by Ryan Whitwam

As the late Carl Sagan once famously said, “We’re made of star-stuff.” That’s a clever way to illustrate that all the heavy elements in the universe, even those that make up the seven and a half billion humans on Earth, came from the nuclear inferno of a star at some point. Astronomers mapping our galaxy have stumbled upon a region rich in OB stars, which are believed to be instrumental in seeding the universe with the makings of life.

Until just a few years ago, it was impossible to map these distant star clusters with much accuracy…

by Joel Hruska

A new discovery on the west bank of the Nile, near the iconic Valley of the Kings, has archaeologists buzzing about what may be the most important archaeological find since the location of Tutankhamun’s tomb. An entire lost city has been found, with workshops, palaces, a cemetery, and living quarters. The site is said to be in excellent condition.

“There’s no doubt about it; it really is a phenomenal find,” Salima Ikram, an archaeologist who leads the American University in Cairo’s Egyptology unit, told National Geographic. …

by Ryan Whitwam

Scientists working at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois have made some of the most important discoveries in physics over the years, including the existence of the top quark and characterizing the neutrino. Now, the team working on Fermilab’s Muon g−2 experiment has reported a tantalizing hint of a new type of physics, according to the BBC. If confirmed, this would become the fifth known fundamental force in the universe.

Our current understanding of particle physics is called the Standard Model, which we know is an incomplete picture of the universe. Concepts like the Higgs boson and dark energy…

by Ryan Whitwam

NASA’s ambitious Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) has been in orbit of the asteroid Bennu since 2018, but it’s getting ready to call it a day and head home. NASA reports that OSIRIS-REx has completed a last-minute addition to its mission profile: one final flyby of Bennu to see how its activities changed the surface of the object.

OSIRIS-REx arrived at Bennu in late 2018, but NASA spent almost two years studying the space rock before OSIRIS-REx got down to business. The spacecraft’s Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) allowed it to drift down…

by Ryan Whitwam

Having multiple spacecraft going to and from the International Space Station (ISS) is great for scientific progress, but it can cause the occasional traffic jam. Astronauts have executed the first-ever Dragon port relocation maneuver at the ISS, moving one Dragon to a new port, leaving space for the next few capsules to dock at the station.

It’s common practice on the ISS to keep at least one human-rated spacecraft docked at all times. This provides a means of escape for astronauts in the event of a system failure on the ISS or a high risk of impact…

by Ryan Whitwam

Humanity has come a long way in understanding the universe. We’ve got a physical framework that matches our observations, and new technologies have allowed us to analyze the Big Bang and take photos of black holes. But the hypothetical EmDrive rocket engine threatened to upend what we knew about physics… if it worked. After the latest round of testing, we can say mostly with a high degree of certainty that it doesn’t.

If you have memories from the 90s, you probably remember the interest in cold fusion, a supposed chemical process that could produce energy from fusion…

by Ryan Whitwam

Mars is shaking, and we’d never know were it not for the trailblazing InSight lander. This mission touched down on the red planet in 2018, making history by deploying the first and only seismometer on another planet. NASA has been listening for rumbles ever since, and it just heard some big ones.

NASA reports that InSight detected two strong quakes, originating in a region with enormous surface fissures called Cerberus Fossae. The quakes had magnitudes of 3.3 and 3.1, similar to a pair of previous quakes from the same area of the planet that clocked in at…

by Joel Hruska

Microsoft has won a contract with the US Army to provide augmented reality headsets suitable for battlefield conditions. The Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) will be derived from Microsoft’s HoloLens technology and augmented by a backend built on Microsoft Azure.

This deal builds on a previous $480M agreement between Microsoft and the Army, and the $21.9 billion figure represents a best-case result if Microsoft delivers all its relevant objectives and the Army decides to renew. The IVAS program will be reviewed five years from now to determine whether to continue the project.

The Army’s announcement earlier this…