The U.S. wants to build nuclear power plants that will work on the moon and Mars, and on Friday put out a request for ideas from the private sector on how to do that. The U.S. Department of Energy put out the formal request to build what it calls a fission surface power system that
Science
US officials and scientists have begun laying the groundwork for a more secure “virtually unhackable” internet based on quantum computing technology. At a presentation Thursday, Department of Energy (DOE) officials issued a report that lays out a blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum Internet, using laws of quantum mechanics to transmit information
Hopes that the rise in average global temperatures by 2100 might be capped below 2.5-degree Celsius can be all but ruled out if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, new research reassessing the atmosphere’s sensitivity to carbon dioxide(CO2) suggests. The study, under the Geneva-based World Climate Research Program, offers the first clear progress
Fitbit and other wearable devices typically linked to exercise are being studied as ways to identify people who are potentially infected with COVID-19 before symptoms appear, when they can unknowingly spread the disease. Changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, and other biometrics measured constantly by the devices may flag the early stages of virus infection,
China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space. The two countries are taking advantage of a period when Earth and Mars are favourably aligned for a short journey, with the US spacecraft due to lift off on July
China launched an unmanned probe to Mars on Thursday, aiming to demonstrate its technological prowess as it makes a bid for global leadership in space with its first independent mission to visit another planet. Here are some facts about missions to Mars by China and other countries: China’s unmanned Mars probe, named Tianwen-1 after “Tianwen”,
Researchers from University of Warwick in the UK rediscovered the planet named NGTS-11b using the Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) telescopes in Chile. The planet was originally found in 2018 using data from NASA’s TESS telescope, which scans for a dip in light from the star to identify it as a planet. At the time, due
As coronavirus infections climb in Mumbai, authorities in India’s worst-hit city are turning to high-tech “smart helmets” to speed up screenings and identify suspected cases in the financial capital’s densely-populated slums. The portable thermoscanners — previously deployed in Dubai, Italy, and China — enable health workers to record the temperatures of dozens of residents per
Scientists have identified 37 volcanic structures on Venus that appear to be recently active – and probably still are today – painting the picture of a geologically dynamic planet and not a dormant world as long thought. The research focused on ring-like structures called coronae, caused by an upwelling of hot rock from deep within
Astrophysicists on Monday published the largest-ever 3D map of the Universe, the result of an analysis of more than four million galaxies and ultra-bright, energy-packed quasars. The efforts of hundreds of scientists from around 30 institutions worldwide have yielded a “complete story of the expansion of the universe”, said Will Percival of the University of
A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed into blue skies from a Japanese launch centre Monday at the start of a seven-month journey to Mars on the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, starts a rush to fly to Earth’s neighbor that is scheduled to be followed
A huge asteroid is making its way toward Earth and it will pass by our planet next week. Dubbed as Asteroid 2020 ND, it is classified as Near-Earth Object (NEO) and Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) by NASA. It is estimated to be 160 metres or 520 feet in diameter but there is no cause to
Spacewalking astronauts completed their part of a three-year power upgrade to the International Space Station on Thursday, replacing six more outdated batteries with powerful new ones. It was the third spacewalk in as many weeks involving battery work by NASA’s Bob Behnken and Chris Cassidy. Running more than an hour ahead of schedule, they managed
A solar probe built by the European Space Agency and NASA has delivered the closest photos ever taken of the Sun’s surface, revealing a landscape rife with thousands of tiny solar flares that scientists dubbed “campfires” and offering clues about the extreme heat of the outermost part of its atmosphere. “When the first images came
Scientists planning to build one of the world’s largest telescopes on a Hawaii mountain said Wednesday construction won’t begin until at least next year. TMT International Observatory Vice President Gordon Squires told Hawaii News Now that the coronavirus pandemic presents a complicated and unsafe situation for moving ahead. “With the pandemic and other factors that
The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it would delay the launch of its “Hope” Mars probe for a second time, again due to bad weather. The probe was originally due to be launched from Japan on Wednesday but had been postponed until Friday for the same reason. “After extensive meetings, the @UAESpaceAgency and @MBRSpaceCentre,