Science

A collection of 541 posts

Science

PhysCOS welcomes new mailing-list members from AAS Winter Meeting in Phoenix

20 January 2026 — The Physics of the Cosmos (PhysCOS) program at NASA welcomed new members who joined its mailing list at the AAS Winter Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, and stopped by the PhysCOS table, and extended thanks to continuing subscribers. PhysCOS said it aims to help members become more engaged

Science

Detachable robotic hand can crawl and grasp objects on both sides

On Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, Aude Billard of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and colleagues presented a design for a hand-like robot that can detach from its arm, crawl to pick up several objects and then reattach, the team said. The researchers built the device from silicone,

Science

Webb captures detailed structures and chemistry in the Helix Nebula

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced a high-resolution near-infrared image of a portion of the Helix Nebula that highlights comet-like knots, fierce stellar winds and layers of gas being shed by a dying star. Webb’s NIRCam image shows pillar-like features with extended tails tracing the inner edge

Science

Mathematicians explore cutting an infinitely large pancake with exotic knives

Two mathematicians, Neil J.A. Sloane and David O.H. Cutler, posted a paper online exploring how to cut an infinitely large pancake into as many pieces as possible, a new take on the Lazy Caterer’s problem. The work was debuted at an online experimental mathematics seminar run by

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NASA’s Roman and Webb telescopes to combine wide surveys with deep infrared follow-up

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope will work in tandem to study the universe, with Roman conducting rapid, wide-area surveys and Webb providing narrower but more detailed infrared observations. Roman will capture giant, 300-megapixel images using 18 large detectors and a wide-field design,

Science

Northern lights streaked skies in major solar storm and have long inspired humans

The northern lights dazzled overnight during one of the largest solar radiation storms in decades, streaking the skies of North America and Northern Europe with bursts of red, green and orange. Scholars have identified portrayals of the aurora borealis in prehistoric cave paintings, in the Bible and other ancient texts,

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Trilobites column shares short, surprising science stories

Michael Roston, a senior staff editor on The New York Times Science desk, edits Trilobites, a bite-size column that highlights new discoveries intended to delight or surprise readers. Recent columns have explored topics such as unexpected animal friendships, a peekaboo squid and seal milk. Roston, who began editing Trilobites in

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Tiny filoplumes help birds monitor and maintain their feathers, researchers say

Vanya Gregor Rohwer, a curator of birds and mammals at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, has been studying filoplumes — tiny, hairlike feathers — alongside his father, Sievert Rohwer, and says these small structures may help enable nonstop flights that span thousands of miles. Filoplumes are found on all birds, typically

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Severe solar storm may make southern lights visible across parts of Australia

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has issued an alert for 20 January saying a severe geomagnetic storm in progress could make the aurora australis visible during night-time hours in Australia, potentially as far north as parts of Victoria and New South Wales. Australian astrophysicist Sara Webb said a large flare

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Greenhouse growth around Leamington has altered land cover and night skies

Satellite imagery shows the expansion of greenhouse operations around Leamington on the northern shore of Lake Erie is changing the appearance of the land surface and the night sky. Images acquired with the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 compare the area in July 2015 and September 2025, showing

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Solutions published for three geometrical puzzles including 'Bonnie Tiler'

The Guardian published solutions to three geometrical puzzles set earlier today. In "Bonnie Tiler" a square grid with three corner cells missing and a three-cell straight tile raised the question of whether a 33-cell grid can be covered by 11 such tiles. The answer given is no: every

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NASA seminar to present ultra‑luminous early galaxies found in Euclid deep fields

NASA's Galaxies Special Interest Group will host a virtual seminar on 4 February 2026 at 1:00pm ET titled "Monsters in the Dark: Searching Far and Wide for Ultra-Luminous Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn," with speaker John Weaver. The seminar abstract says the first galaxies (z >

Science

Pet cow in Austria shows flexible tool use, study finds

A pet cow named Veronika in Austria has been documented using a broom to scratch different parts of her body, researchers reported in a study published in Current Biology, marking the first scientific description of tool use in cattle. Scientists led by Alice Auersperg and postdoctoral researcher Antonio Osuna-Mascaró presented

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NASA provides AVATAR media resources and interview contacts

NASA is offering official media resources for the AVATAR research investigation to support accurate coverage and a deeper understanding of its science and impact on future Moon and Mars missions. The materials include images, background information, and points of contact for interviews, all intended to help media report on the

Science

A Century of New York Times Reporting From Antarctica

Raymond Zhong is on an eight-week expedition to Antarctica aboard the South Korean icebreaker Araon, which he said left Christchurch, New Zealand, on Dec. 27 and is carrying dozens of scientists and two New York Times journalists. The paper’s archive traces nearly a century of reporting from the continent,

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Landsat image shows route of 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march in Montgomery

NASA’s Earth Observatory published an Image of the Day on January 19, 2026, featuring a Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) scene taken on September 16, 2025 of Montgomery, Alabama. The image shows the ground covered by marchers who arrived at the state capitol after the March 24, 1965

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NASA rolls Artemis II rocket to pad ahead of critical fueling test

NASA rolled the Artemis II Space Launch System and its mobile launcher to Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Jan. 17, 2026, preparing for a high‑stakes fueling exercise that must succeed before four astronauts can fly around the moon. The 11‑million‑pound, 322‑

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Winter storm brings snow to Florida and Georgia, threatens Northeast

A winter storm delivered a chilly blast to the Southeast early on Sunday, with snow reported as far south as Florida and winter storm warnings in parts of the Florida panhandle, Georgia and southeastern Alabama. A winter storm warning covered the northwest Florida panhandle, where up to two inches of

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Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft arrive at Launch Pad 39B

At 6:42 p.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 17, NASA’s Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft reached Launch Pad 39B after a nearly 12-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Hours earlier, crawler-transporter 2 began its 4-mile trek

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NASA rolls Artemis II rocket to launchpad at Kennedy Space Center

NASA began moving the Space Launch System vehicle, the Orion capsule and the launch tower from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday as the agency prepares the crewed Artemis II lunar flyby. The crawler transported about 14 million pounds of hardware 4.2

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Hubble captures near-infrared images of infant protostars

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured near-infrared images of newly developing, dust-shrouded protostars in several high-mass star-forming regions as part of an effort to study how massive stars form. Protostars are hidden by thick dust that blocks visible light, but Hubble can detect near-infrared emission that shines through holes

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Joel Primack, UCSC Physicist Who Advanced Cold Dark Matter Theory, Dies at 80

Joel R. Primack, a professor of physics and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who helped explain how tiny quantum fluctuations after the Big Bang grew into galaxies and larger cosmic structures, died on Nov. 13 in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 80. His wife, Nancy Ellen Abrams,

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Artemis II SLS and Orion begin roll to Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy

The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft that will carry four astronauts around the Moon began rolling to Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17. The four-mile trek started at 7:04 a.m. EST and is expected to take up to 12

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NASA delays ROSES-25 Astrophysics Pioneers deadlines; NOIs Feb 11, proposals Apr 2, 2026

On 16 January 2026 NASA announced updates to the ROSES-25 D.5 Astrophysics Pioneers solicitation, moving the mandatory notice of intent deadline to 11 February 2026 and the full proposal deadline to 2 April 2026. D.5 solicits proposals for astrophysics space and sub‑orbital investigations that are larger in

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NASA launches COMPASS collaborations under ROSES-25; proposals due 20 March 2026

NASA on 16 January 2026 announced ROSES-25: F.19 Collaborative Opportunities for Mentorship, Partnership, and Academic Success in Science (COMPASS), a program soliciting collaborations between NASA Centers and academic institutions; proposals are due 20 March 2026. COMPASS funds collaborations that will advance NASA’s scientific priorities and train the future