Tech

Vast Space’s Haven-1, a single-module orbital lab, will launch in 2026 via SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Designed for four astronauts on short missions, it features life-support systems tested with NASA and a domed observation window, marking a milestone in private space habitats.

Astronomers detected a black hole 650 million light-years away devouring a star and then erupting twice with powerful flares months later. Observed by the Zwicky Transient Facility and tracked by ALMA and the VLA, this rare off-centre event hints at a rogue black hole cast out from its host galaxy.

Two Russian cosmonauts, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, carried out a six-hour spacewalk outside the ISS on Oct. 16, 2025. They installed the Ekran-M semiconductor experiment for growing ultra-thin materials in microgravity and safely jettisoned an outdated high-definition camera that will burn up upon re-entry.

The WMO reports Earth’s atmospheric CO₂ reached 422.8 ppm in 2024 — the biggest annual rise ever recorded. Driven by fossil-fuel emissions, wildfires, and weakening carbon sinks, the surge intensifies global warming. Scientists warn that delayed emission cuts could entrench irreversible changes in weather, ecosystems, and sea levels.