A tokamak in France set a new record in fusion plasma by encasing its reaction in tungsten, a heat-resistant metal that allows physicists to sustain hot plasmas for longer, and at higher energies and densities than carbon tokamaks.
In our top stories this week, reporter Passant Rabie describes the rediscovery of a satellite lost in the 1990s and why we sometimes lose sight of our orbital property. Researchers have discovered what they claim is the world’s deepest blue hole, the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole in Mexico’s Chetumal Bay, and have yet to…
A Chinese probe is on its way to the far side of the Moon to collect samples and drop them off at Earth in what would be a historic first. The Chang’e-6 mission launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 5:30 a.m. ET on Friday. The lunar probe was riding on board China’s largest rocket, the 57-meter-tall…
Climbing gyms might be teeming with toxic rubber particles, recent research suggests. The study found high levels of rubber additives in the air and dust of two climbing gyms, likely coming from the soles of specialized climbing shoes worn by gym goers. The authors say that customers and workers might be getting…
Humans aren’t the only primates with a medicine cabinet, it seems. In a new paper published today, scientists document a male orangutan named Rakus using a plant with known medicinal properties to help heal his facial wound. While there have been other recent accounts of animals using medicine in the wild, this…
As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon as part of the upcoming Artemis 2 mission, the space agency still needs to resolve a few lingering issues with its Orion capsule that could jeopardize the safety of the crew on board, according to a new report.
The recent total solar eclipse on April 8 provided a rare glimpse of the Sun’s roiling corona, including some eye-grabbing prominences. Those views were neat, but a new video captured by Europe’s Sun-buzzing probe is providing some of the best close-up views of our host star that we’ve ever seen.
Nearly a week after launching to space, a microwave-sized cubesat phoned home for the first time as it prepares to embark on its mission of sailing through low Earth orbit.
An experimental satellite that launched in 1974 disappeared from ground-based sensors in the 1990s, only to be found again this week. Some defunct satellites or debris can often go missing for years, presenting hazards within an increasingly crowded Earth orbit. But, how exactly do objects disappear in space?
Jostling on the fault lines of Enceladus’ frozen crust may be responsible for the plumes of icy material spewing from the moon’s watery underbelly, according to a team of researchers that recently modeled the motion.