Category: Science
The icy cold waters of Mars.
The Mars Express orbiter has revealed the first geological evidence of a system of ancient interconnected lakes that once lay deep beneath the Red Planet’s surface, five of which may contain minerals crucial to life. Mars appears to be an arid world, but its surface shows compelling signs that large amounts of water once existed […]
Every fighter jet a drone cloud.
Boeing has introduced its newest unmanned fighter drone, the Boeing Loyal Wingman, a near fighter-jet sized AI weapon which will operate in a four-squadron drone cloud around each human pilot-manned fighter craft … what they call “smart teaming with existing military aircraft.” The Loyal Wingman measures 38 feet long and can fly 2,000 nautical miles […]
Bigelow Aerospace: building zeppelins in space.
Robert Bigelow, the billionaire owner of Bigelow Aerospace, is deploying inflatable orbital habitats with the end aim of building hotels in space. Here’s a short video documentary exploring how Bigelow is doing with this grand aim.
Alien DNA whisked up by NASA.
In a research breakthrough funded by NASA, scientists have synthesised a molecular system that, like DNA, can store and transmit information. This unprecedented feat suggests there could be an alternative to DNA-based life, as we know it on Earth – a genetic system for life that may be possible on other worlds. This new molecular […]
Capturing The Universe by Rhodri Evans (book review).
Now here is a book you want to dally over, Rhodri Evans’ book, ‘Capturing The Universe’, collects together photographs of all the planets, before exploring the Milky Way and what lies beyond, the universe at large. Actually, it’s bigger than large and you can well believe that there are as many stars as grains of […]
Opportunity Rover says a goodbye that will break your heart.
One of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration, NASA’s Opportunity rover mission is at an end after almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars and helping lay the groundwork for NASA’s return to the Red Planet. The Opportunity rover stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its […]
World’s largest single-piece 3-D printed rocket engine? Welcome to Spaceport Scotland!
Scottish rocket-ship manufacturer Orbex has just unveiled its Prime rocket – designed to deliver micro-satellites into orbit – for the first time. The completed engineering prototype of the Stage 2 rocket (the stage that will transit into orbital flight after launch) is made from a lightweight carbon fibre and aluminium composite and includes the world’s […]
Earth – burn, baby, burn, as global warming heats up.
Earth’s global surface temperatures in 2018 were the fourth warmest since 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Global temperatures in 2018 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New […]
Interplanetary Robots: True Stories Of Space Exploration by Rod Pyle (book review).
Rod Pyle’s latest book is, as the title shows, all about ‘Interplanetary Robots: True Stories Of Space Exploration’. The focus is on the collected unmanned space flights rather than the manned ones. Considering the length of time for these probes to reach their destinations, long-term planning is a must and expensive. What is also state-of-the-art […]
Remembering by Donald G. Mackay (book review).
Donald G. Mackay’s book, ‘Remembering’, has a longer more significant sub-title, ‘What 50 Years Of Research With Famous Amnesia Patient H.M. Can Teach Us About Memory And How It Works’. Remember the sub-title as it might come up later. The ‘H.M.’ is actually Henry Moliason (1926-2008) who had a life-threatening form of epilepsy and at […]
