Category: 7. Science

  • Chirality in Drug Design: Stable Molecules Redefine Safety

    Chirality in Drug Design: Stable Molecules Redefine Safety


    Register for free to listen to this article

    Thank you. Listen to this article using the player above. ✖


    Want to listen to this article for FREE?


    Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.

    Can you imagine a life-saving molecule whose “twin” is a deadly poison? As surprising as it may seem, this chemical reality is known as “chirality”. Like a right hand and a left hand, two molecules can have the same composition, but a different shape and arrangement in space. And this difference can change everything. Understanding and controlling this phenomenon is crucial to drug design. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the University of Pisa, has developed a new family of remarkably stable chiral molecules. This work opens up new prospects for the design of geometry-controlled drugs. It is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.


    A molecule, or any object, is said to be chiral if it cannot be superimposed on its mirror image by any combination of rotations, translations and geometric changes. This is similar to our two hands, which appear identical but cannot be superimposed, whether viewed from the back or the palm. This universal molecular asymmetry requires chemists to design chiral molecules capable of interacting precisely with living systems.

    This new way of organizing molecular space opens up a whole new degree of freedom and imagination in chemical synthesis.

    Within a molecule, chirality often arises from the presence of one or more asymmetry centers, known as stereogenic centers. These are often made up of a central carbon atom, itself linked to four different groups or chains of atoms, usually carbon as well. The group led by Jérôme Lacour, Full Professor in the Department of Organic Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UNIGE Faculty of Science, has created a new type of stereogenic center. This time, the central carbon atom is not surrounded by carbon chains, but only by oxygen and nitrogen atoms. A first in the field of chemistry.

    ‘‘Molecules with this new type of stereogenic center had never before been isolated in a stable form. Their synthesis and characterization mark a major conceptual and experimental breakthrough,’’ explains Jérôme Lacour.

    Outstanding stability

    The stability of chiral molecules is a particularly important parameter. Mirror molecule pairs are structurally very close, and in many cases spontaneous switching from one to the other is possible, for example under the effect of temperature. As if a left hand were suddenly transformed into a right hand. In this way, we could switch from a drug to an inactive or even toxic molecule! The new molecular structures developed by the UNIGE team feature exceptional chiral stability, meaning that the switch from one molecule to its mirror sister is particularly unlikely.

    Olivier Viudes, PhD student and first author of the study explains: “Using dynamic chromatography techniques and quantum chemistry calculations, we have shown that, for the first molecule developed, it would take 84,000 years at room temperature for half a sample to transform into its mirror molecule”. For a drug, such stability guarantees safe storage, without the need for specific conditions. For the second molecule, this time has been estimated at 227 days at 25°C.

    The new stereogenic centers developed by the Geneva team should enable the design of stable, controlled, three-dimensional chiral molecules. These structures open up new possibilities for drug design and the creation of new materials. ‘‘These novel stereogenic centers offer a new way of organizing molecular space. They open up a whole new degree of freedom and imagination in chemical synthesis,’’ concludes Gennaro Pescitelli, professor at the University of Pisa and co-principal investigator of the article.

    Reference: Viudes O, Besnard C, Siegle AF, et al. All-heteroatom-substituted carbon spiro stereocenters: synthesis, resolution, enantiomeric stability, and absolute configuration. J Am Chem Soc. 2025;147(24):21121-21130. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c06394

    This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.

    Continue Reading

  • Newly Discovered Dinosaur Named After Tolkien Character in ‘The Hobbit’

    Newly Discovered Dinosaur Named After Tolkien Character in ‘The Hobbit’

    A newly discovered raccoon-sized armored monstersaurian lizard from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah has been named for the goblin prince from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, ‘Bolg amondol’ 

    Dr. Hank Woolley from the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Utah discovered the remains inside a jar of bones labeled ‘lizard’. The new species was identified from an associated skeleton of fragmentary bones, tiny pieces of the skull, vertebrae, girdles, limbs, and the bony armor called osteoderms. Woolley was keen on an appropriate name for what turned out to be a new species of monstersaur.

    “Bolg is a great sounding name. It’s a goblin prince from The Hobbit, and I think of these lizards as goblin-like, especially looking at their skulls,” said Woolley.  He used the fictional language Sindarin created by Tolkien for his elves to craft the species epithet.  ‘Amon’ means ‘mound, and ‘dol’ means ‘head’ in the Elvish language, a reference to the mound-like deposits found on Bolg’s and other monstersaur skulls. 

    Bolg, son of Azog, led the goblin/orc army in the Battle of Five Armies as recounted in the final chapters of The Hobbit. He was killed by Beorn. Bolg also appears in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit movie trilogy.

    Continue Reading

  • Geologists find 109°F pool formed after small blasts in Yellowstone

    Geologists find 109°F pool formed after small blasts in Yellowstone

    In April 2025, Yellowstone National Park geologists were surprised during a routine maintenance check. While inspecting temperature monitoring stations at Norris Geyser Basin, scientists discovered a brand-new thermal feature in Porcelain Basin—a steaming, bright blue pool roughly 13 feet (4 meters) wide.

    This thermal pool wasn’t there the last time the area was surveyed in the fall of 2024. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed the find, noting that the newly discovered pool sits about 1 foot below the surrounding rim and contains light-gray, mud-covered rocks as wide as 30 centimeters.

    The water itself is about 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43°C) and glows a soft, sky-blue shade, drawing comparisons to the “blue milk” drink from Star Wars’ Galaxy’s Edge.

    But how did this pool form? It turns out nature was busy over the winter holidays.

    Clues from space and sound reveal the pool’s mysterious origins

    To figure out when and how this pool formed, USGS scientists turned to satellite imagery and a high-tech acoustic monitoring station. The data tells a fascinating story.

    Between October and December 2024, satellite images showed no sign of a new thermal feature in the Porcelain Basin. Then, on December 19, the first signs of a shallow depression appeared. By January 6, 2025, a small cavity had developed. By February 13, a fully formed, water-filled pool was visible from space.

    At the same time, the acoustic station—set up in 2023 to detect hydrothermal activity using infrasound (very low-frequency sound waves)—recorded several weak acoustic signals. These signals came from the direction of the new pool and were detected on December 25, January 15, and February 11.

    However, no seismic signals accompanied them, which would typically be expected during significant hydrothermal explosions.

    This suggests that the pool didn’t form from one massive blast. Instead, a series of smaller hydrothermal events likely released steam and pressure in bursts, slowly carving out the cavity. The first of these may have occurred on Christmas Day 2024, with more following into early 2025.

    Hydrothermal explosions shaped the feature, but not all at once

    The USGS concluded that the pool most likely resulted from multiple small hydrothermal explosions over several weeks. These blasts didn’t shake the ground hard enough to show up on seismic monitors, but they were loud enough—at least in the infrasound range—to be heard by the park’s sensors.

    During a hydrothermal explosion, underground water quickly converts to steam due to sudden changes in pressure and temperature. The steam then forces its way to the surface, often blasting apart surrounding rock and mud. At Norris Geyser Basin, such explosions are not uncommon.

    For instance, Porkchop Geyser exploded in 1989, flinging debris across the basin. More recently, in April 2024, the Porcelain Terrace area saw another confirmed blast, recorded by the same acoustic station that detected weak signals from this new pool.

    With no strong explosive signals from the recent event, it’s likely that the ground cracked open gradually, throwing out light-gray silica mud and stones. As the earth settled and cooled, mineral-rich water filled the depression, creating the thermal pool that now gleams under the Yellowstone sun.

    Yellowstone still has surprises, even after decades of study

    Yellowstone National Park is home to more than 10,000 thermal features, from bubbling mudpots to steam vents and towering geysers. It’s the largest concentration of such features in the world. Beneath the surface lies a massive magma chamber that heats up groundwater, producing intense hydrothermal activity across the park.

    Norris Geyser Basin, in particular, is the park’s oldest and hottest thermal area. It also hosts Steamboat Geyser—the tallest active geyser on Earth. This makes it a hotspot for both tourists and scientists, who monitor changes closely to better understand Earth’s internal processes.

    Even with decades of observation, Yellowstone continues to evolve in ways researchers don’t always see coming. This latest thermal pool is a reminder that nature still holds surprises, especially in places where fire, water, and rock meet beneath the surface.

    Continue Reading

  • Lighting Hit Apollo 12 Just 36.5 Seconds After Launch – “After That It Got Very Interesting”

    Lighting Hit Apollo 12 Just 36.5 Seconds After Launch – “After That It Got Very Interesting”

    Apollo 12 landed on the Lunar Ocean of Storms, but it had to face storms here on Earth before it could reach its celestial destination. The goal was not just reaching the Oceanus Procellarum, the large dark basaltic plane on the western edge of the lunar nearside; it was landing in the crater that was visited years before by the robotic lander Surveyor 3. It was this specific plan that led to the pressure to have a specific launch date for the second attempt at landing on the Moon.

    The weather in Cape Canaveral on November 14, 1969, was not great. The sky was completely overcast, it was rainy, and winds high in the atmosphere were very strong. Not a good day for a launch, but to get to the Surveyor crater, NASA would otherwise have to launch a month later. With President Richard Nixon in attendance, the first time a president had witnessed a crewed space launch live, the Apollo 12 launch went ahead.

    Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean, and Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon took to the sky in the incredible machine that is the Saturn V rocket. It took the powerful engine 14 seconds to start and carry its weight past the launch tower. Twenty-two seconds later, the rocket was hit by lightning, which went all the way back down to the ground through the tower.

    The lightning was likely due to static discharge, triggered by the vehicle itself passing through such complex weather. As it traveled upwards, it experienced winds at 280.9 kilometers per hour (174.6 mph), the strongest for any mission. Not that the astronauts had time to be too worried about the weather, as the lightning messed with the system.

    “The flight was extremely normal for the first 36 seconds, and after that it got very interesting,” Conrad recalled in the technical debrief. “Interesting” is never good when you are strapped to a controlled explosive device as tall as a skyscraper and moving several times faster than sound.

    The strike knocked the fuel cells offline, so the spacecraft was powered exclusively by its batteries. This was not a setup that could provide enough energy for the system to work properly. From the mission transcript:

    000:00:37 Gordon (onboard): What the hell was that?

    000:00:38 Conrad (onboard): Huh?

    000:00:39 Gordon (onboard): I lost a whole bunch of stuff; I don’t know…

    As far as the crew knew at that time, power had failed completely. This is what the system was telling them. But underneath them, Saturn V continued to soar farther and farther up. At T +52 seconds, a second lightning strike hit the vehicle. Conrad remembered later seeing a flash but it is inside that things are serious. A red warning light told them that they had lost their altitude and acceleration guidance system. They did not know where they were or where they were going.

    A double lightning strike is not something that NASA prepped for, but in mission control, John Aaron, the Electrical, Environmental, and Consumables Manager, remembered that a power loss caused a malfunction to the Command and Service Module in an earlier test. And he knew how to fix it. The system needed to switch to auxiliary power, a fix that sounds easy but was fairly obscure. Luckily, Alan Bean knew how to execute it.

    The switch fixed the problem, and the team worked out that the Saturn V suffered no damage and the command module had only very minor damage to some of its systems. NASA had a concern that the lightning might have damaged the bolts to open the parachutes on the way back down Earth. With no way to fix that, the mission proceeded with the astronauts unaware of this.

    Luckily, all went well; not only did Conrad and Bean land on the Moon with pinpoint precision, but together with Gordon, they came back safely to Earth. The double lightning strike was just a terrifying, but not long-lasting, concern of their mission.

    Continue Reading

  • Saturn’s Earth-like moon Titan could be brewing cell-like structures in its alien lakes

    Saturn’s Earth-like moon Titan could be brewing cell-like structures in its alien lakes

    Could Titan’s liquid methane lakes be a cradle for life beyond Earth?

    Saturn’s largest moon Titan is a key Solar System target in the search for life and habitable conditions beyond our planet.

    Credit: NASA/ESA – ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    Titan is the only place beyond Earth in our Solar System known to have liquid on its surface.

    In fact it has clouds, rain, rivers, lakes and seas, all working together in a natural cycle.

    Images captured by Cassini show the evolution of a transient feature in a large hydrocarbon sea called 'Ligeia Mare' on Saturn's moon Titan. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell
    Images captured by the NASA Cassini spacecraft show the evolution of a transient feature in a large hydrocarbon sea called ‘Ligeia Mare’ on Saturn’s moon Titan. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell

    But these bodies on Titan don’t contain liquid water. Instead, its lakes and rivers are filled with liquid hydrocarbons like methane and ethane.

    NASA research suggests these hydrocarbon-rich lakes might be doing something extraordinary.

    According to a study published in the International Journal of Astrobiology, cell-like structures called vesicles might naturally form in Titan’s frigid lakes.

    This is a process that, on Earth, played a vital role in the origins of life.

    An infrared view of the Saturn moon Titan showing sunlight reflected off its polar lakes. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. Arizona/Univ. Idaho
    An infrared view of the Saturn moon Titan showing sunlight reflected off its polar lakes. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. Arizona/Univ. Idaho

    Life on Earth, life on Titan?

    On Earth, life likely began in a soup of organic molecules packaged into vesicles, which are tiny compartments made by molecules called amphiphiles.

    These molecules are split: one end loves water (hydrophilic) and the other doesn’t (hydrophobic).

    In the right conditions, they arrange into protective compartments like soap bubbles, similar to the membranes that make up the outer walls of our cells.

    But Titan is no Earth. Its lakes aren’t made of water and its average surface temperature hovers around a chilly –290°F (–179°C).

    So could vesicles still form in such an alien world?

    An image of Titan captured by the Cassini spacecraft on July 2009. The bright spot at the top of Titan’s disc is sunlight reflecting off the surface of a hydrocarbon lake. Dragonfly will explore these pools of liquid to search for conditions suitable for the development of life. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/DLR
    An image of Titan captured by the Cassini spacecraft on July 2009. The bright spot at the top of Titan’s disc is sunlight reflecting off the surface of a hydrocarbon lake. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/DLR

    Vesicles in methane

    Scientists considered Titan’s atmosphere and chemistry and calculated how vesicles might assemble in its environment.

    Of course, these hypothetical vesicles would need to form in liquid methane or ethane.

    On Titan, sea spray droplets caused by raindrop impacts could be coated in amphiphiles.

    When the droplets land back on the hydrocarbon lakes, they might form double-layered membranes, wrapping the droplets into cell-like spheres.

    These vesicles wouldn’t be living beings themselves, but they could be protocells: primitive containers that protect and concentrate molecules.

    Such compartments are considered one of the crucial steps toward the emergence of life.

    How vesicles might form on Titan. 1: Methane lakes and seas on Titan’s surface become coated with a film of amphiphiles. 2: Methane raindrops splash the lake surface. 3: Splashes create a mist of droplets coated in the same film. 4: Droplets settle back onto the lake and sink, becoming coated in a bilayer that becomes a vesicle. Credit: Christian Mayer (Universität Duisburg-Essen) and Conor Nixon (NASA Goddard)
    How vesicles might form on Titan. 1: Methane lakes and seas on Titan’s surface become coated with a film of amphiphiles. 2: Methane raindrops splash the lake surface. 3: Splashes create a mist of droplets coated in the same film. 4: Droplets settle back onto the lake and sink, becoming coated in a bilayer that becomes a vesicle. Credit: Christian Mayer (Universität Duisburg-Essen) and Conor Nixon (NASA Goddard)

    Titan’s wild weather is a chemistry lab

    Thanks to data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, we know Titan has a dense atmosphere rich in nitrogen and methane.

    Methane clouds form, rain falls, rivers carve through icy terrain and lakes fill, only to evaporate and start the cycle again.

    Solar radiation breaks apart simple molecules in Titan’s atmosphere, allowing them to recombine into complex organics.

    Titan passes in front of Saturn in an image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
    Titan passes in front of Saturn in an image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

    Some of these could eventually rain down into the lakes and mix with amphiphiles to form vesicles.

    In other words, Titan may be replicating some of the steps Earth took toward life.

    “The existence of any vesicles on Titan would demonstrate an increase in order and complexity, which are conditions necessary for the origin of life,” says Conor Nixon of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

    “We’re excited about these new ideas because they can open up new directions in Titan research and may change how we search for life on Titan in the future.”

    Six infrared images of Saturn's moon Titan captured by the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Nantes/University of Arizona
    Six infrared images of Saturn’s moon Titan captured by the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Nantes/University of Arizona

    Could Dragonfly solve the mystery?

    NASA’s next leap towards unlocking the secrets of Titan is its Dragonfly mission, a drone-like rotorcraft set to launch later this decade.

    Dragonfly won’t visit Titan’s lakes directly or carry tools to spot vesicles, but it will hop across the surface, analysing the chemistry of dunes, craters and icy plains.

    By studying Titan’s surface and atmosphere up close, Dragonfly could help determine whether the building blocks for life are assembling on this distant moon.

    Read the full paper here

    Continue Reading

  • 12-Mile-Wide Alien Comet Captured Over Hawaii

    12-Mile-Wide Alien Comet Captured Over Hawaii

    An object believed to be both from another star system and the oldest comet ever observed has been imaged by a massive telescope on a volcano in Hawaii.

    The Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii, captured a detailed image of the ancient comet — called both 3I/ATLAS and C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) — as astronomers rush to study a celestial body formed in a distant star system.

    What The New Images Of 3I/ATLAS / C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) Show

    Its observations suggest that the object has a tail and a nucleus, confirming that it’s a comet. Gemini North’s Multi-Object Spectrograph also reveals the comet’s compact coma — a cloud of gas and dust surrounding its icy nucleus.

    “The sensitivity and scheduling agility of the International Gemini Observatory has provided critical early characterization of this interstellar wanderer,” said Martin Still, NSF program director for the International Gemini Observatory. “We look forward to a bounty of new data and insights as this object warms itself on sunlight before continuing its cold, dark journey between the stars.”

    Why 3I/ATLAS / C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) Is So Special

    What makes this object stand out from every other object astronomers can see in the solar system is its trajectory, size, and speed. 3I/ATLAS’s eccentric trajectory suggests that it’s from outside the solar system, while preliminary data indicate that it’s around 12 miles (20 kilometers) in diameter. That’s much larger than the two previous interstellar objects, ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and comet 2I/Borisov in 2019. It is moving at an exceptionally high speed, traveling at almost 25,000 kilometers (15,500 miles) per hour.

    ForbesWorld’s Biggest Camera May Find 50 Interstellar Objects, Scientists SayBy Jamie Carter

    How Big Is 3I/ATLAS / C/2025 N1 (ATLAS)?

    The third interstellar object ever to be found after ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and a comet called 2I/Borisov in 2019, 3I/ATLAS could be three billion years older than the solar system — the oldest comet ever seen. By comparison, ʻOumuamua measured roughly 200 meters, and Borisov less than a kilometer.

    It may be the oldest comet ever observed, at approximately three billion years older than the solar system (which is 4.6 billion years old) and possibly as old as 14 billion years. However, its exact age remains unknown.

    Where Is 3I/ATLAS / C/2025 N1 (ATLAS)?

    The third known interstellar object to visit our solar system, the object was first detected on July 1 by the El Sauce Observatory in Chile, part of the global Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System. It’s currently within Jupiter’s orbit at a distance of about 465 million kilometers (290 million miles) from Earth and 600 million kilometers (370 million miles) from the sun.

    ForbesInterstellar Object Could Be Oldest Comet Ever Seen, Scientists SayBy Jamie Carter

    What Will Happen To 3I/ATLAS / C/2025 N1 (ATLAS)?

    It will come closest to the sun on Oct. 30 at a distance of 210 million kilometers (130 million miles) and 270 million kilometers (170 million miles) from Earth on Dec. 19. However, at no point will it threaten Earth or be visible to the naked eye.

    The new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile — which unveiled its first images last month and has a unique view of the night sky supported by the world’s largest camera — is expected to find about 50 more interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS / C/2025 N1 (ATLAS).

    Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

    Continue Reading

  • Two black holes merged in outer space and created something colossal

    Two black holes merged in outer space and created something colossal

    Astronomers have detected the signal of a colossal black hole in deep space that likely formed when two already-large black holes crashed into each other billions of light-years away.

    The result is a colossal cosmic object about 225 times heavier than the sun — by far the most massive ever observed through gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of spacetime. Before now, the record holder for a black hole merger detection using this method weighed in at just 140 times the sun.

    The discovery, announced on July 14, comes not from NASA but a collaboration of observatories around the world, including two U.S. National Science Foundation–funded observatories in Louisiana and Washington. The newfound black hole has defied expectations for its unusual size, based on known ways that stars collapse. 

    “We have theories of how black holes form when stars die, and those theories are fine for black holes that are five times the mass of our sun, or 10 times, or even 50 times,” wrote Mark Hannam, a Cardiff University scientist who led the research team, on his Substack, The Fictional Aether. “But once you get to about 60 times the mass of the sun, some funky nuclear/quantum/whatever processes come into play, and the star blasts away lots of its mass, and you can’t form a really massive black hole. That carries on until you get to really massive stars.” 

    SEE ALSO:

    Astronomers caught a star that blew up not once, but twice when it died

    Black holes are some of the most inscrutable phenomena in outer space. About 50 years ago, they were little more than a theory — a kooky mathematical answer to a physics problem. Even astronomers at the top of their field weren’t entirely convinced they existed. Today, not only are black holes accepted science, some supermassive ones are getting their pictures taken by a collection of synced-up radio dishes on Earth. 

    Mashable Light Speed

    Unlike a planet or star, black holes don’t have surfaces. Instead, they have a boundary called an “event horizon,” or a point of no return. If anything swoops too close, it will fall in, never to escape the hole’s gravitational clutch.

    “Nothing can escape a black hole, not even another black hole,” Hannam explained, “so what’s left is: a bigger black hole.”

    The most common kind, called a stellar black hole, is thought to be the result of an enormous star dying in a supernova explosion. The star’s material then collapses onto itself, condensing into a relatively tiny area. Physics predicts a gap in the sizes of black holes that can form this way. That gap — between about 60 and 130 times the mass of our sun — should be largely empty. 

    One of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, detectors, in Hanford, Washington. The second detector is located in Livingston, Louisiana.
    Credit: LIGO

    But this merger, designated GW231123, is breaking the rules, according to the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration, which together has detected about 300 since 2015. It involved two black holes estimated to land in the mass gap. Furthermore, researchers say there’s something else puzzling about the event.

    “The black holes appear to be spinning very rapidly — near the limit allowed by Einstein’s theory of general relativity,” said Charlie Hoy, a University of Portsmouth scientist, in a statement. “That makes the signal difficult to model and interpret.”

    One possible explanation is that at least one of the colliding black holes was not born from a collapsing star, but from another prior black hole merger. This would require extreme environments where merged black holes could stick around long enough to crash again.

    The event could point to new ways the universe forms black holes that scientists are only beginning to understand.


    Continue Reading

  • The handshake in orbit that made the International Space Station possible

    The handshake in orbit that made the International Space Station possible

    Ben-Itzhak studies what she has termed “space blocs” – the emerging groupings of space nations. Right now, as countries plan a return to the Moon, it looks like the US and Russians will soon go their separate ways. Russia will likely side with China, and Western nations – including Europe and Canada – will coalesce around the US. But there are also other blocs emerging, including Arab, African and Asian nations (India, for example, is fast becoming a significant space power).

    Continue Reading

  • Elon Musk’s Mars plan is a dangerous illusion, warns astrophysicist Adam Becker |

    Elon Musk’s Mars plan is a dangerous illusion, warns astrophysicist Adam Becker |

    Elon Musk’s long-standing dream to colonize Mars has come under sharp criticism from renowned astrophysicist and author Adam Becker, who calls it “the stupidest thing” one could pursue. In a recent interview and in his new book More Everything Forever, Becker argues that efforts by billionaires like Musk and Jeff Bezos to settle Mars are nothing more than “sci-fi fantasies” detached from scientific and ethical realities. Despite Musk’s framing of Mars as a backup plan for humanity in the event of a global catastrophe, Becker insists that even a damaged Earth would remain far more habitable than the red planet. He believes these grandiose space ambitions are more about escaping fears than solving real problems.

    Elon Musk’s Mars vision: “Stupidest thing” says Becker

    Becker takes a blunt stance on Musk’s idea of Mars as a “lifeboat” for humanity. “We could get hit with an asteroid, detonate every nuclear weapon, or see the worst-case scenario for climate change, and Earth would still be more habitable than Mars,” he told Rolling Stone. He cites the planet’s lack of breathable air, radiation exposure, and extreme conditions as insurmountable barriers. His critique also targets the illusion that technology alone can make Mars livable. “Any cursory examination of facts about Mars makes it clear, it’s not a place for humans,” Becker asserts.

    Childhood wonder meets scientific reality

    Once a strong believer in space colonization, Becker admits that his views changed as he studied the harsh truths of space environments. “As I got older, I realized, ‘Oh, that’s not happening.’ We’re not going to go to space, and certainly not to make things better,” he told The Harvard Gazette. He accuses tech billionaires of pouring resources into escapist dreams instead of addressing problems on Earth. According to him, their space crusades reflect deep-seated fears rather than rational strategy.

    Scientists warn of risks in billionaire space ambitions

    Becker isn’t the only critic. Fellow astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss has also denounced Musk’s Mars plan, calling it “logistically ludicrous” and “scientifically and politically dangerous.” Despite these warnings, Musk remains committed to his goal of building a Mars colony with at least one million people, positioning SpaceX as the spearhead of this vision. Yet experts argue that such ambitions, if rushed or poorly planned, could have disastrous consequences both scientifically and socially.


    Continue Reading

  • Milky Way’s hidden neighbors revealed

    Milky Way’s hidden neighbors revealed

    Scientists at Durham University used powerful supercomputers and fresh math tricks to peer into the cosmic unknown. What did they find? Possibly up to 100 tiny, hidden galaxies, nicknamed “orphans”, lurking near our Milky Way, quietly orbiting like celestial wallflowers.

    Spotting these galaxies could be a big deal. Why? Because it would strengthen the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) theory, our current best guess at how galaxies grow and the universe ticks.

    According to ΛCDM:

    • Just 5% of the universe is made of familiar stuff like atoms.
    • About 25% is mysterious cold dark matter.
    • And a whopping 70%? That’s dark energy, the silent architect shaping space itself.

    Nearby dwarf galaxy will hit Milky Way, wake up the black hole

    Imagine the universe as a giant dance floor where galaxies are the dancers, and dark matter halos are the invisible partners guiding their moves.

    Most galaxies out there are tiny dwarf galaxies. They often twirl around heavier ones, like our Milky Way, as satellite dancers.

    Aquarius-A-L1
    The dark matter distribution of a Milky Way mass halo in a Lambda-cold dark matter (LCDM) cosmological simulation. This is the highest resolution simulation of a MW-mass dark matter halo ever performed, called Aquarius-A-L1. The MW halo (in the centre) is surrounded by myriad substructures, a key prediction of the “cold dark matter” model. Some of these subhalos host a satellite galaxy within them that could be observable.

    Credit: The Aquarius simulation, the Virgo Consortium/Dr Mark Lovell.

    But here’s the twist: Scientists noticed a puzzling absence of these little partners in both simulations and telescope sightings. According to the leading theory, Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM), way more of them should exist.

    New research reveals that many of these missing satellites have been so tugged and stretched by the gravity of our Milky Way that they lost their original dark matter halos. Now barely visible, these faint survivors are dubbed “orphan galaxies”, ghostly dancers still floating around, unnoticed.

    Milky Way may have 100 faint satellite galaxies

    If telescopes finally spot them, it would not only fill a cosmic mystery gap, but also give a big thumbs-up to ΛCDM as the theory that explains how our vast universe organizes itself.

    Using a powerful new technique, scientists at Durham University hunted down some of the Milky Way’s most elusive neighbors: faint, forgotten “orphan galaxies.” Their research shows that many more satellite galaxies should be out there, hidden in plain sight.

    AqA1map_1panel_orphansAqA1map_1panel_orphans
    The dark matter distribution of a Milky Way mass halo in a Lambda-cold dark matter (LCDM) cosmological simulation. This is the highest resolution simulation of a MW-mass dark matter halo ever performed, called Aquarius-A-L1. The MW halo (in the centre) is surrounded by myriad substructures, a key prediction of the “cold dark matter” model. Some of these subhalos host a satellite galaxy within them that could be observable. The new predicted Milky Way “orphan satellite” galaxies are marked with an ‘x’ symbol.

    Credit
    The Aquarius simulation, the Virgo Consortium/Dr Mark Lovell

    With next-gen instruments like the Rubin Observatory’s LSST camera, now peering into the universe, astronomers may finally spot these ghostly galaxies for the first time.

    Dr. Isabel Santos-Santos explains that while we know of about 60 satellite galaxies around the Milky Way, there could be dozens more quietly orbiting nearby, just too faint to see until now.

    Unraveling the mystery of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies

    If these predictions hold, it’s a big win for the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) theory, which helps explain how the cosmos builds galaxies and structures.

    Observational astronomers are now comparing real telescope data to Durham’s predictions, and if these galaxies do pop up, it could unravel deeper secrets about how the universe came to look the way it does today.

    The Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) model is like the universe’s rulebook, explaining how galaxies grow, spread, and evolve on a massive scale. It’s passed a lot of tests and forms the backbone of modern cosmology.

    But recently, tiny troublemakers called dwarf galaxies have thrown some shade on this cosmic blueprint.

    Is the Milky Way galaxy special?

    Durham scientists say even our best simulations, those that factor in stars, gas, and dark matter, can’t zoom in on these faint galaxies near the Milky Way. They’re just too dim and too detailed, slipping through the cracks like intergalactic ninjas.

    Plus, those simulations struggle to track the long, slow dance of dwarf galaxies and their mini dark matter halos as they orbit the Milky Way over billions of years. It’s like trying to follow fireflies in fog using pixelated binoculars.

    In galaxy simulations, sometimes the dark matter “shells” that cradle galaxies, called halos, get accidentally erased by technical glitches. This leaves some galaxies “orphaned,” as if they’ve lost their protective cosmic coats.

    But Durham scientists didn’t settle for flawed models. They teamed up supercomputer simulations with sharp mathematical insights to fix the glitch and spot these hidden galactic loners.
    Their tools:

    Aquarius Simulation: Think of it as the most detailed zoom-in ever on the Milky Way’s invisible skeleton.

    GALFORM: A powerful galaxy-building blueprint that tracks how galaxies take shape, evolve, and shine (or barely glow).

    The origin of ultra-diffuse galaxies explained

    What did they discover? Many dark matter halos, mini cosmic cocoons, have been circling the Milky Way for billions of years. Over time, the intense gravity stripped them of their material, turning them into tiny, dim satellites that are tough to spot but still out there.

    Durham researchers believe the Milky Way has been hiding a crowd of 80 to 100 extra satellite galaxies, lurking quietly in its neighborhood, too faint to notice before.

    Around 30 tiny new candidates have already popped up, sparking debate: are they true dwarf galaxies, wrapped in dark matter halos? Or just tightly packed groups of stars called globular clusters?

    These mysterious objects are incredibly faint, but Durham’s team thinks they might belong to the missing galaxy family they predicted—hidden outliers waiting to be confirmed.

    Co-researcher Professor Carlos Frenk, of the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, said: “If the population of very faint satellites that we are predicting is discovered with new data, it would be a remarkable success of the LCDM theory of galaxy formation.“

    “It would also provide a clear illustration of the power of physics and mathematics. Using the laws of physics, solved using a large supercomputer and mathematical modelling, we can make precise predictions that astronomers, equipped with new, powerful telescopes, can test. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

    Continue Reading