#science
- Phosphine in the Clouds of Venus: A Tentative Biosignature Just Dropped
A team led by Jane Greaves detected phosphine gas on Venus using JCMT and ALMA, a molecule normally tied to anaerobic life or industry.
- Perseverance Is Quietly Cruising Toward Mars
Six weeks after launch, NASA's Perseverance rover is deep into its seven-month coast to Jezero Crater, targeting a February 18, 2021 landing.
- Starlink's Growing Megaconstellation Has Astronomers Worried
With over 700 Starlink satellites in orbit, astronomers are pushing SpaceX for fixes as bright streaks threaten sky surveys.
- Neuralink's Pig Livestream: A Coin-Sized Implant Reading Snout Signals in Real Time
Elon Musk livestreamed pigs with Neuralink implants, showing real-time neural activity and an FDA Breakthrough Device designation.
- Arctic Sea Ice Is Tracking Toward Its Second-Lowest Summer on Record
Satellite data through August 2020 shows Arctic sea ice extent on pace to rank behind only 2012 in the 1979-present record.
- Hubble Says Betelgeuse's Great Dimming Was a Sneeze, Not a Death Rattle
New Hubble UV spectra suggest Betelgeuse's dramatic dimming was caused by an ejected plasma cloud that cooled into dust, not an imminent supernova.
- Perseverance Is a Few Weeks Into Its Long Cruise to Mars
NASA's Perseverance rover is now weeks into its 213-day journey to Mars, with trajectory corrections and instrument checkouts underway.
- The Solution to Ceres' Bright Spot Mystery: Salty Ghosts of an Ancient Ocean
New studies using Dawn orbiter data show Ceres' famous bright patches are salt deposits from brine welling up from a reservoir 40km down.
- Get Ready: The Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week
The Perseids peak overnight August 11-12, with dark skies offering up to 75 meteors an hour — here's how to watch.
- NEOWISE Is Fading Fast — Catch It Now or Wait 6,800 Years
Comet NEOWISE has dimmed from a naked-eye spectacle to a binoculars-only target, and the window to see it is closing.
- Get Ready: The Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Next Month
The 2020 Perseids are ramping up toward a mid-August peak with dark skies and forecasts of 50-75 meteors an hour.
- Comet NEOWISE Fades After Its Closest Pass by Earth
NEOWISE made its closest approach to Earth on July 23 and is now dimming — your last easy chance to see it is closing fast.
- Solar Orbiter Spots Tiny 'Campfires' Dotting the Sun's Surface
ESA and NASA release Solar Orbiter's first images, revealing miniature flares called 'campfires' that may help explain the Sun's mysterious hot corona.
- Solar Orbiter closes in on the Sun for its first big reveal
ESA/NASA's Solar Orbiter made its first close pass in mid-June, and its first imagery is due for release later this month.
- How to Catch Comet NEOWISE Before It's Gone
A naked-eye comet is in our morning sky right now, and it won't be back for about 6,800 years — here's how to see it.
- Comet NEOWISE Just Survived Its Closest Brush With the Sun
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) reached perihelion on July 3, made it through intact, and is shaping up to be the best naked-eye comet in over two decades.
- A Solstice Stargazing Guide for Summer 2020
Short nights, a brightening comet, and two giant planets nearing opposition make this the best week of the year to look up.
- XENON1T Sees a Mystery Bump in Its Hunt for Dark Matter
Physicists at Gran Sasso report 53 unexplained low-energy events, teasing solar axions or tritium contamination as possible causes.
- Proxima b Is Real: Our Nearest Neighboring Planet Gets Confirmed
ESPRESSO data from ESO's VLT confirms Proxima b, an Earth-sized planet orbiting the closest star to the Sun.
- Comet NEOWISE is quietly becoming one to watch
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is brightening ahead of its July 3 perihelion and could be the best Northern Hemisphere comet since Hale-Bopp.
- A Weird Spin: 200,000 Galaxies Show a Directional Bias Nobody Expected
Astronomers surveying over 200,000 spiral galaxies found a roughly 2% asymmetry in clockwise vs counterclockwise rotation across the sky.
- Starlink's Satellite Swarm Has Astronomers Worried
SpaceX has launched hundreds of Starlink satellites since May 2019, and astronomers are increasingly vocal about the trails they leave in telescope images.
- There's More Water on the Moon Than We Thought
New lunar research suggests water may be widespread across the Moon's surface, even in sunlit regions, strengthening the case for Artemis-era resource use.
- Why NASA's Next Mars Rover Is Racing a Launch Window
Perseverance must launch in a narrow July 2020 window to reach Jezero Crater, where it will hunt for ancient microbial life and cache samples.
- Betelgeuse's Great Dimming Looks Like a Starspot, Not a Supernova Countdown
New spectroscopy points to a giant cool starspot and a temperature drop behind Betelgeuse's historic dimming, not an imminent explosion.
- Hubble Turns 30, and It's Still Not Done
The Hubble Space Telescope hit its 30th anniversary this week, and NASA/ESA marked it with a new image of a giant red nebula and its blue neighbor.
- Hubble Confirms Comet ATLAS Has Shattered Into Pieces
Hubble images from April 20 show Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) broken into at least three or four fragments, likely ending hopes for a great naked-eye comet.
- AI Labs Turn Their Models Loose on the Coronavirus
DeepMind and academic groups are applying protein-folding and molecule-screening AI to speed up the search for COVID-19 treatments and vaccine targets.
- Comet ATLAS Is Falling Apart, Amateur Astronomer Shows
Amateur astronomer José de Queiroz photographed Comet C/2019 Y4 ATLAS showing clear signs of fragmentation, likely ending hopes for a naked-eye 'great comet.'
- Neanderthals Were Making Cord 50,000 Years Ago, and That Changes the Story
New evidence from a French site shows Neanderthals used fiber and cord technology far earlier than assumed, challenging old ideas about their cognition.