The stunning astrogeology of the Apollo missions

Neil Armstrong almost made a mistake. He had found an interesting rock sticking out of a formation. Curious to see what the rock was made of, he needed to examine its interior more closely. So he reached for his hammer and took a swing. The rock was far more brittle than he anticipated, and instead […]

Secretive mini space shuttle set for Space Coast launch; late-night sonic boom possible

It won’t have any crew, but the U.S. Space Force is set to send the Boeing-built X-37B spacecraft—which looks like a miniature space shuttle—back for a long-duration mission to orbit during a late-night launch Thursday.

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New study counters idea that Jupiter’s mysterious core was formed by a giant impact

A new Durham University study has found that a giant impact may not be responsible for the formation of Jupiter’s remarkable “dilute” core, challenging a theory about the planet’s history.

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Symmetry-based Floquet optical selection rules help explain light-induced sidebands

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), in collaboration with international partners, have developed momentum-resolved Floquet optical selection rules. They show how these symmetry-based rules determine the spectral weight distributions of photon-dressed sidebands in time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TrARPES) experiments across different pump-probe configurations. This fundamental work […]

Hidden symmetries unlock new ways to control light in quantum materials

A team of researchers has discovered how a little-known type of symmetry in quantum materials, called nonsymmorphic symmetry, governs the way these materials interact with intense laser light.

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Wrinkles in atomically thin materials unlock ultraefficient electronics

Wrinkles can be an asset—especially for next-generation electronics. Rice University scientists have discovered that tiny creases in two-dimensional materials can control electrons’ spin with record precision, opening the path to ultracompact, energy-efficient electronic devices.

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A “Flying” Solar Ship, buried at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza

Many mind-boggling artifacts have been discovered in Egypt over the decades. Experts have found many ancient Egyptian tombs intact that somehow remained untouched for millennia still containing extremely valuable items left buried thousands of years ago, as gifts that the Pharaohs were to take with them to the afterlife.

While many people consider gold […]

How NASA’s Artemis II lunar science operations will inform future missions

NASA’s Artemis II mission, set to send four astronauts on a nearly 10-day mission around the moon and back, will advance the agency’s goal to land astronauts at the moon’s south polar region and will help set the stage for future crewed Mars missions.

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Dark matter in gas giants could collapse into detectable black holes, model suggests

More than 5,000 planets have been discovered beyond our solar system, allowing scientists to explore planetary evolution and consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Now, a UC Riverside study published in Physical Review D suggests that exoplanets, which are planets orbiting stars outside our solar system, could also serve as tools to investigate dark matter. […]

Imperfect light sources achieve new benchmark in secure quantum communication

A team of physicists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has made a breakthrough that could bring secure quantum communication closer to everyday use—without needing flawless hardware.

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Overcoming disordered energy in light-matter interactions

Polaritons are formed by the strong coupling of light and matter. When they mix together, all the matter is excited simultaneously—referred to as delocalization. This delocalization has the unique ability to relay energy between matter that is otherwise not possible.

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Brightest-ever fast radio burst allows researchers to identify its origin

An international team of astronomers has observed one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) ever detected—and pinpointed its location in a nearby galaxy (NGC 4141). FRB 20250316A has been nicknamed RBFLOAT, which stands for Radio Brightest FLash Of All Time. The finding and the discovery of the location surprised the team and revealed new […]

Close-up images reveal asteroid debris plume after DART impact

On Sept. 11, 2022, engineers at a flight control center in Turin, Italy, sent a radio signal into deep space. Its destination was NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft flying toward an asteroid more than 5 million miles away.

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SpaceX to launch secret X-37B space plane Thursday

The U.S. Department of Defense’s mini-shuttle heads to orbit once again Thursday night.

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Black holes may be the engines driving the universe’s dark energy

Researchers at Durham and collaborators in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) mission have proposed a bold new theory that black holes could be converting matter into dark energy.

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