WASHINGTON — A Pegasus XL launched a mission to reboost a NASA astrophysics spacecraft on what may be the final flight of that rocket. A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket was deployed from its L-1011 carrier aircraft at 4:36 a.m. Eastern on July 3, after three days of delays caused by weather and technical issues.
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Homo floresiensis was a small hominin that lived on the island of Flores LIONEL BRET/EURELIOS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY The diminutive ancient humans nicknamed hobbits that lived on the Indonesian island of Flores until around 50,000 years ago had limited hunting skills, according to a study of animal bones found in their caves. Instead, researchers think they
National Science Foundation’s X-Labs initiative draws fire as ‘terrible idea’ – Physics World Skip to main content Discover more from Physics World Copyright © 2026 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors Read the original article here
TAMPA, Fla. — Verde Technologies is turning to space to commercialize perovskite-based solar panels, shifting its initial focus away from rooftops in a bet that the thin-film material can help power orbital data centers and other large constellations. Former Honeywell executive Jean-Noël Poirier is joining the Burlington, Vermont-based startup as CEO July 8 to lead
The June heatwave is estimated to have killed more than 5000 people in France Laurent EMMANUEL / AFP via Getty Images Europe’s most extreme heatwave so far may have killed between 17,000 and 25,000 people, according to an early estimate based on past deaths from heat in the region. “These numbers are preliminary,” says Christopher
New superconducting diode gives greater control over the flow of electrons – Physics World Skip to main content Discover more from Physics World Copyright © 2026 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors Read the original article here
WASHINGTON — A new report links the long-running technical problems with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle to a combination of overconfidence, unrealistic schedules and NASA’s lack of insight into the vehicle. The report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General, released June 30, adds to the uncertainty about when Starliner will be approved for crewed
SpudCell is the first synthetic cell system built from non-living components to complete a full cell cycle Orion Venero, Adamala Lab The “SpudCell” is being proclaimed by its creators as a major advance in synthetic biology. Some of this hype is justified – yes, it’s a cell, but perhaps not quite what one could call
From ideas to industry: a theoretical physicist’s journey into Silicon Valley – Physics World Skip to main content Discover more from Physics World Copyright © 2026 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors Read the original article here
WASHINGTON — NASA has selected three companies to fly four robotic lunar lander missions worth nearly $600 million as part of its lunar base ambitions, as the agency weighs sending a spare Mars rover to the moon. During a June 30 online presentation, NASA officials announced they selected Astrobotic Technology, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines
A jungle huntsman spider during a speed test Christofer Clemente/University of the Sunshine Coast A huntsman spider found in Queensland, Australia, has been crowned the fastest spider in the world with a top speed of nearly 3.6 metres per second, according to a global study of arachnid sprinting prowess. Currently, the official world record is
Vera C Rubin Observatory kicks off 10-year quest to map the cosmos – Physics World Skip to main content Discover more from Physics World Copyright © 2026 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors Read the original article here
MILAN — The European Space Agency will rely on external lunar topographic data during the design phase of its Argonaut lunar lander, and possibly for its first mission, while working toward developing its own lunar mapping capability for later missions. Argonaut, first proposed at ESA’s Ministerial Council in Paris in 2022 and confirmed at the
A central part of a quantum computer built by the company Infleqtion Infleqtion The US government wants to get hold of a quantum computer good enough to contribute to scientific breakthroughs in just two years. It will use it to try to accelerate the research and development of new materials, pharmaceuticals and molecules useful in
Mouldable glass screen could make mammograms clearer and much more comfortable – Physics World Skip to main content Discover more from Physics World Copyright © 2026 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors Read the original article here
TAMPA, Fla. — Former SpaceX engineers who helped build and scale Starlink have launched a startup aiming to deliver megaconstellations for governments and companies seeking more control over space-based infrastructure. Led by former SpaceX satellite payload engineering manager Derek Huerta, Eclipse Space emerged from stealth June 26 after being founded a year ago in Redmond,
Slow Gods by Claire North is the New Scientist Book Club’s read for July This is the story of the supernova event known as Lhonoja. By the end of it, several planets will have burned, a couple of civilisations will have fallen, and I will have spoken to an entity some consider a god, and
Mass spectrometry delivers fusion insights – Physics World Skip to main content Discover more from Physics World Copyright © 2026 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors Read the original article here