“Never before in history has a booster this large nailed the landing on the second try.” The rocket company founded a quarter-century ago by billionaire Jeff Bezos made history Thursday with the pinpoint landing of an 18-story-tall rocket on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. The on-target touchdown…
Tiny chips can be powered by infrared light if they’re near the brain’s surface. Standard brain implants use electrodes that penetrate the gray matter to stimulate and record the activity of neurons. These typically need to be put in place via a surgical procedure. To go around that need,…
Ars chats with particle physicist Daniel Whiteson about his new book Do Aliens Speak Physics? Science fiction has long speculated about the possibility of first contact with an alien species from a distant world and how we might be able to communicate with them. But what if we simply…
Tracking winds across Mars’ surface and their association with dust storms. Mars is cold, parched, and extremely dusty. Powerful gusts of wind kick up literal tons of reddish dust that often takes the form of whorls known as dust devils. These winds also shroud the planet in dust by…
It’s not just the number of rocket launches, but how much stuff they’re carrying into orbit. CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—Another Falcon 9 rocket fired off its launch pad here on Monday night, taking with it another 29 Starlink Internet satellites to orbit. This was the 94th orbital launch from Florida’s…
“NASA is postponing launch until space weather conditions improve.” CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—The second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket was postponed again Wednesday as a supercharged wave of magnetized plasma from the Sun enveloped the Earth, triggering colorful auroral displays and concerns over possible impacts to communications, navigation,…
IBM follows through on its June promises, plus more trapped ion news. The end of the year is usually a busy time in the quantum computing arena, as companies often try to announce that they’ve reached major milestones before the year wraps up. This year has been no exception.…
A recent die-off in Florida puts the spotlight on corals’ survival strategies. Scientists have found that the 2023 marine heat wave caused “functional extinction” of two Acropora reef-building coral species living in the Florida Reef, which stretches from the Dry Tortugas National Park to Miami. “At this point, we…
Early superdense star clusters may have planted seeds for monster black holes. A new simulation could help solve one of astronomy’s longstanding mysteries—how supermassive black holes formed so rapidly—along with a new one: What are the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) “little red dots?” Invisible leviathans lurk at the…
Blue Origin is getting ready to launch its second New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin scrubbed Sunday’s launch attempt due to poor weather, a cruise ship in restricted waters near the launch site, and ground system issues. The company says the next available launch opportunity is Wednesday, November 12, with…
