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SpaceX’s latest drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas returns to port after landing it’s first rocket at sea

Lead image: SpaceX’s drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” returns to port on Aug. 31, 2021, after its first successful Falcon 9 rocket landing. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com) SpaceX‘s newest drone ship, “A Shortfall of Gravitas” (ASOG) arrived in port Tuesday (Aug. 31) with its first catch secured to its deck. The booster, dubbed B1061 by SpaceX, launched just two days prior, carrying a cargo Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. The massive ship is the newest in SpaceX’s trio of drone ships, which are designed to serve as floating landing platforms for the company’s rockets…

Welcome to the Age of Wireless Electricity

Wireless electricity is a 100-year-old dream that just might turn into reality in the coming years. The advent of wireless charging, electric vehicles, 5G, and the need for greater sustainability have led to a push for the development of fully operational wireless transmission technology in different parts of the world. From America’s Wave Inc. to Japan-based Space Power Technologies and New Zealand’s energy startup Emrod, there are a number of companies that are currently working on wireless power transmission technology. Field tests have also begun for some systems, and it will be interesting to see who comes first in this…

$10B Webb Space Telescope Completes Testing and Prepares for Trip to Europe’s Spaceport

Lead image: Artist’s concept of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, and Northrop Grumman The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has successfully completed its final tests and is being prepared for shipment to its launch site at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Tests were carried out at Northrop Grumman’s facilities in California, USA, to ensure that the complex space science observatory will operate as designed when in space. Shipment operations have now begun, including all the necessary steps to prepare Webb for a safe journey through the Panama Canal to its launch location in French Guiana, on the northeastern coast…

An Accidental Discovery Hints at a Hidden Population of Cosmic Objects Lurking in Our Galaxy

Lead image: This mosaic shows the entire sky imaged by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Infrared light refers to wavelengths that are longer than those visible to the human eye. Many cosmic objects radiate infrared, including gas and dust clouds where stars form, and brown dwarfs. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA Brown dwarfs aren’t quite stars and aren’t quite planets, and a new study suggests there might be more of them lurking in our galaxy than scientists previously thought. A new study offers a tantalizing explanation for how a peculiar cosmic object called WISEA J153429.75-104303.3 – nicknamed “The Accident” – came to…

Drug Used To Fight Tumors in Animals May Be Effective in Treating COVID-19

Scientists using the Advanced Photon Source have discovered that a drug used to fight tumors in animals might be effective against many types of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Scientists from the University of Chicago have found that the drug masitinib may be effective in treating COVID-19. The drug, which has undergone several clinical trials for human conditions but has not yet received approval to treat humans, inhibited the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in human cell cultures and in a mouse model, leading to much lower viral loads. “(X-ray crystallography) gave us a strong indication of how this…