Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
Introducing...your sneak peek at the cosmos captured by @NSF–@doescience Vera C. Rubin Observatory!
— NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (@VRubinObs) June 23, 2025
Can you guess what regions of sky they are?
This is just a peek...join us at 11am US EDT for your full First Look at how Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos!https://t.co/1a74X2edp8 pic.twitter.com/DE3tx2RQI4
Credit: X/@VRubinObs
A stunning nebula and a sky dotted full of bright stars and dancing galaxies are in the first set of three images released by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The ground-based telescope, which uses the world's largest digital camera, promises to revolutionise entire fields of astronomy with its wide angle and powerful lens. According to astronomers, even these first previews are unlike anything they've ever seen before. The image is a composite built from 678 different pictures, captured over a seven-hour period. The other two pictures Rubin has released both look beyond our galaxy to the Virgo Cluster. This is a group of galaxies 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo.
Scientists received a mysterious radio pulse that came from a satellite that had been dead for decades. The signal was so powerful that for a moment it outshone all other objects in the sky, as per recent reports. The radio pulse was blasted from a defunct satellite, Relay 2, which was a NASA experimental communications satellite launched in 1964. It was part of the Relay programme, which consisted of two satellites, Relay 1 and Relay 2, designed to test communications in medium Earth orbit. Both satellites were funded by NASA. The US-based space agency stopped using it in 1965, and the technical and electronic devices stopped working altogether by 1967. Scientists used the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and detected a small but powerful flash that lasted less than 30 nanoseconds. Scientists believe that the signal must have come from an external factor, such as an electrostatic discharge or a micrometeorite.
Glass bottles contain significantly more microplastics than plastic bottles, a study released by France's food safety agency, ANSES, has claimed, contradicting the longstanding assumptions. On average, the glass bottles of soft drinks, lemonade, iced tea and beer contained around 100 microplastic particles per litre, up to 50 times higher than in plastic or metal containers. Microplastics, the tiny pieces of plastic smaller than five millimetres, have been spotted, ranging from the Mariana Trench to Mount Everest. They are found in human brains, placentas, and the bellies of fish deep in the ocean.
A new study suggests that casino lighting may play a surprising role in encouraging gambling behaviour. The research found that blue-enriched lighting, commonly used in casino decor and LED screens, may influence brain responses, making individuals less sensitive to financial losses.The results showed that participants exposed to blue-enriched light became less sensitive to losses, making them more likely to choose risky financial options over safer alternatives. Under blue-enriched light, which stimulates non-visual circadian photoreceptors, the researchers demonstrated a reduced sensitivity to financial losses that may influence gambling tendencies, potentially encouraging riskier behaviours.
