Month: May 2023

Mysterious dark energy is spread evenly across the cosmos

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Dark energy, the mysterious force apparently driving the accelerating expansion of the universe, is spread evenly through space and time, new results suggest. The findings also better constrain how much of the universe’s energy and matter content dark energy accounts for, the study team said.  They reached their conclusions after analyzing observations of galaxy clusters made by the eROSITA X-ray instrument, which searches the entire sky over Earth for these find-to-find collections of galaxies. eROSITA is mounted on Spektr-RG, a Russian-German space telescope that launched to Earth orbit in 2019.…

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Best Lego Star Wars Helmets 2023

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Got a penchant for Lego’s range of Star Wars helmets? You’re in the right place: here, we’re rounding up the best Lego Star Wars helmets currently available. Lego Star Wars helmets are a fairly new addition to Lego’s massive range of Star Wars sets. Aimed at adults, they offer a relatively inexpensive building experience that results in a high quality display model, perfect for any desktop or mantel.  The first wave came around in 2020, with Boba Fett, Storm Trooper and TIE Fighter Pilot helmets hitting shelves. All three of…

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Watch China break in new test site for giant moon rocket engines (video)

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China has completed a stand for testing huge rocket engines that could power the country’s moon exploration efforts. The test stand at Tongchuan in the northwestern province of Shaanxi is now Asia’s largest for testing liquid-propellant rocket engines. The facility was constructed in a cut in a hillside, allowing hot rocket exhaust to be safely directed into the remote valley floor below. The site conducted a successful engine hot fire test run on April 24, with footage demonstrating a water deluge system designed to cool the exhaust and reduce the…

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China launches cargo mission to Tiangong space station

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China just sent some fresh supplies to its Tiangong space station. A Long March 7 rocket topped with the robotic Tianzhou 6 freighter lifted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island Wednesday (May 10) at 9:22 a.m. EDT (1322 GMT; 9:22 p.m. local time on Hainan).  Tianzhou 6 is headed for the T-shaped Tiangong, which China finished assembling in low Earth orbit late last year. Related: The latest news about China’s space program Tianzhou 6 is packed with clothes, drinking water and food for Tiangong’s current crew, the…

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‘Oppenheimer’ trailer reveals Cillian Murphy as Manhattan Project’s genius bomb maker

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Being known as the father of the atomic bomb is quite a heavy thing, but that’s how legendary physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has been branded by history. His whole life story is much more complex, however. Oppenheimer was the lead scientist for the U.S. government’s top secret Manhattan Project, which designed and developed the atomic bomb at New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. The effort led to the world’s first human-made nuclear detonation on July 16, 1945. Now a new teaser trailer for director Christopher Nolan’s summertime biopic, “Oppenheimer,” has…

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Young star shoots out jet like a garden sprinkler in Orion Nebula (photo)

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The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the ESO’s Very Large Telescope captured a jet of matter shaped like an S expelled from a stellar object named 244-440.  (Image credit: ESO/Kirwan et al.) A new image captures a winding jet of material that looks like a garden sprinkler expelled by a young stellar object. The stellar object, formally known as 244-440, resides in the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery that lies about 1,350 light-years from Earth. Taken using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the European Southern…

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Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber review

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Whether you’re looking for a cool bit of Star Wars merch to add to your collection, or to prove your worth to the Mandalorian people, the Mandalorian Darksaber Black Series Force FX Elite is undoubtedly the way. The Darksaber is unique amongst weapons, both in the Star Wars and Black Series line-up. Traditional lightsabers have a cylindrical blade, but the Darksaber is shaped like an actual sword, with a flat side and a cutting edge. This striking design helps it to stand out from the crowd. After its first appearance…

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NASA may shift New Horizons Pluto probe to sun-studying mission

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The future of NASA’s New Horizons Pluto probe is uncertain following debates at NASA over how best to use the spacecraft. New Horizons launched in 2006, and conducted a flyby of Pluto in 2015, which gave humanity the clearest images of the dwarf planet to date. In 2019, in the far stretches of the solar system beyond Pluto, New Horizons was able to observe a Kuiper Belt object (KBO) known as Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored by humans.  Now, the probe’s future beyond the end of 2024 is…

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