ScientistPankaj: Space & Physics: China returns first-ever samples from the moon’s far side

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Space & Physics: China returns first-ever samples from the moon’s far side

June 27—This week, China's latest historic lunar sample return, how satellites threaten Earth's ozone layer, the best-yet test of cosmological time dilation, and much more. Enjoy!

--Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space and Physics

Top Stories

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft approaches the International Space Station on its first crewed test flight

How Worried Should We Be about Starliner's Stranded Astronauts?

On its first crewed flight, troubling technical glitches with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft have left two astronauts in limbo onboard the International Space Station

Lee Billings

China's Chang'e 6 sample-return capsule surrounded by three people in red jackets and a Chinese flag

China Makes History with First-Ever Samples from the Moon's Far Side

China's Chang'e 6 mission has successfully returned samples from the moon's far side, opening a new phase of the nation's lunar space race with the U.S.

Leonard David; Lee Billings

Long exposure photography composite showing light trails from low-Earth orbit satellites filling the sky, a treeline is in silhouette at the bottom of the frame

Satellite Mega Constellations Could Jeopardize Ozone-Hole Recovery

Pollution from skyrocketing numbers of satellites burning up in Earth's atmosphere could threaten our planet's protective ozone layer

Max Springer, intern writer

An artist's visualization of an imminent Type 1a supernova from an accreting white dwarf star

Supernova Slowdowns Confirm Einstein's Predictions of Time Dilation

Analyzing 1,504 supernovae into the distant universe, astronomers have shown the clearest evidence yet for cosmological time dilation as predicted by Einstein

Jonathan O'Callaghan

Illustration of two human bodies/skeletons resembling robots, with two butterflies flying near

Can AI Save Schrödinger's Cat?

Outcomes in quantum mechanics depend on observations. But must the observer be human?

Anil Ananthaswamy

This image from the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument shows a portion of the GOODS-North field of galaxies

JWST's 'Little Red Dots' Offer Astronomers the Universe's Weirdest Puzzle

The James Webb Space Telescope's search for the earliest stars and black holes has yielded a very weird, very red, puzzle

Fabio Pacucci

Colors blue, pink yellow and white shown against a black background

Dazzling New Milky Way Map Shows How Magnetism Shapes Our Galaxy

An image of interstellar dust moving through the Milky Way's magnetic field may help scientists learn more about the origin of galaxies

Riis Williams, intern writer

Mars Rocks Will Change How We See Life on Earth

Despite an eye-watering price tag, bringing pieces of Mars back to Earth promises to revolutionize our understanding of life's place in the early solar system

Robin Wordsworth