NASA selects gamma-ray telescope to chart Milky Way evolution
NASA has selected a new space telescope proposal that will study the recent history of star birth, star death, and the formation of chemical elements in the Milky Way. The gamma-ray telescope, called the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI), is exp.....»»
See incredible time lapses of two of space’s most famous objects
Two striking timelapses from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show how two famous objects have changed over the last two decades......»»
Pushing the limits of sub-kilowatt electric propulsion technology for space mission concepts
NASA has developed an advanced propulsion technology to facilitate future planetary exploration missions using small spacecraft. Not only will this technology enable new types of planetary science missions, one of NASA's commercial partners is alread.....»»
NASA"s Chandra releases timelapse movies of Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A
New movies of two of the most famous objects in the sky—the Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A—are being released from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Each includes X-ray data collected by Chandra over about two decades. They show dramatic changes in.....»»
Researcher finds that wood frogs evolved rapidly in response to road salts
When we think of evolution, we think of a process that happens over hundreds or thousands of years. In research published in Ecology and Evolution a team led by Rick Relyea, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences and David M. Darrin Senior Endowed.....»»
Mantle heat may have boosted Earth"s crust 3 billion years ago
Little is known about the nature and evolution of Earth's continental crust before a few billion years ago because cratons, or stable swaths of the lithosphere more than 2–3 billion years old, are relatively rare......»»
A NASA rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilized life on Mars
While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, NASA's Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to "search for potential evid.....»»
How NASA Repaired Voyager 1 From 15 Billion Miles Away
The far-traveled space probe is once again transmitting usable data, after a glitch caused months of gibberish......»»
How evolution has optimized the magnetic sensor in birds
Migratory birds are able to navigate and orientate with astonishing accuracy using various mechanisms, including a magnetic compass. A team led by biologists Dr. Corinna Langebrake and Prof. Dr. Miriam Liedvogel from the University of Oldenburg and t.....»»
International study produces a comprehensive "tree of life" for flowering plants
With their own botanical collection material and their research knowledge on the evolution of cruciferous plants (plants of the cabbage family), bioscientists at Heidelberg University have contributed to a large-scale international study that has pro.....»»
A key gene helps explain how the ability to glide has emerged over-and-over during marsupial evolution
People say "When pigs fly" to describe the impossible. But even if most mammals are landlubbers, the ability to glide or fly has evolved again and again during mammalian evolution, in species ranging from bats to flying squirrels. How did that come a.....»»
International team detects eruption of mega-magnetic star in nearby galaxy
While ESA's satellite INTEGRAL was observing the sky, it spotted a burst of gamma-rays—high-energy photons—coming from the nearby galaxy M82. Only a few hours later, ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope searched for an afterglow from the explos.....»»
Recoding Voyager 1—NASA’s interstellar explorer is finally making sense again
"We're pretty much seeing everything we had hoped for, and that's always good news.” Engineers have partially restored a 1970s-era computer on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft after five months of long-distance troubleshooting, building.....»»
Will we know if TRAPPIST-1e has life?
The search for extrasolar planets is currently undergoing a seismic shift. With the deployment of the Kepler Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), scientists discovered thousands of exoplanets, most of which were detec.....»»
NASA to overhaul mission returning samples from Mars—here"s why it must and will go ahead
NASA recently announced that it is seeking new ways to complete the return to Earth of rock cores drilled by the Perseverance Rover in the Jezero Crater on Mars. This has led to some anxiety among space scientists, who view the Mars Sample Return (MS.....»»
Observations explore globular cluster system in the galaxy NGC 4262
Using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), Indian astronomers have performed wide and deep field observations of a polar ring galaxy known as NGC 4262. Results of the observational campaign, published April 15 on the pre-print server arXiv, she.....»»
New JWST observations reveal black holes rapidly shut off star formation in massive galaxies
New research published in Nature showcases new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that suggest black holes rapidly shut off star-formation in massive galaxies by explosively removing large amounts of gas......»»
A first glimpse at our galaxy"s magnetic field in 3D
Thanks to new sophisticated techniques and state-of-the-art facilities, astronomy has entered a new era in which the depth of the sky can finally be accessed. The ingredients of our cosmic home, the Milky Way galaxy—stars, gas, magnetic fields—ca.....»»
Advances in understanding the evolution of stomach loss in agastric fishes
Living beings can evolve to lose biological structures due to potential survival benefits from such losses. For example, certain groups of ray-finned fishes show such regressive evolution—medakas, minnows, puffera, and wrasses do not have a stomach.....»»
Daily Telescope: The ambiguously galactic duo
Hubble continues to deliver the goods. Enlarge / This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features NGC 3783, a bright barred spiral galaxy about 130 million light-years from Earth. (credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. C. Ben.....»»
Astronauts take major step toward Starliner’s first crewed flight
After numerous delays across many years, NASA is closer than ever to launching its first astronauts aboard the Boeing-made CST-100 Starliner spacecraft......»»