NASA’s asteroid redirection experiment has produced a new result with potential implications well beyond planetary science. Researchers reported that the agency’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, not only altered the motion of the small asteroid Dimorphos around its larger companion, Didymos, but also slightly changed the binary system’s path around the sun. Scientists described the finding as the first…
Climate Urgency Meets Reduced Capability This summer brought devastating floods, wildfires and heat waves across the globe. For scientists, understanding these events and anticipating what comes next depends in part on research conducted in the most isolated region on Earth: Antarctica. Yet the United States is now facing a serious challenge in its ability to carry out that mission. The…
Growth in STEM, but Chemistry Falls Behind The landscape of higher education in the United States has shifted dramatically over the past two decades. More students than ever are pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, chemistry has not kept pace with the explosive growth seen in other disciplines. While the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in…
Discovery of Ancient Grains Scientists analyzing material from the asteroid Bennu have identified particles known as “stardust.” These grains are remnants from other stars, predating the formation of our solar system. Researchers say their presence indicates that Bennu likely formed after colliding with a larger asteroid during the solar system’s earliest stages. The unique appearance of the grains, unlike anything…
Falcon 9 Lifts Off with Secretive Spaceplane A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle into orbit. The liftoff took place just before midnight, marking the eighth mission for the experimental Boeing-built spaceplane since its first operational flight in 2010. The mission, designated USSF-36, is part…
A Submarine Volcano on a Schedule Deep in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles west of Oregon, sits the Axial Seamount, one of Earth’s most closely observed submarine volcanoes. Located nearly a mile beneath the ocean surface, this massive structure has erupted on a fairly regular timeline—1998, 2011, and 2015—approximately once every decade. Scientists now believe mounting pressure beneath the…
Turning Waste Into Opportunity Scientists in the United States are working on a groundbreaking method to recycle nuclear waste into tritium, a rare hydrogen isotope used as fuel for nuclear fusion. Fusion, the same process that powers the stars, has long been viewed as one of the cleanest and most sustainable energy sources because it produces minimal radioactive waste compared…
