NASA‘s Artemis II mission successfully lifted off from Florida’s Space Coast Wednesday (April 1) around 6:35 p.m. EDT. But today (Thursday) marked the mission’s next crucial step: the translunar injection burn, the long push that sends the spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit and into deep space, where it will rendezvous with the moon about four…
At the top of the planet, the cap of sea ice across Arctic waters grows and shrinks with the seasons, usually reaching its annual maximum extent in March. In 2026, this peak occurred on March 15, when the extent reached 14.29 million square kilometers, matching the lowest maximum observed since satellite monitoring began in 1979….
In the event of an emergency, the U-turn is the fastest way home in the first 36 hours after the TLI. After that it can be just as quick, and often simpler, to stay on course around the Moon and fall back to Earth, Orion programme manager Howard Hu said before the launch. Source: Read…
In a darkened tank divided by a barrier, a male octopus extends one arm through a narrow opening, probing the space beyond. On the other side, a female remains out of view. The two animals never fully meet, and yet the male locates her, positions the tip of his arm, and begins the process of…
Eight people were arrested and 15 were charged in an alleged scheme to bilk more than $50 million in healthcare funds by running sham hospice facilities across Southern California, federal officials announced Thursday. The defendants billed Medicare for reimbursement payments for hospice care for patients over several years, federal officials said, but many of those…
The Hubble team has released a beautiful close-up shot of the barred spiral galaxy IC 486. This Hubble image shows IC 486, a barred spiral galaxy some 380 million light-years away in the constellation of Gemini. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M.J. Koss / A.J. Barth. IC 486 is located some 380…
April 2, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm NASA’s Artemis II moon mission just committed to leaving Earth orbit The Orion spacecraft just completed its last planned major fuel burn, setting its course for the rest of its ten-day journey around the moon and back By Joseph Howlett edited by Claire Cameron…
In dusty excavation reports and antiquarian volumes, a lawyer-turned-archaeologist has uncovered evidence that upends the known history of human gambling. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The findings, published Thursday in the journal American Antiquity, suggest that Native Americans had dice and games of probability 12,000…
Google’s plan for a partnership with a natural gas power plant that could provide energy for one of its datacenters in Texas was unearthed by new research and confirmed by the company. The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has…
Sex might seem an intimate act, but scientists have shed fresh light on how octopuses manage it at arm’s length. Male octopuses use a specialised arm called the hectocotylus to place a package of sperm inside the female’s reproductive system. But how this arm detects a mate, or delivers the sperm to the right location,…
