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Hydrogels could be ideal radiation protection for astronauts

It's a key problem that will need to be addressed if humans are to attempt deep-space, long-duration missions. Not only is radiation exposure a dangerous health risk to humans, but it also poses a hazard to equipment and ...

A jumping robot could leap over Enceladus' geysers

Locomotion makes things move, and certain forms of locomotion make them move better than others. Those more effective types of locomotion change depending on the environment, which is even more true for space exploration. ...

NASA's mini rover team is packed for lunar journey

Three small NASA rovers that will explore the lunar surface as a team have been packed up and shipped from the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, marking completion of the first leg of the robots' ...

Robot grippers could be used to remove space debris

Blue tentacle-like arms attached to an Astrobee free-flying robot grab onto a "capture cube" in this image from Feb. 4, 2025. The experimental grippers demonstrated autonomous detection and capture techniques that may be ...

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Space Exploration
Rocket junk has a 1 in 4 chance per year of entering busy airspace, study suggests
Space Exploration
Burrowing mole-bot could characterize other planets' soil
Space Exploration
Boeing Starliner official talks pros and cons of NASA contracts
Space Exploration
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin mimics the moon's gravity for NASA experiments during spaceflight
Space Exploration
SpaceX pushes Kennedy Space Center launch to Tuesday, could bring sonic boom with booster landing
Space Exploration
AI technique predicts Hall thruster power for spacecraft with high accuracy
Space Exploration
Is there life out there? The existence of other technological species is highly likely
Space Exploration
Can ocean-floor mining oversights help regulate space debris and mining on the moon?
Space Exploration
Japan launches a navigation satellite on a new flagship rocket for an improved positioning system
Space Exploration
Property and sovereignty in space − as countries and companies take to the stars, they could run into disputes
Space Exploration
Planet party and snow moon to shine over California: When to watch the sky
Space Exploration
Measuring light sail performance in the lab
Space Exploration
A 'city-killer' asteroid might hit Earth—how worried should we be?
Space Exploration
Artemis team leaders say major changes under Trump could mean more delays
Space Exploration
First steps taken toward developing interstellar lightsails
Space Exploration
Newly spotted asteroid has a tiny chance of hitting Earth in 2032
Space Exploration
Could gravitational waves be the key to cosmic communication?
Space Exploration
From Earth to space: Testing tech in lava tubes for future space exploration
Space Exploration
Stunning conjunction of Venus, crescent moon will be visible above Colorado
Space Exploration
Ready for 156 Space Coast launches this year, Space Force targets bottlenecks

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Plants & Animals
Reintroducing wolves to Scottish Highlands could help address climate emergency, study suggests
Evolution
Near-complete skull discovery reveals 'top apex,' leopard-sized carnivore
Quantum Physics
A newly proposed protocol to boost privacy in quantum sensor networks
Other
Saturday Citations: One tough neutrino; time palindrome time; sizing up animal brains
Astrobiology
Does planetary evolution favor human-like life? Study ups odds we're not alone
Astronomy
Release of Type Ia supernovae data may hold key to the history of the universe
Cell & Microbiology
AI model generates antimicrobial peptide structures for screening against treatment-resistant microbes
Astronomy
FAST uncovers emission properties of three long-period pulsars
Optics & Photonics
Simulations reveal Anderson transition for light in 3D disordered systems
Biochemistry
New findings on the power of enzymes could reshape biochemistry
Optics & Photonics
Quantum-inspired advancement turns crystal gaps into terabyte storage for classical memory
General Physics
New optical tech boosts gravitational-wave detection capabilities
Archaeology
Report documents devastation of ancient city of Palmyra, a World Heritage Site, after the fall of the Assad regime
Biotechnology
Gene-edited rice can produce a compound that's vital for human health
Ecology
Climate change outpaces tree migration, human intervention may be needed: Study
Analytical Chemistry
Replacing trial and error: Molecular methods clear the way for faster and more cost-effective separations
Earth Sciences
Research reveals how Earth got its ice caps
Nanophysics
Dance of magnetism and light: Study finds nonreciprocal second harmonic generation disappears in 2D material
Astrobiology
Asteroid Ryugu samples suggest presence of salty water in outer solar system
Biotechnology
CRISPR system variant shows a novel DNA cleavage mechanism

First steps taken toward developing interstellar lightsails

The idea of traveling through interstellar space using spacecraft propelled by ultrathin sails may sound like the stuff of sci-fi novels. But in fact, a program started in 2016 by Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner, known as ...