Wissenschaft

Photographing stars and galaxy clusters, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has released the images. Marking the launching of the spacecraft - July 23 1999 - the agency has released the breathtaking images. Within the incredible gallery, Chandra’s images also show an incredible view of Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole at...

Asked by: Simon Makin, Scotland

On May 18, 1980, Mount St Helens erupted in the US state of Washington. The event, which measured 5 on the Volcanic Explosively Index, has been declared the most disastrous in modern US history. A huge column of volcanic material rose 80,000ft into the atmosphere and deposited ash in 11 states, killing...

Scientific Reports published the research from academics from Northumbria University, the University of Bradford, the University of Hull as well as Azerbaijan’s Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Shamakhi Astrophysical Observatory. The authors claim the increase in global temperatures by 1C (33.8F) was due to natural solar cycles as well as the Sun’s...

Elon Musk yesterday posted more photographs of the SpaceX Starship Mk1.Mk1 is of two competing prototypes for a spacecraft the cavalier South African billionaire hopes will one day fly to humans to Mars.Mr Musk captioned the photo with: “Adding the rear moving fins to Starship Mk1 in Boca Chica, Texas.”This...

On October 8, 2015, NASA published its strategy for human exploration and colonisation of Mars. The concept operates through three distinct phases leading up to fully sustained civilisation on the Red Planet, which they hope to implement sometime in the mid-2030s. However, in 2016, SpaceX publicly announced a comprehensive vision to rival NASA...

This year has seen some spectacular celestial events, from a total lunar eclipse to a trio of Super Moons. And 2019 is about to witness another incredible astronomical event, the Full Flower Moon. Also known as the Blue Moon, this breathtaking sight will not appear again for another two years.May’s...

NASA’s breathtaking photo was snapped by the historic Hubble telescope using the Wide Field Camera 3 instrument (WFC3). The photo shows the distant galaxy NGC 7773 in is full glory hundreds of millions of miles away. The galaxy, much like our very own Milky Way, is a so-called barred spiral...

The asteroid, called 2019 RA, is 30 meters wide, making it bigger than the blue whale – the largest animal to have ever existed. The asteroid, which is travelling at an astonishing speed of 3.5 miles per second, or 12,600 MPH, is predicted to pass Earth at a distance of...

Tonight’s Supermoon is an astronomical treat as it coincides with the beautiful February Snow Moon. Although astronomers here in the UK predict the Supermoon will peak tomorrow morning, you have a chance to catch it tonight live from Italy.A Supermoon peaks whenever a Full Moon is within 90 percent of...

Highways England said it will carry out "extensive investigations" to attempt to save a centuries-old oak tree due to be cut down as part of £24m roadworks.It comes after more than 5,000 people signed a petition to save the tree in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, near the A45/A6 roundabout.Highways England said...

SpaceX has revolutionised the business of building rockets in less then two decades. Since 2002 SpaceX’s reusable rocket technology has become the backbone of NASA’s space program. However despite SpaceX’s notable successes, the hyper-competitive space industry has repeatedly led to friction between Elon Musk’s company and the US government.SpaceX wants...

A total solar eclipse is arguably the most stunning celestial event a stargazer will witness in his lifetime. Today’s total solar eclipse is the first since 2017’s Great American Eclipse. Those lucky enough to live in Chile and Argentina are enjoying the best views of the eclipse. And select areas...

An ancient mutation that spread through humans after the advent of cooking may protect people against high blood sugar and diabetes today, scientists have said.Researchers at University College London (UCL) discovered the mutation while studying a gene called CLTCL1, which is heavily involved in removing sugar from the bloodstream.While a...

In your obituary of Chris Kraft, former director of Nasa’s flight operations and the Johnson Space Center (Journal, 3 September 2019), you state he oversaw the missions to the first space station, Skylab. The title of “first space station” properly goes to Salyut 1, launched by the Soviet Union in...

Two Nobel laureates and other top scientists are accusing Boris Johnson of destroying Britain’s global reputation by behaving “like a clown” and pursuing a no-deal Brexit that would leave UK science “dead” for years.The government has assured anxious academics it still has a clear ambition to join the European commission’s...

The Milky Way is home to at least 200 billion stars, although some astronomers speculate the figure could be anywhere as high as 400 billion. In March this year, a NASA study using the Hubble Space Telescope proposed an estimated weight of the Milky Way.The NASA study, which involved the...

The recent shocking UN report on the threatened extinction of one million species has focused global attention on the crucial role of biodiversity in the health of the planet. Almost exactly 30 years ago, the first warning sounded that amphibian species were already in potentially catastrophic freefall. Tim Halliday, who...

Mach 5 equates to astonishing 6,174 kilometres per hour (3,836 miles per hour) – almost three times faster than Concorde. Science minister Chris Skidmore said the news was further evidence of the way in which the UK's economy was poised to take off after Brexit.Reaction Engines, based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire,...

The Sonoma County fires in northern California ravaged over 77,000 acres in just 10 days after starting on October 23. Now, NASA has revealed the true extent of the damage as the fires have left a black scar on the face of the Earth. The image shows a long region...

A flood basalt is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that cover large stretches of land with basalt lava. They can be seen in areas such as the Deccan Traps of India and get their names after the Swedish word trappa – meaning stairs – due to the characteristic geomorphology of many associated landscapes. Large igneous...