Is there life on Venus? A multinational team of astronomers using high-altitude infrared telescopes in Hawaii and Chile have identified the gas phosphine in the upper atmosphere of the planet. So what? The significance of this discovery is that phosphine is regarded as a biosignature, possible evidence of microbial life, as Duncan Steel explains. Venus … Read more
It comes thrice a year to pummel your aura into cosmic shards. Horoscope lovers are fiends for it, knowing that soon they’ll have a whole month of stellar excuses for their abominable behaviour. Oh yeah, Mercury’s in retrograde, baby! But what does that mean? I almost had a breakdown writing this article. I want to … Read more
A team of Kiwi scientists is using pictures taken by satellites in orbit to enable farmers to spot pollution on their land. New Zealand scientists are looking to put satellite imagery to good use by identifying pollution on Kiwi farms, helping make tomorrow a tiny bit greener. University of Auckland’s Intelligent Vision System lab (IVS) … Read more
The Kiwi success story is working for an agency that developed stealth aircraft and the scheme to bombard Vietnam with Agent Orange. After weather delays and problems with a dodgy video transmitter, Rocket Lab finally launched its first mission of 2019 this week. As it’s usually told, the story of New Zealand’s entrance into the space … Read more
My YouTube Party of Five is a new series in which we invite people to share their five favourite YouTube videos, the ones hold closest in their heart, the ones they’ll play at 2am while drunk at a party. This week: Spinoff staff writer Don Rowe. Being forced to sit in front of YouTube videos … Read more
Its latest mission may be inadvertently exposing New Zealand to the militarisation of space, writes Ollie Neas. Rocket Lab made history on Sunday as its first ever mission for NASA made orbit from the Mahia Peninsula. The mission was the first dedicated launch of miniature satellites, or CubeSats, for NASA by a commercial launch provider. … Read more
Rocket Lab is a celebrated New Zealand success story, with a stated mission to open access to space and improve life on Earth. Yet many of its key contracts are with the US military and their suppliers. Ollie Neas reports on the dark side of a local business hero. Last Friday Rocket Lab announced that … Read more
Will humans ever have a colony on Mars? If we do, some cutting edge technology of today could help us get there. If humans ever want to achieve the outlandish, science fiction sounding goal of a colony on Mars, our species will get there in part thanks to virtual reality. That’s one of the goals … Read more
China’s defunct space station Tiangong-1 is expected to hit Earth in the next few hours. What are we doing, asks astrophysicist Brad E Tuckeer, to deal with the junk already in space and prevent more? Tiangong-1 is just one of many pieces of space junk left orbiting our Earth. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, Don Rowe asks a space scientist if we’re all dead courtesy of a Chinese space station set to hit Earth this month. What’s all this then? An out of control Chinese space station is expected to smash into … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, the geodesic sphere deposited into space from the east coast of the North Island. What’s going on? The Humanity Star is the spinny, shimmering sphere that was zapped the other day into orbit from the Mahia Peninsula, New … Read more
On Sunday, a rocket was launched into orbit off the Māhia Peninsula by Rocket Labs, an aerospace manufacturing company founded by New Zealander Peter Beck. Madeleine Chapman watched the full livestream and reports the highlights. I love a space movie. Anything that involves people emotionally trying not to die in the incomprehensible expanse that is … Read more
A key characteristic of so-called ‘exponential technologies’ is that they change what is possible extremely quickly – and it can be fascinating to observe how fast or slowly governments react. Lawyer Steven Moe looks at the developing world of space law, and questions whether similar moves are needed for other exponential technologies on our immediate … Read more