In an age of diminishing trust in science, scientists need to change how they work with the public and within the broader scientific community. The vast majority of fundamental scientific research — the kind of science that pushes ever deeper into unknown regions and expands humanity’s knowledge — is funded by government organizations. In the United States, that typically takes the form of federal agencies like NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy. Scientists compete for grant funding to support the hiring…
Read MoreAn asteroid will eclipse the puzzling red star Betelgeuse on Dec. 11
A rare astronomical event will be perfectly positioned in the night sky on Monday (Dec. 11) for some parts of the world. On that evening, an asteroid will pass in front of the curious red star Betelgeuse, eclipsing it from our vantage point here on Earth and blocking it from view for up to 15 seconds in an event known as an occultation. The asteroid is known as 319 Leona, a main belt object that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. Shaped roughly like an egg, 319 Leona measures…
Read MoreStudents Create Elaborate Homemade Machines for JPL Competition
Oakwood School’s Team Pink won first place in the Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Paul MacNeal (left) has run the competition since 1998. NASA/JPL-Caltech The homemade devices built by competing teams relied on catapults, crossbows, small motors, and more to accomplish seven consecutive steps to sink a crumpled piece of paper into a wastebasket. NASA/JPL-Caltech To compete in a race against the clock and each other, 18 student teams built complicated contraptions for the annual Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some 250 students hauled homemade machines…
Read MoreIndia’s Aditya-L1 solar observatory captures 1st gorgeous views of the sun (images)
An instrument onboard India’s first sun-studying observatory has officially opened its scientific eyes and sent home beautiful images of our star. The pictures, captured earlier this week by a payload named SUIT (short for Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope), reveal a handful of features on the sun’s surface, including a few sunspots, a solar “plage” and some silent, inactive areas. It is a “lifetime opportunity to conceive a space telescope & get to see its first light observations,” Durgesh Tripathi, SUIT’s principal investigator, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter)…
Read MoreHow to watch ‘Doctor Who’ anniversary specials: Stream ‘The Giggle’ from anywhere
‘Doctor Who: The Giggle’: Key information • Airs at 6:30pm GMT, 1:30pm EST and 10:30am PST on Saturday, December 9• UK: Watch for FREE on BBC One and BBC iPlayer• Away from home: Use a VPN such as ExpressVPN to watch your usual service from anywhere• US, Canada and Australia: Disney Plus has the rights to stream “Doctor Who: The Giggle” internationally It’s been too brief. After just three adventures back in the TARDIS, the last of the “Doctor Who” 60th anniversary specials will see David Tennant’s Doctor regenerating for a second time.…
Read MoreAnnual Science Conference to Feature NASA Leadership, Research
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will discuss the agency’s Artemis program during her keynote remarks at the upcoming American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2023 annual meeting. Credits: NASA Annual Science Conference to Feature NASA Leadership, Research NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will discuss the agency’s Artemis program during her keynote remarks in mid-December at the upcoming American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2023 annual meeting in San Francisco. Through Artemis, NASA will establish a long-term presence at the Moon for exploration and scientific discovery to understand more about the universe and our place…
Read MoreArtemis II Booster Surges Ahead at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
Engineers and technicians process the right forward center segment of the Space Launch System solid rocket boosters for the Artemis II mission inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2023. Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians process the right forward center segment of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Nov. 28, 2023. The ongoing processing of the segments is the first step before stacking operations begin…
Read MoreNASA Helps Study One of the World’s Most Diverse Ecosystems
Researchers with the BioSCape campaign collect vegetation data from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. The field work, which took place in October and November, was part of an international collaboration that could help inform the capabilities of future satellite missions aimed at studying plants and animals. Adam Wilson NASA satellite and airborne tools aid an international team studying biodiversity on land and in the water around South Africa. An international team of researchers spent October and November 2023 in the field studying one of the world’s most…
Read MoreNASA Names Winners of 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge
NASA has announced the 2023 winners of the NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge, which recognizes and supports entrepreneurs working on technology that advances the agency’s science goals. NASA NASA is announcing final winners of the 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge, which focused this year on lunar exploration and climate science. Entrepreneurs from across the United States came together at the Defense TechConnect Innovation Summit and Expo in Washington to pitch their ideas to a panel of NASA judges and venture experts. Winning organizations will be awarded an $85,000 grand prize for technologies that…
Read MoreNASA Signs Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather
Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (left), signs the Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather alongside Ken Graham, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Weather Services (right). This quad-agency agreement will further research and operations of space weather to improve space weather predictions and preparedness while also mitigating its impacts. NOAA / Robert Hyatt On Dec. 7, 2023, Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, signed on behalf of the agency the Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather Research-To-Operations-To-Research Collaboration. This quad-agency agreement is between NASA, the…
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