Science

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VLBA Makes First Direct Distance Measurement to Magnetar

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Artist's conception of a magnetar -- a superdense neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field. In this illustration, the magnetar is emitting a burst of radiation.

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Hubble Captures Crisp New Image of Jupiter and Europa

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This latest image of Jupiter, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on 25 August 2020, was captured when the planet was 653 million kilometres from Earth. Hubble’s sharp view is giving researchers an updated weather report on the monster planet’s turbulent atmosphere, including a remarkable new storm brewing, and a cousin of the Great Red Spot changing colour — again. The new image also features Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

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Possible Marker of Life Spotted on Venus

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An international team of astronomers announced the discovery of a rare molecule — phosphine — in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments. Astronomers have speculated for decades that high clouds on Venus could offer a home for microbes — floating free of the scorching surface but needing to tolerate very high acidity. The detection of phosphine could point to such extra-terrestrial “aerial” life.

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NASA Missions Spy First Possible ‘Survivor’ Planet Hugging White Dwarf Star

In this illustration, WD 1856 b, a potential Jupiter-size planet, orbits its much smaller host star, a dim white dwarf.
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In this illustration, WD 1856 b, a potential Jupiter-size planet, orbits its much smaller host star, a dim white dwarf.

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SOFIA Returns to Flight Studying Galaxies

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NASA’s flying observatory, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, has returned to science operations with a new series of flights designed to study the chemistry of galaxies.

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Wheelock Readies Astronauts for Moon Landing

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STS-120 Commander Pamela Melroy talked to media and guests on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after landing Space Shuttle Discovery. Behind her from left are mission specialist Stephanie Wilson, pilot George Zamka and mission specialists Doug Wheelock and Scott Parazynski. Mission STS-120 continued the construction of the station with the installation of the Harmony Node 2 module and the relocation of the P6 truss.

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Monitoring the Arctic heatwave

Over the past months, the Arctic has experienced alarmingly high temperatures, extreme wildfires and a significant loss of sea ice. While hot summer weather is not uncommon in the Arctic, the region is warming at two to three times the global average – impacting nature and humanity on a global scale. Observations from space offer a unique opportunity to understand the changes occurring in this remote region.

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Eureka

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Inside NASA’s Pandemic Response Campaigns

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Patrick Degrosse, engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, shows the guts of the ventilator that a team of NASA engineers designed in just over five weeks. The machine uses none of the parts used in traditional ventilators, so as not to compete for supply lines.

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Hubble Maps Giant Halo Around Andromeda Galaxy

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This illustration depicts the gaseous halo of the Andromeda galaxy if it could be seen with the naked eye. At a distance of 2.5 million light-years, the majestic spiral Andromeda galaxy is so close to us that it appears as a cigar-shaped smudge of light high in the autumn sky. If its gaseous halo could be seen with the naked eye, it would be about three times the width of the Big Dipper—easily the biggest feature on the nighttime sky.

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New $115 Million Quantum Systems Accelerator to Pioneer Quantum Technologies for Discovery Science

Berkeley Lab-led center to catalyze U.S. leadership in quantum information science, and strengthen the nation’s research community to accelerate commercialization

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The Quantum Systems Accelerator will optimize a wide range of advanced qubit technologies available on August 26. Berkeley Lab uses sophisticated dilution refrigerators to cool and operate superconducting quantum processor circuits.