Science

TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite operators have cleared a portion of C-band in a key step toward giving the spectrum to U.S. wireless companies in December. Work has now started on installing filters on ground antennas across the United States, so wireless operators can use the lower 120 MHz of C-band for 5G without interfering with

By: Hannah Pell RR Auction, an auction house based near Boston, Massachusetts, recently sold one of Albert Einstein’s hand-written letters for $1.2 million. The letter is addressed to Polish-American physicist Ludwik Silberstein, a known challenger to Einstein’s relativity theory, going so far as to publish a 1936 essay in the Toronto Evening Telegram titled: “Fatal

Spinning around: physicists have created a gyroscope using nuclear spins in diamond. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/Inna Bigun) Researchers in Russia have built a highly accurate, atomic-scale gyroscope that detects rotation through changes in the coupled spins of electrons and nitrogen nuclei. Led by Alexey Akimov at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow, the team created its device

TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite operator Viasat is stepping up efforts to stop Starlink’s growing constellation, taking aim at the nearly $900 million of rural broadband subsidies that SpaceX won in December.  The operator is asking the Federal Communications Commission to review decisions made around the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), claiming differential treatment and a

TAMPA, Fla. — Europe has tasked an Airbus-led group to devise its own quantum communications network as startup Arqit raises $400 million for a space-based system. Airbus said May 31 the European Commission awarded the group a contract to study a quantum technology-powered network, called EuroQCI, to secure critical infrastructure across Europe. The 15-month agreement

Spike proteins: artist’s impression of the virus that causes COVID-19 (Courtesy: iStock/RomoloTavani) A rapid and low-cost test for the virus that causes COVID-19 has been developed by researchers in the US and Taiwan. Featuring a disposable testing cartridge and a reusable circuit board, the team’s portable system can detect the presence of the virus in

For months, NASA had strongly suggested that it would select two companies for the next phase of its Human Landing System (HLS) program. Just as with the commercial cargo and crew programs, agency officials said, having two companies develop and demonstrate lunar landers would provide redundancy and ensure NASA was getting the best deal. “Competition

HELSINKI — Russia and China are looking to announce new partnerships for a joint initiative to construct a robotic moon base ahead of potential crewed lunar missions. The first responses to invitations to join the International Lunar Research Station project (ILRS) are expected during bilateral meetings during the Global Space Exploration Conference 2021 (GLEX 2021)

A new material that is twice as magnetostrictive as others in its class could be a significant boon for computer-chip developers. The material’s unusual ability to expand and contract in response to tiny pulses of electric current has attracted interest from the chip manufacturer Intel, which is investigating possible replacements for the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor)

WASHINGTON — NASA released its fiscal year 2022 budget request May 28, asking for $24.8 billion to support a number of new and existing science and exploration programs but also proposing once again to cancel an airborne astronomical observatory. The detailed budget request of $24.801 billion is slightly higher than the $24.7 billion in an

Technologies developed by SDA, MDA and DARPA are expected to transition into larger Space Force programs WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s defense budget proposal for fiscal year 2022 seeks more than $1.2 billion  for military space systems in low-Earth orbit.  According to budget documents released May 28, nearly $900 million of that investment is for

Taken from the 2021 Physics World Quantum Science & Technology Briefing. You can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. Susan Curtis reports from the inaugural Quantum West conference, where speakers convened as part of SPIE’s Photonics West event and discussed how quantum technologies could deliver commercial solutions in the years and decades

Tianzhou-2 docking with Tianhe paves way for June crewed mission. HELSINKI — China’s Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft docked with the Tianhe space station module in low Earth orbit Saturday, eight hours after launch from Wenchang spaceport. The uncrewed Tianzhou-2 spacecraft completed automated rendezvous and docking maneuvers with Tianhe at 5:01 p.m. Eastern May 29.  Tianzhou-2 is

This Memorial Day, as we remember American servicemen and women who gave their lives for their country, we should also recognize another group of patriots who also paid the ultimate price in service to the nation — our fallen astronauts. America’s astronaut corps — that elite community of brave space pioneers — represent the very

Strike: a 10 pin bowler releases their ball. (Courtesy: CC BY-SA 3.0) A bowling ball might look round on the outside, but inside there is a distinct departure from spherical symmetry. That is what I learned from reading a wonderful article on the physics of bowling balls – written by Brendan Koerner and published on

TAMPA, Fla. — OneWeb’s broadband constellation is set to pass the 200th mark after Arianespace successfully launched its latest batch of satellites May 28. Arianespace launched 36 satellites on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket 1:38 p.m. Eastern from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia, which will enlarge OneWeb’s fleet to 218 satellites. The mission was initially scheduled for

The Space Force accounts for about 2.5% of the Defense Department’s $715 billion budget proposal. WASHINGTON — President Biden’s $715 billion defense budget proposal for 2022 includes $17.4 billion for the U.S. Space Force, about $2.2 billion more than what Congress enacted in 2021. The proposed $715 billion defense budget is $11.3 billion more than

Conceptual image of an oblique detonation wave engine-powered hypersonic aircraft. (Courtesy: background image: NASA; composite image: Daniel A Rosato) Scientists in the US have produced a detonation that is fixed in space for the first time. This standing wave detonation was created in a prototype engine and the researchers say that such a system could