SPHEREX WILL CREATE THE BEST EVER COSMIC MAP

While the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes offer more and more detailed views of distant objects, NASA’s recently launched Spherex telescope will produce “the most colorful, inclusive map ever made of the cosmos.” That’s right, it will map the entire sky over several years to learn, among other things, how galaxies form and how the universe expanded so quickly in its earliest instants.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/12/nasas-spherex-telescope-launch

Photograph: Nasa/JPL-Caltech/Reuters

CHINA GOES TO THE DARK SIDE

The dark side of the Moon, that is! (Though really it’s only the far side from Earth—it isn’t always dark.)

China’s Chang’e-6 space probe has landed on the far side of the Moon in a mission to collect soil samples and bring them back to Earth. That would be the first time samples have been retrieved from the far side, where surface conditions are considered to be substantially different from the side we can see. Since China plans to send a human crew to the Moon by 2030, and eventually build a permanent base there, every success of their space program is being closely watched. Read more at https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/chinas-change-6-probe-lands-on-far-side-of-the-moon?CMP=GTUK_email

SORRY, GANG, THE PENTAGON INSISTS THEY'RE NOT HIDING UFOS

It’s been one of the most successful conspiracy theories of the past century: not only does the US military know that UFOs are visiting Earth, but they have one stashed away! (Probably in Area 51 in Nevada.)

But the Pentagon has announced—once again—that it just ain’t true. Gee, way to crush a guy’s dreams.

A PAIR OF MUST-READ BOOKS

It may not quite be “news” but I feel compelled to share my discovery of two amazing science books in recent months, both by the same Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Ed Yong. Learn about the incredible realm of microbes, plus the astonishing way we and our fellow creatures sense the world around us. Read my full reviews on my blog page Ponderings.