Science

Through the past week, NASA engineers have been working diligently to deploy major equipment and tools aboard James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), including its sunshield and secondary mirror. On Saturday, January 8,  the primary camera of the $10-billion (roughly Rs. 74,340 crore) space observatory will be deployed, which will study the origin of the Universe

James Webb Space Telescope, a day after fully tensioning the sunshield, has now completed another complex procedure. The space observatory’s secondary mirror was deployed using what a Webb engineer described as the “world’s most sophisticated tripod.” The 2.4-feet-wide mirror is located on the tips of three carbon fibre tubes which extend out from the large

China’s first independent interplanetary mission, Tianwen-1, pulled a new year’s surprise by clicking incredible selfies on Mars above its north pole. The images showed the mission’s solar arrays and antennas as well as a partial closeup of the orbiter. It also showed the Red Planet’s northern ice cap. Tianwen-1 released a small camera to fly

China is experimenting with an “artificial sun,” dubbed Experiential Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), to make way for clean energy in the future. The device setup is a fusion reactor which ran successfully for almost 20 minutes at a stunning 70 million degrees Celsius in a recent test. The machine strives to utilise the power of nuclear

James Webb Space Telescope has completed the complex process of deploying its kite-shaped sunshield. The sunshield, about the size of a tennis court, has five layers. The first three were deployed initially and the last two were done late last night. Deploying all five layers was crucial for the $10-billion (roughly Rs. 74,525 crore) space

Mars has long been a sort of an enigma to astronomers. An image released recently by the European Space Agency (ESA) reinforces the mystery around the Red Planet. The image, captured by the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), showed Mars as a stunningly delightful cake. The ESA said the image made the Earth’s neighbour appear “like

NASA engineers have begun a crucial phase in deploying the James Webb Space Telescope. The engineers have started to tighten the tension in its tennis court-sized sunshield. The stretching of the first three layers of the five-layer sunshield was successful and the final two layers will be deployed today, January 4, the space agency said.

Finding signs of alien lives on other planets has been one of the significant preoccupations of explorers and scientists. Yet, not much has been achieved so far. But scientists are not giving up their quest and appear determined to unravel the mysteries surrounding our solar system. Promisingly trying to answer the most puzzling questions of

Most astronomers, especially stargazers, would have reveled through last year with its numerous cosmic events to keep them hooked. After a brief break during the holiday season, it’s time again to turn the lenses back to the vast skies. A number of interesting and intriguing events await these hunters of the skies. As part of

Capturing great bird photographs has its own set of challenges. Many beginners wanting to try their hand in bird photography may have a perception that they need to buy an expensive camera and lenses to match. While it is true that the top-of-the-line cameras and premium lenses produce superior results in challenging conditions, still don’t

The Korean government is planning to develop a technology for Korea’s first artificial sun KSTAR to maintain 100 million degrees for 300 seconds by 2026. The 300 seconds is the minimum time required for the commercialisation of nuclear fusion technology. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on December 30 that it held the 16th National

Aerospace engineers are always looking for newer ways to support their experiments on extra-terrestrial bodies like the Moon and asteroids. One of the main impediments to their work is the lack of energy sources to continue using an equipment for a longer duration. So, MIT researchers are trying a new concept to harness the Moon’s

Are there rainbows on Mars? NASA decided to answer this questions in the latest episode of its ‘Ask The Expert’ series. Shared on Instagram, the video features the US space agency’s planetary scientist and Mars expert Mark Lemmon. The answer is “no.” But several other conditions on Mars are similar to Earth. Lemmon explained that

NASA has picked two astronauts for its sixth full-fledged crew mission to be launched by SpaceX aboard its Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg have received the required permission for the mission due to launch in 2023 on a Falcon 9 rocket. Bowen has been assigned the role

NASA’s James Webb Telescope is going through some critical manoeuvre phases which will determine its success as a mission to shed light on the origin of the universe. The powerful space observatory, which was launched into orbit on Christmas Day, is heading for a “make or break” moment when it attempts to unpack its five-layered

Shares of Biogen surged Wednesday following a report that South Korean giant Samsung Group is in talks to acquire the US biotech company for more than $40 billion (roughly Rs. 2,98,170 crore). Biogen, which is known for its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm and a neurology-focused medication pipeline, approached Samsung on a potential deal that could be

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised $337.4 million (roughly Rs. 2,515 crore) in equity financing, the rocket company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet and Fidelity Investments among its investors, hit $100 billion (roughly Rs. 7,60,140 crore) in valuation following a secondary share sale in October, according to CNBC. It

Israeli foodtech firm SavorEat on Tuesday launched a plant-based burger system personalized to each customer, one of the first companies to use 3D printing technology to cook food. Typically, vegan burgers from companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are frozen and later cooked on a grill. SavorEat’s technology, however, are made on site by

Astronomers frequently produce images and make discoveries that take us by surprise and leave us wondering what else the universe could be hiding. Black holes are an example of an object with a lot of promise for astronomical discoveries. Scientists have now created the most detailed image of radio emission from the closest supermassive black

Egypt has “digitally unwrapped” the mummy of famed Pharaoh Amenhotep I, revealing its secrets for the first time since it was discovered in 1881 without disturbing his funerary mask. Thanks to the advanced digital 3D imagery, researchers unearthed new mummification techniques used for the pharaoh whose rule dates back more than 1,500 BC. The research was

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

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.