Today’s Solutions: December 28, 2024

Space

Learn about the latest astronomy news and discoveries around humanity’s endeavor beyond the final frontier.

Atacama desert in the Andes, Chile.

Ancient comet solves puzzle of scattered glass in Chilean desert

Across a 75 kilometer stretch of the Atacama Desert in Chile, huge rocks of black and green glass can be found lying around. Researchers picked up on this unusual phenomenon around a decade ago, but they were stumped by this mystery with no reasonable explanation to be found, until now. A team Read More...

Sun in the sky with clouds

NASA officially touches the sun for the first time

NASA’s Perseverance rover isn’t the only mission making headlines this week. According to scientists, the Parker Solar Probe has officially touched the sun for the first time. The solar probe has come close to the sun several times over the past few months, but had yet to be successful. Read More...

Mars Perseverance Rover

Perseverance rover uncovers something “completely unexpected”

The Perseverance rover landed on Mars at the start of 2021. That December, researchers announced that the craft has discovered something “completely unexpected” on the red planet. At the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, mission scientists announced that rocks which were previously Read More...

Astronaut in outer space

A simple sleeping bag could solve one of the biggest health risks of space travel

Astronauts who spend extended periods of time in space are at high risk for a vision issue called spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS). When we sleep on earth, the blood and spinal fluid that flows to our head while we’re sleeping naturally drains away when we get up in the Read More...

Satellite over Earth in space

These are the 2021 Hyperspace Challenge winners

The U.S. Space Force has chosen its winners of this year's Hyperspace Challenge. The idea of the competition, which started in 2018, is to develop technology that can be applied to or solve problems in the space domain. The start-ups and universities who come up with the best ideas receive prize Read More...

Hot Jupiter class exoplanet, orbiting around its designated star.

Scientists discover a peculiar new planet

Deep into the Hercules constellation, 855 light-years away from Earth, lies a record breaking exoplanet. This newly discovered gas giant was named TOI-2109b, and the thing that makes it so special is the fact it takes just 16 hours to circle its star, making this the shortest known orbit we have Read More...

Jessica Watkins is first Black

Jessica Watkins is first Black woman on a long-term mission aboard the ISS

Jessica Watkins will make history as the first Black woman to complete a long-term mission on the International Space Station (ISS) on the upcoming SpaceX Crew-4 launch, according to a statement released by NASA. Joining Watkins on her first voyage into space, which is set to launch in April Read More...

Black hole pulling all things around it into its orbit, due to its strong gravitational pull.

Using black holes to study the expansion of the universe

Scientists have a new hypothesis called “cosmical coupling," which will potentially give more clues into how our mysterious world operates. The widely accepted theory about the origin of the universe is the Big Bang. It states that when the explosion occurred, the universe expanded outwards and Read More...

Crushed ice against a black background

'Superionic' ice: New state of matter discovered

We all learned in school that there are three different states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. What if we told you this was untrue, and in fact, scientists have identified 20 phases of water. This is dependent on the pressure and temperature the H2O is under, causing an array of different ways Read More...

A view of earth at night from space

NASA's multi-pronged approach to the next 10 years of space exploration

The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey is carried out every decade to discuss and prioritize upcoming projects of federal agencies and policymakers for the next 10 years. A panel of global experts is carefully curated by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine to come Read More...