Thousands of satellites are currently parked in low Earth orbit, with some that will eventually become defunct and fall back towards our planet’s atmosphere. As they reenter the atmosphere, satellites leave behind a trail of chemicals that eat away at the ozone layer. A new study warns against the growing number of…
Starlink satellite internet terminals are reportedly still operating in unlicensed places, despite the company’s warning last month that the service would be shut down by May 1 in those areas.
SpaceX is working with the National Reconnaissance Office to build a classified system of swarming spy satellites, according to a report published by Reuters. And while the $1.8 billion contract was reportedly signed in 2021, news of the program’s ties to NRO just leaked on Saturday—a great reminder that it’s entirely…
The U.S. embassy in Russia issued a warning on Thursday that Americans should avoid large gatherings in Moscow for the next 48 hours. The embassy said it was over a potential terrorist threat in the city, but didn’t elaborate beyond mentioning concerts as a potential target. And now the embassy’s website appears to be…
Russian troops in Ukraine have allegedly been using SpaceX’s Starlink terminals to get internet access during the ongoing war that has seen hundreds of thousands of casualties on each side.
In our top science stories this week, SpaceX must deorbit 100 Starlink satellites due to a flaw; a person in Oregon caught the bubonic plague from their pet cat; and the Perseverance rover’s SHERLOC instrument is on the fritz. Oh, and a grotesque AI interpretation of rat genitalia somehow made it past peer review.
SpaceX is collaborating with agricultural industry giant John Deere to provide satellite internet connectivity, enabling its tractors to operate autonomously and communicate with each other in rural areas.
NASA’s supersonic experimental plane—the linchpin of the agency’s Quesst mission—is set to roll out of its warehouse in the California desert next week. We’re gassed for the big moment: the X-59 has been in development for six years, and, if successful, it will demonstrate supersonic flight without sonic booms. -…
The week’s top three stories on the science beat all made me a little uncomfortable, to be honest. The news that scientists found a credible link between having a cat during your childhood and later being diagnosed with schizophrenia was troubling. Then there was the 2,400-year-old leather than turned out to be made…
