Science & Tech

NASA Confirms End of MAVEN Mission After More Than 11 Years at Mars

NASA says MAVEN, its Mars atmosphere orbiter last heard from Dec. 6, 2025, is unrecoverable after an anomaly that likely drained its batteries.

#mars, #nasa, #space, #maven

Preprint claims detection of four‑carbon sugar erythrulose in Milky Way molecular cloud

A June 2 arXiv preprint reports erythrulose, a four‑carbon sugar, in a molecule‑rich cloud near the Milky Way's center; result awaits peer review.

#astrochemistry, #interstellar, #sugars, #preprint

WMO says El Niño likely this summer; governments urged to prepare

WMO: 80% chance El Niño will develop June–Aug 2026, with near‑90% chance it lasts to November. U.N. urges stronger warnings to prepare for heat and rainfall extremes.

#elnino, #climate, #wmo, #weather

Preprint: JWST spectra suggest carbon disulfide in atmosphere of young exoplanet V1298 Tau e

A new arXiv preprint reports JWST detected carbon disulfide (CS2) in the atmosphere of young exoplanet V1298 Tau e — a result under review that needs confirmation.

#exoplanets, #jwst, #astronomy, #sulfur

Webb Detects Methane in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

NASA’s James Webb made the first direct detection of methane in an interstellar object, finding CH4 plus CO2 and water in comet 3I/ATLAS.

#jwst, #interstellar, #comets, #methane

One‑Positron Quantum Cyclotron Demonstrated, Paving Way for More Precise Positron g‑Factor Tests

A Northwestern-led preprint reports trapping a single positron in a quantum cyclotron — a technical step toward higher‑precision tests of the positron’s magnetic moment and CPT symmetry.

#physics, #antimatter, #particlephysics, #precision

NASA Says Roman Telescope Could Detect Around 100,000 Exoplanets

NASA projects its Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could detect about 100,000 exoplanets via transits and 1,000+ more by microlensing.

#astronomy, #exoplanets, #nasa, #space-telescope

Satellite Finds Warm Pacific Wave Off South America, Reinforcing Likely El Niño in 2026

Satellite data show a warm Kelvin wave reaching the South American coast, bolstering forecasts that El Niño is likely to form later in 2026.

#elnino, #climate, #satellite, #pacific

Webb Measures Massive Black Hole in Tiny Galaxy 700 Million Years After Big Bang

Webb's NIRSpec mapped gas in a z=7.04 'Little Red Dot', finding a 10^7–10^8 solar-mass black hole that may outweigh its primitive host.

#astronomy, #blackhole, #jameswebb, #cosmology, #earlyuniverse

LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA releases GWTC-5.0, expanding gravitational-wave catalog to 390 events

LVK's GWTC-5.0 adds 150 compact-binary candidates from O4b, raising the catalog to 390 events and improving population studies, Hubble estimates and GR tests.

#gravitational-waves, #ligo, #astronomy, #cosmology

AI diffusion model yields 12 computational leads for energetic materials, preprint lacks experimental confirmation

An arXiv preprint says an AI diffusion model generated 12 DFT-validated energetic-material leads and released code, but reports no lab confirmation.

#artificialintelligence, #energeticmaterials, #chemistry, #arxiv

NASA to Name Artemis III Crew During June 9 Event in Houston

NASA will reveal the Artemis III astronaut crew and provide a mission update June 9 from Johnson Space Center in Houston; Artemis III is slated for 2027.

#nasa, #artemis, #space, #moon

JADES releases uniformly modeled catalog of about 500,000 galaxies in GOODS deep fields

JADES DR5 offers a uniform Bayesian catalog of stellar mass, SFR, metallicity and AGN contribution for about 500,000 sources in GOODS-N and GOODS-S.

#jwst, #jades, #galaxies, #astronomy

Fermi Detects Delayed Gamma Rays from Superluminous Supernova SN 2017egm, Supporting Magnetar Power Source

Fermi's LAT saw months-delayed GeV gamma rays from SN 2017egm, offering rare evidence the explosion was powered by a newborn magnetar.

#astronomy, #supernova, #gammarays, #magnetar

Preprint claims first detection of 'moving lens' effect in CMB at 4.8σ

An arXiv preprint reports a 4.8σ detection of the 'moving lens' effect in the CMB using ACT and DESI, a claimed new probe of transverse cosmic velocities.

#cosmology, #cmb, #act, #desi, #astrophysics