Space

Scientists have detected several sugars essential for life in the samples brought back from asteroid Bennu, NASA announced on Tuesday (Dec. 2). Analyzing pristine fragments of the asteroid delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in 2023, a team led by Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University in Japan found ribose, a crucial building block of RNA, and glucose, an energy-rich sugar…

The controversial plan to move the space shuttle Discovery to Houston reportedly has a powerful new backer. Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead NASA, has pledged his support for Discovery’s relocation, according to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Cornyn, who spearheaded the Discovery plan along with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), made the announcement in an emailed…

Scientists have detected tiny lightning bolts on Mars for the first time — they were found discharging around NASA’s Perseverance rover and coming from dust-storm fronts and whirling dust devils. Finding the electrical discharges has solved a major Martian mystery, namely the origin of oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide on the Red Planet, which was discovered on Mars in 2003. These…

Black Friday laptop deals are coming thick and fast, and I have been keeping an eye on the major retailers to find the best savings suitable for astronomy and photo/video editing. The best laptops for astronomy and astrophotography are generally those that offer a considerable amount of graphics performance and RAM. They will allow you to run the essential software like image editing tools but…