Artificial intelligence is often discussed with a simple safeguard in mind: Keep a human in the loop. But what happens when AI is already shaping the information, options and recommendations that inform a decision?

With the accelerated advancement of lunar and Mars exploration programs, long-term human habitation on extraterrestrial bodies faces the severe challenge of extreme diurnal temperature variations. Phase change materials (PCMs), owing to their ability to store or release substantial latent heat during solid–liquid phase transitions while maintaining a nearly constant temperature, have become an ideal solution for space thermal control systems. However, in the microgravity environment of space, the ground-dominant natural convection tends to disappear, and thermocapillary convection may become the prevailing heat transfer mechanism; in low-gravity environments such as those on the Moon and Mars, the coexistence and competition between these two convective regimes remain unclear. Existing studies have predominantly focused on either Earth's gravity or pure microgravity conditions, with a notable scarcity of research on the coupled effects of thermocapillary and natural convection at intermediate gravity levels. The melting dynamics of two typical organic PCMs, succinonitrile and n-octadecane, under low-gravity conditions have not yet been systematically elucidated. Therefore, clarifying the roles of thermocapillary convection under varying gravity levels and container geometries holds significant engineering guidance for the design of efficient space thermal control systems.

SAN ANTONIO — August 26, 2026 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has expanded its flow component research capabilities to include testing and computational modeling for carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) in realistic supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) environments.  As the energy industry continues to invest in CCUS projects, more wells are being designed to handle injection of carbon dioxide (CO₂) underground, where the fluid can reach a supercritical state, presenting an intense environment for downhole equipment.

Roman Space Telescope, Launch Date: The NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled for launch on 30 August 2026 from Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to study the universe's history and dark matter and energy as well as exoplanets.

MPIA Heidelberg Contribution: The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg played a key role in developing the Coronagraph Instrument (CGI), including designing, manufacturing, and testing its Precision Alignment Mechanisms (PAMs).

Scientific Goals: CGI aims to observe older, cooler gas giants closer to their stars than previously possible and analyze their atmospheres with an integrated spectrograph.

Biorobotics researchers from UQ have transformed North Queensland giant burrowing cockroaches (Macropanesthia rhinoceros) into minature cyborg paramedics.