New findings from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope explain the Phoenix cluster’s mysterious starburst. Data confirm the cluster is actively cooling and able to generate a huge amount of stellar fuel on its own. 

The International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory is soliciting proposals to leverage the orbiting outpost for education programs and training for space-focused careers. This ISS National Lab Research Announcement (NLRAThe abbreviation for an ISS National Lab Research Announcement. NLRAs are one of the ISS National Lab’s primary mechanisms to solicit proposals in specific research areas.) is open to U.S.-based institutions (academic, commercial, government, or not-for-profit) with a vested interest in workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The solicitation has up to $350,000 in total funding available, with the expectation to award up to three projects.

SAN ANTONIO — February 12, 2025 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are studying Saturn’s moon Titan to assess its tidal dissipation rate, the energy lost as it orbits the ringed planet with its massive gravitational force. Understanding tidal dissipation helps scientists infer many other things about Titan, such as the makeup of its inner core and its orbital history.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully integrated the mission’s deployable aperture cover — a visor-like sunshade that will help prevent unwanted light from entering the telescope — to the outer barrel assembly, another structure designed to shield the telescope from stray light in addition to keeping it at a stable temperature.

The SETI Institute awarded the first Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellowship to Dr. Anastasia Yanchilina. Yanchilina will focus on distinguishing biosignatures from false positives across space and time. Her research combines experimental and analytical research to refine biosignature detection techniques. She will conduct lab experiments to generate key mineral analogs and study Earth’s extreme environments to understand what potential signs of life to look for on other planets.

“It has long been my scientific dream to explore whether life exists beyond Earth and what it may look like,” said Yanchilina. “I am deeply honored to join the SETI Institute as a Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellow. This fellowship offers an extraordinary opportunity to advance my scientific career and contribute to our search for biosignatures.”

Yanchilina is particularly interested in Ocean Worlds in our solar system. She seeks to produce mineral samples in the lab that will mimic features we may observe near locations of hydrothermal vents that could form in the extraterrestrial oceans of Enceladus and Europa and could have formed in hydrothermal settings on ancient Mars.