Science

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the USA’s space agency, has conducted several probes and expeditions over the years to find answers to several hidden answers. In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to fly across the solar system and give humanity unprecedented access to the world far away from us. On each

Black holes are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies, including our Milky Way, holding important clues to the functioning of these giants. A group of researchers has now found a previously overlooked trove of massive black holes in dwarf galaxies. Black holes are usually detected when they actively grow by consuming gas

On August 15, 1977, a mysterious ‘Wow!’ signal had briefly blared through a radio telescope that lasted for 72 seconds. Now, almost half a century later, researchers may have discovered the source of the alleged alien broadcast. A study recently published on May 6 indicates that the signal likely came from a Sun-like star located

Artificial intelligence or AI algorithms trained on real astronomical observations speed up the pace of discoveries. However, astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered that AI can reveal unsuspected connections hidden in complex mathematics arising from general relativity — in particular, how that idea is applied to the discovery of new planets around other

For many people around the world, watching television has long been a favourite pastime. But if you’re watching television for long periods of time, it’s time to reconsider your daily routine. According to a new study, watching TV for lengthy durations can increase the risk of coronary heart disease, regardless of one’s genetic composition. The

An international group of astronomers has revived an alternative gravity theory, known as Milgromian Dynamics or MOND. A majority of astronomers agree that there’s something out there, called a ‘dark matter’, which causes spiral galaxies to rotate faster than they should. If we follow the rules of physics, galaxies rotate so quickly that they should

A mirror world is a common trope in fantasy and fiction, but it may also be the answer to one of Space’s biggest mysteries today. A group of scientists behind a new research paper suggest that a “mirror world” of particles that remains unseen from us may be the answer to the Hubble Constant problem.

Aerospace firm SpaceX is looking to raise $1.7 billion (roughly Rs. 13,192 crore) in fresh funding, a massive initiative as its controversial founder Elon Musk continues to make news, television channel CNBC reported Sunday. Citing a company-wide email the network said it obtained, CNBC reported the space travel pioneer would be paying $70 (roughly Rs.

Scientists have long tried to create new allotropes (forms) of carbon because of their versatility and usefulness for the industry. But only limited success was achieved so far. That is set to change now. In a major breakthrough, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, US, have successfully synthesised the long-hypothesised “next-generation wonder material” graphyne.

NASA is planning to make another attempt at testing the Artemis 1 SLS rocket in early June for the last time before launching it into space. The space agency said it will bring the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in early June

NASA will soon be scaling up its documentation of environmental and societal changes on Earth. The space agency will achieve this by working in collaboration with its partners in Europe and Japan, namely ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). The collaboration will include utilising all the Earth-observing satellite data available so

Auroras are natural light displays, forming dynamic patterns of brilliant lights in the Earth’s sky because of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by the solar wind — jet of charged particles coming from the Sun. The magnetosphere is an area of space controlled by a planet’s magnetic field. Except Mercury, almost all planets in the

Photonic materials are the ones that emit, detect or manipulate light. These materials play a crucial role in various sectors such as telecommunications, data processing and storage, and solar cells. Because of their vast usage, there is a continuous need to make them efficient. Researchers, at the University of Central Florida (UCF), are developing new

Billionaire Elon Musk took to Twitter late on Thursday to denounce as “utterly untrue” claims in a news report that he had sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016. Business Insider reported earlier on Thursday that Musk’s SpaceX paid $250,000 (roughly Rs. 2 crore) in 2018 to settle a sexual harassment

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab aboard International Space Station (ISS) has come up with a discovery that can give a new direction to quantum research. In this lab, researchers have experimented with gas to form an exotic material. Gas, when cooled to nearly absolute zero (minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 273 degrees Celsius) formed small,

NASA astronauts and officials on Wednesday said Boeing’s Starliner space capsule is ready for its uncrewed launch this week to the International Space Station, a long-delayed test mission meant to demonstrate the aerospace giant can safely fly humans in space. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule, a gumdrop-shaped astronaut pod, has experienced multiple setbacks in recent years.

Unidentified flying objects or UFOs have always been a subject of mystery and intrigue for the scientific community. Yet, studying these objects has often been dismissed as a non-serious discipline or pseudoscience. However, things changed this week. For the first time in 50 years, the US Congress held an open hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness across the globe. People suffering from glaucoma have their optical nerves damaged. This nerve damage, which curbs the relay of visual information to the brain, is often caused by abnormally high pressure in the eye. Wouldn’t it be useful if there’s a way to reduce eye

As we gradually move towards the Internet of Things (IoT), the volume of data is set to skyrocket. With it, the demand for lightweight, high-performance, mobile data processing devices will also increase. To develop such devices, we would first need organic integrated circuits with organic transistors. However, the integration density of these circuits has been

Supernovas are one of the most mysterious as well as luminous explosions of a star in space. In fact, they are the biggest explosions that humans have ever seen. They take place so far away that it requires powerful telescopes to spot them. A supernova typically occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive

Everyone needs a good night’s sleep, more so in the rapidly changing world where lifestyle changes are taking a toll on physical and mental health. It is well documented how an adequate amount of sleep can help us feel better and perform our daily chores efficiently. It makes us feel full of energy. But why does

In its over 30 years of service, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured some intriguing images of the cosmos, helping astronomers in understanding the mysterious events taking place up there. One of these images is of the spiral galaxy named NGC 3147. This majestic galaxy is located about 130 million light-years away in the constellation

Space is a mysterious place and many people around the world are working to uncover it layer by layer. Still, quite a few puzzling events up there remain unexplained. Scientists now believe there may be invisible walls in space. However, these walls are not anything like the walls of a room. Instead, they are more

The biggest question that scientists are grappling with in relation to Mars is this: Did the Red Planet ever host life? While the quest for finding life on Mars is underway, and with more vigour than ever before, it is unlikely any conclusive result will be found soon. NASA aims to bring back Martian samples

The energy industry is continuously evolving, sometimes throwing out astonishing results. As the current sources of energy are depleted, mankind has been pushed into the top gear to find new and reliable sources to sustain life as we know it today. One of the most promising developments has been a renewed effort to harness solar

Our updates on social media gives world an insight into our personality in general and our needs and perspectives on those issues in particular. But what if there’s also a way to judge how we were feeling exactly at the time we shared an image, a video or any other post. To be able to

This weekend, the Moon will plunge into total darkness, creating a celestial spectacle not seen in a while. On Sunday night into Monday morning, there will be a total lunar eclipse — the first of 2022. The total eclipse will be visible from parts of South and North America, Antarctica, Europe, Africa, and the east

Scientists for the first time have grown seeds in soil from the moon – samples retrieved during NASA missions in 1969 and 1972 – in an achievement that heralds the promise of using earthly plants to support human outposts on other worlds. Researchers said on Thursday they planted seeds of a diminutive flowering weed called

Biofuel researchers have been constantly working to develop a self-sustaining technique for converting renewable carbon sources into fuels while excluding carbon out of our environment and water. Despite significant advances, finishing the cycle using clean energy has proven to be difficult. Now, a group of researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has

The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionised astronomy since its deployment in 1990. The telescope, which has a crystal-clear perspective of the universe and is far above rain clouds, light pollution, and atmospheric distortions, has taken some stunning photos of the most distant stars as well as planets in our solar system. A new image from the

A quake of magnitude 5 shook the surface of Mars on May 4, as per a seismometer placed by NASA’s InSight lander on the planet. The seismic event has been dubbed a “monster” quake by the space agency given that it is the strongest temblor ever detected not just on Mars but also on any

The first ever photograph of a black hole — a fiery ring of light that surrounded a black pit of emptiness — stunned the world three years ago. The Event Horizon Telescope, a global network of synchronised radio dishes serving as one large telescope, brought that image of the black hole at the centre of

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope’s Infrared Array Camera achieved great feats for the American Space agency. The retired observatory has captured several spectacular images of the deep space until recently. It was the first of its kind to provide high-resolution images of the near- and mid-infrared universe. And, now, we are glad that it has received