Milestone

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is set to pass the Sun this year in a milestone moment for space exploration.The probe, launched on Aug 12, 2018, is due to fly past the sun at 195 km/s, or 435,000 mph on 24 December 2024, the BBC reported.NASA describes it as a mission to ""touch the Sun" on its website, aiming to get our "first-ever sampling of a star's atmosphere.""We are basically almost landing on a star," Nour Raouafi, a scientist on the project, told the BBC.Artist's concept of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft that…

An artist’s concept of the completed design of NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER. VIPER will get a close-up view of the location and concentration of ice and other resources at the Moon’s South Pole, bringing us a significant step closer to NASA’s ultimate goal of a long-term presence on the Moon – making it possible to eventually explore Mars and beyond. Credit: NASA/Daniel RutterThe VIPER Moon rover is halfway built, with key milestones like payload integration and hardware acquisition…

Last updated: December 21st, 2023 at 07:20 UTC+01:00 Ever since the PlayStation 5 was launched in 2020, it became evident that this console was going to be a colossal hit. The PS5 has continued to set new sales records for the Japanese company with Sony now announcing a new sales milestone for its console. The company has announced that PlayStation 5 sales have hit 50 million units since launch. Sony continues to see sustained high demand for the console even after almost three years have passed since it first came…

An effective single-dose, long-term treatment for anxiety could be within reach, with the phase 2b clinical trial of MM-120 reported to have passed the stage with flying colors. The makers, MindMed, now plan to hold an end-of-phase meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early 2024, and then get a phase 3 trial under way.MM-120 is essentially lysergide D-tartrate, which is best known by its abbreviation, LSD. A synthetic tryptamine, this serotonergic hallucinogen acts as a partial agonist at serotonin…

By Katherine Schauer, NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) December 16, 2023NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload in a Goddard cleanroom. The payload was installed on the International Space Station to demo higher data rates with NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration. Credit: Dennis HenryNASA successfully completed the first two-way laser communication link between the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) aboard the…

Quantum computing has made a significant leap forward with Harvard’s new platform, capable of dynamic reconfiguration and demonstrating low error rates in two-qubit entangling gates. This breakthrough, highlighted in a recent Nature paper, signals a major advancement in overcoming the quantum error correction challenge, positioning Harvard’s technology alongside other leading quantum computing methods. The work, a collaboration with MIT and others, marks a crucial step towards scalable, error-corrected quantum computing.…

This artist’s rendition shows a close-up view of the asteroid Psyche. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, which is still in the early part of its long voyage to the asteroid, recently captured the mission’s first images. Credit: Peter Rubin/ASU The first images from NASA’s Psyche spacecraft… Celebrating an anniversary for the space station… And a new tool to help fight climate change… A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkOACBTGGS0 NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft Delivers Its First…

Few people have had quite the roller coaster life in the last few years as Bam Margera. The former Jackass star has been battling addiction, with quite mixed results for years. But the skateboarder may finally be on the right path as he has hit a milestone, having been sober for over 100 days. And he’s congratulations from the likes of Mark Wahlberg.The connection between the two comes from one of the factors that Margera is crediting with his sobriety being successful, the gym. Specifically, according to TMZ, Margera…

Particle accelerators are hugely useful in scientific research, but – like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – usually take up vast amounts of room. A remarkable new system developed at the University of Texas in Austin could change this.In experiments, researchers were able to use their particle accelerator to generate an electron beam with an energy of 10 billion electron volts (10 GeV) in a chamber measuring just 10 centimeters (4 inches).The complete instrument measures 20 meters (66 feet) from end to end. In…

Google Messages is one of the most-used SMS/RCS messaging platforms on the market. The fact that it comes pre-installed on a ton of devices played a major role in this. Well, this app just crossed a very impressive milestone. Google Messages has surpassed a billion monthly users, and the company released some new features to commemorate that. 1. Photomoji There are hundreds of emojis that you can use to react to a message, but what if you want some more options? Well, with Photomoji, the possibilities, are endless. What…