Â鶹´«Ã½

Â鶹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Lost in Space-Time

Each month, we hand over the keyboard to a physicist or mathematician to tell you about fascinating ideas from their corner of the universe. You can sign up to the Lost in Space-Time newsletter here.
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Space

Why Yuri Gagarin wasn’t the first in space – and who beat him to it

Everyone knows Yuri Gagarin as the first person to go to space. But was he? Literary historian Vladimir Brljak tells the tale of the intrepid balloonists who first flew beyond the blue terrestrial sky, challenging the definition of where our world begins to end

Comment

Person looking up at starry night at Spiral Jetty, USA. Provider: Alamy Stock Photo Source: www.alamy.com Copyright: Celestine Dagli/Alamy

Physics

Would aliens do physics, or is science a human invention?

Comment

Fractal conceptual illustration of supersymmetry or superstrings. Supersymmetry (SUSY) is a particle physics theory that proposes a type of spacetime symmetry relating two basic classes of elementary particles: bosons, which have an integer-valued 'spin', and fermions, which have a half-integer spin. If supersymmetry is a true symmetry of nature, it would explain many mysterious features of particle physics and would help solve paradoxes such as the cosmological constant problem. There is only indirect evidence for the existence of supersymmetry, primarily in the form of evidence for gauge coupling unification. Direct confirmation would entail production of superpartners at collider experiments, such as at the Large Hadron Collider.

Space

A crisis in cosmology may mean hidden dimensions really exist

Features

Space

NASA’s Artemis moon exploration programme is getting a major makeover

News

Space

How worried should you be about an asteroid smashing into Earth?

Analysis

From images taken by NASA spacecrafts, this picture mosaic was created of six of the planets in our solar system and the Earth's moon. In the foreground is the Earth rising over the lunar surface with the sun flare at the edge of Earth. Venus is the first planet above the moon, and at the top left to right are the planets Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn. Photo credits are as follows: Earth - Apollo 17; Lunar Surface - Apollo 8; Sun - Apollo 12; Venus - Pioneer Venus; Jupiter - Voyager I; Mercury - Mariner 10; Saturn - Pioneer 11.

Space

What to read this week: Ripples on the Cosmic Ocean by Dagomar Degroot

Culture

Astronauts practise tasks in simulated moon environment and underwater. Astronauts have been practising walking on the Moon as their next-generation spacesuit passes milestone testing. NASA astronauts and spacesuit engineers recently simulated lunar surface operations and tasks underwater wearing the new suits, built by Axiom Space, to demonstrate safety and mobility. The space agency reported Thursday (Feb 12) that the spacesuit has passed a contractor-led technical review and is hoped to be used for the Artemis III mission as NASA prepares to send humans to the Moon???s South Pole for the first time. NASA said:

Space

Amazing sneak peek of NASA's spacesuit tests as moon mission nears

Regulars

Illustration depicting a tidal disruption event (TDE). TDEs are causes when a star passes close to a supermassive black hole and get torn apart by the gravity of the latter. The debris forms a fan-shaped pattern around the black hole before eventually falling in.

Space

A new 'brief history' of the universe paints a wide picture

Culture

The weird rules of temperature get even stranger in the quantum realm

Physics

The weird rules of temperature get even stranger in the quantum realm

Comment

Dark Matter distribution

Space

The best map of dark matter has revealed never-before-seen structures

JWST has created a map of dark matter that is twice as good as anything we have had before, and it may help unravel some of the deepest mysteries of the universe

News

Physics

The daring idea that time is an illusion and how we could prove it

Features

Humans

Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s guide to the 21 best ideas of the 21st century

Features

Life

Giving astronauts tardigrade toughness will be harder than we hoped

News

Space

Distant 'little red dot' galaxies may contain baby black holes

News

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