[Updated on September 16, 2024 with new details from FactCheck.org] The current Biden-Harris administration and Project 2025, a potential blueprint for a second Trump term, offer starkly different visions for the future of American science. Conversely, Project 2025—a conservative policy roadmap from a think tank featuring input from multiple former government officials — proposes a…

The Mars Ocean Theory suggests that about one-fifth to one-third of the planet’s surface was covered by a primordial sea approximately 4 billion years ago, according to NASA. Now, scientists are delving into the details of this water loss using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission.…

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, planned for launch by NASA, could significantly advance our understanding of galactic formation history through its ability to combine high-resolution infrared imaging and with an expansive field of view. This field allows Roman to efficiently survey vast portions of the sky, capturing billions of galaxies across cosmic history. The…

For six decades, the R&D 100 Awards have been a benchmark of achievement in science and technology, often referred to informally as “The Oscars of Innovation.” This year, we’re offering a new interactive experience, allowing you to explore the remarkable work of both winners and finalists across diverse fields. From advances in mechanical and material…

Imagine a world without rockets. No satellites beaming down GPS signals, no astronauts exploring the cosmos, no spellbinding images of distant galaxies. But for most of human history, the idea of escaping Earth’s gravity was just a distant dream. From gunpowder to rocket fuel That dream began to take shape in ancient China, with a…

Shanghai residents can now hail a ride in a completely driverless robotaxi, part of China’s aggressive push to lead the autonomous vehicle race. The development is a milestone for China’s autonomous vehicle industry, as Shanghai joins other major cities like Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou in allowing robotaxis to operate without safety operators physically present in the…

The International Space Station (ISS) continues to be a bustling hub of scientific research with NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt recently completing a spacewalk on June 24. Another is planned for July 2. Against this backdrop of continuous scientific endeavors, the upcoming ISS Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC) will focus on the processes…

From SwRI Southwest Research Institute is leading two groundbreaking experiments — on the ground and in the air — to collect astronomical data from the total solar eclipse that will shadow a large swath of the United States on April 8, 2024. SwRI’s Dr. Amir Caspi leads the Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) 2024 experiment,…

Dozens of science and technology development payloads returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on December 22 as SpaceX’s 29th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission, contracted by NASA, successfully concluded. More than 30 payloads sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory returned on this mission, many of which were life science investigations aimed at…

Dr. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and associate vice president of Southwest Research Institute’s Space Sector, flew on Nov. 2 aboard the Virgin Galactic commercial spaceship Unity on a suborbital space mission. During the roughly 60-minute mission, first mated to its carrier aircraft VMS Eve, then horizontally launched into space, Stern tested equipment and trained…

Flight history in Bremen, Germany, began more than a hundred years ago. Since then, this important northern German city has become well known as the second-largest aerospace hub in the country. Over the past several years, Bremen has established itself as a standard-bearer in aerospace R&D. A growing network of Bremen-based organizations now play leading…

What if microgravity holds the key to preventing the overheating of advanced electronics? That’s one idea behind an International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory-sponsored investigation that recently launched to station on Northrop Grumman’s 19th Commercial Resupply Services mission (NG-19). The experiment aims to improve the efficiency of heat transfer devices used in various technologies, from…

by Jim McMahon Astronomers have confirmed more than 5,000 exoplanets orbiting distant stars. There are a few aspects that are needed to characterize an exoplanet. One is the size of the planet, and the other is the mass of the planet. Space-based missions, such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) launched in 2018, find…

From Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute’s Space Science and Engineering Division, with 465 employees in three states, has been restructured to create two new technical divisions. Dr. James L. Burch, vice president of the Space Science Division, will become Senior Vice President leading SwRI’s new Space Sector organization, encompassing all three divisions. Dr. Robin…

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has a rich history of designing and deploying space systems. Over 30% of all U.S. space systems have the Laboratory’s fingerprint on them. Terra Spotlight ensures that the Laboratory’s history of scientific excellence in space will continue. Terra Spotlight opens exciting frontiers in remote sensing and our understanding of changes…

 From Sandia National Laboratory Sandia National Laboratories is well-known for designing reliable and resilient microgrids for military bases and vital city services. Now, Sandia researchers are working with NASA to design one for the moon. This is not the first time Sandia has partnered with NASA to power equipment on the moon. In fact, Sandia…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending February 18, 2022, closed at 5,075.11 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -2.18% (or 113.00 basis points) from the week ending February 11, 2022. The stock of nine RDWI members gained value from 0.96% (Novartis) to 6.14% (Cisco). The stock of…

The Traffic Flow Impact (TFI) Tool, from MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the Federal Aviation Administration, is a unique tool that provides air traffic control managers with a display of airspace capacity predictions and potentially achievable and sustainable traffic flow rates by using a revolutionary approach to integrate multiple weather forecasts. TFI uses a novel machine-learning…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending January 28, 2022, closed at 5,280.68 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 1.39% (or 72.41 basis points) from the week ending January 21, 2022. The stock of 12 RDWI members gained value from 0.34% (AstraZeneca) to 4.88% (Apple Computer). The stock…

From UC Riverside: A UC Riverside astronomer and a group of eagle-eyed citizen scientists have discovered a giant gas planet hidden from view by typical stargazing tools. The planet, TOI-2180 b, has the same diameter as Jupiter, but is nearly three times more massive. Researchers also believe it contains 105 times the mass of Earth…

By Jules Bernstein The James Webb Space Telescope, the most complex and expensive space laboratory ever created, is less than two weeks away from its ultimate destination a million miles from Earth. Once it arrives, it will send information about parts of space and time never seen before. It will also send previously unattainable information…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending December 31, 2021, closed at 5,629.50 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -0.39% (or -22.32 basis points) from the week ending December 24, 2021. The stock of 21 RDWI members gained value from 0.11% (Alibaba) to 3.02% (General Motors). The stock…

From Southwest Research Institute NASA has selected the CubeSat Imaging X-Ray Solar Spectrometer (CubIXSS), led by Southwest Research Institute, to measure the elemental composition of hot, multimillion-degree plasmas in the Sun’s corona – its outermost atmosphere. The nanosatellite is expected to be launched in 2024 as a secondary payload on another satellite launch. CubIXSS will…

Materials and mechanical scientists are using machine learning to rapidly vet combinations of elements that could be used in next-generation environmental barrier coatings needed to protect vehicles traveling in the extreme conditions of aerospace and space environments. The project, led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is supported by the National Science Foundation. Environmental barrier…

When the world’s most powerful telescope launches into space this year, scientists will learn whether Earth-sized planets in our ‘solar neighborhood’ have a key prerequisite for life — an atmosphere. These planets orbit an M-dwarf, the smallest and most common type of star in the galaxy. Scientists do not currently know how common it is…