “Do I need a spotting scope?” specifically for waterfowl and

The power sector is undergoing a rapid change globally as the world shifts to renewable energy and cuts down on using fossil fuels. However, a big roadblock to generating electricity from wind and solar energy is their intermittent nature due to unfavourable environmental conditions. To address this problem, storage was found in hydrogen batteries. But

An analysis of three-toed, meat-eating dinosaurs has revealed that they may have sprinted faster than a car being driven on the city roads. The footprints, left behind by these theropods over lakebed mud tens of millions of years ago, were studied by scientists. The researchers discovered two sets of fossilised footprints in Spain’s La Rioja

James Webb Space Telescope, the largest space telescope ever and the most noteworthy after Hubble, has been placed atop the Ariane 5, the rocket which will launch it to space from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The James Webb Space Telescope has been designed to find answers to outstanding questions about the universe and for

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been feeding us with several discoveries from the Red Planet ever since it landed on it in February this year. After nearly 10 months of driving around the Jezero Crater, researchers are beginning to understand that the region had been formed from red-hot magma, possibly from a long-dormant Martian volcano.

Mars’ huge canyon system, Valles Marineris, may hold hidden water beneath the surface, according to a new study. The European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos’ collbaorative ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) discovered large volumes of water in the canyon’s heart. By monitoring the hydrogen concentration in the uppermost metre of the Red Planet’s soil, TGO’s