Science

The powerful James Webb Space Telescope’s inaugural batch of images has opened a new chapter of cosmic exploration, but astronomers say the observatory’s most consequential discoveries may well be those they have yet to even imagine. Distant colliding galaxies, gas-giant exoplanets and dying star systems were the first celestial subjects captured by the multibillion-dollar observatory,

The European Space Agency (ESA) has officially terminated cooperation with Russia on a mission to put a rover on Mars, with Russia’s space chief furiously responding by banning cosmonauts on the ISS from using a Europe-made robotic arm. The ESA had previously suspended ties on the joint ExoMars mission, which had planned to use Russian

The James Webb Space Telescope offered a never-seen-before glimpse in the deep dark depths of the universe in high-resolution photos released by American space agency NASA this week. It filled the hearts of space enthusiasts with joy and the scientists who created it with hope that the world’s most powerful telescope will help them unravel

NASA officials gathered today to unveil first full-colour images from the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most powerful orbital observatory ever launched. The first batch of full-colour, high-resolution pictures, which took weeks to render from raw telescope data, were selected by NASA to provide compelling early images from Webb’s major areas of inquiry and a preview of science missions ahead.

The James Webb space telescope has a huge task at hand – to replace Hubble which has been serving as our eye in the sky for decades. The first image released by the new telescope on Monday did not disappoint. It showed the clearest image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion

Digging deeper through laboratory experiments and computer simulations, researchers at the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich have proposed a new theory on the formation of the Earth. In their study, researchers developed models to demonstrate how planets formed in our solar system and shed light on their composition. “The prevailing theory in astrophysics and cosmochemistry

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, will be sharing some of the most detailed views of the universe captured to date. The three agencies will be soon releasing images, with full colour and spectroscopic data, captured from the James Webb Space Telescope.

Researchers have found that certain drugs used for treating ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) could help deal with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. In a new study, researchers analysed how noradrenergic drugs, used in ADHD patients, can also be used for treating Alzheimer’s. These drugs tend to target the noradrenergic system which has locus coeruleus, a

Paving the way for the fabrication of artificial hearts, bioengineers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have successfully created a biohybrid model of human ventricles. The fabrication of a human heart is crucial as a heart cannot repair itself after injuries like other organs. But, to do so,

A group of scientists have identified that the fossil records of yunnanozoans, an extinct creature that lived 518 million years ago in the Cambrian Period, are the oldest known stem vertebrates. Stem vertebrates refer to creatures that were vertebrates, i.e. possessing a spinal column, but have now gone extinct though have closely related living vertebrates.

Twitter employees expressed disbelief and exhaustion on Friday after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said he was terminating a deal to buy the social media company in what could be the start of months of legal wrangling. Musk said Twitter breached multiple provisions of a $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,49,060 crore)  merger agreement struck in April, including

Scientists have managed to determine one of the biggest mysteries in recent astrophysics – the formation of quasars in the early universe. These cosmic entities were first spotted in 2003, and soon after, over 200 quasars were identified by supermassive black holes. These 200 quasars had formed within the first billion years after the formation

NASA has a provided a tantalising teaser photo ahead of the highly-anticipated release next week of the first deep-space images from the James Webb Telescope –- an instrument so powerful it can peer back into the origins of the universe. The $10 billion (roughly Rs. 79,300 crore) observatory — launched in December last year and

Detroit airport in the United States recently added a futuristic information board that shows travellers personalised information about their flight. The “Parallel Reality” board, currently in its beta stage, has been developed by Misapplied Sciences in collaboration with Delta Airlines. As per a release by the airline, the screen caters to up to 100 people

Space travel company Virgin Galactic on Wednesday said it had reached an agreement with Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two new air launch carrier aircraft for its spaceships. These new motherships will replace Virgin Galactic‘s existing carrier plane — the VMS Eve built by Scaled Composites — with the first of the new

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) — the modular space station orbiting the Earth — conducted experiments on Tuesday to explore space physics, artificial intelligence, the human nervous system, and the effect of microgravity on the human body in space. Conditions in space, such as zero gravity, allow astronauts the ability to explore phenomena

Scientists revealed a large, all-season ozone hole in the lower stratosphere over the tropics comparable in depth to that of the well-known springtime Antarctic hole, but roughly seven times greater in area. The observed data agree well with the cosmic-ray-driven electron reaction (CRE) model and strongly indicate the identical physical mechanism working for both Antarctic

Researchers have developed new lithium-ion batteries that perform well at both freezing cold and scorching hot temperatures while packing a lot of energy. The batteries, described in the journal PNAS, could allow electric vehicles in cold climates to travel farther on a single charge. They could also reduce the need for cooling systems to keep

A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again. It’s been an unusual journey already for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, have designed an affordable ‘radiative cooler’ coating material, an alternative to air-conditioning system that needs no electricity to operate. According to officials, this material is an electricity-free cooling system as it can be applied on the rooftops, and functions both during day and night time to provide