Category: Technology

For the past few weeks, Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) after the first crewed voyage of Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft hit a snag. Concerns raised by Boeing and Nasa over thruster problems and several helium leaks (helium is used in Starliner’s engine system) have […]

UK start-up Oxford Dynamics has won a £1 million contract with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory to develop advanced robots for environmental remediation and recovery following chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents. Located at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, this pioneering start-up is developing an advanced mobile AI robot […]

One hundred years ago the discovery of a skull in South Africa’s North West province altered our understanding of human evolution. The juvenile skull was dubbed the Taung Child by Raymond Dart, an anatomist at the University of the Witwatersrand, who first described it. In 1924 Dart could not say exactly how old it was, […]

Around 5,200 years ago, plague was not just present but common in six generations of one Swedish family, according to a new study. The researchers analysed both the ancient DNA of these people’s skeletal remains and the pathogens that left traces in them. Three different strains of plague were present, of which the latest was […]

Professor Dumas will also take over as head of the STFC Royal Observatory Edinburgh (ROE) site where the UK ATC is based, alongside The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy. Wealth of experience Professor Dumas has a strong background in managing large, complex astronomy projects. He previously served as the Head of Operations and an […]

The size of the solar system is defined by the volume of space over which the Sun’s influence exceeds those of other nearby stars in the Milky Way galaxy. This influence derives from two fundamental forces of nature: gravity and magnetism. Let’s tackle gravity first. Every object in the solar system experiences a gravitational pull […]

NASA is primarily known in Israel as the American space agency, the elite team of test pilots and brilliant engineers who managed to land on the moon, develop the space shuttle, and land research spacecraft on Mars. These are the people who defeated the Soviet Union in the most expensive race in human history. However, […]

This access is possible through a new agreement between the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Hartree Centre and Quantinuum, a global leader in quantum computing. This collaboration aims to expand access to industry-leading quantum computing hardware for businesses and scientific researchers, supporting the UK’s roadmap to achieving quantum advantage. Quantum advantage marks the point […]

There is often much debate about who is the greatest among sportsmen and women, movie stars, leaders or artists. But some scholars have truly made a staggering difference to the world. Winning a Nobel prize is a rare, extraordinary achievement, but five remarkable people have done it twice. Who are they? What sets them apart? […]