News
Lasers shine a new light on the space junk air pollution problem
2+ hour, 3+ min ago (499+ words) They can detect clouds of metal generated by falling satellites and rocket bodies. Scientists are using a new technique to study incoming space debris and its effects on Earth's atmosphere. Observational evidence is being gathered that the ablation of space…...
Future spacecraft could fix their own damage using 'self-healing' materials
2+ mon, 3+ day ago (364+ words) European scientists are testing a new material called Heal Tech, which activates with heat and flows into cracks. Spacecraft of the future may be able to detect and repair their own structural damage in orbit, a capability that could make…...
Life on Earth is lucky: A rare chemical fluke may have made our planet habitable
3+ mon, 2+ day ago (615+ words) Without the right oxygen balance, phosphorus and nitrogen vanish " and life can't take hold. Space. com's Sci-Fi Reader's Club. Read a sci-fi short story every month and join a virtual community of fellow science fiction fans! Life on Earth may…...
Proteins before planets: How space ice may have created the 1st building blocks of life
3+ mon, 2+ week ago (385+ words) "We used to think that only very simple molecules could be created in these clouds. But we have shown that this is clearly not the case." The chemistry that built life on Earth may have begun in deep space, according…...
How astronomers plan to detect the signatures of alien life in the atmospheres of distant planets
3+ mon, 3+ week ago (894+ words) Astonishingly, we can identify molecules present in the atmospheres of exoplanets. We live in a very exciting time: answers to some of the oldest questions humanity has conceived are within our grasp. One of these is whether Earth is the…...
Why is the universe made of matter? These 'ghost particle' experiments could help us find out
5+ mon, 1+ week ago (715+ words) "Precision in these measurements is critical, as even subtle discrepancies could signal deviations from the model " potentially revealing new physics." Scientists have inched a step closer to solving an enduring mystery in physics " why the universe contains any matter at…...
Could alien life be found in the clouds of an exoplanet?
5+ mon, 4+ week ago (301+ words) "We thought clouds would hide life from us, but surprisingly, they could help us find life." Astronomers usually don't like clouds. After all, clouds obscure their view of the cosmos. But dense cloud coverage is now something astronomers might look…...
'Ghost particles' can zoom through you without a trace. Scientists are getting to the bottom of this cosmic mystery
6+ mon, 1+ week ago (349+ words) "I've always been fascinated by how we extract information from reality " even when we can't fully define what reality is." So, you might not get visited by a phantom this Halloween, but you'll definitely encounter plenty of cosmic ghost neutrinos,…...
Space radiation can produce some organic molecules detected on icy moons
6+ mon, 2+ week ago (739+ words) "There is no better place to look for [life] than Enceladus," This article was originally published at Eos. The publication contributed the article to Space. com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. New laboratory research suggests that some organic molecules previously detected…...
New way to grow materials on-demand using crystals and light
6+ mon, 3+ week ago (518+ words) This new development uses a phenomenon called plasmonic heating that enables more precise crystal formation. Crystals used in applications as varied as lasers, LEDs and the semiconductors used in sensors found in astronomical instruments could someday be 'drawn' rather than…...