Aerospace

Despite another solid national jobs report in December 2024—256,000 new payroll jobs and a steady 4.1% unemployment rate—companies in research-intensive fields have continued to trim their workforces in early 2025. While the broader economy shows gains in health care and retail, our tracking indicates that biotech, advanced software, and other R&D-driven sectors are strategically realigning.…

Galaxy clusters rank among the most significant known structures in the Universe. Current models suggest they form when clumps of dark matter pull galaxies together, merging smaller groups into vast clusters containing hundreds or even thousands of galaxies. One such group is the Antlia Cluster (Abell S636), located roughly 130 million light-years away in the…

The Electric Propulsion Club (EPC) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) recently showcased its experimental gridded ion thruster, STARGATE, at the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Milan, Italy. The group, comprised of undergraduate students, presented its proprietary plasma production technology for small satellite propulsion in low Earth and geostationary orbits. To provide…

A paper published in Gravitational and Space Research reveals insights from research sponsored by the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory on transport phenomena. Transport phenomena are fundamental physical processes involving momentum, energy, and mass transfer. They describe how heat and matter move through their surroundings, such as how heat radiates from a stove or how a…

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) have announced a new collaboration to advance the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) into space. This next-generation effort, called the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) mission, aims to improve black hole imaging by combining ground-based radio…

The State Department has announced that the United States and China have amended and extended their bilateral Science and Technology Agreement (STA) for five years. Initially signed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the deal was designed to foster cooperation in agriculture, energy, space, health, and the environment. U.S. officials…

Northwestern University has joined the international consortium constructing the Giant Magellan Telescope, a $2.54 billion observatory poised to become one of the world’s most powerful astronomical instruments. The consortium now includes 15 leading research institutions from the United States, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan. Northwestern brings expertise in astrophysics and artificial intelligence…

Dozens of ambitious scientific investigations — including projects aiming to improve cancer detection, advance treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, and enhance respiratory therapy — have safely returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). The nearly 50 experiments, sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory, were transported back on SpaceX’s 31st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission…

In many respects, 2024 was a year of building upon the foundations laid by previous technological and scientific advances. While AI continued to evolve at a rapid clip, progress was in many ways more incremental than last year when GPT-4 redefined expectations for genAI. But AI continues to make definable improvements across a range of…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending October 25, 2024, closed at 3962.81 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -1.49% (or -60.14 basis points). Seven RDWI members gained value last week from 0.27% (Toyota) to 5.88% (General Motors). Eighteen RDWI members lost value the previous week from -0.27%…

Argonne National Laboratory has developed a new technology that could significantly impact the aviation industry and the environment by turning waste streams into cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This novel invention, dubbed “membrane-assisted anaerobic digestion” (MAAD), converts high-strength organic wastewater from sources like breweries and dairy farms into volatile fatty acids, which can be further…

An analysis of 45 years of R&D 100 Awards reveals a clear leader: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with more than two hundred winning products. National labs dominate the top ranks, demonstrating the staying power of consistent government investment in R&D. All of the top 10 organizations since 2010 are federally-backed entities. ORNL Frequently featured…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending October 4, 2024, closed at 4.005.40 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 0.62% (or 24.71 basis points). Eight RDWI members gained value last week from 1.07% (Eli Lilly & Co.) to 6.71% (Alibaba).  Seventeen RDWI members lost value the previous week…

[Adobe Stock] Updated on October 20, 2024 with new details The current Biden-Harris administration and potential Republican approaches offer different visions for the future of American science. While the Biden-Harris team emphasizes investments in climate change mitigation and clean energy, conservative approaches have historically focused on deregulation and achieving energy independence through traditional energy sources.…

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…