SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket came within a second or so of blasting off on a test flight but some of the engines failed to start, triggering a launch abort. Elon Musk’s company said it will have to figure out what went wrong before making another attempt to send Starship on a space-skimming flight halfway around...
Tag: Sci-Tech
ISRO successfully carries out tests of Gaganyaan crew module systems
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday (July 12, 2026) said it had successfully carried out three major tests of the Gaganyaan crew module systems. The first test pertained to ensuring an upright position for the crew module after splashdown in the sea, considered one of the most important crew safety requirements. To do...
China successfully tests sea-based rocket booster recovery system, says state media
China on Friday (July 10, 2026) successfully tested an experimental rocket retrieval system using a net attached to a sea platform, state media reported, in the hopes of breaking U.S. dominance in reusable rockets. The Long March 10B rocket lifted off from the Hainan commercial space launch site in southern China and, about six minutes...
Guppies lie about mate choice to trick rivals
By >Anne-Marie Hodge, University of Wyoming When it comes to sex among guppies, competition is high for those at the top of the game. To get around this predicament, >a recent study has shown, guppies use trickery. Competition in fish of the Poeciliidae family (fresh-water fish to which guppies belong) is especially intense, because members...
Explainer: what is napalm?
By >Simon Cotton , University of Birmingham There are >allegations that a nerve agent was used in Syria recently. According to US officials, it >killed more than 1,400 people, including 400 children. But since then, in a >more recent incident , a bomb dropped on a school caused many children to suffer from burns. The...
Silk Road trading helped produce the modern horse
By >William Feeney The Silk Road snaked across continents for more than a thousand years, shaping civilisations in East and West. Famously trodden by Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, the trade route brought riches to Europe and plagues to Asia. But it is not just humans who hold its legacy. For new research shows...
What is India’s first orbital data centre satellite?
The story so far: On May 4, Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based imaging satellite company, said that it would partner with the AI firm Sarvam to launch what is being described as India’s first ‘orbital data centre’ satellite, named Pathfinder. This is expected to be a 200 kg class satellite scheduled for orbit by the fourth quarter...
NASA’s Artemis II moonship returns home to its launch site after historic voyage
The spacecraft that flew four astronauts around the moon is back where its record-breaking journey began. NASA’s Artemis II capsule returned to Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on Tuesday (April 28, 2026), almost a month after blasting off on humanity’s first lunar trip in more than a half-century.
China launches Pakistani satellite
China launched a Pakistani satellite from its Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in north China’s Shanxi Province on Saturday night (April 26, 2026). The satellite named PRSC-EO3 was lifted off at 8:15 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-6 carrier rocket and successfully entered its planned orbit, China’s State-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Humanoid robots race past humans in Beijing half-marathon, showing rapid advances
Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism and autonomous navigation skills as they whizzed past human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday (April 19, 2026), highlighting the sector’s rapid technical advances. The race’s inaugural edition last year was riddled with mishaps, and most robots were unable to finish. Last...
