Science

NASA has picked two astronauts for its sixth full-fledged crew mission to be launched by SpaceX aboard its Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg have received the required permission for the mission due to launch in 2023 on a Falcon 9 rocket. Bowen has been assigned the role

NASA’s James Webb Telescope is going through some critical manoeuvre phases which will determine its success as a mission to shed light on the origin of the universe. The powerful space observatory, which was launched into orbit on Christmas Day, is heading for a “make or break” moment when it attempts to unpack its five-layered

Shares of Biogen surged Wednesday following a report that South Korean giant Samsung Group is in talks to acquire the US biotech company for more than $40 billion (roughly Rs. 2,98,170 crore). Biogen, which is known for its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm and a neurology-focused medication pipeline, approached Samsung on a potential deal that could be

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised $337.4 million (roughly Rs. 2,515 crore) in equity financing, the rocket company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet and Fidelity Investments among its investors, hit $100 billion (roughly Rs. 7,60,140 crore) in valuation following a secondary share sale in October, according to CNBC. It

Israeli foodtech firm SavorEat on Tuesday launched a plant-based burger system personalized to each customer, one of the first companies to use 3D printing technology to cook food. Typically, vegan burgers from companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are frozen and later cooked on a grill. SavorEat’s technology, however, are made on site by

Astronomers frequently produce images and make discoveries that take us by surprise and leave us wondering what else the universe could be hiding. Black holes are an example of an object with a lot of promise for astronomical discoveries. Scientists have now created the most detailed image of radio emission from the closest supermassive black

Egypt has “digitally unwrapped” the mummy of famed Pharaoh Amenhotep I, revealing its secrets for the first time since it was discovered in 1881 without disturbing his funerary mask. Thanks to the advanced digital 3D imagery, researchers unearthed new mummification techniques used for the pharaoh whose rule dates back more than 1,500 BC. The research was

Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space over two “close encounters” between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Tiangong, China’s new space station, had to manoeuvre to avoid colliding with one Starlink satellite in July and with another in October, according to a

The Sun is our very own star placed at the centre of the Solar System. Despite being the closest star to Earth, scientists are still trying to understand the Sun’s core which often triggers massive solar winds towards our planet. While that is an ongoing research, an international group of scientists has tried to study

Chinese citizens lashed out online against billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk’s space ambitions on Monday after China complained that its space station was forced to take evasive action to avoid collision with satellites launched by Musk’s Starlink programme. The satellites from Starlink Internet Services, a division of Musk’s SpaceX aerospace company, had two “close encounters”

Rogue planets have baffled astronomers for ages. Unlike regular planets which revolve around stars, these free-floating planets (FFPs) get ejected from star systems to move about in the galaxy on their own. In the latest discovery, astronomers found the largest cluster of rogue planets in a single star-forming region. With an approximate discovery of 100

NASA’s largest space telescope launch countdown has begun. The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched today on Christmas Day, December 25, and space enthusiasts can watch all the action live. The telescope is scheduled to be launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:20am EST (5:50pm IST). The space agency

A Japanese professor has developed a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate food flavours, another step towards creating a multi-sensory viewing experience. The device, called Taste the TV (TTTV), uses a carousel of 10 flavour canisters that spray in combination to create the taste of a particular food. The flavour sample then rolls on

The quest for life on planets other than ours has long held the attention of scientists. But most of their efforts have been unable to conclusively say if life really exists beyond Earth. From Moon to Mars, scientists have launched many probes and missions to uncover the mysteries. Venus, one of the most inhospitable planets

NASA has delayed the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, which would be the successor to the Hubble. The space agency said the launch will happen a day later than the earlier stipulated time, on Christmas Day, December 25, from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, where high winds are a major factor. An

Cryptocurrency pioneer Justin Sun will fly to space on billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin’s flight next year and invite five other crew mates, he said on Wednesday, joining a small list of wealthy entrepreneurs indulging in space travel. Sun, who founded blockchain platform TRON, also revealed himself to be the anonymous bidder who paid $28

NASA has again delayed its planned launch of the uncrewed lunar mission Artemis 1 by at least a month. The space agency had initially targeted the launch of the mission on February 12, 2022, but issues in the integrated testing programme have forced another schedule delay. The space agency has said it is now looking

Paleontologists have found a never-seen-before fossil of a complete baby dinosaur curled up inside its egg. The fossil showed the remarkable similarities between theropod dinosaurs and the birds they would evolve into, according to a new study. The 70-million-year-old fossilised embryo has been named “Baby Yingliang” after the museum in China which houses it. The

A solar storm warning has been issued, with an expert saying that at least two “big-flare players” could be released from the Sun soon. Space weather physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov said that many sunspot clusters could be seen from the Earth. She added that though there were “no large Earth-directed storms yet,” they were on

A SpaceX rocket carried 52 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from California early Saturday. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Space Force Base at 4:41am (6:11pm IST) and arced over the Pacific. The Falcon’s first stage returned and landed on a SpaceX droneship in the ocean. It was the 11th launch