What to expect from NASA’s ‘Perseverance’ Mars landing
Perseverance, NASA’s most sophisticated rover ever, is due to land on the surface of Mars on Thursday. This is your pre-event guide on what to expect and how to follow the mission throughout the year. NASA’s Perseverance rover is just 48 hours from making its descent onto the surface of...
Current in Science
High school astronomers have discovered four new ‘exoplanets’
A teenage duo from a Massachusetts high school have discovered four new exoplanets and co-authored a paper in the Astronomical Journal. It’s high time we officially axed the term ‘pie in the sky’. Two Massachusetts high schoolers have blossomed from keen physics students into renowned astronomers seemingly overnight. Thanks to a...
The UN announces bold new framework for space sustainability
With concerns growing over space debris and satellite traffic, the UN and UK government has signed a one-of a-kind agreement to ensure the sustainability of space missions going forward. If you keep up to date with our stories, you’ll know that space junk – though it may sound like a...
Synthetic CBD could be used to treat antibiotic resistant superbugs
Research has established the antibiotic potential of synthetic CBD, after discovering that some cannabis molecules can effectively destroy previously untreatable bacterial strains. With doctors concerned that antibiotics have become increasingly ineffective since Fleming first purified penicillin in 1928, the recent discovery that some cannabis molecules can effectively destroy previously untreatable...
Nasa’s new AI has found millions of trees in the Sahara
A new method of mapping the location and size of trees growing in arid and semi-arid regions is laying the groundwork for a more accurate global measurement of carbon storage on land. According to a recent study that combines Artificial Intelligence with detailed satellite imagery, there are in fact far...
Japan developing wooden satellites to reduce space junk
Kyoto University has teamed up with Sumitomo Forestry to create the first satellites made entirely of wood. It’s hoped that they’ll reduce the levels of space junk in our atmosphere. If you thought human littering and wastage was a problem confined to just our planet, you may want to look...
Students to race remote control cars on the moon in 2021
Two teams of high-school students are creating remote control cars to race on the moon. No, this isn’t Mario Kart. In the new year, a few lucky high-school students will get the chance to try their hand at automotive engineering alongside Frank Stephenson, the motor genius behind the design of McLaren’s flagship supercar the M-P1. Get this though, that isn’t even the most exciting part. The competition, devised by SpaceX chief...
NASA launches new satellite to monitor rising sea levels
NASA’s new ocean satellite is set to completely revolutionise the way we collect data on sea levels and the impact of climate change. It sounds crazy to say now, but when NASA first began its research on rising sea levels in the 1990s, scientists were unsure whether or not climate change was even a contributing factor. Thankfully, doubts on that front have been well and truly ousted since then. ‘The question...
New research finds 24 ‘super-habitable’ alien worlds
Rather than searching the night sky for Earth’s literal carbon copy, scientists have found a new criterion for habitability that’s thrown up some astonishing results. ‘A planet is the cradle of mind, but one cannot live in a cradle forever’. Tsiolkovsky’s famous antique quote about curing humanity’s ‘failure to launch’ from its earthly dwelling has been picking up steam in the past few decades, with independent space agencies like...
Venus may hold the key to discovering extra-terrestrial life
NASA is set to investigate a recent discovery showing possible signs of microbial life in the clouds of Venus. Researchers have discovered the presence of a rare and toxic gas called phosphine floating around the atmosphere of Venus. Known to biologists as one of the strongest indicators – or ‘biosignatures’ – of microbial life, this breakthrough suggests we may have found the first signs of life beyond Earth… and not...
