Blue Origin Will Finally Fly Passengers to Space in July

Blue Origin recently announced they are planning to conduct the first crewed flight with the New Shepard by July 20th. In addition to the Blue Origin astronaut crew, one seat is being set aside for a commercial passenger.

Hydroxyl Seen for the First Time in an Exoplanet

The molecule hydroxyl (HO) is common on Earth. Now, for the first time, astronomers have conclusively detected it in the atmosphere of an ultra-hot Jupiter, WASP-33b. 

Mexico City Is Sinking at an Alarming Rate

Researchers now estimate the clay sheets underneath Mexico City could ultimately compress by 30 % for another 150 years. Not only does this put infrastructure at risk, it also threatens water security for millions of people.

Forests the size of France regrown since 2000

An area of forest the size of France has regrown naturally across the world in the last 20 years, a study suggests. The restored forests have the potential to soak up the equivalent of 5.9 gigatonnes of CO2.

Lightning helps to clean the atmosphere

Scientists have found that lightning bolts and, surprisingly, subvisible discharges that cannot be seen by cameras or the naked eye lead chemical reactions breaks down molecules like the greenhouse gas methane.

New "Test-bed" telescope joins hunt for threatening asteroids

Working alongside its northern-hemisphere partner telescope, the ESAs Test-Bed Telescope 2 (TBT2) at La Silla Observatory in Chile will keep a close eye on the sky for asteroids that could pose a risk to Earth.

NASA is now Planning a Mission to go 1,000 AU From the Sun

The project, currently known as the “Interstellar Probe” would plan to launch in the 2030s and reach the 1000 AU target around 15 years later.  This will result in a completely new perspective for science.

China launches first module of new space station

China has launched a key module of a new permanent space station, the latest in Beijing's increasingly ambitious space programme. Although 5B rocket is "unpredictably" falling back to Earth after launching the module.

Parker solar probe becomes fastest object ever built

Nothing built by human hands has ever traveled faster than NASA's Parker Solar Probe. In late April, it smashed two wild space records. It was clocked at over 531,000 km/hour as it zipped through the sun's outer atmosphere.

The world's truly first biodegradable and compostable plastic

U.S scientists claim to have developed a new plastic that can degrade by up to 98% in household compost in just few days, simply by adding heat and water. 

Vertical turbines could be the future for wind farms

New research has found that the vertical turbine design is far more efficient than traditional turbines in large scale wind farms, and when set in pairs the vertical turbines increase each other's performance by up to 15%.

Climate has shifted the axis of the Earth, study finds

Loss of water on land through ice melting and human-caused factors is changing the movement of the North and South poles.

99.992% of fully vaccinated people have dodged COVID

Cases of COVID-19 are extremely rare among people who are fully vaccinated, according to a U.S. data analysis. COVID- 19 breakthroughs occur at the rate of less than 0.008 % of fully vaccinated people.

A new super-Earth detected orbiting a red dwarf star

Researchers report the discovery of a super-Earth orbiting the star GJ 740, a red dwarf star situated some 36 light years from Earth. Its mass is around 3 times the mass of Earth.

Scientists identify human genes that fight COVID-19

The genes in question are related to interferons, the body's frontline virus fighters. Knowing which genes help control viral infection can greatly assist researchers' understanding of factors that affect disease severity.