NASA scientists and other experts are calling for a legally binding treaty to manage “space junk” and protect Earth’s orbit. The space around our planet is increasingly crowded, with over 9,000 satellites in orbit today and projections that this number could rise to 75,000 by 2030. Disused satellites and their fragments pose a threat to […]
Astronomers capture radio signal from ancient galaxy at record-breaking distance
Astronomers have detected a radio signal from the most distant galaxy yet, using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India. The signal was detected at a wavelength known as the “21-centimeter line” or the “hydrogen line,” which is emitted by neutral hydrogen atoms. This detection could mean astronomers are ready to begin investigating the formation […]
‘Missing link’ protostar may prove solar system’s water is older than the sun
Astronomers have discovered a disk of planet-forming material around a distant star, V883 Orionis, which contains hundreds of times more water than all of Earth’s oceans. The discovery could provide insights into how water travels from star-forming gas and dust clouds to planets, and may also suggest that Earth’s water is older than the sun. […]
The World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket Is About to Launch
Relativity Space, a California-based startup, is ready to launch its almost entirely 3D-printed rocket, Terran 1, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This launch marks a significant step towards the broader use of 3D printing in the space industry. The company hopes to eventually use the technology to build tools, spacecraft, and infrastructure in orbit, on the […]
The Researcher Who Would Teach Machines to Be Fair
The speaker began studying fairness in machine learning after teaching a course on the topic and giving a talk about the moral questions that underlie the technical definitions of fairness. They argue that there is no single statistical criterion that can capture all the desired attributes of fairness. They also discuss the misuse of the […]
US congressman claims government is reverse-engineering alien tech
Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett has made claims about the US government reverse-engineering alien technology. During an interview with Newsweek, he stated his belief that the government had recovered an extraterrestrial craft and potentially alien beings. Burchett suggested that the government is currently trying to understand and replicate the technology, but faces difficulties due to its […]
A comet coming in 2024 could outshine the stars – if we’re lucky
A newly discovered comet, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), might light up the skies in the fall of 2024. The comet was initially thought to be an asteroid when it was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in South Africa in February 2023. However, images captured later revealed a condensed coma and short tail, […]
You Can Use This Silly Game to Do Some Serious Physics
The online game promoting the book “What If? 2” by Randall Munroe, author of the xkcd comics, is a simple space simulator that can also be used to explore key concepts in physics. The game begins with a rocket on a small planet, and players can use keyboard arrows to start the rocket, rotate the […]
Wormholes might bend light like black holes do — and that could be the key to finding them
Wormholes, theoretical portals that could allow for rapid travel across vast distances, could potentially magnify the light of distant objects by up to 100,000 times, which could be a key to finding them. Researchers have built a model to simulate an electrically charged, spherical wormhole and its effects on the universe around it. The model […]
Some UAP Sightings Don’t Fit Current Physics, Pentagon And Harvard Experts Say – Forbes
The Pentagon and Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb have proposed a more rigorous approach to evaluating Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sightings, formerly known as UFOs. Loeb and Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, co-authored a scientific paper aiming to use physics to rule out certain UAP sightings. They suggest that if […]
