John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, seen in picture, are awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, which is announced at a press conference by Hans Ellergren, center, permanent secretary at the Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden Tuesday Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, two...
The view from the ISS as it orbits over the termination line known as the twilight zoneNASA A daily photo taken from September 2023 to September 2024 offers an intriguing view of the twilight zone transition caused by the Earth's 23.5-degree axial tilt during its orbit around the Sun. Without the Earth's axial tilt, we wouldn't...
The Super Magdrive gives us ACME vibesMagdrive The most prevalent metal known to humanity is iron. It can be found everywhere, not just on Earth but also in space. Astro engineers have recently discovered how to utilize iron—and nearly any metal, for that matter—as plasma rocket fuel. It's well-established that certain metals can ignite explosively. Lithium...
If Earth had a ring system 446 million years ago, it could provide an explanation for the impact craters found in the geological record. Additionally, it might shed light on an unusual climate event during that time.Image Credit: ANDREI SALAUYOU/max dallocco/Shutterstock.com, modified by IFLScience New research suggests that a ring formed around the Earth about...
Credit: Pixabay The most probable method for detecting life on a distant exoplanet is by identifying a biosignature. This involves analyzing the atmospheric spectra of the planet to find the distinctive spectral pattern of a molecule that can only be produced through biological activity. Although it seems straightforward, detecting life on exoplanets is far from simple....
ABENICS can roll, pitch, and yaw in every directionYamagata University At its core, this system created at Yamagata University in Japan utilizes a "simple" cross-spherical gear combined with a monopole gear to manage pitch, roll, and yaw. This mimics the full range of motion found in a human rotator cuff (the shoulder). Thanks to innovative...
An artist's impression of Earth with a ring – a phase suggested by new evidenceOliver Hull New Evidence of Earth's Potential Ring System Saturn's rings are famous, but new evidence suggests that Earth might have also had a ring at some point in its history. This ring would have caused significant impacts on the surface. We...
Artist's concept of Starship entering the Martian atmosphereSpaceX SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced that the first Starship spacecraft will head to Mars within two years, with crewed missions following in 2028. This effort is part of his broader vision to make humanity an interplanetary species. Musk is known for making bold predictions that occasionally come true,...
Ganymede with the impact site approximately in the centerNASA Four billion years ago, an asteroid larger than the one that ended the age of dinosaurs may have struck the largest moon in our solar system, Ganymede, knocking it off its axis and causing it to crack like an egg. Discovered by Galileo in 1610 while experimenting...
The Finder TW2 can capture the cosmos in 48-megapixel photos or 4K video, with AI onboard to help keep things sharpBeaverlab Stargazing can be both complex and costly, but Beaverlab aims to simplify and reduce the expense with the Finder TW2, a user-friendly telescope that claims to be the world’s first AI-powered planetary camera. Beaverlab, known...
