Blue Origin’s New Shepard flies passengers to space and back

Blue Origin has nailed the first human flight of New Shepard, taking company founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, 82-year-old Mary Wallace "Wally" Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen on a brief jaunt to space.

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Bizarre star may have been forged in a gigantic “hypernova”

A bizarre star may have its origins in an extremely energetic event. Astronomers have found that a star with an unusual composition may have formed in the wake of a new type of hypernova – a stellar explosion with 10 times the energy of a supernova.

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Magnetism, not cataclysm may be the cause of Mercury’s giant iron core

Mercury’s disproportionately massive core may be the result of the Sun’s powerful magnetic influence rather than the consequence of a cataclysmic collision with another body in the ancient past, according to the results of a new study.

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CRISPR gene-editing tested in space for first time in DNA damage study

The CRISPR gene-editing tool has been successfully used in space for the first time. Researchers onboard the International Space Station have edited colonies of yeast to study how they repair DNA damage, which could one day help protect astronauts.

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Earth-like planets may be lurking in the glare of binary star systems

Double star systems may be hiding masses of potentially habitable Earth-sized planets in their combined glare. Roughly half of all stars are thought to exist in binary systems, in which two massive stellar bodies orbit around a common centre of mass.

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Virgin Galactic receives FAA approval to carry passengers into space

Virgin Galactic has made history, becoming the first spaceliner to be certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration to carry passengers on its spaceplanes. The approval comes as the company prepares for its first fully crewed test flight.

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The light galaxy at the heart of a dark dispute

In 2018 astronomers claimed to have found a galaxy that didn’t have any dark matter. The controversial study sparked a debate and raised new questions about cosmology. Now, the scientists say they've uncovered further evidence of the odd deficiency.

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China launches first crew to Tiangong space station

China has embarked on its first crewed space mission in almost five years, launching a trio of astronauts into orbit to occupy its under-construction space station, before the two final modules are launched over the next 18 months.

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