Awesome Stargazing Spectacles To Keep You Entertained During The Lockdown Which Include 2 Meteor Showers, A Supermoon, and 3 Eclipses
We Think We Know Where That Interstellar Object Came From
By: Jonathan O’Callaghan/IFLScience We may have spied our first ever interstellar object in the Solar System last month. Now, scientists think they might know where it came from. The object A/2017 U1 – now nicknamed Oumuamua, Hawaiian for “ the first messenger” – caused a huge amount of excitement when it was spotted in October. Its path around…
NASA’s Twin Study Reveals Something Very, Very Strange Happens To Your Genes In Space
By: Alfredo Carpineti/IFLScience New preliminary results from NASA’s Twin Study suggest that going to space increases DNA methylation, a process responsible for turning on and off genes. These findings not only provide a glimpse into this cellular process but also tells scientists how the human body might change once it gets into space. “Some of the most…
NASA Breaks Record With Ion Thruster That Could Take Humans To Mars
By: Jonathan O’Callaghan/IFLScience Scientists have announced a breakthrough with an ion thruster that could one day take humans to Mars. It’s called the X3 thruster, a type of ion propulsion known as a Hall thruster. This technology is alluring because it can theoretically achieve higher speeds than conventional chemical propulsion. In a series of tests at NASA’s Glenn…
The Sun Has Turned Red And There’s A Very Cool But Slightly Horrifying Reason Why
By: James Felton/IFLScience If you’re in the UK and you’ve looked out the window at any point today, it’s likely you’ve seen an unusually red-looking Sun. The hashtag #redsun is trending on Twitter, with people sharing many photos that to be honest, look like they’re straight out of an apocalyptic movie. It’s a pretty spectacular sight and can…
ESO Scientists Unveil An “Unprecedented Discovery” About Gravitational Waves
By: Brad Jones/Futurism New Wave Last week, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) teased news of an “unprecedented discovery.” Now, the organization has revealed that, for the first time ever, astronomers have observed both gravitational waves and light produced by the same event. “This discovery is significant because it gives us two completely different ways to view the same…
China’s First Space Station Will Fall To Earth Within A Few Months
By: Tom Hale/IFL Science China’s first space station, Tiangong-1, is doomed to plummet into Earth’s atmosphere within the coming months. Tiangong-1, which means “The Heavenly Palace”, was launched into orbit back in 2011. This relatively small 10.3-meter-long (34-foot-long) space station was China’s first space laboratory module, making it a major milestone in their drive to become a science…
Astronaut Scott Kelly Reveals Some Pretty Disturbing Things About His Time In Space
By: Jonathan O’Callaghan/IFLScience Scott Kelly is one of the most famous astronauts in recent times, having completed a record-breaking year-long stay on the ISS from March 2015 to March 2016. Now the NASA astronaut has a new autobiography coming out, and it provides some rather fascinating details about his time in space. The book is called Endurance:…
Physicists Will Be Announcing An “Unprecedented Discovery” On Monday – Here’s How To Watch Live
By: Alfredo Carpineti/IFL Science In the space of just a few weeks, the LIGO and VIRGO collaborations have announced the fourth detection of gravitational waves and three of their most prominent physicists received a Nobel Prize for their work. And on Monday they will announce something new. Everyone is being very tight-lipped on the nature of this big announcement but…