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Mar 3, 2021

Eerie Stars of ‘Dark Matter’ May Be Behind Largest Gravitational Wave Detection Yet

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics

On 21 May 2019, from a distance of 7 billion light-years away, our gravitational wave detectors were rocked by the most massive collision yet. From analysis of the signal, astronomers concluded that the detection was the result of two black holes smashing together, weighing in at 66 and 85 times the mass of the Sun respectively.

But what if it was something else? A new study offers a different interpretation of the event. It’s possible, according to an international team of astrophysicists, that the two objects were not black holes at all, but mysterious, theoretical objects called boson stars — potentially made up of elusive candidates for dark matter.

The gravitational wave event, called GW 190521, was a spectacular discovery. The object that resulted from the merger of the two objects would have been a black hole at around 142 times the mass of the Sun — within the intermediate mass range that no black hole had ever been detected before, called the black hole upper mass gap.

Mar 3, 2021

SpaceX’s Starship SN10 Flight Test — Launch & Landing in Boca Chica

Posted by in categories: internet, space travel

Starship SN10 successfully launched and landed at SpaceX’s testing site in Boca Chica, Texas. However couple of minutes after the landing Starship SN10 exploded on the landing pad.

► SpaceX Starlink 17 Mission Launch!
Set Reminder: https://youtu.be/8lwkQOa1yvg.

Continue reading “SpaceX’s Starship SN10 Flight Test — Launch & Landing in Boca Chica” »

Mar 3, 2021

SpaceX Starship SN10 soars, lands for first time!

Posted by in category: space travel

SpaceX Starship SN10 soars, nails landing for first time!


SpaceX’s test fight of the Starship SN10 prototype was a success!

Continue reading “SpaceX Starship SN10 soars, lands for first time!” »

Mar 3, 2021

‘Space hurricane’ spotted above Earth for the first time ever

Posted by in categories: climatology, space

A first-ever “space hurricane” was spotted whirling above the Earth, scientists said.

The 600-mile-wide mass of plasma occurred several hundreds of miles above the North Pole, according to a study in the journal Nature Communications.

“Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes even existed, so to prove this with such a striking observation is incredible,” said Mike Lockwood, a space scientist at the University of Reading and co-author of the study, in a statement.

Mar 3, 2021

Three visions of the future, inspired by neuroscience’s past and present

Posted by in categories: futurism, neuroscience

Three fantastical tales of where neuroscience might take us are based on the progress made by brain researchers in the last 100 years.

Mar 3, 2021

L3Harris picked for DARPA autonomous surface ship concept design

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

L3Harris Technologies has been selected to design an autonomous surface ship concept for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to demonstrate the reliability and feasibility of an unmanned ship performing lengthy missions.

Mar 3, 2021

Astronauts Explore Caves on Earth, Learning the Skills They’ll Need for the Moon and Mars

Posted by in categories: habitats, space

A unique training program has teams of astronauts spending time inside caves doing experiments and learning to work together in a challenging environment.


We’re accustomed to astronauts pulling off their missions without a hitch. They head up to the International Space Station for months at a time and do what they do, then come home. But upcoming missions to the surface of the Moon, and maybe Mars, present a whole new set of challenges.

One way astronauts are preparing for those challenges is by exploring the extreme environment inside caves.

Continue reading “Astronauts Explore Caves on Earth, Learning the Skills They’ll Need for the Moon and Mars” »

Mar 3, 2021

Debunking myths about renewable energy

Posted by in categories: economics, energy, sustainability

Critics of renewable energy often cite two reasons for why they think a transition from fossil fuels will take half a century. Firstly, that sources of renewable energy are too intermittent to be reliable and secondly, that governments cannot bear the costs of switching entire economies to clean energy.

Mar 3, 2021

Nanoparticle cuts cholesterol

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, nanotechnology

Scientists have used lipid nanoparticles to deliver CRISPR genome editing into the livers of mice, resulting in a 57% reduction of cholesterol levels.

Mar 3, 2021

A Cephalopod Has Passed a Cognitive Test Designed For Human Children

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A new test of cephalopod smarts has reinforced how important it is for us humans to not underestimate animal intelligence.