Science

Dickinson: “We have to ensure that we have a safe domain in which to operate.” WASHINGTON — It may come as a surprise to some that the nation’s top commander of U.S. space forces is not a member of the U.S. Space Force but a four-star U.S. Army general. Gen. James Dickinson is the commander

The optical physicist Nader Engheta has won the 2020 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize for “groundbreaking innovation and transformative contributions to electromagnetic complex materials and nanoscale optics, and for pioneering development of the fields of near-zero-index metamaterials, and material-inspired analogue computation and optical nanocircuitry”. Presented by the Institute of Physics (IOP), which publishes Physics World, the international award

Twenty years ago, the joint U.S.-Russia space mission Expedition 1 docked with the first modules of the International Space Station (International Space Station). An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrived to, in effect, bring the station to life. They turned on the lights, unpacked the boxes, and set up the kitchen. Over 136 days

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit plans to invest in Sky and Space Global (SAS), the financially troubled satellite constellation company, and partner with it on launch and satellite services. In an Oct. 28 statement, SAS said that Virgin Orbit will take a stake of no less than 14.7% in the company by purchasing shares in the

The black phosphorus composite material connected by carbon-phosphorus covalent bonds has a more stable structure and a higher lithium ion storage capacity. Credit: DONG Yihan, SHI Qianhui and LIANG Yan A new electrode material could make it possible to construct lithium-ion batteries with a high charging rate and storage capacity. If scaled up, the anode

HELSINKI — China has outlined a proposed architecture for getting astronauts to the moon and back as part of plans for long-term lunar exploration. A presentation at the 2020 China Space Conference in September details infrastructure including a new launch vehicle, new-generation spacecraft and a lunar lander, along with a potential lunar orbit module and

WASHINGTON — While NASA and the European Space Agency hailed an agreement this week to work together on the lunar Gateway, both agencies have work ahead to establish international cooperation on the overall Artemis program of human lunar exploration. NASA and ESA announced Oct. 27 that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to

Going down: a droplet of honey in a superhydrophobic coated tube. (Courtesy: Aalto University) Honey and other highly viscous fluids can flow faster than water in specially coated capillary tubes. This surprising discovery was made by Maja Vuckovac and colleagues at Finland’s Aalto University who also show that the counterintuitive effect stems from suppressed internal

In a memo Oct. 29, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said the new position will be filled by Justin Johnson, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy.  WASHINGTON — The Defense Department announced Oct. 30 it has established the office of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy, a new

WASHINGTON — The commercial space industry hopes to continue recent progress in regulatory reform even if there is a new president or a change in party control in Congress after the election. The last six months have seen two major milestones in government regulation of commercial space activities: the publication of revised commercial remote sensing

This article is the seventh in a series of essays written by Black physicists and co-published with Physics Today as part of #BlackInPhysics week, an event dedicated to celebrating Black physicists and their contributions to the scientific community, and to revealing a more complete picture of what a physicist looks like.

U.S. investment in commercial geoint has been relatively flat over the last five years WASHINGTON — A new study by the MITRE Corp. says the U.S. commercial geospatial intelligence industry is being outpaced by foreign competitors and the U.S. government could do more to help. U.S. investment in commercial geoint has been relatively flat over

NSSA says space programs are governed by a mix of outdated and emerging classification guidance that produces inconsistent policies. WASHINGTON — The National Security Space Association, a group that represents U.S. defense and intelligence contractors, says outdated security clearance policies thwart the United States’ ability to outpace adversaries that seek to undermine U.S. space operations.

Quantum erasure: calculations suggest that heat dissipation could be a problem in large-scale quantum computers of the future. (Courtesy: iStock/agsandrew) The question of how much heat is given off when erasing a single bit of information has excited scientists for decades, given its fundamental implications for thermodynamics and computation. Physicists in Ireland and the UK

SAN FRANCISCO — General Atomics announced Oct. 28 the acquisition of Guidestar Optical Systems, a space and defense company based in Longmont, Colorado, which it plans to integrate into the General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) group. “We are excited to bring the Guidestar team on board to further enhance our diverse portfolio of laser technologies,”

Air Force Col. Michael “Hopper” Hopkins, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, will be commissioned into the U.S. Space Force. WASHINGTON — NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, a U.S. Air Force colonel and the commander of the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, is transferring to the U.S. Space Force and is expected to be commissioned aboard

SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Communications Commission approved the creation Oct. 27 of a 5G Fund for Rural America to distribute as much as $9 billion over the next decade to extend 5G wireless broadband connectivity to rural communities. The FCC plans to distribute the funds through a series of reverse auctions. During the first

By Allison Kubo Hutchsion  Although humans first witnessed nuclear reactors in 1942 with the development of the Chicago-Pile by Enrico Fermi, natural fission reactors existed billions of years ago. Fission is the process of breaking apart atoms of heavy elements such as uranium. Energy is released during fission in the form of heat and can