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…
A Close Encounter Without Risk Asteroid 2025 FA22, a large space rock measuring between 130 and 290 meters across, is set to pass by Earth on 18 September. The flyby will occur safely at a distance just over twice that of the Moon, offering no threat of impact. The asteroid was first detected in March by the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope,…
European Wasps Found on Both Coasts Scientists at Binghamton University, working with colleagues from the University of Iowa and other institutions, have confirmed the discovery of two previously unknown species of parasitic wasps living in North America. The wasps belong to the genus Bootanomyia dorsalis and were identified on both the East and West Coasts of the United States. Genetic…
Discovery on Mars Sparks Questions NASA’s Perseverance rover recently detected chemical signatures on an arrow-shaped rock that could point to the existence of ancient microbial life on Mars. While the discovery was not conclusive, it highlighted the urgent need to return samples to Earth for advanced study. Interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy expressed enthusiasm about the findings but quickly faced…
A Hidden Companion Revealed Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a new quasi-moon traveling alongside Earth, a celestial neighbor that had gone unnoticed for decades. Identified as 2025 PN7, the asteroid belongs to a rare group of orbital companions known as quasi-satellites, which share Earth’s path around the Sun without being true moons. The discovery was made at a leading…
A Global Digital DNA Library From the largest whale to the smallest yeast, the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) has set an audacious goal: to sequence the genomes of every known eukaryotic species by 2035. So far, just 1% of the planet’s 1.67 million identified plants, animals, fungi, and protists have been genetically mapped. By completing the “digital library of life,”…
A Space Rock the Size of a Bus An asteroid roughly the size of a school bus has made a close pass by Earth, offering scientists a valuable chance to study its path and behavior. The object, named 2025 QV5, measures about 35 feet in diameter and traveled through space at a speed of more than 13,900 miles per hour.…
