As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years, new research from the UTS has found that lunar dust is less harmful to human lung cells than previously feared, and significantly less toxic than common Earth-based air pollution.

Reliable 5G positioning is vital for smart cities, driverless cars, and next-gen mobile services. Yet in dense urban landscapes, high-rise buildings often distort signals, leading to major positioning errors.

As space travel becomes a real possibility for longer missions, including journeys to Mars, scientists are looking more closely at how space conditions affect human health.

The planet Mars is home to thick layers of clay that can span hundreds of feet. Since they need water to form, these outcrops have long been of interest to scientists looking for signs of past life on the Red Planet.

In a new study in Nature Astronomy, scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and collaborators took a closer at these clay terrains and found that most formed near standing bodies of surface water, which were common on Mars billions of years ago. This environment would help foster the chemical weathering needed to create thick, mineral-rich layers of clay and could have provided the right mix of water, minerals and a calm environment for life to develop.

A sweeping new review reveals how satellites are helping scientists track a quiet but widespread shift in global agriculture: the abandonment of cropland.

Satellite data used by archaeologists to find traces of ancient ruins hidden under dense forest canopies can also be used to improve the speed and accuracy to measure how much carbon is retained and released in forests. Understanding this carbon cycle is key to climate change research.