2+ hour, 44+ min ago (202+ words) Part of the KAGRA gravitational-wave detector during construction (Credit : Christopher Berry) Representation of the data corresponding to the gravitational signal GW250114 and its reconstruction. The top panels represent the data time series in both detectors, with the reconstructed waveform superimposed. The bottom panels show a time-frequency representation of the data (Credit : LVK collaboration) The campaign also detected GW231123, the most massive black hole merger observed to date. The collision produced a final black hole exceeding 225 times our Sun's mass, an extreme result that challenges current models of how stellar evolution creates black holes. Hundreds of additional events from O4 await detailed analysis, with researchers promising a comprehensive catalogue in coming months. Meanwhile, the three detectors prepare for technological upgrades over the next few years. The improvements will be implemented in stages, with a new observation campaign launching in late summer or early autumn…...

2+ hour, 57+ min ago (185+ words) The number 40,000 might not sound particularly dramatic, but it represents humanity's growing catalogue of near Earth asteroids, rocky remnants from the Solar System's violent birth that cross paths with our planet's orbit. We've come a long way since 1898, when astronomers discovered the first of these wanderers, an asteroid called Eros. Asteroid Eros captured by the NEAR spacecraft (Credit : NASA/JPL/JHUAPL) The acceleration shows no signs of slowing yet. New facilities like Chile's Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which opened this year, will discover tens of thousands more asteroids despite not being exclusively dedicated to asteroid hunting. Meanwhile, ESA's Flyeye telescopes use wide, almost insect like views of the sky to catch objects that slip past current surveys. Artists impression of the completed ESA NEOSTEL flyeye telescope (Credit : ESA/A. Baker) Today's focus has shifted to mid sized asteroids between 100 and 300 metres wide....

2+ hour, 28+ min ago (191+ words) It seems the humble moss is much more resilient than we first thought. Researchers have sent some samples into space and it survived for nine months (Credit : IvoShandor) Space is spectacularly hostile to life. The vacuum would make human blood boil. Cosmic radiation tears through unprotected cells. Temperatures swing wildly between extremes. Unfiltered solar ultraviolet light breaks down organic molecules with ruthless efficiency. Most organisms, humans very much included, would die within seconds of exposure. The International Space Station is often used to study plants and growth as pictured here (Credit : NASA) That protective advantage comes from the spore's encasing structure, which acts as both physical barrier and chemical shield, absorbing harmful radiation before it reaches the vulnerable genetic material inside. This adaptation likely enabled bryophytes, the plant group including mosses, to colonise land 500 million years ago and weather subsequent…...