In May 2013, the second of the telescope’s four gyroscope-like reaction wheels failed and it was unable to keep a stable position. But the telescope continues to search the sky near the ecliptic plane (where the zodiac constellations lie), using radiation pressure from the Sun for positioning. This has become the K2 mission and has […]

Apple has its app review process, and Google has recently launched its Play Protect feature. Among other programs, these efforts make use of a mix of automated and manual examination of apps in an effort to determine whether they are safe or not.   Peter Hannay, Lecturer in Digital Forensics and Cyber Security, Edith Cowan […]

There are three hugely important things that Musk misses or dismisses in the paper. Missions such as the ExoMars 2020 rover – and plans to return samples to Earth – will search for signs of life on Mars. And we must await the results before potentially contaminating Mars with humans and their waste. Planetary bodies […]

Rather than relying on the immune system to generate an antibody protein capable of shutting down a virus like the flu, computer modeling can now help quickly create custom antiviral proteins programmed to shut down a deadly virus. Ian Haydon, Doctoral Student in Biochemistry, University of Washington As Bill Gates sees it, there are three […]

The speed at which CO₂ is rising has no comparison in the recorded past. The fastest natural shifts out of ice ages saw CO₂ levels increase by around 35 parts per million (ppm) in 1,000 years. It might be hard to believe, but humans have emitted the equivalent amount in just the last 17 years. […]

By Elizabeth Landau and Pam Frost Gorder, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and Ohio State University – 5 June 2017 A newly discovered Jupiter-like world is so hot, it’s being vaporized by its own star. With a dayside temperature of more than 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit (4,600 Kelvin), KELT-9b is a planet that is hotter than most stars. […]

  Matthew Skinner, Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Kent According to the textbooks, all humans living today descended from a population that lived in east Africa around 200,000 years ago. This is based on reliable evidence, including genetic analyses of people from around the globe and fossil finds from Ethiopia of human-like skeletal […]

By detecting these gravitational waves for the first time, we’ve not only directly verified a key prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity in convincing and spectacular fashion, but we’ve opened up an entirely new window that will revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos. Sean McWilliams, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University […]

NASA has announced the historic Parker Solar Probe mission in 2018 to revolutionize our understanding of the sun as changing conditions can propagate out into the solar system, affecting Earth and other worlds. Parker Solar Probe will travel through the sun’s atmosphere, closer to the surface than any spacecraft before it, facing brutal heat and radiation conditions […]

The team behind the Electron rocket say the engine was printed in 24 hours and provides efficiency and performance benefits over other systems.   Candice Majewski, Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield The rocket that blasted into space from New Zealand on May 25 was special. Not only was it the first to […]