Science

By: Hannah Pell Social Media Summary: What does a tiny, pokey animal have to do with condensed matter physics? The answer has to do with magnetism, thin films, and a very interesting particle called the skyrmion. Pictures are a helpful way to express abstract ideas. Whether through Gedanken experiments like the famous Schroedinger’s Cat or

Time triangle: illustration of how the ytterbium (Yb), strontium (Sr) and aluminium-magnesium (Al+/Mg+) atomic clocks were connected. (Courtesy: N Hanacek/NIST) The time kept by three of the world’s best atomic clocks has been compared by connecting them using optical fibres and an over-air link. The comparisons were done by the Boulder Atomic Clock Optical Network

WASHINGTON — NASA officials say the agency is still planning to make selections as part of its Human Landing System (HLS) program by the end of next month as it takes into account the reduced funding for the program. The “base period” awards made in April 2020 to teams led by Blue Origin, Dynetics and

TAMPA, Fla. — Inaugural satellites for two startups that launched this week on separate rockets aim to disrupt the burgeoning internet-of-things (IoT) market.  Australia-based Myriota has started offering its IoT services in the U.S. and Canada, after Rocket Lab launched March 22 the first operational nanosatellite Myriota has ordered from scratch.  On the same day,

Polymath on polymer: Alan Turing is on the new £50 note. (Courtesy: Bank of England) The Bank of England has unveiled the final design of its new £50 polymer banknote that features the mathematician and wartime codebreaker Alan Turing. The new £50 – the last of the bank’s notes to go from paper to polymer

The Space Force is interested in LEO broadband for its fast speeds and low latency. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force last week asked satellite internet companies for updates on the performance and capabilities of their networks. This information is intended to help the government decide how to go about buying broadband services from operators

WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle company Launcher has moved across the country to California as it takes its next steps in the development of its rocket. Launcher, which had been based in New York City, is in the process of moving into a 24,000-square-foot building it is leasing in Hawthorne, California, a few blocks from

Join the audience for a live webinar at 3 p.m. BST/4 p.m. CEST on 22 April 2021 exploring the principles of 3D Raman imaging Want to take part in this webinar? Raman spectroscopic imaging is a powerful, versatile and increasingly common microscopy technique that can quickly identify molecules in a sample and visualize their distribution

WASHINGTON — NASA is looking at options to move up the launch of a small lunar orbiter mission, illustrating the challenges the agency faces as it seeks to make greater use of rideshare launch opportunities. The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft is an orbiter equipped with a spectrometer and thermal mapper to study the distribution of water

SEOUL, South Korea — President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has vowed to launch the nation’s first robotic lunar lander on a domestically developed rocket by 2030. Moon also said feasibility studies are underway for sending a spacecraft to Apophis, an asteroid that will pass near Earth in 2029.  These space exploration goals were unveiled,

Magnetic swirl: a view of the M87 supermassive black hole in polarized light. The lines mark the orientation of the polarization, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole. (Courtesy: EHT Collaboration) A new image showing magnetic fields surrounding the supermassive black hole M87* has been created by scientists

TAMPA, Fla. — Japanese satellite operator Sky Perfect JSAT has ordered a spacecraft from Airbus for the first time, choosing the European aerospace giant to build Superbird-9 for a launch in 2024. Superbird-9 will be based on Airbus’ reconfigurable payload platform OneSat, which can steer and reassign beams for different customers and services. JSAT said the geostationary (GEO) satellite will replace a key broadcasting mission,

TAMPA, Fla. — Arianespace successfully launched another 36 satellites for low Earth orbit broadband operator OneWeb March 25, bringing its total in-orbit constellation to 146 satellites. OneWeb has made contact with each satellite after they separated from a Soyuz-2.1b rocket that blasted off 10:47 p.m. Eastern from Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia’s newest launch base. It took

Space junk: a computer-generated image of objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked. Approximately 95% of the objects are orbital debris, rather than functioning satellites. (Courtesy: NASA) A new imaging algorithm devised by researchers in the US could improve our ability to track space junk orbiting the Earth. Through simulated tests, the team

“It validates the fact that the industry is maturing, and that it’s not a bunch of crazy rocket scientists out in the field blowing stuff up.” SAN FRANCISCO — Long-term space investors aren’t surprised by the recent surge of space industry mergers and acquisitions. In fact, they say, it’s right on time. Dylan Taylor, Voyager

SAN FRANCISCO – Italian ground segment provider Leaf Space announced plans March 24 to establish a U.S. office to serve government and commercial customers. “There is a clear appetite among U.S. satellite and launch vehicle operators to simplify, outsource and maximize the value from ground services and we believe that need is only going to

[embedded content] A soft, self-powered robot, capable of swimming in the deepest regions of Earth’s oceans has been created by researchers in China. Inspired by the hadal snailfish, the team led by Guorui Li at Zhejiang University designed its device to feature flapping fins, and decentralized electronics encased in a deformable silicone body. Having successfully

WASHINGTON — A small helicopter that hitched a ride on NASA’s Perseverance rover will attempt its first flight on Mars in early April, demonstrating technology that could be used on future missions. At a March 23 briefing, NASA officials discussed plans to perform the first flights of Ingenuity, a 1.8-kilogram helicopter currently attached to the