A new space telescope that could spot potentially hazardous asteroids and comets heading for Earth is one step closer to reality. The Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope, or NEO Surveyor, has been approved by NASA to move forward to the design phase. The 20-foot-long (6-meter-long) infrared telescope would bolster planetary defense by helping astronomers find…… MORE
An upcoming film set to focus on New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings recently lost a producer in response to continued criticism from New Zealand Muslims and the prime minister herself. Since the film, titled “They Are Us,” was announced last week, critics have denounced it…… MORE
Singers performing a duet, jazz players riffing together effortlessly, paired-up dancers never skipping a step: great performers are so coordinated, they become one. What are the mechanisms that regulate coordination and cooperation? Neurobiologists are learning more from some of nature’s foremost musical performers: songbirds. The brains of duetting songbirds are linked together during performances, a…… MORE
If you’re ever studied astronomy, you’ve probably been exposed to something called the Drake equation. One side of the equation posits the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which it might be possible to communicate. The other side gives all the variables that add up to that number, including the average rate of star…… MORE
Climate change is rarely a main talking point at the G7 leaders’ summit, but as US President Joe Biden proclaimed that “America is back at the table” on the final day of this year’s meeting, by extension, so too was climate change. Past summits with Donald Trump representing the United States struggled to culminate in…… MORE
When Rev. Pamela Conrad looks into the heavens, she really looks into the heavens. By night, and at odd moments during the day, Conrad moonlights as a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington, DC. A member of the tactical operations team for the Mars Perseverance rover mission, she is a co-investigator…… MORE
The things that fascinate us most tend to be wonders we have never seen up close. It’s our natural response to be curious, to question what it must be like to fly by Jupiter and its moons or live among dinosaurs. Dinosaur bones have preserved information from millions of years ago, which scientists can use…… MORE
A giant star is blinking near the center of our Milky Way galaxy like a stellar beacon, according to new observations by astronomers. The star is located more than 25,000 light-years away from Earth. Known as VVV-WIT-08, the star dimmed so much that it almost disappeared from view as astronomers observed it over time. It’s…… MORE
Scientists have discovered an exoplanet located 90 light-years from Earth with an intriguing atmosphere — one that could contain water clouds. Exoplanets are planets located outside of our solar system. This exoplanet, called TOI-1231 b, completes a full orbit around its star every 24 Earth days. It orbits a red, or M-type, dwarf star, known…… MORE
A Moscow court on Wednesday ruled that two organizations linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny are “extremist” groups — forcing them to shut down and rendering their members ineligible to run in upcoming elections. Wednesday’s ruling targeted both Navalny’s regional political offices and the Anti-Corruption Foundation which he founded. The foundation, known as FBK,…… MORE
