Science

The job of astronomers is as intriguing as it is frustrating. There are days when they find nothing of interest despite putting in a lot of effort and resources, and then there are days when they discover celestial objects or events that have the potential to change the course of history, or rather the future.

After a year that made the terms WFH (work from home) and metaverse instantly recognizable for many people, there are a new set of technological trends headed this way for 2022. Here’s a selection of how technology may change lives in the coming year: Meatless meat Meat alternatives have become common in an increasing number

There’s been increased anxiety after epidemiologists warned of a new and significantly more virulent coronavirus variant, Omicron, circulating in parts of South Africa and some other countries. With it, the race to find ways to stop the COVID-19 pandemic has acquired more urgency. In that effort, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, US, have tested

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have invented a soft, jelly-like material that can endure the equivalent of an elephant standing on it and not explode like a water balloon — even though it’s 80 percent water. When the weight is removed, the material returns to its former shape completely without being permanently deformed. The material,

The last solar eclipse of 2021 will occur on December 4. People in the Southern Hemisphere will be able to experience a total or partial eclipse of the Sun. A solar eclipse takes place when the Moon occupies a position between the Sun and Earth in a straight line. This allows the Moon to cast

The mysteries trapped in the corners of the universe are far more exciting than anyone could ever imagine. With each passing day and month, astronomers find new riddles and solve them in what is as puzzling as they are delightful. Sometimes astronomers find things in a place they least expect them to be. And that’s

Elon Musk has wished luck to NASA’s planetary defence mission DART in his typical cryptic style. The mission, launched on Wednesday, is set to give a non-threatening asteroid a small nudge to see whether it can change its direction. But the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, known to find fun in most serious situations, said he

NASA’s Curiosity rover celebrated the 10th anniversary of its launch on November 26 by sending a spectacular postcard from the Red Planet. The rover had captured two black-and-white images of the thrilling Martian landscape while it was perched on the side of Mount Sharp. NASA scientists combined the two images and added colour to them

The Pentagon is creating a new office to investigate unidentified flying objects amid concerns that after broad probes it cannot explain mysterious sightings near highly sensitive military areas. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, working with the US director of national intelligence, ordered the new investigatory body to be established in the US Defense Department’s

A group of scientists discovered the bones of a dinosaur in the US state of Missouri recently. They claim it’s a new species never found before in the country. The skeleton of the juvenile duck-billed dinosaur, called Parrosaurus Missouriensis, is a staggering 25–30 feet long. The scientists have kept the site of their finding a

Just a day after NASA scientists said that they have found 301 new exoplanets, astronomers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have stated that they identified 366 new exoplanets using data from the Kepler space telescope. The latest discovery was made possible by an algorithm developed by a UCLA postdoctoral scholar. The term

Machine learning (ML) methods are not only supplementing the already available technology but are also taking scientific research further ahead. Now, a new deep learning method has added a whopping 301 exoplanets to the total tally. These planets were added to the already validated 4,569 planets which are orbiting several distant stars. The additions were

NASA is preparing a mission to deliberately smash a spacecraft into an asteroid — a test run should humanity ever need to stop a giant space rock from wiping out life on Earth. It may sound like science fiction, but the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) is a real proof-of-concept experiment, blasting off at 10:21pm

There is a growing amount of space debris, comprising everything from dead spacecraft and spent rocket parts to the junk created by anti-satellite tests. This junk is whizzing around at incredible speeds, posing a serious threat to communications satellites and the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian ASAT test last week even sent astronauts aboard

A University of Glasgow researcher has made a device that will enable pet dogs to communicate with their owners over long distances. Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, a specialist in animal-computer interaction at the university’s School of Computing Science, has been building devices for her 10-year-old Labrador for a while now. Her focus is on building devices

NASA is set to test a laser technology in space. This mission is aimed at speeding up space communications. The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) will be launched on December 4 after a two-year delay. The technology will be launched into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket during the Space Test Program