Science

India is celebrating its inaugural National Space Day today, marking a significant milestone in the country’s space exploration journey. This day commemorates the historic event of August 23, 2023, when Chandrayaan-3 successfully made a soft landing on the Moon. With this achievement, India became the fourth nation to land on the Moon and the first

Chandrayaan-3 mission, India’s first successful mission to have landed on the Moon, might have made a notable discovery. As per a new study, it might have found evidence of a former magma ocean near the Moon’s South Pole. This finding was achieved through the efforts of the Pragyan rover, which landed on the lunar surface

Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) suggest that Ariel, one of Uranus’s moons, might harbour an underground liquid ocean. Ariel is one of the 27 moons orbiting Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun. The discovery was made during a 21-hour observation period as part of the “Moons of Uranus” project. The

SpaceX has marked a significant milestone by launching 22 new Starlink satellites into orbit, greatly expanding its global satellite network. The launch occurred on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, at 9:20 a.m. EDT (1320 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission was remarkable not only for boosting SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation but also

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is advancing its lunar exploration efforts with the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 missions. ISRO Chairman S. Somanath confirmed that the designs for both missions are finalised and are awaiting government approval, as per a new report. These missions follow the successful Chandrayaan-3, which marked India as the first nation

Researchers have made a significant breakthrough that may help save the world’s bananas from a disease threatening their existence. The disease in question, fusarium wilt, has already devastated various banana types in the past, including the Gros Michel variety in the 1950s. The Cavendish banana, the most common variety consumed globally today, is now facing

Elon Musk, the influential figure behind SpaceX, has expressed a pragmatic view on the timeline for human colonization of Mars. Speaking at the Satellite 2020 conference, Musk noted the slow pace of advancements in space exploration, he may not live to see a sustainable Martian settlement. Despite SpaceX’s strides, such as successful Falcon 9 and

On August 15, 2024, NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project, driven by citizen scientists, uncovered an astonishing discovery: an object travelling at a staggering speed of 1 million miles per hour, enough to escape the Milky Way’s gravitational grasp. This hypervelocity object, known as CWISE J124909.08+362116.0, marks the first of its kind identified with the

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a man and a woman in Pompeii, providing new insights into the tragic events of the city’s destruction during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. The two skeletons, found in a small room, offer a stark view of the last moments of these individuals as they faced

Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have cast doubt on the long-held belief that asteroid 16 Psyche is the core remnant of a protoplanet. The JWST detected hydrated minerals on Psyche’s surface, which include hydroxyl and possibly water. This finding complicates our understanding of the asteroid’s composition and its role in the

Scientists have unearthed a previously unknown marine mammal species, Ontocetus posti, which lived 2.2 million years ago. Led by Dr. Mathieu Boisville from the University of Tsukuba, this discovery provides fresh insights into the evolutionary history of walruses and the impact of environmental changes on marine life. The fossil remains, found in Norwich, UK, and

A groundbreaking project by Harvard University and Google has produced the most detailed map of human brain connections to date. This achievement focuses on a cubic millimetre of the cerebral cortex, extracted from a patient during epilepsy surgery in 2014. Over a decade, a team of biologists and machine-learning experts meticulously analysed this small tissue

New research suggests that climate change could lead to prokaryotes, the oldest and smallest microorganisms on Earth, becoming more dominant in the oceans. These tiny organisms, including bacteria and archaea, have existed for billions of years and are essential for maintaining marine ecosystems. They play a key role in nutrient cycles and support the food

Archaeologists have made a significant discovery in Lake Bolsena, central Italy — a 3,000-year-old clay figurine — believed to represent an ancient goddess. This artifact was found submerged in the volcanic lake, which holds the remains of an early Iron Age village from around the 10th or 9th century B.C. The figurine, measuring approximately 6 inches

Recent research has provided new insights into the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago, causing a mass extinction event that led to the end of the dinosaurs. Scientists have now identified this impactor as a carbon-rich “C-type” asteroid, a type of space rock that likely originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved another milestone with the successful launch of the EOS-08 Earth-observing satellite on Friday. The satellite was launched aboard the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 9:17am IST on August 16. This launch marks the third mission for the SSLV, a relatively new addition

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a warning about a severe geomagnetic storm, classified as level G4. This storm is anticipated to affect power grids, GPS systems, and radio communications. Despite these potential disruptions, it provides an extraordinary opportunity to witness vibrant auroras in high-latitude regions, especially across parts of Canada and

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made a groundbreaking observation with its recent image of the Serpens Nebula. Captured on June 20, 2024, this image reveals a fascinating phenomenon: aligned protostellar outflows. These outflows, represented by bright red streaks in the upper left corner of the image, are jets of gas ejected by newborn stars,

A recent study reveals that a 3,500-year-old mummy, known as the “Screaming Woman,” experienced a death filled with agony. Virtual autopsies conducted on the mummy, discovered in an Egyptian tomb in 1935, show that her final moments were marked by a painful spasm, which left her face in a scream-like expression. The “Screaming Woman” was

New research based on data from NASA’s InSight mission has uncovered a vast underground reservoir on Mars, capable of filling oceans on the planet’s surface. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that water, trapped in small cracks and pores within Mars’ crust, could cover the planet to a depth