How much are asteroids really worth? (Image Credit: Phys.org) Asteroid mining concept. Credit: NASA/Denise Watt Popular media love talking about asteroid mining using big numbers. Many articles talk about a mission to Psyche, the largest metallic asteroid in the asteroid belt, as visiting a body worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000, presumably because their authors like […]
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Samples from the Ryugu asteroid show signs of damage caused by tiny meteoroid impacts.
Ryugu asteroid samples indicate damage from microscopic meteoroid bombardment (Image Credit: Phys.org) Snapshots of micrometeoroid bombardment simulations at different timescales with a velocity of 20 km/s (a) and 300 km/s (b). Dot color represents elements of serpentine as follows: magnesium (yellow), silica (gray), oxygen (red) and hydrogen (blue). Fs is femtoseconds, representing […]
Observing dark matter at cosmic dawn (Image Credit: Phys.org) A simulated dark matter halo from a many-body cosmological simulation. Credit: Wikipedia via CC BY-SA 3.0 After almost a century of speculation, proposals and searches for dark matter, physicists now know that it currently comprises about 27% of the universe’s mass-energy, with an […]
S. spy satellites and 20 Starlink satellites from California on the morning of November 30.
SpaceX to launch next-gen US spy satellites, 20 Starlink spacecraft from California early Nov. 30 (Image Credit: Space.com) SpaceX plans to launch another batch of U.S. spy satellites early Saturday morning (Nov. 30). A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday during a […]
Unexplained, record-setting energy surge linked to a dead star and a red dwarf.
Mysterious, record-breaking energy burst connected to dead star and red dwarf (Image Credit: Space.com) Astronomers have discovered a record-breaking burst of energy coming from deep space, tracing it to a binary system containing a tiny red dwarf star and a dead stellar remnant called a white dwarf. The team from the Curtin […]
SpaceX is set to launch 24 Starlink satellites from Florida on the morning of November 30.
SpaceX launching 24 Starlink satellites from Florida early Nov. 30 (Image Credit: Space.com) SpaceX plans to launch 24 more of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida’s Space Coast early Saturday morning (Nov. 30). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station […]
This location will be crucial to the impending breakdown of an important Atlantic current.
This spot will be key to the inevitable collapse of a key Atlantic current (Image Credit: Space.com) Scientists have pinpointed the ocean engine with the biggest role in driving key Atlantic currents that regulate Earth’s climate, new research suggests. The Irminger Sea off southeastern Greenland is where warm waters that transport heat […]
How microorganisms are influencing the development of the next wave of space-based lasers.
How bacteria are inspiring the next generation of space-borne lasers (Image Credit: Space.com) Solar-powered lasers that run on the photosynthetic machinery of bacteria could one day provide a low mass, simple and sustainable means of providing power in space, replacing the usual heavy lenses and complex electronics that aren’t very cost-effective to […]
Dead stars in supernova explosions might uncover the dark matter mystery in just 10 seconds.
Dead stars within supernova explosions could solve the dark matter mystery in 10 seconds (Image Credit: Space.com) Gamma rays emerging from neutron stars at the hearts of supernova explosions could solve the mystery of dark matter — in just 10 seconds. That is, if dark matter is composed of axions, which are […]
The James Webb Space Telescope investigates the massive star supercluster Westerlund 1 (image).
James Webb Space Telescope explores monster star supercluster Westerlund 1 (image) (Image Credit: Space.com) Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have taken a deep drive into a highly intriguing and massive young stellar cluster in the Milky Way. It’s called Westerlund 1. Located around 12,000 light years from Earth, Westerlund 1 […]