Science

NASA has temporarily closed the camera of one of its space-based telescopes following a power issue. The closure of the camera eye of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has been studying the very hot regions of the Universe for over two decades, has halted its science work. The telescope suffered a power supply problem with

A US patient with leukaemia has become the first woman and the third person to date to be cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to the virus that causes AIDS, researchers reported on Tuesday. The case of a middle-aged woman of mixed race, presented at the

NASA’s Juno mission has yet again stunned us with breath-taking images of Jupiter and its moon, Ganymede. Scientists are awed by an image of Jupiter in a crescent phase. The picture was taken when NASA’s Juno spacecraft approached the giant planet during a regular close pass. The crescent shape of Jupiter can never be captured

Astronomy experts say they originally misread the secrets of the night sky last month: it turns out that a rocket expected to crash into the Moon in early March was built by China, not SpaceX. A rocket will indeed strike the lunar surface on March 4, but contrary to what had been announced, it was

The rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence has major implications for our privacy. A new study by two researchers shows that it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to distinguish between a face created using AI and a real face. Startlingly, the researchers said their study has shown that fake images are more trustworthy than real ones. Researchers

NASA has released the first imaging data received from its Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The images are of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. The object exploded in the 17th century and sent shock waves, heating the surrounding gas to high temperatures. It features a cloud, formed by accelerated cosmic particles, that glows in X-ray.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released a stunning photograph of the surface of Mars, demonstrating how winds sculpt the landscape. The Hooke Crater area in the Red Planet’s southern highlands is shown in this image taken from orbit by ESA and Roscosmos’ ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). The artificial hues are due to filters

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C52 blasted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5:59am on February 14. After the end of a 25-hour countdown, the launch vehicle carrying the Earth observation satellite EOS-04 and two co-passenger payloads — INSPIREsat-1 and INS-2TD — blasted off from the spaceport, marking the Indian space agency’s

Finding traces of life on other planets is one of the most intriguing and exciting aspects of astronomy. Scientists have long aspired to identify planets that may one day be habitable. With that distant goal in mind, a group of Indian researchers – two students and a professor — has found not one but 60

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted its first star and captured a selfie, NASA announced Friday. The steps are part of the months-long process of aligning the observatory’s enormous golden mirror that astronomers hope will begin unraveling the mysteries of the early Universe by this summer. The first picture sent back of the cosmos is far

Bharti-backed OneWeb on Friday announced the successful deployment of 34 satellites by Arianespace from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The latest move by the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, brings its total in-orbit constellation to 428 satellites. In a statement, OneWeb confirmed the successful deployment of 34 satellites by Arianespace

Elon Musk said on Thursday he was “highly confident” his new SpaceX Starship, designed for voyages to the moon and Mars, will reach Earth orbit for the first time this year, despite a host of technical and regulatory hurdles yet to be overcome. The billionaire SpaceX founder and CEO addressed a throng of news media

A team of astronomers has discovered a new planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun. The candidate planet, named Proxima d, is the third detected in the system and it is among the lightest of the exoplanets discovered so far. Proxima d is only a quarter of the mass of Earth and

NASA’s Parker Solar probe has captured the first-ever images of Venus, the second planet from the Sun and Earth’s closest planetary neighbour, in visible light. Venus is usually smothered in thick clouds and shrouded from sight. The probe captured the images in wavelengths of the visible spectrum — the type of light that the human

An aurora is a beautiful display of natural lights in the sky, usually seen near the North and South Poles at night. Scientists have long believed that aurorae are created when the solar winds interact with the Earth’s magnetic field — when streams of electrified particles emitted by the Sun are trapped in the magnetic

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) raised concerns about SpaceX’s plan to deploy about 30,000 satellites for its Starlink, as have some major companies. Elon Musk’s SpaceX previously received authorisation for about 12,000 satellites to offer broadband Internet and has requested authorisation for a second-generation constellation of 30,000 satellites. “NASA has concerns with the

President Joe Biden’s top science adviser Eric Lander resigned, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff, marking the first Cabinet-level departure of the Biden administration. An internal review last year, prompted by a workplace complaint, found evidence that Lander, the director of the Office

With nowhere really to go, journalists inside the Beijing Olympics bubble are encouraged to sleep on the job. They can’t visit the village rooms where competitors are staying, but they can try out the high-tech beds athletes are sleeping in. Several corridors at the main media center are lined with “sleep rest cabins,” small pods

In a strange discovery, scientists have found twin asteroids that may be Earth’s newest neighbours. The asteroids, separated by about 600,000 miles, seem to have separated from a parent asteroid only a few centuries ago. The asteroids were discovered as separate entities in August 2019. However, within a month, the similarity in their orbiting patterns

Reports suggest that a part of a Falcon 9 rocket safely broke down over Mexico after falling through the Earth’s atmosphere. The incident occurred five years after the SpaceX rocket had sent a satellite to space. In March 2017, this spacecraft had helped launch the EchoStar 23 mission. A video of the disintegrating rocket was

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has installed a new supercomputer which is claimed to be one of the most powerful of its kind in the country. It is commissioned Param Pravega and has been installed under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), it is claimed to be the largest supercomputer in an academic institution. IISc’s Param

Planets do not take much longer to form after stars have formed. For example, the Sun formed 4.6 billion years ago and the Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. However, scientists now say it is not necessarily the only possibility. They say planets can form even if a star is nearing its death, long after

A giant asteroid, estimated to be up to 1.3km in diameter, is heading towards us and will make a close pass by next month. The potentially hazardous asteroid, called 138971 (2001 CB21), will come as close as 4.5 million km. But scientists say there is no need to worry as the asteroid will be about

NASA has shared a set of three images from the universe on social media, highlighting the collaboration between its two observatories. The collaboration showed what kind of images could be produced when you look at the same object in two wavelengths of light. NASA said the images were created by combining the data from its

Since its launch three decades ago, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured millions of stunning images of the cosmos. On its first launch anniversary on April 24 in 1991, it observed something amazing. It’s called the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant and it is located 2,600 light-years away from Earth. Sharing the image on Twitter, NASA

NASA has again delayed the final prelaunch test of Artemis I, an uncrewed mission that will be the stepping stone for returning humans to the Moon after several decades. The wet dress rehearsal was previously scheduled for February and has now been postponed to mid-March. This could now delay the actual launch of Artemis I

International Space Station (ISS) is entering its final decade of operational life and NASA is planning to open it for commercial activities. The space agency has detailed the transition plan in a new report. It outlines the steps being taken by NASA to develop “both the supply and demand side” of the low-Earth-orbit commercial economy.

A US intelligence agency said Wednesday that its newest spy satellite successfully launched into orbit atop a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The SpaceX rocket took off at 12:27 pm local time (01:57am IST on February 3) from the Vandenberg Air Force base in California, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which is in charge of

Rain Neuromorphics, a startup designing chips that mimic the way the brain works and aims to serve companies using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, said on Wednesday it raised $25 million (roughly Rs. 187 crore). Gordon Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Rain, said that while most AI chips on the market today are digital, his company’s

Speculations about a second Trojan asteroid sharing Earth’s orbit have come to an end. Researchers have confirmed that it’s indeed real. Astronomers believed they had discovered a second Trojan asteroid orbiting Earth in 2020, which sparked rounds of speculation. Scientists affirm that the first confirmed Trojan asteroid isn’t an exceptional case after the most recent

The executive producer and host of Gimlet Media’s Science Vs podcast said she would devote her fact-checking show exclusively to contradicting misinformation on other podcasts carried by parent company Spotify. The announcement by Wendy Zukerman builds on protests by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and others against Spotify’s Joe Rogan Experience Podcast. They say Spotify is

Don’t be surprised if you look at photos of the surface of Mars and see a giant cross-section of a tree stump. Recent photos of the Red Planet show large concentric rings on the surface. These rings look very similar to a tree stump’s rings. But that’s not the case. The European Space Agency (ESA)

After several delays, SpaceX has finally launched an Italian satellite aboard its Falcon 9 rocket from a station in Florida, US. The space company founded by billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk initially planned to launch the Earth-observation satellite last week but continuous bad weather forced it to reschedule the launch several times. A window of