Scientists have directly imaged eight faint objects accompanying very bright stars within the Gaia data catalogue, including so-called “failed stars”, otherwise known as brown dwarfs. Stars and their companions were first identified from the millions of stars in the Gaia catalog. They were deemed ideal for follow-up investigations with the ground-based GRAVITY instrument, an advanced … Read more
Large atoms require a lot of energy to build. A new model of quantum interactions now suggests that some of the lightest particles in the Universe may play a critical role in how at least some heavy elements form. Physicists in the US have shown how ‘ghost’ subatomic particles known as neutrinos can force atomic … Read more
Astronomers usually deal with the very, very big—huge telescopes, giant galaxies, and massive exploding stars. But one of the most revolutionary astronomy tools of the decade is a mini satellite the size of a bread box. The satellite will act as an artificial star for astronomers to observe from the ground, allowing them to more … Read more
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that between 20 and 40 percent of global crop production is lost each year to plant pests and pathogenic microbial infections. According to the paper, scientists found their first clue in tomatoes, which contain a class of proteins that behave differently from those found in … Read more
A 246-million-year-old reptile fossil discovered by scientists in New Zealand has been identified as the oldest marine reptile fossil found in the southern hemisphere, according to a Swedish museum. The vertebrae of a notosaurus, a type of sauropterygian, an extinct aquatic reptile that lived during the Triassic period at the dawn of the dinosaurs, was … Read more
The graphics below are computer generated images of objects in low Earth orbit currently being tracked. Orbital debris dots are scaled to chart image size to optimize their visibility and are not to scale on Earth. (Courtesy: NASA ODPO) WASHINGTON – NASA is now admitting that debris from SpaceX missions may not burn up completely … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Science of Miracles newsletter. Explore the universe with news of fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more. CNN – Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a massive storm that has been swirling within the atmosphere of the largest planet in the solar system for years. But astronomers have debated how old the … Read more
For more than 100 years, researchers assumed that the dinosaurs they were like giant lizards: sluggish reptiles that spent most of the day basking in the sun. This image changed when we began to realize that dinosaurs were much more similar to birds than modern lizards. Today, researchers agree with this birds are technically dinosaurs … Read more
It’s time to bring out the big engines. Those on the Space Coast will soon be in for a treat. Not one, but three Falcon 9 first-stage rockets that make up the Falcon Heavy are tentatively scheduled to blast off into Florida skies together this week to bring a weather satellite into orbit. It’s been … Read more
What if, in 14 years, a newly discovered asteroid was likely to hit Earth? But that’s not all. This menacing space rock, about 330 to 1,050 feet in diameter (or 100 to 320 meters), has just disappeared behind the sun, making crucial observations impossible for the next seven months. To prepare for such a disturbance … Read more