Members had planned to release report that US is ceding scientific ground to China. All 22 members of the National Science Board were terminated by the Trump administration via a terse email on Friday. The administration has provided no explanation for purging the board, which helps steer the National…
Pacific heat pulse is temporary, but scientists warn that its climate impacts are not. The Pacific Ocean is a giant climate cauldron, with a powerful heat engine that affects storms, fisheries, and rainfall patterns half a world away, and scientists are watching closely to see if it’s about to…
Software lets robots learn from each other even if they have different hardware. Switching from one smartphone to another is mostly a smooth procedure. You log into your accounts and your apps, preferences, and contacts should sync to the new hardware. But in the world of robotics, swapping an…
“It wasn’t a big deal. It just coincided with the fact that Moon was farther away from the Earth.” With the circumlunar flight of Artemis II, and the prospect of landing astronauts on the lunar surface within a few years, humanity is preempting an era where the imprint of…
“If boost-phase intercept from space is not affordable and scalable, we will not produce it.” The US Space Force released a list Friday of a dozen companies working on Space-Based Interceptors for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome initiative, a multilayer defense system to shield US territory from drones and ballistic,…
Layer by layer, researchers revealed the jaws of an ancient predator. Some 80 million years ago, the late Cretaceous oceans were patrolled by 17-meter mosasaurs, long-necked plesiosaurs, and massive, predatory sharks. For decades, the paleontological consensus was that this was the age of vertebrates; anything without a backbone was…
While this material degrades over time, it could point to better ones. Shortly after their discovery, carbon nanotubes seemed to be a material wonder. There were metallic and semiconducting forms; they were tiny and incredibly light; and they could only be broken by tearing apart chemical bonds. The ideas…
Such experiments bring “order to the universe, whether or not the number agrees with the expected value.” The gravitational constant, affectionally known as “Big G,” is one of the most fundamental constants of our universe. Its value describes the strength of the gravitational force acting on two masses separated…
“They’re putting operational systems up within orbit reach of our high-value satellites.” After several tests of unusual “nesting doll” satellites in low-Earth orbit, Russia is now fielding operational anti-satellite weapons with valuable US government satellites in their crosshairs, the four-star general leading US Space Command said this week. Gen.…
Spy satellite hardware has been repurposed to scan the Universe in the infrared. GREENBELT, Md.—On Tuesday, NASA invited the press to look at the fully assembled Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is now ready to join the ranks of the great observatories in orbit, ahead of its September…
