Science

SpaceX launched 24 Starlink internet satellites into low Earth orbit on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. The mission marked the 90th Falcon 9 flight of the year and the 70th dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, which now counts nearly 10,900 spacecraft. Mission Details and Booster Reuse Milestones at … Read more

Falling space debris is a growing global threat as defunct satellites and rocket parts reenter Earth’s atmosphere multiple times daily. To track these uncontrolled descents more accurately, researchers have successfully repurposed earthquake-monitoring seismometers to detect the hypersonic sonic booms generated by tumbling spacecraft. Reusing Earthquake Networks to Track Hypersonic Debris Defunct satellites, empty rocket stages, … Read more

More than 100 artists, writers, and scientists have urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reverse slashed funding for the Jodrell Bank Observatory. UK Research and Innovation announced it will withdraw support for the e-Merlin radio telescope network in March 2028, threatening 28 jobs and a vital UK astronomy facility. A growing coalition of notable figures, … Read more

Skywatchers across North America and Europe can witness a rare double feature on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, pairing a daytime partial solar eclipse across 26 U.S. states, Alaska, and eastern Canada with the overnight peak of the Perseid meteor shower under a dark, moonless new moon sky. Observers willing to spend both day and night … Read more

An abandoned SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is on a collision course with the moon, with an impact projected for Wednesday, August 5, 2026. The spent rocket segment has been drifting in space for more than a year following a launch on January 15, 2025, that carried a pair of private lunar landers into space. … Read more

For decades, astronomers confronted an irritating cosmic contradiction. Supermassive black holes sitting at the centers of galaxies blast out massive jets of energy that carve through their host galaxies and heat up surrounding matter. In theory, that searing heat should choke off the black hole’s food supply by preventing gas from falling inward. Yet those … Read more

On August 12, 2026, millions across Europe will witness a rare total solar eclipse, with totality visible across northern Spain, Iceland, Greenland, and northeastern Portugal. Where to Watch the Eclipse Across the UK and Europe The celestial alignment on August 12, 2026, brings a major astronomical event to European skies, marking the first opportunity for … Read more

European designer Jorge Mañes Rubio has proposed robotically 3D printing a colossal domed Moon Temple as a cultural centerpiece for Moon Base Alpha on the lunar South Pole. The cosmic citadel aims to unite spacefarers from around the world and foster a new universal civilization during the burgeoning second space race. As international space agencies … Read more

Jurisdictions including Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Indonesia have moved to raise minimum access ages or restrict social media use outright for young people. Singapore has chosen a different path. An eight-member expert panel formed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in September has advised against an age-based blanket ban, warning that such … Read more

Astronomers have discovered what appears to be the first known pair of supernova remnants in the Milky Way. Using 16 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope alongside eROSITA X-ray observations, researchers linked a faint, overlooked remnant to a binary star system near the Jellyfish Nebula. Yet until now, astronomers had never identified … Read more

NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered a vast valley field of honeycomb-shaped polygonal fractures on Mars nicknamed a sea of polygons. Captured on June 19 and 20 inside Gale Crater’s Valle Grande, the geometric textures measure 1.5 to 3 inches across and offer fresh clues into the planet’s ancient, watery history. The latest geologic surprise from the … Read more