Tech

NASA’s McClain, Ayers Wrap Up All-Female Spacewalk to Power Up ISS



NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers completed the fifth all-female spacewalk, moving an antenna and partially preparing the International Space Station for a new set of solar arrays on May 1st. Their 5-hour, 44-minute extravehicular activity was completed after re-entering the Quest airlock, and it started to get re-pressurised. McClain and Ayers completed the majority of their goals. However, they had to postpone some of the chores until a later spacewalk since they were behind schedule and had limited supplies.

About the mission

According to NASA, Expedition 73 crewmates Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers began working at 9:05 a.m. EDT (1305 GMT) by carrying tools and equipment out to the port (or left) side of the space station’s backbone truss. They began assembling the attachment hardware for the seventh pair of International Space Station Rollout Solar Arrays, or IROSA. These will be installed once they arrive on a SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply services mission later this year.

Installing smaller, more efficient solar arrays will increase electricity generation by up to 30%, increasing the station’s total power from 160 to 215 kilowatts. The spacewalkers constructed and installed the right struts and the upper triangle of the mast canister modification kit before being told to tidy up their workstations and proceed to the next, more important assignment.

Continuing the Legacy of Female Spacewalkers

It was Ayers’s first spacewalk and McClain’s third. McClain has spent 18 hours and 52 minutes away from the space station. Rotating astronaut crews have continuously staffed the ISS since November 2000. This was the 93rd EVA from the U.S. Quest airlock and the 275th overall to assist the ISS’s installation, maintenance, and upgrading.

In October 2019, NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir conducted the first all-female EVA. In January 2020, the pair performed two further spacewalks together. In November 2023, NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara completed a walk alone.

 



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New Study Challenges Signs of Life on Exoplanet K2-18b


Expectations were high at the start of this month when a group of University of Cambridge astronomers reported they had found the “strongest evidence yet” of life on an exoplanet called K2-18b. Their assertions sprang from the detection of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a gas linked to biological activity in the atmosphere of Earth. Conducted using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the finding suggested that the planet may be a watery, habitable world. But a detailed examination of the facts now begs grave doubt about the veracity of their bold assertions.

Skepticism Grows Over K2-18b Life Claims Amid New Analysis and Calls for More Data

As per a  study posted on April 22, Jake Taylor of the University of Oxford applied a neutral statistical test that detected no clear molecular signatures in the JWST data, just a flat line. The studies suggest the signal is either noisy or too weak to provide strong conclusions. The first Cambridge-led study revealed a three-sigma DMS detection much below the five-sigma threshold usually required to prove major scientific discoveries. Critics also questioned the absence of supporting compounds like ethane and claimed the models employed may have exaggerated DMS levels.

Astrobiologists Eddie Schwieterman and Michaela Musilova note that current evidence doesn’t meet strict criteria for proving life; thus, there is a need for multiple independent teams to analyse the same dataset.

Further complicating matters, new research indicates K2-18b may orbit too close to its star to retain liquid water, possibly excluding it from the habitable zone. Adding to the scepticism, DMS was recently detected on a cold comet, suggesting that such molecules can exist without life. Lead author of the original research, Madhusudhan, has supported the findings but discounted Taylor’s test as too simple and “irrelevant” for their assertions.

Most scientists agree that confirmation or denial of DMS existence in K2-18b’s atmosphere depends on additional solid, peer-reviewed research. The argument is still in progress, an ongoing narrative illustrating how science develops not by certainty but by questioning and correction.

 

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SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket With 28 Starlink Satellites Into Orbit From Florida



Oppo Reno 14 With MediaTek Dimensity 8400 SoC Seen on Geekbench Ahead of Debut





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The Universe’s Brightest Lights Have Surprisingly Dark and Mysterious Origins



Some of the brightest lights in the universe shine from some of its darkest corners — so-called supermassive black holes. Invisible to the human eye, these high-energy powerhouses light up the cosmos with emissions that are detected by space telescopes. Thousands of such light sources have been discovered with NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been observing since 2008. These aren’t just stars — they are active galactic nuclei (AGN) where large gravitational forces fling matter around black holes, creating intense radiation blasts all across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Blazars and AGN Jets Reveal How Black Holes Shape and Light Up the Universe

As per NASA’s observational data, black holes lurk at the centres of most galaxies and are hundreds of thousands to billions of times the mass of the sun. In AGN, gas and dust fall into an inward-spiralling disk. Second, the disks experience friction and magnetic forces that produce light from radio to gamma rays.

About one in ten AGN produce powerful jets of particles that move at nearly the speed of light, and it’s still a mystery to scientists how material so close to the event horizon is accelerated in the jets.
Interestingly, the type of AGN observed depends on its orientation relative to Earth.

Radio galaxies shoot their jets sideways, while blazars aim them nearly straight at us, making them appear especially bright in gamma rays. Fermi’s sky surveys show that more than half of the thousands of gamma-ray sources it has recorded are blazars, giving researchers vital clues about the energetic mechanics behind these cosmic light shows.

AGN are more than just bright; scientists are attracted to them for what they tell us about cosmic history. AGN existed in the early universe and were probably important in modulating galaxy evolution. Astrophysicists will use observations and analyses of the conditions directly around these black holes to learn more about the structure and history of the universe itself.

The paradox is acute: black holes are famous for eating up all the light and matter they can latch onto, but they lie behind some of the most luminous phenomena seen in space. Through missions like Fermi, scientists are adjusting the picture of the universe, in which some of its darkest origins can sparkle the most.

 



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SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket With 28 Starlink Satellites Into Orbit From Florida


SpaceX had sent another batch of Starlink satellites on their way on Thursday to assist in keeping up the quick expansion of its global broadband network. Rising from Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, a Falcon 9 rocket took to the skies at 9:51 p.m. EDT on May 1 (0151 GMT on May 2). This mission goes by the name Starlink 6-75, and it dispatched 28 satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO). This mission is an addition to the already growing constellation, which aims to provide high-speed internet across the world, except the polar regions, via user-pointed terminals.

SpaceX Adds 28 Starlink Satellites to Global Network

As per a Space.com report, the rocket’s nine Merlin engines shut down about two and a half minutes after liftoff, followed by stage separation. The first stage, booster B1080, performed a retrograde burn and safely landed eight minutes later on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The landing was the 18th successful flight for B1080 and its 12th for Starlink missions. The second stage continued toward its payload orbit to deploy its satellite payload.

The upper stage achieved its targeted orbit and released the 28 satellites one hour after liftoff. These satellites will drift into their “operational” slots over the next few days. Once in orbit, they will mesh with the existing Starlink megaconstellation of over 7,200 satellites, creating a near-global mesh that will allow constant connectivity for customers who can point their terminals at the satellite array.
It’s SpaceX’s 51st Starlink mission of the year and the company’s 34th Falcon 9 launch of 2025. And the two Starship test flights in 2025 by SpaceX only further affirm its edge on launch pace and commercial space infrastructure development. The steady pace is evidence of the company’s ambitions to dominate low Earth orbit communications.

SpaceX is inching ever closer to achieving its mission of providing high-speed internet to every corner of the planet, thanks to yet another successful launch that brought it closer to that goal and brought new commercial spaceflight and rocket reuse milestones within reach.

 

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Honor 400 Pro Arrives on Geekbench With Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 12GB of RAM



Oppo Reno 14 With MediaTek Dimensity 8400 SoC Seen on Geekbench Ahead of Debut





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Space Research Reveals How Icy Comets and Asteroids Could Reshape Earth-Like Planets


Recent studies revealed that the collision of comets may lead to an impact that can affect the atmosphere of the Earth like planets, especially the ones that orbit M-dwarf stars. These findings have not just widened the understanding of planetary evolution and also gives hopes in identifying the far habitable world. There are chances that even the small icy comets could fetch water and oxygen to other exoplanets. ​The research started in September 2024, by a team led by Dr. Felix Sainsbury Martinez, studied the effects of icy comet impacts on the terrestrial planets that are tidally locked.

Comet Impacts on Tidally Locked Exoplanets

The researchers simulated a 2.5 km ice comet that impacts the Earth in a kind of atmosphere simulation. In findings, they exposed that such kinds of impact could even change the chemistry of atmosphere, and increase the water vapour together with hydrogen or oxygen-rich molecules, but decrease the ozone level by almost 10%. Such changes can be observed through current space-based telescopes, published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Asteroid Impacts and Earth’s Climate

Researchers from the IBS Center for Climate Physics on February 6, 2025, simulated the effects of a Bennu-type asteroid on Earth. This experiment revealed that an impact like this can inject millions of dust particles into the atmosphere, lowering the global temperature to almost 4°C, and a 32% decrease in the ozone level. Such changes could even lead to an impact on the global ecosystem with food security.

Observing Disintegrating Exoplanets

Understanding the planetary impacts further, the astronomers found a disintegrating exoplanet placed 140 light years away. This planet orbits closer to its star, and sheds mass equivalent to Mount Everest with each orbit, thus forming a dust tail till 5.6 million distance. Observations through the James Telescope analyse the composition of the dust, giving insights into its structure and habitability.

Implications for Planetary Habitability

The continuous exploration of exoplanets with the potential for habitability can help in understanding the frequency and effects of these impacts. This helps in not just finding life on other planets but also prepares us for future impacts on Earth.

 

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Astronomers Discover Closest Known Molecular Cloud to Earth



Google Makes Setting Up a New Google TV Easier with Faster Onboarding, More Features





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Astronomers Discover Closest Known Molecular Cloud to Earth


Astronomers found the nearest known molecular cloud to Earth, providing scientists with a unique up-close look at the cosmic recycling of matter that drives the formation of new planets and stars.
The newly discovered cloud, named “Eos” after the Greek goddess of dawn, is a massive, crescent-shaped mass of hydrogen gas that is only 300 light-years away from Earth. It is one of the biggest formations in the sky, spanning the equivalent of around 40 Earth moons arranged side by side at a width of nearly 100 light-years.

How it escaped detection

According to a paper published April 28 in the journal Nature Astronomy, Eos has so far escaped detection because of its low concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), a bright, easily detectable chemical signature that astronomers typically use to identify molecular clouds, despite its massive size and relative proximity to Earth. The researchers detected Eos through the fluorescent glow of hydrogen molecules within it — a novel approach that could reveal many similarly hidden clouds throughout the galaxy. Burkhart said to Live Sciences, “There definitely are more CO-dark clouds waiting to be discovered.”

Formation of Eos and further studies

Eos has been shaped into its crescent shape through interactions with the North Polar Spur, a vast region of ionized gas. The shape aligns perfectly with the North Polar Spur at high latitudes, suggesting that energy and radiation from this massive structure have influenced the surrounding gas, including Eos. It will evaporate in about 6 million years due to its molecular hydrogen reservoir being torn apart by incoming photons and high-energy cosmic rays. A follow-up study found no significant bursts of star formation in the past, but it remains uncertain whether the cloud will begin to form stars before dissipating. A NASA spacecraft named after the newly discovered molecular cloud is being developed to observe in far-ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the molecular hydrogen content in clouds across the Milky Way.

 

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Android 16 to Arrive With Redesigned Quick Settings, Visual Enhancements and New Animations: Report



Google Makes Setting Up a New Google TV Easier with Faster Onboarding, More Features





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Researchers Challenge Claims of ‘Leather-Like’ T. rex Skin


A US-based marketing agency, VML, and biotechnology firms The Organoid Company from the Netherlands and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd of UK are partnering to create luxury fashion accessories using T-rex leather. The collaboration claims that the lab-grown T-rex leather will offer natural durability, repairability, and tactility, making it an eco-friendly and cruelty-free alternative to traditional leather. The material will be made from fossilized T. rex collagen, a protein that gives skin and tissues structure. However, dinosaur specialists are sceptical as there is no DNA from the prehistoric predator needed to create genuine T. rex leather. Additionally, palaeontologists have only discovered T. rex collagen in bone, not skin.

Criticism from Researchers

According to an email from Thomas Holtz, Jr., a vertebrate palaeontologist at the University of Maryland to told,Live Science, he thinks the T. rex leather claim is “misleading” after reading the announcement and was some sort of fantasy.

DNA decays after an animal’s death, and researchers haven’t found any DNA from the age of dinosaurs. The oldest preserved DNA on record is about 2 million years old, and T. rex went extinct with the rest of non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Holtz also notes that researchers lack good tyrannosaurid skin samples, as soft tissues like skin are rarely preserved in fossils. Without good samples, researchers don’t know much about T. rex skin’s characteristics.

Dinosaur collagen as a material

The upcoming T. rex-themed leather will be based on T. rex collagen, of which there is some in the fossil record. T. rex collagen, once thought to be destroyed during fossilization, has been found in some dinosaur bones. Researchers, including Thomas Carr, an associate professor of biology at Carthage College and director of the Carthage Institute of Palaeontology in Wisconsin, are sceptical about using T. rex collagen for leather. Carr believes the understanding of T. rex collagen is incomplete due to the fragmented fossilized polypeptides.

Dinosaur specialists are also sceptical, as there is no DNA from the prehistoric predator needed to create genuine T. rex leather. Additionally, skin is the foundation of leather, but palaeontologists have only discovered T. rex collagen in bone, not skin.

 

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Google’s NotebookLM Android, iOS Apps Listed on App Stores Ahead of Launch at Google I/O 2025



Android 16 to Arrive With Redesigned Quick Settings, Visual Enhancements and New Animations: Report





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Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G Nitro Orange Colour Variant Launched in India: Price, Specifications



Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G is now available in a new finish in India. The handset was launched in April in the country alongside Realme Narzo 80x 5G with two colour options — Racing Green and Speed Silver. The new colour variant was introduced as part of Realme’s seventh anniversary celebrations. The Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G runs on MediaTek Dimensity 7400 SoC and features a 50-megapixel dual rear camera unit. It carries a 6,000mAh battery with 80W wired charging support.

Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G Nitro Orange Variant Price in India

Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G price in India is set at Rs. 20,499 and Rs. 22,499 for the 8GB + 256GB and 12GB + 256GB RAM and storage variants, respectively. The Nitro Orange colour option has been launched in India to mark the company’s seventh anniversary.

The company is offering a coupon discount of Rs. 1,000, which will bring the effective price of the 8GB and 12GB memory variants down to Rs. 19,499 and Rs. 21,499, respectively. The latest colour variant of Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G is up for grabs via the Realme India website and Amazon. 

The new colour variant will be available alongside the Racing Green and Speed Silver colour options that have been available in India since the phone’s debut in April.

Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G Specifications

The Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G runs on Android 15-based Realme UI 6.0 and boasts a 6.77-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,392 pixels) AMOLED display with up to a 120Hz refresh rate and 4500nits peak brightness. It runs on a 4nm Dimensity 7400 SoC paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 onboard storage

The handset has a dual rear camera unit that comprises a 50-megapixel primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) support and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. It has a 16-megapixel selfie shooter.

The Narzo 80 Pro 5G has an in-display fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication. It is claimed to have military-grade (MIL-STD-810H) durability. It packs a 6,000mAh battery with 80W wired charging and 65W reverse charging support.



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Juno Mission Sheds Light on Jupiter’s Storms and Volcanic Activity on Io



NASA’s Juno mission has discovered a world of cyclones at Jupiter’s north Jovian pole, a region of cooler stratospheric haze. The cyclones drift to the pole through a process the researchers refer to as “beta drift” via JunoCam and Jovian Infrared Aurora Mapper. The cyclones oscillate around their centres and can drift clockwise around the pole. Juno has also been making recurring flybys of the innermost Jovian moon, Io, revealing evidence of subterranean magma flows below its surface. These cooling flows could explain how Io’s volcanoes erupt, as about 10% of the moon’s subsurface has these flows.

Juno Spots Colliding Jupiter Cyclones and Magma Beneath Io’s Surface

As per the data presented by NASA at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly on April 29, Juno has observed a large central cyclone over 1,800 miles wide, encircled by eight slightly smaller cyclones. These weather systems, blowing at speeds over 100 miles per hour, interact through a phenomenon called beta drifts — similar to Earth’s cyclones but progressing to Jupiter’s pole.

Once enabled, researchers could visualise both visible and thermal activity in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The cyclones stabilise one another and slowly push in the same direction around the pole—in a clockwise direction, as the researchers noted. Jupiter’s cyclones differ from those on Earth since they do not weaken over time at the poles, when the planet has a different atmospheric makeup.

At the same time, exploring Io with Juno has made another discovery: that beneath the surface of the moon lie hidden flows of magma. By pairing infrared and microwave data, scientists picked up warm lava from a large eruption on Dec. 27, 2024. The volcano remained active through Juno’s next flyby in March and is expected to erupt again in May. These discoveries mark the most energetic volcanic eruption ever observed on Io.

The detection of subsurface magma confirms Io’s surface is constantly being renewed. Scientists calculate that 10% of the moon’s interior contains slowly cooling lava. These lava flows help transport heat from Io’s interior to the surface.

 



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New Study Uncovers Shadowy Origins of Universe’s Most Luminous Phenomena



Some of the brightest lights in the universe shine from some of its darkest corners — so-called supermassive black holes. Invisible to the human eye, these high-energy powerhouses light up the cosmos with emissions that are detected by space telescopes. Thousands of such light sources have been discovered with NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been observing since 2008. These aren’t just stars — they are active galactic nuclei (AGN) where large gravitational forces fling matter around black holes, creating intense radiation blasts all across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Blazars and AGN Jets Reveal How Black Holes Shape and Light Up the Universe

As per NASA’s report ,observational data, black holes lurk at the centres of most galaxies and are hundreds of thousands to billions of times the mass of the sun. In AGN, gas and dust fall into an inward-spiralling disk. Second, the disks experience friction and magnetic forces that produce light from radio to gamma rays. About one in ten AGN produce powerful jets of particles that move at nearly the speed of light, and it’s still a mystery to scientists how material so close to the event horizon is accelerated in the jets.

, the type of AGN observed depends on its orientation relative to Earth. Radio galaxies shoot their jets sideways, while blazars aim them nearly straight at us, making them appear especially bright in gamma rays. Fermi’s sky surveys show that more than half of the thousands of gamma-ray sources it has recorded are blazars, giving researchers vital clues about the energetic mechanics behind these cosmic light shows.

AGN are more than just bright; scientists are attracted to them for what they tell us about cosmic history. AGN existed in the early universe and were probably important in modulating galaxy evolution. Astrophysicists will use observations and analyses of the conditions directly around these black holes to learn more about the structure and history of the universe itself.

The paradox is acute: black holes are famous for eating up all the light and matter they can latch onto, but they lie behind some of the most luminous phenomena seen in space. Through missions like Fermi, scientists are adjusting the picture of the universe, in which some of its darkest origins can sparkle the most.

 



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