NASA Holds Out Hope of Recovering Voyager 1 Probe

A previously unknown satellite may be shaping the rings of Chariklo, a petite body that orbits the Sun between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, according to a team of astronomers that recently simulated the rings’ dynamics. - Isaac Schultz Read More

A team of physicists in Germany managed to create a time crystal that demonstrably lasts 40 minutes—10 million times longer than other known crystals—and could persist for even longer. - Isaac Schultz Read More

Humanity’s most distant spacecraft is glitching out—again—and engineers are having quite a difficult time solving the problem. Voyager 1, what are we going to do with you? - Isaac Schultz Read More

A UK-based nuclear fusion collaboration just produced a record amount of energy, a refreshing dose of good news in humankind’s quest for cleaner energy sources. The Joint European Torus facility, or JET, produced just over 69 megajoules of heat. - Isaac Schultz Read More

You’re probably excited for DUNE—no, not that one. I’m talking about the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a mile below Lead, South Dakota, where three massive caverns have been excavated for the world’s latest search for the enigmatic particles. - Isaac Schultz Read More

It was forty years ago this week that two NASA astronauts embarked into uncharted orbital waters, becoming the first to perform a spacewalk without the benefit of a tether. These thrilling photos remind us of this extraordinary moment in spaceflight history. - George Dvorsky Read More

A harrowing story of orcas trapped in an icy prison off the coast of Japan has come to a happy ending. The dozen or so whales were spotted earlier this week near the island of Hokkaido, appearing to be enclosed by ice with no available way to help them. On Wednesday, however, officials reported that the orcas managed to successfully escape their predicament on their own. - Ed Cara Read More

The newest obesity drug on the market, Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, may also help keep people’s blood pressure in check, new research out Monday has shown. The study looked at clinical trial participants and found that people taking it experienced a drop in their systolic blood pressure on average compared to a placebo group over a six-month span. The research is the latest to indicate that a new group of obesity drugs can offer health benefits beyond weight loss. - Ed Cara Read More

Gizmodo chats with Former Astronaut Leland Melvin about politics at NASA in National Geographic’s The Space Race documentary.

Here’s one weird trick for making the most out of your next two-dose vaccine: get a shot in both arms. A recent study found evidence that a two-arm approach can noticeably, if modestly, improve the body’s immune response to covid-19 compared to two shots in the same arm. More research will be needed to confirm whether this method should become widely recommended for future vaccines, however. - Ed Cara Read More