Science

A new study has warned that a super solar storm, which occurs once in about a century, could plunge the world into an “Internet apocalypse”, keeping large swathes of the society offline for weeks or even months. The Sun constantly bombards the Earth with electromagnetic particles. These particles — that make the solar wind — are

The James Webb Space Telescope, which astronomers hope will herald a new era of discovery, will launch on December 18, NASA said Wednesday. The $10 billion (roughly Rs. 73,700 crores) observatory, which is a joint project by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, will blast off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Spaceport

Last year, a large group of scientists had gathered for a two-day conference to discuss whether biotechnology could make people younger. The conference was organised at a mansion owned by Russian-Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner in Los Altos Hills, California, US. Experts took to the stage to explain and discuss radical attempts at “rejuvenating” animals. Eventually,

Since Elon Musk-owned SpaceX announced that it was aiming for September 15 to launch the first all-civilian spaceflight mission, curiosity has been building about those who have signed up for this potentially historic sojourn. Four private citizens will fly to space and will spend three days there as part of the aptly named “Inspiration4” space mission,

The European Space Agency (ESA) has shared a stunning image on Instagram of a rare celestial event, known as a Herbig-Haro object, occurring in a dark alley of the incredibly vast universe. It shows a bright beam of light appearing to move with rapid speed and penetrating the clouds. Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope,

An asteroid named 2021 NY1 could come close to hitting the Earth this month. The asteroid has been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It has also been classified as a near-Earth object owing to its predicted close pass by our planet. It is estimated to pass within

India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has completed more than 9,000 orbits around the Moon, and imaging and scientific instruments on board have been providing excellent data, officials said on Monday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is holding a two-day Lunar Science Workshop 2021, which began on Monday, to commemorate the completion of two years of operation

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have been fascinated by the world created in Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park and others who are petrified by the sheer possibility of it. But ever since director Steven Spielberg brought the novel to life with his 1993 film of the same name, there has

With artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) making inroads into what were hitherto exclusive human domains — like writing and driving — it was only a matter of time that artists too began experimenting with it. Many exhibition centres and auction houses around the world have begun taking interest in art pieces created with

Virgin Galactic is launching its first commercial research mission named “Unity 23” along with the Italian Air Force to the edge of space, it said on Thursday. The space travel company has set late September or early October as the time for the mission that will carry three paying crew members from the Air Force and

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday barred Virgin Galactic from flying its SpaceShipTwo until the agency approves its final mishap investigation report from its July flight or determines the issues do not affect public safety. The FAA confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating a deviation in the descent of the flight of the Virgin

This month appears to be rewarding for skywatchers with a full range of binocular and telescopic sights in the offing. All through September, interesting cosmic events will take place and can be seen over the horizon, according to NASA. The space agency said in its monthly update astronomers and space enthusiasts will have to gear

The battle for domination of space by private firms is not new. The latest competition saw Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos tussle in the race to make commercial space tourism a reality. Now, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken a swipe at Bezos’ Blue Origin for hiring a high-profile strategic advisory firm after it lost

China has developed a prototype miniature helicopter for surveillance work on future Mars missions, according to its space science agency, following the historic landing of a robotic rover on the Red Planet a few months ago. The prototype is similar in appearance to the robotic helicopter Ingenuity, developed by NASA for its Perseverance mission this

The solar system is full of wonders. One intriguing mystery troubling the scientific community is whether a large, icy planet sits beyond the orbit of Neptune. Scientists have long argued there could be a ninth planet but a definite evidence is yet to be found. Critics assert that finding the planet is unrealistic. So, this

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Wednesday it is investigating a deviation in the descent of the flight of the Virgin Galactic rocket plane that carried British billionaire Richard Branson to the edge of space on July 11. The New Yorker magazine earlier reported that the regulator was investigating an off-course descent. An FAA spokesman