Interstellar Travel V: Warp Drives, Wormholes, and Halo Drives

In our fifth installment, we explore the most exotic proposals for interstellar travel, including the Alcubierre Warp Metric, wormhole travel, the Halo Drive, and other truly advanced concepts.

Spaceflight Leaves Heart Muscle Cell Strength Intact

Since the dawn of human space exploration, astronauts, scientists, and engineers have examined the short- and long-term effects of microgravity (often mistakenly called zero-gravity) on the human body. This includes the distribution of fluids to the upper body (called “puffy face”), an increase in height from the spine slightly extending, how solar and cosmic radiation impacts humans at the genetic level, and skeletal and muscle loss. However, arguably all these aspects pale in comparison to how the microgravity from spaceflight impacts the heart, and specifically heart muscle cells.

Astronaut Microbes Might Survive at Moon's Pole, NASA Warns

One of the primary objectives of space exploration that often gets overlooked is the intense effort that goes into ensuring Earth microbes don’t contaminate planetary objects, also called forward contamination. This is done to prevent contaminating any potential life that might be present could get killed off my Earth microbes and scientists don’t want to make false discoveries. While space radiation and extreme temperatures often kill off any pesky microbes that hitch a ride on spacecraft, there remains a longstanding knowledge gap regarding whether microbes could survive the lunar polar regions due to its deep craters and varying topography.

Some Comets are Naked, and One Just Got Caught Photo-Bombing

Japanese researchers got lucky when a comet they wanted to study was found photo-bombing archival images from Japan's Subaru Telescope. The Subaru, with its 8.2 meter mirror, happened to image comet 28P/Neujmin from just the right angle to accurately characterize its surface. Their work is part of the ongoing effort to understand comets and asteroids, why some of them share properties, and what that means for their formation and evolution as Solar System objects.

Why Astronauts' Lower Eyelids "Let Go" in Space

A new study identifies possible mechanisms behind changes in astronauts' lower eyelids, a symptom associated with long periods in space that can affect their eyesight.

Theory-Defying Exoplanet Atmospheres Force a Rethink of Theories

The discovery of lava worlds with atmospheres is challenging our theories of how atmospheres escape, and calling into question the idea of the cosmic shoreline. Stanford researchers have developed a model that explains how lava-covered worlds close to their stars can retain their atmospheres. The new theory could inform the search for life beyond our Solar System.

NASA’s Webb Telescope Rules Out Two New Dyson Sphere Candidates

Recent searches for the technosignatures of hypothetical Dyson Spheres again turn up empty.