Sci &Tech

NASA has released a set of extraordinary radar images showing an asteroid spinning so fast that it has forced scientists to rethink long-held assumptions about small bodies in space. The asteroid, known as 2025 OW, is tiny compared to the large space rocks we normally hear about, yet its behaviour is anything but ordinary. Detected…

Most people imagine a world without cockroaches as a cleaner, calmer place. No sudden scurrying in the kitchen, no unwelcome surprises under the sink and no pests invading food storage. But although the idea sounds appealing at first, the reality is far more complicated. Cockroaches have survived for millions of years because they fill ecological…

Interstellar objects moving through the Solar System represent a rare but scientifically valuable population of visitors that originate beyond the Sun’s gravitational reach. Their potential to collide with Earth, although extremely low in absolute terms, has attracted renewed attention as astronomers refine models that predict their paths, entry points and likely impact characteristics. Advances in…

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for one of its most intensive periods of activity, with seven additional launches planned before the close of the current financial year. While India’s first human spaceflight is still scheduled for 2027, the organisation is pushing forward with rapid expansion across science, technology, and industry, according…

Riches from outer space are pulling meteorite hunters into Morocco’s Sahara Desert, where a fast-growing trade in space rocks is changing remote communities and sparking intense races each time a fireball appears.When a fireball crashed into the rocky plains of southeast Morocco in September, 52-year-old merchant Mohamed Benitjit topped up the credit on his phone,…

Most people have experienced the moment when a few seconds of a song begin looping endlessly in the mind. Scientists call this an earworm, a term derived from the German word Ohrwurm, meaning a musical itch. The name was introduced in 1979 by psychiatrist Cornelius Eckert, and it describes a brief segment of music, usually…

Olkiluoto island on the western coast of Finland used to be just an energy hub for the country bordering Russia. But with the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it became strategically important as Helsinki decided it could no longer rely on Russian energy.Up until then, the country had been receiving…

If you have ever listened to a song and suddenly felt a shiver glide across your arms or tiny bumps rise on your skin, you have experienced one of the strangest and most fascinating responses the human body creates. When music gives you goosebumps, it feels both emotional and physical, almost like your body is…

California-based aerospace startup TransAstra is developing a revolutionary inflatable device known as the Capture Bag. Designed in various sizes, this device aims to capture asteroids for mining purposes, as well as collect human-made space debris. Artist impressions illustrate how the bag could envelop small rocks or house-sized boulders in orbit, opening new possibilities for space…

The cosmos is not a tranquil place, and the space weather of distant stars is beginning to reveal its dramatic influence on orbiting planets. Among the most energetic phenomena in stellar environments are coronal mass ejections, massive expulsions of magnetised plasma capable of reshaping planetary atmospheres and magnetic fields. While the Sun has provided a…