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Latest story• Jan 20, 2026

The first commercial space station, Haven-1, is now undergoing assembly for launch

NASA faces a critical timeline challenge as the International Space Station must be decommissioned within five years, yet the agency hasn't published formal requirements for the commercial replacement stations that private companies are developing. Haven-1 represents the first commercial space station moving toward launch during this transition period, highlighting the race to establish new orbital facilities before...

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Two Twisty Shapes Resolve a Centuries-Old Topology Puzzle

Mathematicians have solved a centuries-old topology problem by discovering two twisted geometric shapes that prove surfaces can be distinguished through ground-level measurements alone, similar to how Earth's spherical nature was...

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Astronauts Helicoptered to Hospital After Mystery Evacuation From Space Station

A mystery medical emergency affecting one astronaut prompted NASA's first medical evacuation from the International Space Station in 25 years, forcing all four Crew-11 mission members to return to Earth weeks early and reducing...

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Tiny Mars has a Big Impact on Our Climate

Mars' gravitational pull significantly influences Earth's climate cycles, despite being only one-tenth Earth's mass, according to new computer simulations spanning millions of years. When researchers removed Mars from orbital...

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This detached hand robot has a thing for skittering on its fingertips

Scientists have created a robotic hand that can detach from its arm and skitter around on its fingertips like "Thing" from The Addams Family. Unlike human hands, the robot's fingers bend backward as easily as forward, allowing it...

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This humanoid robot learned realistic lip movements by watching YouTube

Twenty-six miniaturized motors beneath synthetic skin have helped a humanoid robot at Columbia University cross a crucial threshold: learning to move its lips like a human speaker. The breakthrough came not through programming...

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AI robot dogs take over dangerous firefighting missions too risky for human responders

DEEP Robotics has launched an AI-powered Emergency Firefighting Solution that deploys teams of robot dogs to handle dangerous firefighting missions, replacing human responders in extreme scenarios. The system includes...

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Silver just solved a major solid-state battery problem

Stanford researchers applied an ultra-thin silver coating to solid-state battery electrolytes, making them five times more crack-resistant. The 3-nanometer layer prevents failures that have plagued these promising batteries.

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World’s largest battery-electric ship with 40 MWh capacity begins harbor trials

Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania has begun harbor trials for Hull 096, the world's largest battery-electric ship at 426 feet long with 40 MWh battery capacity. The aluminum vessel, powered by over 5,000 batteries,...

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US researchers build fall-safe biped robots to advance real-world reinforcement learning

University of Illinois researchers developed innovative bipedal robots using a "HybridLeg" design that combines serial and parallel linkage mechanisms, creating more agile and fall-resistant humanoid robots. The 1.84-meter tall,...

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A “dormant” brain protein turns out to be a powerful switch

Johns Hopkins researchers found that GluD brain proteins act as powerful switches controlling neuron communication. This discovery could enable new treatments for psychiatric and movement disorders by modulating GluD activity.

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Nanometer-thick magnet produced at room temperature using lasers could one day produce better HDDs, faster non-silicon processors

Researchers developed a method using laser pulses to control magnetism in thin films at room temperature, achieving 40% changes in magnetic behavior. This breakthrough could enable faster, more energy-efficient data storage and...

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NASA's Artemis II Moon rocket arrives at the launch pad

NASA's Space Launch System rocket reached launch pad 39B after a 12-hour journey, preparing for the Artemis II mission that will send four astronauts around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. The mission has a launch...

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New brain training study could help explain the placebo effect

Researchers used neurofeedback training to teach people to activate reward pathways in their brains while thinking positively, then gave them hepatitis B vaccines to measure immune response. Participants who showed higher...

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Dr. Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95

Dr. Gladys West, the mathematician who developed the mathematical models that became the foundation for GPS technology, has died at age 95.

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An interactive physics simulator with 1000's of balls, in your terminal

A new Rust-based terminal application called "ballin" creates an interactive physics simulator that handles thousands of bouncing balls in your command line. The program uses the rapier 2D physics engine to achieve high...

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This tiny power module could change how the world uses energy

Researchers developed ULIS, a silicon carbide power module with five times higher energy density and dramatically lower electrical resistance than previous designs. The compact, self-monitoring module enables faster switching and...

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China’s solar industry meets its silver limit

Surging silver prices, now at $75 per ounce, are forcing China's solar manufacturers—who control 80 percent of global production—to desperately seek alternatives to their most expensive component. Silver represents 30-50 percent...

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Inside the mysterious collapse of dark matter halos

Two physicists at the Perimeter Institute have developed a computational tool called KISS-SIDM to study self-interacting dark matter, which can collide with itself and trigger collapses within dark matter halos. Their...

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Capturing the Moment a White Dwarf Exploded

Georgia State University's CHARA Array captured the first detailed images of white dwarf nova explosions, revealing complex multi-stage eruptions with material ejecting at velocities up to 5,500 km/s.

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As Europe's large ground telescope project advances, how is its US competitor faring?

The Giant Magellan Telescope faces funding shortfalls and delays competing with Europe's Extremely Large Telescope. Despite having only half its $2 billion budget, GMT remains America's best chance for ground-based astronomy...

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Astronomers discover a unique white dwarf that continues to eject matter in a mysterious way

Astronomers have discovered RXJ0528+2838, a white dwarf located 730 light-years away that has been ejecting jets of matter for 1,000 years without the typical accretion disk that usually powers such phenomena. The white dwarf...

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NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon is inching toward the launch pad

At one mile per hour, NASA's massive Artemis II rocket began its crawling four-mile journey to the launch pad Saturday, marking a pivotal moment for humanity's return to lunar exploration after more than half a century. The...

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The hidden technology behind fluid robot motion

Modern robots now move smoothly and fluidly instead of jerking and clanking like older machines, thanks to five key technologies that enable more precise work in tight spaces. These innovations include pneumatic artificial...

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