Tag: syndication
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NASA’s Curiosity rover has found the longest chain carbon molecules yet on Mars
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has detected the largest organic (carbon-containing) molecules ever found on the red planet. The discovery is one of the most significant findings in the search for evidence of past life on Mars. This is because, on Earth at least, relatively complex, long-chain carbon molecules are involved in biology. These molecules could…
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What’s behind the changed relationship between Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump?
In October 2019, Amazon sued the Pentagon, alleging that President Donald Trump had blocked the company from securing a $10 billion cloud-computing contract because of his animus toward The Washington Post and its owner Jeff Bezos—whom the US president derided as “Jeff Bozo.” At the time, the dispute was just one example of the near-constant…
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Jeff Bezos brings Amazon work culture to Blue Origin
Jeff Bezos has moved to introduce a tough Amazon-like approach to his rocket maker Blue Origin, as the world’s third-richest person seeks to revive a company that has lagged behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The space company’s founder and sole shareholder has pushed to shift its internal culture with management hires from Amazon, while implementing policies…
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Bennu asteroid samples yield watery history, key molecules for life
A bright fireball streaked across the sky above mountains, glaciers, and spruce forest near the town of Revelstoke in British Columbia, Canada, on the evening of March 31, 1965. Fragments of this meteorite, discovered by beaver trappers, fell over a lake. A layer of ice saved them from the depths and allowed scientists a peek…
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US Space Force warns of “mind-boggling” build-up of Chinese capabilities
The chief of the US Space Force has warned that China is putting military capabilities into space at a “mind-boggling” pace, significantly increasing the risk of warfare in orbit. “The number of different categories of space weapons that [China has] created and … the speed with which they’re doing it is very threatening,” said General Chance Saltzman,…
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To guard against cyberattacks in space, researchers ask “what if?”
If space systems such as GPS were hacked and knocked offline, much of the world would instantly be returned to the communications and navigation technologies of the 1950s. Yet space cybersecurity is largely invisible to the public at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions. Cyberattacks on satellites have occurred since the 1980s, but the global…
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Smashing into an asteroid shows researchers how to better protect Earth
On a fall evening in 2022, scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory were busy with the final stages of a planetary defense mission. As Andy Rivkin, one of the team leaders, was getting ready to appear in NASA’s live broadcast of the experiment, a colleague posted a photo of a pair of…
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Why interstellar objects like ‘Oumuamua and Borisov may hold clues to exoplanets
On October 17 and 18, 2017, an unusual object sped across the field of view of a large telescope perched near the summit of a volcano on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The Pan-STARRS1 telescope was designed to survey the sky for transient events, like asteroid or comet flybys. But this was different: The object…
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“We are worried,” says European rocket chief at prospect of launch competition
There is “no guarantee” France’s ArianeGroup will continue to be Europe’s rocket launch company of choice, according to the head of the European Space Agency, after ESA member states agreed to introduce more competition to the market. Josef Aschbacher, the agency’s director-general, told the Financial Times that the decision at its space summit in Seville…
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No further investments in Virgin Galactic, says Richard Branson
Sir Richard Branson has ruled out putting more money into his lossmaking space travel company Virgin Galactic, saying his business empire “does not have the deepest pockets” any more. Virgin Galactic, which was founded by Branson in 2004, last month announced it was cutting jobs and suspending commercial flights for 18 months from next year,…