Betelgeuse, a bright star visible in the Orion constellation in the night sky, has beguiled and puzzled space scientists since late 2019. The red giant, a star in the last stages of its life, experienced two significant drops in brightness, which caused some astronomers to believe that it was nearing its end and could explode…… MORE
The International Space Station was due to get a powerful upgrade on Wednesday, but “technical delays” during a spacewalk left the astronauts without enough time to install a new set of solar arrays, according to NASA. During the nearly seven-hour spacewalk, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet were slated to…… MORE
WHAT’S NEW THIS WEEK The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the spread of coronavirus is moving faster than the global vaccine rollout, adding that a Group of Seven (G7) pledge to donate hundreds of millions of shots falls short of what is needed now. “I welcome the announcement that G7 countries will donate…… MORE
The International Space Station is about to get a powerful upgrade. On Wednesday morning, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet will conduct a spacewalk to begin the installation of new solar arrays. The panels will help provide a power boost to the space station. The walk is scheduled to begin…… MORE
A new space telescope that could spot potentially hazardous asteroids and comets heading for Earth is one step closer to reality. The Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope, or NEO Surveyor, has been approved by NASA to move forward to the design phase. The 20-foot-long (6-meter-long) infrared telescope would bolster planetary defense by helping astronomers find…… MORE
An upcoming film set to focus on New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings recently lost a producer in response to continued criticism from New Zealand Muslims and the prime minister herself. Since the film, titled “They Are Us,” was announced last week, critics have denounced it…… MORE
Singers performing a duet, jazz players riffing together effortlessly, paired-up dancers never skipping a step: great performers are so coordinated, they become one. What are the mechanisms that regulate coordination and cooperation? Neurobiologists are learning more from some of nature’s foremost musical performers: songbirds. The brains of duetting songbirds are linked together during performances, a…… MORE
If you’re ever studied astronomy, you’ve probably been exposed to something called the Drake equation. One side of the equation posits the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which it might be possible to communicate. The other side gives all the variables that add up to that number, including the average rate of star…… MORE
Climate change is rarely a main talking point at the G7 leaders’ summit, but as US President Joe Biden proclaimed that “America is back at the table” on the final day of this year’s meeting, by extension, so too was climate change. Past summits with Donald Trump representing the United States struggled to culminate in…… MORE
When Rev. Pamela Conrad looks into the heavens, she really looks into the heavens. By night, and at odd moments during the day, Conrad moonlights as a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington, DC. A member of the tactical operations team for the Mars Perseverance rover mission, she is a co-investigator…… MORE
