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New rockets are set to take to the skies in 2024, ushering in a new era of space exploration. Among them is the Ariane 6 rocket, developed by ArianeGroup for the European Space Agency. After a delay of four years due to various challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ariane 6 is finally slated for its maiden flight between June 15 and July 31, 2024. Designed as Europe’s response to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the Ariane 6 promises to be more cost-effective, thanks to innovative manufacturing techniques.
Another contender is the Vega C rocket, produced by Italian aerospace company Avio. Following a setback in December 2022, Vega C is gearing up for a comeback in the fourth quarter of 2024. Its relaunch is eagerly anticipated as it aims to address the pressing need for small rockets in the European space launch market. -
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’s company has created a prototype solar cell using simulated lunar soil, a step forward in utilizing lunar resources.
With the Artemis program, NASA aims for sustained human presence on the Moon, rather than just short-term visits. Achieving this goal will require harnessing lunar resources.
Jeff Bezos’s space company, Blue Origin, hopes to contribute to this endeavor with its Blue Alchemist solar energy project, according to Cnet on February 13. Blue Origin has been developing solar cells and transmission wires from simulated lunar soil since 2021, and has now produced a working prototype. -
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Blue Origin Transports 6 Passengers to the Edge of Space After Two-Year Hiatus.
Blue Origin's rocket transported passengers to the edge of space for the first time after nearly a two-year hiatus following an unsuccessful unmanned test flight.
The New Shepard rocket and passenger capsule launched at 21:36 on May 19 Hanoi time from Blue Origin's facility on a private ranch in West Texas, according to CNN. NS-25, the company's seventh manned flight to date, carried six passengers: venture capitalist Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, founder of French brewery Brasserie Mont-Blanc, software engineer and businessman Kenneth L. Hess, retired accountant Carol Schaller, pilot Gopi Thotakura, and retired U.S. Air Force commander Ed Dwight. Dwight was selected by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to become America's first Black astronaut candidate. -
Seashells might seem like harmless souvenirs from a beach trip, but scientists have highlighted why it's best not to take them home.
A 2014 study cited by IFL Science on May 18 revealed that researchers investigated the removal of seashells from beaches and concluded that this action causes "significant damage" to many species that rely on them.
Seashells play a crucial role in coastal ecosystems. In addition to stabilizing beaches and providing nesting materials for birds, they also offer habitat or attachment surfaces for many marine organisms, including algae, seagrass, sponges, and crustaceans. They also provide a source of calcium carbonate, which can dissolve in seawater and be recycled back into the ocean. -
A vessel powered by burning wood pellets could reduce carbon emissions by 22% compared to ships using fossil fuels.
Japanese transportation companies NYK Line, NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers (NBP), and Tsuneishi Shipbuilding are collaborating with the UK renewable energy company Drax to develop the world's first wood pellet-powered cargo ship. According to the recently signed memorandum of understanding, the ship is expected to set sail in 2029.
This collaboration aligns with Japan's shift towards green energy sources. Japan is transitioning from fossil fuel-based electricity production to low-carbon and renewable sources, while the demand for wood pellets in the country—typically made from forestry residues and sawmill waste—is increasing. These wood pellets are primarily imported from North America. -
UAE - The Warsan company's plant in Dubai will process 2 million tons of waste per year and meet the electricity needs of 135,000 households. In Dubai, nearly half of the discarded waste contributes to powering homes. Most of the waste is collected at the plant operated by the waste management company Warsan. According to Tim Clarke, the company's CEO, about 45% of Dubai's total waste is sent to this facility. Operating since March this year, the Warsan plant will use 2 million tons of waste annually to generate electricity, enough to power around 135,000 households, CNN reported on May 17.
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BRAZIL - Snake Island is the only place on Earth where the critically endangered golden lancehead pit viper can be found, with numbers reaching into the thousands.
Snake Island is a small island off the coast of Brazil, home to thousands of highly venomous snakes. These snakes, measuring up to 1.2 meters, belong to the golden lancehead pit viper species (Bothrops insularis). They are so venomous that the Brazilian Navy has prohibited public access to the island since the 1920s. The island is located about 34 kilometers off the southeastern coast of Brazil and spans an area of 43 hectares, roughly equivalent to 80 American football fields. The island is covered by rainforests for more than half of its area, while the rest is barren land and rocky outcrops. -
The spacecraft of the American startup Inversion Space will act as a warehouse, delivering goods to any location on Earth within an hour.Inversion Space, a U.S. startup founded in 2021, aims to revolutionize military logistics with the concept of a "warehouse in space," Interesting Engineering reported on May 17. The company plans to deploy reusable reentry spacecraft to store goods in orbit and deliver them anywhere on Earth within an hour.The pioneering mission, Ray, is expected to launch as early as October. In this mission, the experimental spacecraft will be sent into space on SpaceX's Transporter-12 rideshare flight. Ray will test technologies to support the development of a larger spacecraft, according to Inversion Space co-founder and CEO Justin Fiaschetti.
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Japan has added fin whales, a marine mammal species that was once considered vulnerable, to its list of commercially hunted species, raising concerns among conservationists.The Japanese government announced on May 9th that fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) are now the target of whaling ships within its exclusive economic zone, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). The addition of fin whales brings the total number of commercially hunted whales in Japan to 4 species, along with minke whales, Bryde's whales, and sei whales.The latest addition to the supplementary decision is particularly surprising due to the size and rarity of this species. At 25 meters long, fin whales are the second-largest animals on Earth in terms of length, second only to blue whales. They can live up to 90 years and have a wide range of habitats across the world's oceans.
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The stonefish holds the record for the largest venomous spines of any fish, as recognized by the Guinness World Records.Stonefish have 13 venomous spines hidden along their dorsal fin. They inhabit coral reefs and typically hunt fish and crustaceans by lying motionless and waiting for prey to approach, then striking rapidly, according to the Australian Museum in Sydney.The toxin from this fish is secreted from the spines running along its back, containing highly potent venom that can cause intense pain and even lead to death. The sharp spines act as a defensive mechanism and are erected vertically when the fish feels threatened.Each spine on the back is equipped with two venom glands on the outside. The severity of the injury is assessed based on how many spines the victim has come into contact with and the depth at which the spines penetrate the skin.
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Coral reefs are currently undergoing bleaching and disappearing. A study shows that coral reefs are facing "mass extinction" as ocean currents change, causing widespread bleaching.Researchers at the Global Coral Reef Alliance have published a new study in the Oxford Open Climate Change journal, revealing the severe bleaching of some of the world's largest coral reefs in 2023. The study indicates that climate change is altering ocean currents, making the impacts more severe, helping scientists better understand bleaching events and the best ways to prevent them.Thomas Goreau, the lead author of the paper and director of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, shared in a statement: "Coral reefs, the most vulnerable ecosystems, have been experiencing bleaching and dying due to high temperatures since the 1980s."
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In NASA's new project, robots will hover on lunar rails using "magnetic levitation" technology, transporting 100 tons of material per day.
NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has selected six projects to establish a sustained human presence on the lunar surface for sponsorship and further development. These projects have completed Phase I of the NIAC program, demonstrating their promise, and have entered Phase II, as reported by IFL Science on May 7th. -
Newly released images of Chang'e 6, China's latest Moon mission, reveal a small rover attached to the lander spacecraft.
On May 3, China's Space Technology Institute (CAST) successfully launched the Long March 5 rocket into space carrying payloads for the Chang'e 6 mission. These payloads entered lunar orbit on May 8. Chang'e 6 is set to become the first mission in history to collect samples from the far side of the Moon and return them to Earth. -
Five years before the first flight of the Concorde, another supersonic aircraft took to the skies. It was the XB-70 Valkyrie, an experimental aircraft developed by the US Air Force. Its maiden flight 60 years ago in September 1964 heralded the golden age of supersonic flight. This aircraft later achieved speeds of over 3,218 km/h, nearly 50% faster than the Concorde, according to CNN.
The XB-70 program had its own challenges. As a military aircraft, it became obsolete even before deployment. Its short lifespan was marked by a tragic accident. However, the design of the aircraft remained an icon of supersonic flight. -
The sleek, elongated design of the X-59's fuselage, with the cockpit positioned above the body, helps streamline the aircraft, preventing supersonic booms from occurring behind it.
Currently, NASA is collaborating with Lockheed Martin in hopes of revitalizing commercial supersonic flight by minimizing sonic booms. Their X-59 QueSST (Quiet SuperSonic Technology) project aims to eliminate the speed limit on land when supersonic booms are no longer a concern. Other aircraft, like the Northrop F-5E Tiger II, demonstrated in 2003 that the shape of the aircraft can reduce the intensity of supersonic booms. The X-59 is designed to go even further, creating supersonic booms of only about 75 decibels, equivalent to the sound of a washing machine. -
After facing years of setbacks and challenges, Boeing is now on the cusp of sending astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in partnership with NASA.
This mission will mark the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule, with NASA pilots conducting a comprehensive test of the spacecraft during their journey to and from the ISS, expected to last about a week.
Following the retirement of the space shuttles, NASA turned to U.S. companies for astronaut transportation services. While Elon Musk's SpaceX has successfully completed nine crewed missions for NASA since 2020, Boeing has faced delays, with only two uncrewed test flights under its belt. -
NASA and Boeing have evaluated the likelihood of a catastrophic incident resulting in the loss of astronauts during a Starliner mission, known as a "loss of crew" scenario.
The minimum safety requirement set by NASA was a 1 in 270 chance of loss of crew, a threshold that Boeing exceeded with a probability of 1 in 295, as stated by Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Comparatively, such odds would be unacceptable for commercial airplanes, highlighting the inherently riskier nature of spaceflight due to its relative novelty and unique challenges -
Set to launch on Monday evening, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will embark on Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spaceship, aiming to dock with the International Space Station early Wednesday.
While SpaceX's Crew Dragon has been ferrying astronauts to the ISS, Boeing's Starliner is finally catching up after a decade-long journey.
Despite Boeing's recent passenger-plane woes, NASA insists that Starliner is ready and safe for launch, emphasizing rigorous testing and preparation. -
At first glance, Neo Px appears to be an ordinary houseplant, but beneath the surface lies a powerhouse of pollution-fighting bacteria.
This week, Neoplants, a biotech company based in France, unveiled the world's first bioengineered houseplant designed to combat harmful chemicals found in indoor air. Specifically targeting volatile organic compounds (VOCs), emitted by common household items like gas stoves, paints, and furniture.
Indoor air quality can be significantly worse than outdoor air, sometimes up to 100 times more polluted, as noted by the American Lung Association. This is primarily due to elevated levels of VOCs, which can lead to various health issues ranging from irritation to serious conditions like liver damage and cancer. -
Researchers observed an orangutan named Rakus treating his wounds with medicinal plants, displaying behavior reminiscent of humans.
Rakus resides in Gunung Leuser National Park in South Aceh, Indonesia, where scientists from the Institute of Animal Behavior meticulously study animals like him, documenting their activities every two minutes.
A team of researchers, led by evolutionary biologist Caroline Schuppli and cognitive biologist Isabelle Laumer, were observing Rakus when they noticed a deep facial wound.
They speculate that it resulted from a confrontation with another male during a "long call battle," where adult male orangutans vocalize to attract females and assert territorial dominance. Sometimes, these vocalizations attract rival males, leading to physical altercations. - Näytä enemmän