Lifeboat Foundation

The stellar smash produced a short gamma-ray burst that could provide important context for understanding similar blasts.

In trying to understand the nature of the cosmos, some theorists propose that the universe expands and contracts in endless cycles.

Because this behavior is hypothesized to be perpetual, the universe should have no beginning and no end—only eternal cycles of growing and shrinking that extend forever into the future, and forever into the past.

It’s an appealing concept in part because it removes the need for a state called a singularity that corresponds to “beginning of time” in other models.

Analysing pendulum videos, the artificial intelligence tool identified variables not present in current mathematics.

An artificial intelligence tool has examined physical systems and not surprisingly, found new ways of describing what it found.

How do we make sense of the universe? There’s no manual. There’s no prescription.

Continue reading “Artificial intelligence discovers new physics variables!” »

A half-mile-long tunnel under Menlo Park, California, just became colder than most of the universe.

Using a superconducting X-ray laser, researchers at SLAC achieved a temperature 2 degrees Celsius above absolute zero.

Members of the public are helping professional astronomers identify nascent planetary systems.

Equally important is the emphasis that RVS puts on its own off-the-shelf thermal vacuum systems. Put another way, that means thermal testing at a palatable price-point while also ensuring that ease-of-use is paramount. “In responding to our call for proposals, RVS was competitive on price and delivered versus desired functionality,” notes Manny Montoya, CAAO technical manager, who heads up a diverse team of engineers, technicians and machinists supporting the research of Douglas and other astronomers at Steward Observatory.

Following the successful launch of NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on Oct. 16, 2021, a group of engineers huddled around a long conference table in Titusville, Florida. Lucy was mere hours into its 12-year flight, but an unexpected challenge had surfaced for the first-ever Trojan asteroids mission.

Data indicated that one of Lucy’s solar arrays powering the spacecraft’s systems—designed to unfurl like a hand fan—hadn’t fully opened and latched, and the team was figuring out what to do next.

Continue reading “Team troubleshoots asteroid-bound Lucy spacecraft across millions of miles” »

Astronomers just discovered the sneaky asteroid on July 26.

NASA astronomers discovered that a large asteroid will zoom past Earth on Aug. 4, missing our planet by millions of miles.