Washington DC (UPI) Jun 18, 2023
Satellite Internet is helping to fill digital deserts, but roughly half the world's population still lacks online access as many remain priced out. The United Nations has set a goal that "every person should have safe and affordable access to the Internet, including meaningful use of digitally enabled services" by 2030. But the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union notes that a majo

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 18, 2023
In the realm of outer space, Jupiter's lightning continues to intrigue scientists and NASA's Juno mission is at the forefront of this exploration. The spacecraft recently recorded an illuminating bolt of lightning in a vortex near Jupiter's north pole, lending further insight into the atmospheric phenomena of the largest planet in our solar system. Much like Earth's lightning bolts that st

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 18, 2023
In an important move for commercial space travel, Vast, an innovative company in space habitation technologies, has partnered with Impulse Space for the provision of propulsion systems for the Haven-1 Space Station. The two companies will closely collaborate to install this crucial subsystem to Haven-1, which is planned to be launched into low-Earth orbit using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in August

Tempe AZ (SPX) Jun 18, 2023
Jupiter's moon, Europa, is slightly smaller than Earth's moon and is one of the most promising places to search for alien life. Amid the Jovian system, Europa is of particular interest to scientists because of the strong evidence for nutrients, water and energy to potentially provide a habitable environment for some form of life beyond Earth. In addition, Europa is believed to be made of f

Madrid (AFP) June 17, 2023
The maiden flight of Spain's first rocket was aborted Saturday after countdown ended because of a last-minute technical problem, the start up PLD Space said. The launch of the Miura 1 in the southwestern provence of Huelva was "automatically aborted" as some of the umbilicals - which are used to provide power and fuel to rockets - did not release as it should, Raul Torres, a co-founder of

Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 14, 2023
Sodium chloride, better known as table salt, isn't exactly the type of mineral that captures the imagination of scientists. However, a smattering of tiny salt crystals discovered in a sample from an asteroid has researchers at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory excited, because these crystals can only have formed in the presence of liquid water. Even more intriguing,

Berkeley CA (SPX) Jun 15, 2023
Using a complex cast of metal-studded pigments, proteins, enzymes, and co-enzymes, photosynthetic organisms can convert the energy in light into the chemical energy for life. And now, thanks to a study published June 14 in Nature, we know that this organic chemical reaction is sensitive to the smallest quantity of light possible - a single photon. The discovery solidifies our current under

Rochester NY (SPX) Jun 15, 2023
Scientists have taken a journey back in time to unlock the mysteries of Earth's early history, using tiny mineral crystals called zircons to study plate tectonics billions of years ago. The research sheds light on the conditions that existed in early Earth, revealing a complex interplay between Earth's crust, core, and the emergence of life. Plate tectonics allows heat from Earth's interio

Remote-sensing space companies worry that U.S.

Firefly Aerospace has agreed to buy Virgin Orbit’s remaining assets — inventory at two company production facilities — as part of Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy proceedings.