James Webb Space Telescope launch date delayed

NASA is delaying the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope for another 7 months, from March 2021 to October 31, 2021 due to, among other factors, work stoppages during the coronavirus pandemic. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-date-delayed-oct2021…

Earth-shaking science in the freezer: Next generation vibration sensors at cryogenic temperatures

A cutting-edge vibration sensor may improve the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors to find the tiniest cosmic waves from the background hum of Earth’s motion. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-earth-shaking-science-freezer-vibration-sensors.html…

Experiment Finds That Gravity Still Works Down To 50 Micrometers

An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a report via Ars Technica: To make small-scale gravity measurements, researchers rely on conceptually simple experiments: measure the changes in rotational speed of an oscillating disc that is subject to a periodically changing gravitational force. The periodic force is supplied by a spinning disc. Both discs have wedges cut out so that the force…

Marsquakes: InSight lander shows active faults in planet’s crust

The results from its NASA’s Mars InSight lander’s first 10 months on the martian surface have been published in a series of papers. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-quakes-insight-lander-shows-active-faults…

Nanooptical traps: A promising building block for quantum technologies

Nanooptical traps are a promising building block for quantum technologies. Austrian and German scientists have now removed an important obstacle to their practical use. They were able to show that a special form of mechanical vibration heats trapped particles in a very short time and knocks them out of the trap. …