#ZenoPower says it's raised $50 million to boost the development of #nuclear batteries that could provide heat and electricity in challenging environments ranging from the bottom of the ocean to the surface of the moon. The first commercial deliveries are due in 2027. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/zeno-power-50m-nuclear-batteries/ #Space #Tech

#Interlune, a #Seattle startup that wants to mine the #moon for helium-3, says it's working with an industrial partner on the required hardware - and it's naming its first customers. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/interlune-moon-mining-vermeer-maybell-quantum-doe/ #Helium3 #Space

Five science writers, including yours truly, will be pairing up with five playwrights to create five one-act plays ripped from the headlines of the science world. Come to Theatre Off Jackson on Friday or Saturday to see the results of our "Centrifuge" experiment, presented in collaboration with Infinity Box Theatre Project: https://theatreoffjackson.org/event/centrifuge-4/

A posting from the #Amazon executive in charge of the #ProjectKuiper #satellite #broadband network includes a rare look at the satellites being deployed in orbit. This week's Project Kuiper launch marked the start of a years-long campaign to catch up with the #SpaceX #Starlink network. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/amazon-video-project-kuiper-satellites/ #Space #Tech

Seven years after they started, scientists have published the results of an experiment aimed at determining which hypothesis about the origins of human #consciousness comes closest to the mark. There's bad news ... and good news. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/new-clues-roots-consciousness/ #Brain #Science #Neuroscience

Seattle-based #Radian Aerospace is working on a reusable re-entry vehicle that could help the company and its customers test components for Radian's future spaceplane and #hypersonic vehicles. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/radian-aerospace-r3v-hypersonic-tests/ #Space

After weeks of delay, the first big batch of 27 #Amazon #ProjectKuiper satellites has been sent into orbit, marking a milestone in Amazon’s multibillion-dollar bid to catch up with the #SpaceX #Starlink network. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/amazon-satellites-project-kuiper-orbit/ #Space #Tech

After a nearly three-week delay, #Amazon and United Launch Alliance are getting their second chance to launch the first full-scale satellites for Amazon's #ProjectKuiper broadband internet network, which would compete with the #SpaceX #Starlink network. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/amazon-ula-satellites-project-kuiper-2/ #Space #ULA #Tech

Four years ago, I covered the launch of an #XPRIZE competition for technologies aimed at removing CO2 from the atmosphere, with Elon #Musk providing $100 million for prizes. Things have changed quite a bit for #Elon since then, but the competition has moved along as planned - and now we know who's won. https://cosmiclog.com/2025/04/23/mati-carbon-wins-top-prize-in-carbon-removal-competition/ #MatiCarbon #ElonMusk #Tech #Climate #Carbon #CO2

The #Hubble #Space Telescope's team keeps up its tradition of releasing eye-popping views of the cosmos to mark the telescope's "birthday." I wonder if anyone thought Hubble would last 35 years when it was launched. https://cosmiclog.com/2025/04/23/dazzling-pictures-celebrate-hubbles-35-years-in-orbit/

The #RubinObservatory has begun generating test images of the night sky, with the aid of the world's largest digital camera, but the big reveal will have to wait until later this year. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/test-images-rubin-observatory/ #Space #Astronomy

A double scoop? Imagery from NASA's #Lucy spacecraft reveals that an #asteroid called #Donaldjohanson is a mooshed-together double space rock with a ridged structure in the middle that has been compared to a pair of nested ice cream cones. https://cosmiclog.com/2025/04/21/lucy-probe-snaps-closeup-of-weirdly-shaped-asteroid/ #Space #NASA

Seattle-based #Interlune gets a big boost from #Texas for its plans to open a center focusing on simulated #moon dirt (a.k.a. lunar regolith simulant) on the grounds of NASA's Johnson Space Center. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/interlune-grant-texas-center-simulated-moon-dirt/ #Space

@AndreJueling @edric ... Agreed, they look like sprites, although they're usually more colorful. https://www.backyardastronomy.net/transient-luminous-events/

We all like to think we're good at spotting #misinformation, but are we really? Researchers have developed a new test you can take to inform yourself on your gullibility. And if you score poorly, this writer has suggestions for how to be more skeptical, in a healthy way, with the goal of being more thoughtfully informed.

https://medium.com/wise-well/can-you-spot-fake-news-many-cant-when-scored-on-a-validated-test-19ccd336e1e6?sk=e6d69f03c2b0f9e6e3ce440477622627

#news #media #psychology

I had to weigh in on the fresh round of speculation about whether there were chemical hints of #alien life on the exoplanet K2-18 b. I tend to agree with the researcher who quipped that "it will probably turn out to be vulcanism rather than Vulcans." https://cosmiclog.com/2025/04/17/fresh-findings-revive-debate-about-life-on-alien-planet/ #Space #Astrobiology #K1218b

Jeff Bezos' #BlueOrigin space venture executed a smooth suborbital spaceflight for an all-female crew that included pop superstar #KatyPerry, morning-TV host #GayleKing — and #LaurenSanchez, Bezos' fiancée. The flight generated celebrity buzz, but criticism as well. One columnist called it "the nail in the coffin for celebrity feminism." https://www.geekwire.com/2025/blue-origin-launch-women-only-space/ #Space #Tourism

They said it couldn't be done ... but neuroscientists have successfully mapped all the cells in a cubic millimeter of #brain tissue, and have traced how the neurons fire. Find out more about the $100 million #MICrONS project and the role that Seattle's #AllenInstitute is playing. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/brain-microns-wiring-diagram-connections/ #Science #Neuroscience

Good news: #Asteroid #2024YR4 won't hit Earth in 2032. Potentially better news: It might hit the moon, sparking a scientifically interesting but harmless light show. Stay tuned... https://cosmiclog.com/2025/04/07/asteroid-will-miss-earth-but-may-set-off-lunar-light-show/ #Space #Moon

Jeff Bezos' #BlueOrigin space venture and its #NewGlenn rocket join #SpaceX and #UnitedLaunchAlliance on the latest #SpaceForce list for future national security launch contracts worth up to $13.7 billion. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/space-force-national-security-launch-blue-origin/