Factbox-Shenzhou-18 caps over two decades of Chinese human spaceflight
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will send three astronauts into low-Earth orbit on Thursday in the country's 13th crewed mission to space, marking more than two decades of Chinese human spaceflight. Of the 13 crewed missions, half were visits to China's ...
Apr 24, 2024
US, Russia set for a showdown at UN over nuclear weapons in space
By Michelle Nichols and Joey Roulette UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia are set to face off over nuclear weapons in space on Wednesday at the United Nations Security Council, which is due to vote on a U.S.-drafted r...
Apr 23, 2024
Three Russians parachute from stratosphere to North Pole
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three Russians set a world record for parachuting from the Earth's stratosphere to the North Pole last week in a mission that also served as a test of a new prototype communications system for use in the Arctic, an organiser of t...
Apr 19, 2024
Fossils of colossal snake Vasuki unearthed in India mine
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fossil vertebrae unearthed in a lignite mine are the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 49 feet (15 meters) in length - longer than a T. rex - that prowled the sw...
Apr 18, 2024
Gigantic marine reptile's fossils found by British girl and father
By Will Dunham (Reuters) - A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Eart...
Apr 17, 2024
Head of Russian space agency says work under way on modernised Angara rocket
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is working on a modernised Angara-A5M rocket capable of launching manned spacecraft, and plans to launch it in 2027, the head of its Roscosmos state space agency said on Wednesday. "Already now, by order of Roscosmos, a mo...
Apr 17, 2024
Astronomers detect Milky Way's second-largest known black hole
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers have discovered a black hole with a mass about 33 times greater than that of our sun, the biggest one known in the Milky Way aside from the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our galax...
Apr 16, 2024
Genome study reveals prehistoric Ethiopian origins of coffee
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - You might call it a cup of Joe, java, mud, brew, mocha, or your morning jolt. Coffee undoubtedly is a big part of global culture, and the kind made from the Arabica bean is the most appreciated by coffee drinke...
Apr 16, 2024
Australia's Juukan Gorge yields up rare Tasmanian Devil tooth
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Archaeologists surveying the Juukan Gorge rock shelter in Western Australia that was destroyed by Rio Tinto in 2020 have unearthed major finds including the tooth of a Tasmanian Devil that has not been recorded on the mainland...
Apr 16, 2024
Dinosaurs displayed a fast growth rate from the very beginning
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the traits that helped make the dinosaurs such an evolutionary success story - thriving for 165 million years - was their fast growth rate, from massive meat-eaters like Tyrannosaurus to immense plant-ea...
Apr 15, 2024