Science

Imperfect system: artist’s impression of neurons and synapses in the brain. (Courtesy: iStock/Henrik5000) Using a strategy that mimics the encoding of information in our brains, a trio of researchers in China have proposed a new platform for artificial intelligence (AI) that could be far more robust than existing architectures. The approach, which has yet to

Maia Moore is a graduate student in Georgetown University’s Science, Technology and International Affairs program and a fellow with the U.S. State Department.  African nations have the potential to become leading competitors in the space industry due to the continent’s rapidly expanding space industry, the amount of institutional knowledge already available, and its large youth

WASHINGTON — Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration May 1, arguing that the agency improperly carried out an environmental review of SpaceX Starship launches from Boca Chica, Texas. The suit, filed in federal district court, seeks to revoke the FAA’s launch license for Starship launches from Boca Chica and declare

James McKenzie is impressed by the UK government’s new 10-year National Quantum Strategy First mover The UK is already on to its second national 10-year quantum strategy. (Courtesy: iStock/da-kuk) If you’re a news junkie, you may have noticed the UK government announce its National Quantum Strategy – a new, 10-year programme of investment in quantum

WASHINGTON — A radar antenna on a European mission to Jupiter has yet to fully deploy after launch, although project officials say they still have plenty of options to fix the problem. The European Space Agency said April 28 that the radar instrument on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft had not fully deployed

WASHINGTON — Astra Space and Exotrail have won orders for satellite electric propulsion systems as they work to scale up production of those products. Astra announced April 27 it won an order for five of its Astra Spacecraft Engines from Apex, a company developing a line of standardized smallsats. The companies did not disclose the

The defence and security company QinetiQ is looking for physicists and engineers who are keen to explore the properties of radio waves to solve wireless challenges and create novel solutions Radio signals: RF specialists at QinetiQ such as Barney Petit use a combination of lab-based testing, numerical analysis and outdoor experimentation to understand and exploit

WASHINGTON — SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said the first integrated test flight of his company’s Starship vehicle met his expectations despite a cascading series of engine failures and other malfunctions that eventually caused the rocket to lose control. Musk, speaking in a subscriber-only chat April 29 on Twitter, the social media company he acquired

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force Navigation Technology Satellite-3 — a flight experiment seven years in the making — is undergoing final tests ahead of a projected 2024 launch.  A lot is riding on this project. The $250 million experiment led by the Air Force Research Laboratory aims to deliver novel technologies for space-based positioning,

Ice-crystal halo: haloes such as the one seen here (photographed in Quebec City) are produced when light from the Sun or Moon interacts with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. Scheiner’s halo is an extremely rare version of this phenomenon thought to arise from the cubic form of ice. (Courtesy: CC BY-SA 4.0/Marc-Lautenbacher) An unusual

TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX launched a second pair of O3b mPower satellites April 28 for SES, which is now just one launch away from bringing its next-generation broadband constellation in medium Earth orbit (MEO) online. The satellites lifted off at 6:12 p.m. Eastern on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, after

HELSINKI — Chinese rocket startup Orienspace is moving towards a debut launch from a sea platform in the. The Gravity-1 rocket will launch from a mobile sea platform developed as part of sea launch facilities developed at Haiyang in Shandong province during the second half of 2023, CEO Yao Song said in a mid-April meeting

Dusty planet: the Curiosity Rover on Mars. (Courtesy: NASA) The Moon and Mars are dusty places and this has already caused astronauts some grief. When a landing module approaches the surface of an alien world, its descent is controlled by downward thrusters. These can kick up large amounts of dust, which can obscure the view

HELSINKI — China National Space Administration will soon set up an organization to oversee and coordinate the China-led International Lunar Research Station. Wu Weiren, Director General of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL), said during an exploration conference April 25 that the International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO) would soon be established to coordinate

WASHINGTON — The Russian government has agreed to continue participation in the International Space Station to at least 2028, the last partner to agree to an extension of the station’s operations. NASA said April 27 that Russia had confirmed it will support the station through 2028. The other partners — NASA, the Canadian Space Agency,

Eric Kievit, chief executive of Qblox, talks in this video filmed at the 2023 March Meeting of the American Physical Society in Las Vegas about the firm’s approach to quantum technology . This rapidly growing Dutch company specializes in building quantum-computer control stacks. Bilal Kalyoncu, lead application scientist, explains how the Qblox control stacks support

HELSINKI — China is planning to make a fully reusable version of a rocket designed to launch infrastructure and deep space missions. Presentations at events marking China’s national space day in the city of Hefei, Anhui province this week reveal that plans for the Long March 9 rocket include developing an apparently Starship-inspired fully reusable

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is considering ways to partner with commercial space companies so their services can be accessed during national security emergencies, DoD space policy chief John Plumb told lawmakers April 26. Plumb, who is assistant secretary of defense for space policy, testified at a House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee hearing