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Smile mission set for April 9 launch to image Earth’s magnetic field in X-rays

The Smile mission is set to launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday, April 9, at 08:29 CEST/07:29 BST/03:29 local time.

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NYC Mayor Mamdani moves to reduce NYPD role in mental health, crisis calls

NYC Mayor Mamdani’s new Office of Community Safety will oversee mental health response, violence prevention and victim services as part of a broader strategy to reduce non-criminal demands on NYPD

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A new entanglement-enhanced quantum sensing scheme

Over the past decades, quantum scientists have introduced various technologies that operate leveraging quantum mechanical effects, including quantum sensors, computers and memory devices. Most of these technologies leverage entanglement, a quantum phenomenon via which two or more particles become intrinsically linked and share a unified quantum state, irrespective of the distance between them.

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NASA returns moon rocket to pad, eyeing April 1 launch

NASA on Thursday began returning its towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to its Florida launch pad ahead of a planned flyby of the moon, after completing necessary repairs.

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Meteorite hunters scour Ohio for fragments of 7-ton space rock that crashed into Earth

Meteorite hunters fanned out across a wide swath of Ohio on Thursday, hoping to collect fragments of an estimated 7-ton (6,350 kilograms) space rock that crashed into Earth this week after a dazzling fireball that was seen from hundreds of miles away.

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NASA’s Artemis missions promise a return to the moon—but when?

NASA’s Artemis II mission plans to fly around the moon and back this April. Four astronauts will board the mammoth Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the test flight, spending 10 days off-Earth. They won’t be touching down—this mission is intended to pave the way for humans to once again place their boots in the sticky, clumpy soil of our closest celestial neighbor.

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Project Hail Mary is packed with hard science. An astrophysicist breaks it down

As an astrophysicist, my world revolves around the wonders of space and the mysteries of the universe. This means I can be a tough critic of science fiction books and films that explore these topics.

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‘Miracle’: Europe reconnects with lost spacecraft

The European Space Agency announced Thursday it has re-established communication with a spacecraft that is part of its Proba-3 mission, after losing contact with the satellite a month ago.

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Ex-LAPD commander fired over public intoxication arrest wins $5.7M in discrimination suit

Nicole Mehringer alleged the LAPD held her to a stricter standard after an alcohol-related arrest, while male officers in similar situations kept their jobs or retired without discipline

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JUICE is planning to do science on Jupiter’s ‘minor’ moons too

The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) probe is on its (very long) way to Jupiter, and will finally arrive at the King of Planets in 2031. Its primary mission is to focus on the “big three” icy moons—Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. But while JUICE is busy mapping Ganymede’s magnetic field, it will also be keeping a sharp eye on the other 94 moons in the Jupiter system. A recent paper published in Space Science Reviews by Tilmann Denk of DLR, Germany’s space research association, and his co-authors showcases just how much “bonus science” JUICE is expected to squeeze out of these other targets.

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Gravitational waves leave imprints on light emitted by atoms, theoretical study predicts

Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime produced by violent cosmic events, such as the merging of black holes. So far, direct detections have relied on measuring tiny distance changes over kilometer-scale instruments. In a new theoretical study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Stockholm University, Nordita, and the University of Tübingen propose an unconventional approach: tracking how gravitational waves reshape the light emitted by atoms. The work describes a possible detection route, but an experimental demonstration remains for the future.

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The moon’s going to get crowded. We should protect our heritage on it while we still can

In 1959, the Luna 2 probe from the Soviet Union became the very first human-made object to reach our closest celestial neighbor. In the decades since, we have been leaving footprints—both literally and figuratively—all over the moon. Today, there are over 100 metric tons of human-made material resting on the moon’s surface—everything from advanced cameras and sensors to literal human waste. But that’s nothing compared to what’s to come. NASA predicts the next decade will see over 100 new lunar missions, equaling or exceeding all the missions previously flown, which brings up a pressing question about all the stuff that’s already there—how do we protect that history?

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No exotic physics needed: A new formation mechanism of skyrmions inside magnets

Skyrmions, in which electron spins inside a magnet are arranged like vortices, are a key structure in next-generation spintronics technology. KAIST researchers have shown that skyrmions can form using only the fundamental physical interactions within magnets, without requiring special physical conditions.

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‘Mini earthquakes’ turn tiny chips into radio signal powerhouses

From GPS satellites to mobile networks, modern technology relies on ultra-precise radio signals. Engineers have long tried to generate them on chips using interactions between light and sound, but the effect was too weak. University of Twente researchers now show in a paper published in Nature Photonics that a thin glass layer creates “mini-earthquake” surface acoustic waves, which make the effect more than 200 times stronger. This enables ultra-pure signals and record-sharp filters on a device thousands of times smaller.

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Man re-arrested for 36th time after Las Vegas judge grants him pretrial release over sheriff’s objections

Metro Police stated the man has fled from law enforcement, once pointed a gun at an officer and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, among other offenses

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