For decades, global soil moisture monitoring from space has depended on reference datasets. Satellite observations, while indispensable, are rarely used alone; instead, their retrieval algorithms are typically calibrated or constrained using external soil moisture products derived from other satellites, models, or reanalysis systems.

A robot developed by NASA in preparation for missions to Mars is returning to the USA following a decade at the University of Edinburgh.

Light sails propelled by radiation from high-power lasers offer a possible route to fuel-free space propulsion. However, existing designs face tradeoffs between reflectivity, heating, and weight. A recent study presents a nanoscale, multi-dielectric photonic crystal light sail that reflects propulsion laser light while remaining largely transparent to other wavelengths. The proof-of-concept membrane integrates multiple materials and demonstrates a scalable design strategy for laser-driven spacecraft systems.

A new study by researchers at the SETI Institute suggests stellar “space weather” could make radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligence harder to detect. Stellar activity and plasma turbulence near a transmitting planet can broaden an otherwise ultra-narrow signal, spreading its power across more frequencies and making it more difficult to detect in traditional narrowband searches.

“SETI searches are often optimized for extremely narrow signals. If a signal gets broadened by its own star’s environment, it can slip below our detection thresholds, even if it’s there, potentially helping explain some of the radio silence we’ve seen in technosignature searches,” said Dr. Vishal Gajjar, Astronomer at the SETI Institute and lead author of the paper.

A new momentum microscope at Forschungszentrum Jülich makes electrons and their properties in solids visible. The instrument, developed entirely in Jülich, provides unprecedentedly insights into materials – and works significantly more effective than previous systems.

 

Scientists have successfully grown and harvested chickpeas using simulated “moon dirt,” the first instance of this crop produced in this medium. The research, which was conducted in collaboration with Texas A&M University, is described in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has published its latest compilation of gravitational-wave detections, showing the universe is echoing all over with a kaleidoscope of cosmic collisions.

What happens when a solar superstorm hits Mars? Thanks to the European Space Agency’s Mars orbiters, we now know: glitching spacecraft and a supercharged upper atmosphere.

An international team of scientists led by the Institute of Cosmos Sciences at the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) has presented REGALADE, an unprecedented catalogue covering the entire sky and bringing together nearly eighty million galaxies. The work, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, marks a turning point for astronomy and opens up a new scenario that allows researchers to explore cosmic events with a degree of precision never before achieved.